<section><p><strong>Eindhoven leads the way: <a href="https://www.tue.nl/en/our-university/departments/mathematics-and-computer-science/the-department/news/news-overview/29-04-2021-first-resident-of-3d-printed-concrete-house-in-eindhoven-receives-key/" target="_blank">for the first time, Dutch residents are moving into a 3D-printed concrete home.</a> Professor Theo Salet of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is the driving force behind Project Milestone, which is more relevant than ever before due to the housing crisis. An interview with an impassioned man: “We are facing an unprecedented challenge.”</strong></p></section><section tabindex="-1"><p>It sometimes seems as if freshly printed concrete has a will of its own. The mixture constantly reacts to changes in temperature during curing and tends to collapse like a plum pudding when there is insufficient stiffness. To complicate matters further, the printing process needs to account for inclined walls and the changing weight of the structure.</p><p>With a little imagination, you can compare concrete printing to walking on a very thin tightrope: you must not print too quickly (the structure then becomes unstable) but also not too slowly (the printed layers will no longer adhere). It’s no small feat.</p><h2><style type="text/css"></style><style type="text/css"></style><span data-sheets-formula="=PROPER(R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-userformat='{"2":769,"3":{"1":0},"11":3,"12":0}' data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Customization On A Large Scale"}'>Customization On A Large Scale</span> </h2><p>Under these difficult conditions, Theo Salet and his team have spent years looking for ways to develop safe, rigid structures through which unique homes with a distinctive character can roll out of the concrete printer. Customization on a large scale instead of standardization.</p></section><section tabindex="-1"><p>The project caused him some headaches. Salet is a professor and dean of the Department of the Built Environment at TU/e and the driving force behind the Project Milestone, a collaboration between TU/e, Eindhoven municipality, construction company Van Wijnen, building materials manufacturer Saint Gobain Weber Beamix, engineering firm Witteveen + Bos and housing investor Vesteda.</p><p>For years, Salet worked with PhD students Rob Wolfs and Zeeshan Ahmend and various master’s students and third parties on the construction of the first completely 3D-printed house that meets all building requirements. He regularly had to swallow disappointments, such as during the search for the right combination of concrete and insulation material for the sandwich walls, but these were just as often followed by the realization that his team was making progress.</p></section><section tabindex="-1"><p>“The fact that we’ve already come this far makes me a proud man,” Salet says as he strolls the grounds near the 3D-printed home in Eindhoven’s Meerhoven district this morning. He is also proud of how the knowledge developed has found its way to industry so quickly. Printing a wall is one thing, but producing a complete house is a different kettle of fish. This can only be done with the right industrial partners, emphasizes the professor.</p><p>“What’s nice is that there’s still so much to be gained just by learning from this experience,” he explains as his eye travels across the structure. The shape of the house is inspired by that of a boulder, a polished version of the housing that used to be featured in the Flintstones cartoon, with a sleek and modern interior.</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/suDusQKvzu8?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" style="width: 789px; height: 444px;"></iframe></span><em>The shape of the house is inspired by that of a boulder. The video shows the outside of the house in more detail. Foto: Bart van OverbeekePhoto: Bart van Overbeeke</em></p><h2><style type="text/css"></style><style type="text/css"></style><span data-sheets-formula="=PROPER(R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-userformat='{"2":769,"3":{"1":0},"11":3,"12":0}' data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"First Occupant Of 3D Concrete Printed House In Eindhoven Receives The Key"}'>First Occupant Of 3D Concrete Printed House In Eindhoven Receives The Key</span></h2><p>The first tenant of the first Dutch home made of 3D-printed concrete will receive the key today, April 30. The house in Eindhoven, the first of five from Project Milestone, fully complies with all strict Dutch building requirements.</p><p>The house is a detached single-story home with 94 square meters of net floor area, a generous living room and two bedrooms. It is located in the Eindhoven neighborhood of Bosrijk. The home consists of 24 printed concrete elements, which were printed layer by layer at the print factory in Eindhoven. The elements were transported by trucks to the building site where they were placed on a foundation.