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3D-Printed House Constructed On-Site In One Day (treehugger.com)
Heffenfeffer writes: Russian company Apis Cor has manufactured a 3D printed concrete house on-site in 24 hours in Stupino Town, Russia. Using a tower crane-shaped concrete extruder that can rotate 360 degrees, the 38 square meter (408.88 square foot) rotor-shaped home walls were constructed in one day. Voids left in the manufacturing process were filled by hand, installing windows, doors, and adding polyurethane and fiber insulation to the hollow concrete walls. The roof was also constructed by hand using polymer membranes, welded together using hot air and special equipment. Total construction costs were $10,134 (USD), approximately $266.66 per square meter ($24.78 per square foot). They also constructed a temporary protective heated tent to surround the house as they constructed the house during winter. Though the printer can be used at temperatures down to -35C, concrete has to be at least +5C to cure. Further reading: Designboom Magazine
If the construction costs cited are true, even given the small size of the demonstration house, this seems a very viable approach. One would imagine most of the human labor could ultimately be replaced by robots, and (although 24 hour completion is impressive) taking a whole week would not alter the economics significantly. (I guess that might not be true if the capital cost of the printer makes the investment uneconomic at, say, 20 to 30 houses a year, but I doubt that is the case.)
There is no reason a foundation or plumbing could not be 3D printed. Wiring can be embedded by a 3D printer.
If you actually watch the video, you will see the machine adds fibreglass rebar already automatically. Also you will see that the exterior walls are printed hollow so you can spray foam inside them afterwards (basically the same concept as ICF except it is 3D printed).
Yes, the framing, siding, and roofing is not the only part of building a house. Obviously you still have interior work to do after the fact. However, it is a very significant portion, and this machine can do all of them in 24 hours (have a bigger house? Use 2 or 3 machines to keep it at 24 hours...). When was the last time you saw a house framed, roofed, and sided in 24 hours? You can't even assemble a factory-built home on site that fast... I know cause I have one.
That wood flooring was 3D printed?! Cool!
How did they 3D extrude the wiring and meet code? I'd love to hear more!
Concrete is a good insulator for russian winters, right? Amazing! How good was the R-value? How was the rebar extruded?
Love how the paint was 3D printed too!
I could go on. The frame of most houses is NOT where the majority of the expense is. I hate seeing these wild claims about 3D printing, which wile cool are disingenuous and skip over so many important details that turn out to be real buzz kills.
Ha come on!
Nobody got "fooled" by the headline thinking the "whole" house (appliance included) was 3D printed. Don't be silly.
This is an incredible achievement for what it seem to be the first affordable 3D house. It's incredible and it's good for must of us.
Or didn't you see how insanely expensive house are nowadays? If anything, this technology will bring back their price to our grandparents's days. And one the plus side, I can't way too see what crazy concept will emerge from the capability to print anything in 3D with concrete. Slide from bed to hot tub? Tunnel to wire everything in our house easily? Fire-proof house? House that transform in a trailer?
I can't wait.
Elok