The mission of the Waste to Energy Design Lab is to rethink the relationship between architecture and waste, though research and design. Architecture and design currently play a minor role in the design and construction of industrial building types, and the Design Lab seeks to re-engage interdisciplinary design and architecture with industrial buildings and facilities.

As densities increase and consumption patterns change, innovation will make waste-to-energy (WTE) an acceptable and affordable source of renewable energy to diversify a portfolio of other sources (solar, wind and biomass) for the future. This provides an opportunity for for architects to integrate large industrial buildings (like waste-to-energy plants) physically and programmatically within their urban or suburban contexts, as well as potentially lessen the generally negative perception of industrial buildings. The goal of the Waste to Energy Design Lab is to develop hybrid WTE building typologies which not only re-connect and communicate to the public, but also weave new public or institutional programs with energy production in a mutually beneficial way.

The Waste to Energy Design Lab was founded in 2014, though generous support by the Sven Tyréns Stiftelse (Trust). The WtE Design Lab is housed within Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.