{"id":13243,"date":"2018-07-20T10:39:35","date_gmt":"2018-07-20T14:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archdesign.utk.edu\/?p=13243"},"modified":"2025-01-30T11:19:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T16:19:30","slug":"smart-houseplants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archdesign.utk.edu\/smart-houseplants\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlikely Partnership Yields Unique Research toward \u201cSmart\u201d Houseplants"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Darkened<\/figure>In the future, your houseplants could alert you to health hazards in your home.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the subject of breakthrough research by unlikely partners:\u00a0 The School of Interior Architecture and the Department of Plant Sciences.<\/p>\n

Led by Rana Abudayyeh, assistant professor in Interior Architecture; Neal Stewart, professor of plant sciences in the UT Herbert College of Agriculture; and Susan Stewart, a 2018 Interior Architecture graduate, this unique research is featured in a perspective published in Science <\/em>magazine<\/a>, one of the world\u2019s leading academic journals, in July.<\/p>\n

The team is looking at using synthetic biology to engineer houseplants to \u201ctell\u201d us when a hazardous substance, such as mold, radon gas, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or other harmful pollutants, is present in the atmosphere inside our homes.<\/p>\n

The authors of the perspective believe that \u201cplant walls\u201d inside our homes would provide the dense foliage needed to act as biosensors while also serving our innate need for plants.\u00a0 The plants would alter their normal states, such as changing color, to alert us to potential hazards.<\/p>\n

\u201cBiophlic design builds on our innate affiliation with nature, so integrating biophlic elements within the interior volume carries rich implications spatially and experientially,\u201d says Abudayyeh. \u00a0\u201cBuilding responsive capabilities into interior plants is revolutionary. \u00a0It allows biophlic elements within space to assume a more integral role in the space, actively contributing to the well-being of the occupant holistically.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the idea of using plants as biosensors is not new\u2014it\u2019s used in farming and other agricultural environments\u2014the idea of creating \u201csmart\u201d houseplants is. [Read more about the use of biosensing plants in agriculture<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe innovative implementation of biophilic strategies into interior spaces has been a focus of a number of design studios I have led,\u201d says Abudayyeh.\u00a0 \u201cOne of my top students, Susan was familiar with my research and her husband Neal\u2019s research, and she initiated this collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHouseplants are ubiquitous in our environments,\u201d says Neal Stewart. \u201cThrough the tools of synthetic biology it\u2019s possible for us to engineer houseplants that can serve as architectural design elements that are both pleasing to our senses and that function as early sensors of environmental agents that could harm our health, like molds, radon gas or high concentrations of volatile organic compounds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The team is continuing to work on the long-term project from both the lab and design studio.\u00a0 They hope that together, they can bring biosensing houseplants to homes with future applications in hospitals, office environments, schools and other interior spaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur work should result in an interior environment that is more responsive to overall health and well-being of its occupants while continuing to provide the benefits plants bring to people every day,\u201d says Abudayyeh. \u201cI\u2019m thrilled that my students will be part of this breakthrough research as they integrate this kind of innovation into designing interior spaces,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shown below:<\/em><\/p>\n

Perspective images of a conceptual phytosensor (plant) wall. Shown left is the lighted room, and shown right is the darkened room under sense-and-report photonic conditions. The glass partition (inset on left) concentrates\u00a0HVAC return air across fungal VOC-sensing houseplants. The inset image on the right shows an engineered Nicotiana plant for constitutive expression of GFP yielding green fluorescence under built-in blue or UV lights next to a wild type red fluorescent plant under the same conditions. Photo (inset, right) by Francisco Palacios. Design renderings by Susan G. Stewart and Rana Abudayyeh.\u00a0 Credit to UT Institute of Agriculture for information.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the future, your houseplants could alert you to health hazards in your home. That\u2019s the subject of breakthrough research by unlikely partners:\u00a0 The School of Interior Architecture and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":169,"featured_media":13244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"passster_activate_protection":false,"passster_protect_child_pages":"","passster_protection_type":"password","passster_password":"","passster_activate_overwrite_defaults":"","passster_headline":"","passster_instruction":"","passster_placeholder":"","passster_button":"","passster_id":"","passster_activate_misc_settings":"","passster_redirect_url":"","passster_hide":"no","passster_area_shortcode":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[209,37,33,148,21,35,6,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abudayyeh-r","category-alumni","category-faculty","category-interior-architecture","category-news","category-research","category-school-of-interior-architecture","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUnlikely Partnership Yields Unique Research toward \u201cSmart\u201d Houseplants - UTK College of Architecture + Design<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archdesign.utk.edu\/smart-houseplants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unlikely Partnership Yields Unique Research toward \u201cSmart\u201d Houseplants - UTK College of Architecture + Design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the future, your houseplants could alert you to health hazards in your home. 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