Two Story Building 3D Printed: The Race Is On

Over the past few months, we see a race in the world of 3D printing. Specifically, companies are trying to outdo each other by printing bigger structures.

Many feel that 3D printing is the future of home building, at least in the medium term. If this is the case, we are seeing remarkable progress.

Like most technologies, the start is a bit clunky and expensive. However, as progress is made, we see things streamlined as efficiency improves. This also helps to drive prices down.

Kamp C made news in Europe by 3D printing a home that was two stories. It was one of the most ambitious projects of this nature thus far. The structure comes in just shy of 1,000 square feet. The printer was 32' x 32' so it has the potential to do structures a bit larger.

One of the things to realize is how close a technology truly is even when it looks far away. In this instance, the shell of the house was build with things such as windows and doors being added the traditional way. This is following the path that other printed projects took.

However, at this point, it is only a matter of scaling before the first commercial iterations are truly possible. Even with just doing the shell, the amount of time (and cost) should be reduced by more than 40%. This is significant.

In due time, we can expect most aspects of a home will be 3D printed. How long this takes to become a reality is anyone's guess. Nevertheless, the process forward is with the shell of structures being printed.

Technology tends to speed things up while reducing cost. Another benefit to 3D printing is it will cut down on waste, further reducing the costs associated with creating buildings.

With a housing shortage, affordable structures are required around the world. Many are hoping that 3D printing can help to fill the void.

This is on the heels of a project put together by a non-profit called New Story. It is 3D printing 50 homes in Southern Mexico. The push for communities such as this will be greatly aided by this technology.

The fact that we now see a second story 3D printed means that the next step is operating on a different level. Even though this structure was just a prototype, the push towards 1,500-1,800 square feet is now on. We could start to see some of the major home builders testing out this technology.

We can be sure they are watching the progress very closely. In the United States, as an example, the need to construct homes that can be sold in the $125,000-$150,000 range is vital. It is the target market that the home builders are trying to access.

3D printing could be the path that gets them there. Many real estate forecasters are of the opinion that buying a home at this point in time could be dangerous because of technological advancement. If we see radical progress in the next 5-7 years, we could realize a decrease of more than 75% in construction costs. What would that do to homes that have a 30 year mortgage on them?

The market would collapse.

It is truly an exciting time.

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