3D printing for house construction is a reality. This construction technique saves materials and therefore pollutes less.
It seems that urbanization is an unstoppable trend. Still, how we urbanize depends on a wide variety of contextual factors, including, but not limited to, bioclimatic area, availability of natural resources, construction techniques, access to transportation, social structures, and cultural norms. Now construction using 3D printers is breaking in.
How can we achieve the Sustainable Development Goals while continuing to urbanize and get what we need to survive while respecting the planet’s limits? How can we meet the desires of our inhabitants, revitalize and provide a safe space that works for humans without having to sacrifice the needs of the planet’s natural resources? These are the questions that Chris Luebkeman asked himself in the report “Disruptive Cities” by the Bankinter Innovation Foundation.
As Luebkeman said, we have the knowledge and technology to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of urban systems, to empower much more integrated and inclusive neighborhoods, and to regenerate our natural resources for generations to come. There are already some solutions that can be put into practice. It’s up to all of us to make sure that citizens are top of mind when we make decisions and create places and spaces where we can not only survive, but thrive.
“The way we relate to housing reflects the values of societies at every moment in history,” said Anita Roth, head of policy research at Airbnb during the meeting of the Future Trends Forum, the think tank of the Bankinter Innovation Foundation, on the future of cities. “Space matters, so you have to use it more efficiently. Soon we’ll be talking about houses built with 3D printing in the United States.”
3D printers have long since stopped being limited to the plastics with which they began their journey. Now other materials such as metals, food and even concrete can also be used. 3D printing for house construction is a reality. There are several architecture studios capable of building single-family concrete houses in a matter of hours. Here are just a few examples:
- The Valencian startup BeMore 3D sells houses built by 3D printing for about 50,000 euros: the firm prints the personalized design by the client on the land that the client provides in about 24 hours.
- Years ago, the Chinese company WinSun presented a 3D printer capable of building ten houses of 200 square meters in a single day. WinSu, has even overcome the height hurdle by printing a five-storey building.
- The British studio WikiHouse has launched an open-source construction project of houses that are assembled with large standardized pieces, like a kind of giant Lego, where individuals can exchange and improve the designs of the homes, taking the one that best suits their needs.
3D printing for construction: a sustainable alternative
But this type of construction is interesting beyond its technological component. The nature of the 3D printing process involves the use of unconventional materials, which are easy to handle and manage through the printer’s hoses. Cement mixtures are often used with other compounds, such as glass fiber, which help them to be more solid.
Its robustness, together with the fact that to raise a wall using this construction technique it does not need to have a high density of concrete, but a hollow structure in the shape of a border, allows saving materials and, therefore, polluting less. The air chambers that remain in the walls help to insulate, which in turn results in less energy expenditure to heat or cool the home.
Finally, although pipes, wiring, beams, doors, windows and other elements have to be placed, the outlay in materials is lower than in conventional constructions, which makes printed homes a more economical option.
Research in construction goes far beyond 3D printing homes. It has already been found, for example, with the way to make translucent concrete (mixing it with fiber optics), which helps to illuminate and heat homes, and even to develop a self-repairing concrete thanks to synthetic biology, especially suitable for areas of high seismic activity.
“The use of recycled materials in design and construction is one of the big future trends we see in the medium and long term,” says Chris Johnson, managing director for the Middle East at the architecture, urban planning and design firm Gensler, who also participated in the Future Trends Forum meeting.
The involvement of the public and private sectors and citizens themselves can help to develop urban planning that is better adapted to the needs of city dwellers.
