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Faster, cheaper, greener. 3D printing may reshape the world canvas for
good. Or at least…on paper…like all wonderful
inventions, it’s been hyped up over the last few years. But what if I told you that Italian architects
designed the world’s first 3D-printed house out of dirt …yep, dirt. Clearly, the hype hasn’t bitten the dust
yet. Let’s take a closer look at what this means
for the future of building sustainable homes and if they are all they're cracked up to
be. I'm Matt Ferrell ... welcome to Undecided. I’ll get to the dirty house in a minute. Not exactly a compelling sales pitch, is it? Anyway, before that, let’s quickly get our
printheads around what 3D printing is. A very quick recap: since the Japanese lawyer,
Hideo Kodama are now the state-of-the-art 3D printing techniques. Regardless of the method and the raw material
you use, the general principle is roughly the same. Based on a sketch, the 3D printing machine
uses the so-called additive manufacturing process to create the real object in a multi-layer
manner. You might be asking yourself, “how does
the printer make this magic?” As for SLS, the 3D printer solidifies a photosensitive
powdered polymer by hitting it with a powerful laser light. FDM-based machines melt thermoplastic polymeric
filament that becomes solid once it cools. That’s how the very first 3D-printed house
was created in 2014 . In that case designers mostly fed bioplastic to the printer. After that, many other 3D-printed homes joined
the printing queue. If you want to get into more details, you
can find a link to my previous video in the description. It’s time to dish the dirt on the Italian
3D-printed clay-made house. Mario Cucinella Architects (MCA) came up with
an original 3D printing concept. Well, they copied it from mason wasps to be
honest, but I guess insects can’t sue you for violating a patent. The Italian architects crafted a beehive-like
structure out of locally sourced clay. To do so, MCA used a 3D printing technology
developed by a company called WASP… I know, they’re not buzzing with originality. Jokes aside, how does that work? WASP developed a software package that allowed
the simultaneous control and operation of two printing arms. The company claims this software is the first
of its kind anywhere in the world. After mixing raw earth from that location
with water, the two 3D printers squirt out 350 layers of clay in a wave-like manner to
ensure structural stability. They also add rice waste to the goop to increase
its insulating properties. When it’s complete you have two interconnected
dome-shaped units, including an open space living room and an en-suite bedroom. On top of that, WASP machines can print furniture
like tables and chairs as well. Creating a cupola was a smart choice as it
lets you build walls and roof in one go. Also, the 3D printers spit out the domes one
section at a time. While limited to one floor only, this modular
approach makes the habitat horizontally scalable. The group named their method TECLA, linking
technology and clay. And no, the pottery scene in Ghost has nothing
to do with it. The idea is that by building this house no
waste is generated, and at the end of its life, it fades away into the ground without
a trace.. It makes sense when you consider that 3D printing
minimizes construction waste and that you can make clay easily disappear. And that’s massive in terms of emission
reduction compared to other 3D-printed homes built out of concrete or plastic . Not to
mention that using on-site raw earth, you completely remove the emissions released when
transporting building materials from elsewhere. The project partners envisioned the two-cupola
dwelling as a self-sustaining hub. Besides the earth-friendly walls, TECLA is
surrounded by sustainability. Outside, you have a little lake collecting
rain and gray water. This goes through a phytodepuration process
before flowing inside the house. Aiming to make an off-grid unit, designers
included a dedicated structure provided with solar panels that generate clean energy. The TECLA ideators want to take this idea
global. WASP put together a kit to assemble the whole
infrastructure and they can ship it around the world in a container. So, what about the cost? While the startup hasn't disclosed TECLA’s
price tag yet, it spent around $1,000 to print 30 meters of wall for their first 3D-printed
home in 2018. Just like clay, you can model TECLA to adapt
it to different climates. And you could use a wide range of locally
available natural building materials. Thanks to its flexible and climate-resilient
architecture, TECLA could tackle the global housing crisis. According to Cucinella, this type of dwelling
would make most sense in isolated, rural areas where construction materials are difficult
to obtain.. Dwellings could be built just about anywhere,
assuming the self-production kit can be delivered there. I know the most eco-savvy of you might be
interested in inking a contract already, but hold your pen for a moment. First, let’s dig in a bit. TECLA walls can be 3D-printed in about 8 days. However, clay doesn’t dry as fast as quick-drying
concrete. It can take weeks to dry in the most humid
regions. Speaking of timelines, be wary of whoever
fawns over you promising to deliver a 3D-printed house within 24 hours. I learned this the hard way. In my previous video I mentioned a Chinese
company 3D printing 10 houses in 24 hours. To accomplish this feat, they used four machines,
