House. Please Print.

I have been amazed by 3D printing since I first heard about it.  How could a machine actually print something three dimensional without needing a mold or tons of equipment?  I still have a hard time actually wrapping my head around 3D printing technology, but 3D printers are being used by different types of industries and even available to purchase for home use.  I have seen many uses for 3D printed objects and how they can benefit - the sciences by making new tools, architects by making small scale models for houses, jewelers for making proto-types of jewelry …the list goes on and on. All the products that I had seen a 3D printer used for were on the smaller scale until I recently came across an article for a 3D printed house.  What?  You can actually press “print” and a structure that someone could live in would be created?  This seemed absolutely impossible but I have now learned that companies, researchers and engineers are experimenting with new technologies to print 3D houses.

How it works.

I have come across a few different projects working on 3D printed houses; one being The 3D PrintCanal House based in Amsterdam, a company called WinSun located in China and researchers at University of Nantes(IRCCyN) based in France that are testing technology to print 3D Houses.  There are of course more companies working on projects like this but I found the most articles on these in my Google search. 

Each company has a slightly different way in printing the house.  The 3D Print Canal house is using a printer called Kamermaker.  This printer, prints the structure in pieces and then the pieces are assembled to create the house.  WinSun also uses a similar printing style.  On the other hand, the University in France is testing out a printer called INNOPrint 3D that prints the structure all at once.  The printer uses an articulated arm that makes this possible.

Materials Used.

Bioplastics and other recycled materials are being used to print the structures, which means the resources needed to produce the house are cheaper, environmentally friendly and produce less waste than a traditionally constructed house.  In addition, there are less transportation costs with printing a house than shipping raw materials which helps save money.

Speed.

A huge benefit using a 3D printer is the speed that they are able to produce a structure.  WinSun printed 10 200-meter homes in less than 24 hours and INNOPrint 3D printed a house in just 30 minutes.  With this sort of speed, when disasters hit 3D Printed houses can be a great option to provide quick cheep housing to those in need.   

How 3D printed houses stand up to building requirements, wind and other environmental conditions is still being tested but I think it is just a matter of time before we start seeing more buildings that are printed with a printer.

The fact that structures can be build so quickly at a cheaper cost is going to change the way we look at construction and will hopefully provide better housing options for those in need, especially at the time when disaster strikes and buildings that don’t cost a lot are needed in short time frames.

I wonder if it is just a matter of time before I can create my dream home by just pressing print…I guess time will tell.

Photo Courtesy of: 3dprint.com

Video:

INNOPrint 3D at work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyAMVkOdpBs

Related Articles:

http://3dprint.com/81560/innoprint-3d-printed-housing/

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/10/3d-printing-future-disaster-relief-20141016825642208.html