HOUSING OBSERVER 2015

3D Printing and the Construction IndustryArticle 3—December 2015

Credit: Olivier Middendorp via Hollandse Hoogte

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Table of Contents

Although this information product reflects housing experts’ current knowledge, it is provided for general information purposes only. Any reliance or action taken based on the information, materials and techniques described are the responsibility of the user. Readers are advised to consult appropriate professional resources to determine what is safe and suitable in their particular case. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation assumes no responsibility for any consequence arising from use of the information, materials and techniques described.

1 What is 3D Printing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 3D Printing in the Construction Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3 3D Printed Residential Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4 Potential Implications of 3D Printing for the Home Building Industry . . . . . . 6

5 The Future of 3D Printing in Residential Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

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1 What is 3D Printing?3D printing, also referred to as additive printing or additive manufacturing, is a revolutionary production technique capable of creating solid objects from a digital file uploaded to a 3D printer. The printer reads the file and lays down successive layers of materials, such as plastics, resins, concrete, sand or metals, until the entire object is created.

2 3D Printing in the Construction Industry

In the construction industry, 3D printers are used to create 3D models, prototypes or small, non-structural building components such as landscaping bricks or decorative elements.1

Researchers are experimenting with different types of 3D printers and a range of raw materials and fabrication techniques to advance the technology and expand the range of potential applications to include structural building components and even whole buildings. Current research includes experimentation with:

■■ a variety of raw materials including recycled plastic, bioplastics, concrete and a synthetic “stone-like” material created from a combination of sand and chemicals;

■■ advanced 3D printers capable of extruding multiple materials;2

■■ a variety of fabrication methods (e.g., printing wall components in sections which can be snapped together on site; printing structural scaffolding which can be filled in with construction materials on site to create full-sized walls3);

■■ fabrication of reinforced concrete beams;4 and

■■ direct printing on-site or in factories.

1 http://inhabitat.com/british-architect-designs-first-3d-printed-element-for-use-in-the-construction-industry/2 http://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/this-week-in-tech-mit-makes-a-multi-material-3d-printer_o3 http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2015/08/the-worlds-biggest-free-form-3d-printer-is-being-used-to-build-houses/4 http://3dprintingindustry.com/2015/08/11/house-3d-printing-fortified-with-wasps-reinforced-concrete-beams/

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3 3D Printed Residential BuildingsResearch projects are underway to create residential buildings from 3D printed modular components. One example is Canal House (DUS Architects) project currently being printed in Amsterdam.

■■ The 3D Canal House is a 3-year research and development project to create a 13 room demonstration house.

■■ The project team built a 3D printer, called a KamerMaker or “room maker”, which was installed inside a large, upended shipping container.

■■ The printer creates wall components from a bioplastic mix of plastic fibres and 80% plant oil. Wall components are then interlocked together and filled with bio-concrete to provide structural strength.

■■ See more at: http://3dprintcanalhouse.com/

Building blocks 3D Print Canal House, credit: DUS architects

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Architects, engineers and researchers are also exploring the potential of creating complete buildings from 3D printers.

In September 2015, a 12 meter (40 foot) 3D printer, called the “Big Delta” was unveiled in Italy by the World’s Advanced Saving Project (WASP).5 The printer is designed to produce a complete shelter using local materials, such as mud, clay and natural fibres and could potentially be used to create housing in disaster areas or areas where a large supply of emergency housing is needed.6

Berok Khoshnevis, from the University of Southern California, has developed a 3D fabrication process called contour crafting which he believes offers the potential to automate the construction of a complete house including electrical, plumbing, drywall and insulation (see http://craft.usc.edu/CC/modem.html). He envisions widespread use of light-weight contour crafting 3D printers to print houses by 2020 and high rises by 2025.7

5 http://www.gizmag.com/wasp-big-delta-3d-printer-clay-housing/394146 http://www.sciencealert.com/the-world-s-largest-3d-printer-can-now-make-entire-houses-out-of-clay 7 http://3dprint.com/53437/contour-crafting-dr-khoshnevis

Credit: Berok Khoshnevis, University of Southern California

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4 Potential Implications of 3D Printing for the Home Building Industry

Although still in its early days, 3D printing could offer the following benefits:

■■ Onsite or factory applications.

■■ Printed products only use as much material as needed to form them. This means fewer resources are required and less waste is generated.

■■ Reduced transportation costs if products are printed on-site (although the cost of transporting the printer can be expensive due to the size of printers currently needed for construction).

■■ Potential to create more efficient and interesting designs as 3D printing can achieve shapes that conventional techniques cannot.

■■ Lower labour costs.

■■ Reduced cost of customized design (with 3D printing, it costs the same to create one item as to produce thousands.)

■■ Reduced health and safety risks if 3D printing can be used to produce assemblies that would otherwise need special equipment and precautions to be taken.

Current challenges to be overcome include:

■■ More expensive than conventional construction due to high cost of 3D printer and lack of familiarity in the industry with 3D printing technologies and applications.

■■ Currently, a limited number of materials have been used, although experimentation is underway with printers capable of using multiple materials to produce more complex assemblies.

■■ 3D printers can be large and, therefore, difficult and costly to place on site.

■■ 3D printing incurs more up-front costs to create the digital model that will result in safe, cost-effective products.

■■ Printers are currently slow compared to conventional construction, although they can be operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

■■ The potential of a disruptive impact on the type of skills and labour needed to design and build homes.

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5 The Future of 3D Printing in Residential Construction

There is a wide range of views about where the technology could be headed. Although 3D printing is still in its early days in all industries, the potential benefits seem to be driving the technology forward. Some suggest 3D printers will be used mainly to print building components and panels either in factories or on site, while others envision 3D printing as a transformative technology that could revolutionize the construction industry.

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