not one. . Also, the 24-hour window doesn’t include
the time to install…windows…and all the other components, it’s just the walls. Same story for the 3D-printed dwelling that
hosted human beings for the first time. The French studio’s 3D printers built the
main skeleton of the house in 54 hours. But, again, it took 4 more months for workers
to place windows, doors, roof and appliances by hand. Remember the $1K figure mentioned earlier? That’s covering just the walls of WASP’s
3D-printed creation. However, when you look at the Fibonacci house
recently 3D-printed in Canada, walls accounted for only 6% of the overall outlay. TECLA’s still in its early stages and needs
to go through structural and thermal testing before being scaled up. So, it’s tricky to have an accurate price
at the moment. In fact, as mentioned by COBOD’s CEO , you
need to 3D print at least 10 houses to provide a more reliable estimate. 3D-printed houses are often advertised as
the cheapest option on the market, where the low-cost claim is based on what you save in
terms of raw materials and labor. However, these costs change around the world
, so 3D-printed houses will be cheaper in some countries compared to others. Things get even more muddy when you get some…bad
press…or too-good-to-be-true press I should say. Respectable publications reported that ICON
would have 3D-printed a house for as low as $4,000. <sup>,</sup> However, when interviewed by
the youtuber Jarett Gross, ICON’s founder labeled that figure as a mishap. Nobody from the company team ever leaked that
quote to any journalist. Instead, $450,000 is the more realistic price
tag that ICON put on a housing complex developed in Texas , which I covered in my previous
video on 3D printed homes. This is below the average price of standard
houses in that area. Yet, the company 3D-printed only the first
floor, while they used stick framing for building the upper level. You may see why $450K is an underestimated
figure. Keep in mind this was the first home on the
market, so, don’t take that price as gospel. Remember the learning curve? To the next point: surely a house made of
dirt must be green, right? Well, while being touted as a zero-waste paradise,
TECLA is actually not. Like any other 3D-printed house, it’s got
its feet of clay. That’s because WASP’s 3D printers can’t
gush out fenestration, finishing, plumbing, electrical wiring, and other household appliances
out of clay yet. Some components must be finished after the
3D printing is completed. Cucinella & Co. envisage their housing system
as part of a low-density eco-city. Ironically, this sprawling effect comes at
an environmental cost. For instance, inking the natural landscape
with fragmented human settlements gets in the way of wildlife. Living remotely requires transportation, which
means added air pollution unless you can afford an electric vehicle with a long range. On the other hand, your emissions get lower
in denser cities. People living in Toronto’s low-density suburbs
emit up to 2.5x more GHG than high-density urban residents. Another study found that doubling US cities'
density would drive down travel emissions by 50%. How about TECLA’s social impact? Well, we would need a lot of clay. As of 2005, the United Nations (UN) counted
100 million homeless people across the world. And around 1.6 billion live in poor state
houses. Which will be 3 billion by 2030 based on the
UN-Habitat. Just put that into perspective, this is nearly
half of the world’s population. To alleviate the housing crisis,we’re pressed
for time and we’d need to churn out 96,000 affordable homes every day. That’s what I call a long printing queue! Even if WASP nozzles were to go to full blast
we’d need to read the small print…carefully. Let’s pick a country like Kenya, for instance. Nicholas Patel, who runs a construction company
in Kenya, turned down the hype on the feasibility of 3D-printed housing in the African continent. First, you need to factor in the carbon footprint
and costs of shipping WASP’s kit all the way to Africa. Then, you would have a lot of local challenges,
such as lacking or poor infrastructures, legal issues, and the need for security 24/7. Looking at the bigger 3D-printed picture,
3D printing may have a negative impact in countries having a lot of low-paid construction
workers. Because of its potential in reducing waste
and emissions, 3D printing could play a key role in the decarbonization of the construction
industry. On top of that, this automated building process
could knock down execution time and expenses. Even with these advantages, the technology
is still in its infancy and cost reduction expectations are still to be confirmed. TECLA is clearly one of the most sustainable
and versatile 3D-printed houses unearthed so far, but it’s still a long way before
3D printers could produce an affordable and truly zero-waste home. There’s many baby-steps involved in bringing
new technologies like this to market. And speaking of taking one step at a time,
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Haven't watched the video yet but I never got the appeal for 3d printed homes, it seems like they're just as effective as prefabricated bricks while using some "fancy technology" fad appeal. I'm guessing that they claim that they solve the housing crisis even though medium density housing with mixed zoning and efficient land use would be much more effective.
You'll understand why I posted it here by the end of it.
Foam home construction seems like it could take off. Some big benefits over stick.