</p><section tabindex="-1"><h2><style type="text/css"></style><style type="text/css"></style><span data-sheets-formula="=PROPER(R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-userformat='{"2":769,"3":{"1":0},"11":3,"12":0}' data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Real Necessity"}'>Real Necessity</span></h2><p>There’s a reason Salet is putting his heart and soul into this project. The urgency is profound, he stresses several times this morning. “This is not about the ambition of some scientist, it’s about the rock-hard necessity of making major changes to the way we build,” Salet says, referring to the ever-expanding housing shortage and the pressing climate issue, among other things. “Understand that we need to build in the Netherlands alone a million homes in 10 years and make 7.5 million homes drastically more sustainable in 30 years. In addition, infrastructure from the 1960s and 1970s is heading towards the end of its design life. We are facing an unprecedented challenge.”</p><p>Unprecedented challenges call for rigorous measures. In fact, the professor argues, you need to turn the entire chain upside down. The construction sector must be more focused on the demands of society and, at the same time, more productive and sustainable. People, profit, planet, to put it briefly. According to Salet, this is the path along which we must pursue the transition. Close collaboration between academia, industry and the government is of great importance – the triple helix model. Salet: “Make that the quadruple helix model. You have to involve the public as well. Isn’t it crazy that residents barely have a say in their own built environment?”</p><p>In order to break the chain, the need must first be felt by all parties involved. Salet: “Take the government, which must realize that the housing shortage is an issue for which it does not have an answer, simply because no one has the answer. The academic world can stimulate innovation, but there has to be a concrete question on the table. Industry must also be given the opportunity to make the transition to high-quality manufacturing. The municipality of Eindhoven understood this in the Milestone project and dared to take on this unique challenge.”</p><p>Indeed, the government can create the conditions that foster partnerships which accelerate innovation. “Create pilot projects to experiment with and then scale them up. In tenders, look not only at price but also whether the construction project scores highly in areas such as circularity or innovation in the construction and manufacturing industries. If the urgency is felt, parties will seek each other out.” The professor points to Eindhoven-based VDL, for example, which will be working with Van Wijnen in Heerenveen.</p></section><section tabindex="-1"><h2><style type="text/css"></style><style type="text/css"></style><span data-sheets-formula="=PROPER(R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-userformat='{"2":769,"3":{"1":0},"11":3,"12":0}' data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Industrial Customization"}'>Industrial Customization</span></h2><p>In the media, Salet regularly reads that standardization should become the new norm. Modular construction is gathering more and more attention, but he dismisses this idea. “We’ll then start delivering mass production and, in a while, the same houses will line every street. That would be extremely monotonous; no one is waiting for that and it isn’t necessary either. You have to digitize the entire process from design to construction. A robot doesn’t care what shape it has to print, so you then get industrial customization with variation. Let’s make that step in one go, as challenging as it may be.”</p><p>If the construction industry can make a dramatic shift, as Salet says it can, the benefits of industrial customization will be huge. Productivity will skyrocket. Additionally, you will need less high-quality craftsmanship in a market with a desperate shortage of skilled workers. The heavy work will disappear. This will make more room for women in the sector while the health of employees will also improve; a bad back or worn knees will be a thing of the past.</p><p>The biggest gains, however, will be in the areas of sustainability and circularity. “The amount of material we currently use in construction is unprecedented. We need to cut down.” Concrete, for example, is one of the largest emitters of CO<sub>2</sub> worldwide. By both adjusting the composition and reducing the user quantity, giant leaps can be made. The reuse of materials and elements of a 3D-printed house should also become possible in the future. “We’re currently working hard on that.” Salet is hopeful and sets his sights high: “It’s absolutely possible to use 50 percent fewer raw materials and increase construction speed by 35 percent.”