{"id":1944,"date":"2022-01-05T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-05T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=1944"},"modified":"2024-04-25T23:19:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T03:19:22","slug":"3d-building-trend-ramps-up-to-meet-housing-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/3d-building-trend-ramps-up-to-meet-housing-shortage\/","title":{"rendered":"3D Building Trend Ramps Up to Meet Housing Shortage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Artist<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

From Habitat for Humanity to Lennar<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Virginia resident has moved into a new, 3D-printed home. It\u2019s a milestone for Habitat for Humanity in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company Alquist 3D built April Stringfield\u2019s home on behalf of Habitat for Humanity\u2019s Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg branch. Once the work was complete, in December 2021, Stringfield bought the house as a Habitat Homebuyer. Aspiring Habitat Homebuyers have the options of logging volunteer hours, taking homeownership courses, or working on their building sites before they\u2019re approved as buyers. So, to purchase the home for herself and her teenaged child, Stringfield worked with Habitat for Humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people have heard about Habitat for Humanity. Readers who haven\u2019t heard of printed houses yet may have a few technical questions. Such as\u2026  <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

So, How Do You \u201cPrint\u201d an Actual House?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To create the Stringfield home, an Alquist 3D printer \u2014 which towers about 15 feet over a construction site \u2014 laid out the outer and interior walls. Concrete flowed through the machine\u2019s nozzle, creating the walls in layers. Each layer took on the weight of the higher layer with which it bonded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The printing work, constitutes some 40% of the construction. Then, people finish the job of building the house. Regular workers do the windows, roofing, electric systems, and so forth. The Alquist machine reduces the necessary staffing from 6 to 12 people doing frames and drywall to just three technicians overseeing the 3D printing activity. It\u2019s a low-waste, time-efficient process. The result of the machine\u2019s back-and-forth motion is a building with subtly ridged walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alquist\u2019s technology got the Stringfield home up and ready with astounding speed, despite worker shortages and a scarcity of building materials that would have been necessary in building more traditional homes. And the Stringfield home came equipped its own personal 3D printer, so its occupants can reprint interior details, such as cabinet knobs, outlet covers and trim, whenever they need them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Stringfield home is a milestone of its own. Architectural Digest<\/em> calls the three-bedroom home \u201ca 1,200-square-foot technological triumph.\u201d It is also a prototype. And this leads us to ask\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could 3D Printing Solve the Housing Shortage?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Current events have just turned this rhetorical question into a real proposition. Lennar, a developer and financing firm known for selling single-unit homes and multi-unit rentals across the United States, is now working with ICON, an Austin-based construction and robotics firm. They\u2019re aiming to create the largest U.S. community of 3D-printed homes built to date \u2014 a cluster of 100 solar-ready houses near Austin. Collaborating on architectural design is the BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group. Construction is slated to start in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s still a relatively new technology. It was in 2018 that ICON first announced it had a building permit to build a home with 3D printing robotics. Lennar, clearly sold on the method, has made a major investment in ICON. As millions of households look to buy houses that don\u2019t yet exist, Lennar and ICON might be holding the keys to large-scale housing development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a podcast<\/a> for the Wall Street Journal<\/em>, tech reporter Zoe Thomas asks: \u201cSo, could this be the future of housing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s a small project for Lennar, but it’s also kind of a proof of concept,\u201d WSJ housing reporter Nicole Friedman responds. In other words, it\u2019s an early step in the mission to integrate robotics into home building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will Robotic Construction Become a Regular Part of Home Building?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Artist<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Robotic construction has been attracting attention in the building industry for several years. It reduces the number of personnel needed on a worksite, has proven potential to create cost-efficient housing, and offers proven safety benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Propelled by advances in drone technology, sensors, robotics, and artificial intelligence, robotic machinery is already automating many components of construction jobs:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n