Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
What if waste from the textile industry could help solve the housing and sustainability crisis? In this video, Mia Montrose, an environmental science and engineering student at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, shares her ES100 project: transforming waste wool into building cladding panels.
With over 1 billion kilograms of wool discarded each year, Mia’s work explores how this underused material can be upcycled into a more sustainable alternative to traditional construction materials. By extracting keratin from wool fibers and using it to bind the material into durable panels, her project reimagines waste as a structural resource.
The result: a potential pathway toward more sustainable, cost-effective building solutions—especially as the demand for housing continues to grow. Mia also highlights the broader opportunity to rethink waste streams and develop scalable materials that reduce environmental impact while meeting real-world needs.
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What if waste from the textile industry could help solve the housing and sustainability crisis? In this video, Mia Montrose, an environmental science and engineering student at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, shares her ES100 project: transforming waste wool into building cladding panels.
With over 1 billion kilograms of wool discarded each year, Mia’s work explores how this underused material can be upcycled into a more sustainable alternative to traditional construction materials. By extracting keratin from wool fibers and using it to bind the material into durable panels, her project reimagines waste as a structural resource.
The result: a potential pathway toward more sustainable, cost-effective building solutions—especially as the demand for housing continues to grow. Mia also highlights the broader opportunity to rethink waste streams and develop scalable materials that reduce environmental impact while meeting real-world needs.
_________________
SEE MORE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT VIDEOS:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtHrXQsUhv80vhJpQUkJSbNM7ZyIyC6jU&si=QxsYywibJ4US_Ljv
_________________
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MONTHLY RESEARCH NEWSLETTER
harvard.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=598d73b470a40f403bba4fb2c&id=318af7d2ea
_________________
VISIT US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
facebook.com/hseas
instagram.com/harvardseas
twitter.com/hseas
linkedin.com/school/1711270/admin/dashboard
_________________
Hashtags: #HarvardSEAS #Sustainability #ClimateTech #GreenBuilding #MaterialsScience #EnvironmentalEngineering #Recycling #Upcycling #STEM #StudentResearch #Harvard #SustainableDesign
