One printer, 3 hours and a newly built home

2015.09.16

 

It normally takes about 8 months for a house to be built with a hired contractor and China just did it in 3 hours. But while the construction only took mere hours, the entire process from beginning of printing to the installation of the modules (bathroom, bedroom, etc), took a total of 10 days. Still quite impressive considering the time it takes with the traditional approach. How did they do it? 3D printing. That’s right, they printed this house!

Not only is it a faster process, but it’s also more cost efficient. It roughly costs $400-$480 per square meter of print and it will only get cheaper as 3D-printing advances. The home’s technology was manufactured and patented by The Zhuoda Group, so competitors won’t be replicating the process too soon but the idea of building a home through such a quick process is something to seriously think about.

The Zhuoda Group isn’t the only company in China making real-estate manufacturing strides. A firm called Winsun New Materials says it built 10 200-square-meter homes in 24 hours. This was done using their own 3D printer that took 12 years and $3.2 million dollars to develop. Estimates say the cost of printing these homes is about half the cost of building them traditionally. Yet, as amazing as it sounds, this is just an experiment. It is unlikely that it will be widely used to build homes any time soon due to regulation hurdles. At least, that’s the case in China.

As for other parts of the world, it’s obvious builders are thinking along the same lines. Amsterdam is building a house with 13 rooms and even plans to print its furniture. But as opposed to 3 hours, it would take 3 years. Though it’s not nearly as efficient, we can see the idea spreading across the world. The applications this technology can bring will not only benefit us here at home, but will make all the difference for those in the developing countries as well.

What do you think about house building being as fast as watching a high budget sci-fi film? Share your thoughts below!


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