Build a home in just 24 hours with 3D printing

Have you ever wished to own a completely functional low-cost house? You can now, and it's all due to 3D printing technology. With reason, the concrete 3D printing market is projected to hit $56.4m by 2021. More and more businesses are establishing themselves in the sector in order to develop new, ambitious projects.

As we can see right now in 2021, home prices have skyrocketed, with an average 15.4 percent increase in just the last year. On top of that, a nationwide lumber shortage has driven up the cost of building a home and home renovation projects by 180 percent. Furthermore, as a result of permanent capital and foreign buyers, the total number of homes available for sale at the end of December 2020 was down 23% from the previous year. In other words, there are approximately 500,000 homes for sale in the United States.

Alternative techniques are finally being used by builders. With the hope of eliminating waste, reducing time on site, and solving labor shortages, some see 3D-printing as the solution to many of these challenges. The building industry has the ability to be transformed by 3D construction printing. Concrete structures can be produced easily and cost-effectively without the use of formwork using 3D printers. A typical house in the United States usually takes 6 to 9 months to build. Depending on the architecture, energy usage, and other factors, a concrete 3D house can be completed in less than three days.

On the architecture side, it would be fun to incorporate heating and cooling (heat exchangers) for both into the air supply/filter system with so many antipollution steps that people would be happier living in them than dying in houses from pollution and molds.

What is a 3D-printed house?

The answer is, quite literally, in the name. 3D-printed houses are made with very large 3D printers, which, unlike smaller hobbyist or other forms of industrial units, may extrude concrete, plastic, or other building materials through nozzles to gradually build up a 3D object the size of a house.

The printers usually need only two to three operators and can be set up on-site in less than 48 hours. Once operational, the system can print at speeds of up to one metre per second using data from integrated design models.

Builders combine concrete or cement with wax, silicon, and organic foam, as well as a variety of synthetic polymers, bonding agents, and additive welding. The fabrication process will vary from one build site to the next depending on the sector – residential, commercial, industrial, or public.

The idea of 3D-printed homes has been around since the early 1970s, when it was modified to accommodate the industrial possibilities of the time. Most ideas about 3D-printed lodgings had more in common with additive stacking than with the conventional way architects designed houses back then. The 3D-printed home seems to be just around the corner, with more and more talented engineers gaining access to the technology.

Can you print a house, and how much does it cost?

3D printed houses are still a novelty and are largely in development, but you can 3D print a house for far less money than getting one constructed using more conventional construction methods. Costs for some of the projects currently in progress are in the $10,000 range, but this is for a relatively limited framework.

Sunconomy plans to produce 3D printed concrete homes in Texas under the name "Genesis model" using its own additive manufacturing method. At a cost of $289,000, these homes would have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a detached garage, solar, wind, battery backup, and a rainwater catchment system.

How does it work?

In essence, most industrial 3D-Printers for home construction use cement. Large-scale, cement-based 3D printing eliminates the need for traditional molding by precisely positioning or solidifying complex amounts of matter in successive layers with the assistance of a computer-controlled robotic arm. Processing and arranging the concrete into the receptacle are all part of the material preparation stage. After placing raw concrete in the container, it can be conveyed via the pump–pipe–nozzle system to print self-compacting concrete filaments capable of building layer-by-layer structural components. These properties can all change depending on the composition of the concrete mix, the delivery system, and the removal unit.

Extrusion technology is used by industrial 3D printers as companies develop their material mix, which is mainly composed of cement, sand, geopolymers, and fibers. Some are made of cutting-edge, space-age materials that incorporate polymers or other elements to ensure the stability and durability of the home.

How long do 3D printed houses last?

Since the vast majority of 3D printed houses are made of concrete, in conjunction with wax, silicon, and organic foam, a wide range of synthetic polymers, bonding agents, and additive welding are used. They should last a reasonable period of time depending on the sector – residential, commercial, manufacturing, or public. There is no reason why they shouldn't last as long as more conventional concrete structures with proper maintenance and continuous habitation.

Estimates differ, although the majority believe that they should last at least 50 to 60 years.

When it comes to the base materials used by a 3D-Printed home computer to create a building, they aren't all that different from conventional elements.

3D printed house can operate off-grid

What you'd need for water is a good destination system with ground water or a rainwater collection system, possibly with an atmospheric water generator. A gasifier may be used to process garbage/waste biowaste. It is not expensive to consider a design that includes the potential to provide solar heating of water as well as using water to cool or heat air to moderate conditions even in hot areas. Compressor technology used in newer refrigerators can be used / upgraded to cool houses more efficiently and quietly. In reverse-thernal mode, the same technology could also be used to heat homes. Many homes have devices that are more than a decade old; about half of the energy is lost just in converters these days. Centralized energy no longer makes sense. There is an excessive loss of energy.

Sources:

https://www.contourcrafting.com/building-construction

https://www.3dnatives.com/en/3d-printing-construction-310120184/#!

https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/sunconomy-to-develop-3d-printed-conc...