</p></section><section tabindex="-1"><h2><style type="text/css"></style><style type="text/css"></style><span data-sheets-formula="=PROPER(R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-userformat='{"2":769,"3":{"1":0},"11":3,"12":0}' data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Second Floor"}'>Second Floor</span></h2><p>For this reason, the professor would prefer to continue developing the printing method as quickly as possible. The momentum is there. In addition to the first home, he wants to realize a second house in the near future which will be a step further along than its predecessor: a second floor. In total, Project Milestone covers five concrete-printed homes. Salet: “I now want to work from industrial product to design instead of the other way around. For the first house we first created a design without an estimate of whether the printer can produce certain shapes, so we tried to force the printer. The question should be: which products can the printer handle? From there, we can create a variety of designs. Artificial intelligence is going to help with this and will become necessary in order to keep the quality of the printed work consistent, especially if we’re going to print a home on site.”</p><p>Meanwhile, research into 3D concrete printing is gaining popularity around the world. “We’ve set the tone,” says Salet. “In terms of technological development, we’re at the forefront. Printing layers and building a wall can be done by others. But producing an entire house that meets the strict requirements of a building permit and is also inhabited, that’s truly unique. We can be very proud of that. We’re increasingly understanding the will of printed concrete.”</p><hr><p>This article was first published here: <a href="https://www.tue.nl/en/our-university/departments/mathematics-and-computer-science/the-department/news/news-overview/30-04-2021-printing-our-way-out-of-the-housing-crisis-it-is-desperately-needed/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.tue.nl/en/our-university/departments/mathematics-and-computer-science/the-department/news/news-overview/30-04-2021-printing-our-way-out-of-the-housing-crisis-it-is-desperately-needed/</a></p></section></section>

Concrete printing can drastically reduce raw material consumption and greatly increase construction speed in the future.

Printing our way out of the housing crisis: 'it is desperately needed'

<p>This article was discussed in our <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte&source=gmail&ust=1640817319915000&usg=AOvVaw2nPRdRwJrXSYYeM9RCFu5x" href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" id="isPasted" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Next Byte podcast</a>.&nbsp;</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/ef727514-e071-4310-94c3-ab0d48d9b24d?dark=false" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></p><p>The full article will continue below.</p><style type="text/css">
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</style><hr><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.zillow.com/homes/34-Millbrook-Ln-Riverhead,-NY,-11901_rb/2075583035_zpid/" target="_blank">https://www.zillow.com/homes/34-Millbrook-Ln-Riverhead,-NY,-11901_rb/2075583035_zpid/</a></p><style type="text/css">
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</style><p>SQ4D has developed their own concrete 3D printer. As you can see in the my first video at one of their builds, their printer is a collapsible gantry system on rails. It is very unique because of its ability to mechanically collapse itself for ease of transport and disassembly. They do not publicly disclose whether or not this printer is for sale but they have boldly become the first company to publicly list a 3D printed house for sale. They were able to do so because the permits for the building have been granted by the local municipality. The biggest accomplishment will be an Occupancy Certificate that will be granted after all of the inspections have been passed during the construction process. There are a few companies actively pursing the first Occupancy Certificate for a 3D printed house so the race is on to see who is able to complete construction with a passing grade first.&nbsp;</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TEWzGXzEAbQ?&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;ab_channel=JarettGross&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></p><p>Almost a year ago I was able to find the location of an experimental 3D printed house that was under construction by SQ4D. That 1,900 sqft home evidently only cost them $6000 in materials &nbsp; according to their website <a href="http://sq4d.com" target="_blank">sq4d.com</a> which seems incredibly affordable. It is very possible that they have gone back to the drawing board since that build to make improvements to the material which could potentially drive up the price by multiples. Overall 41% of the construction was done by the ARCS 3D Printer they developed which led to an overall savings of 30%. Generally speaking a new product should be at least 25% better than the incumbent solution so this 30% reduced cost prediction bodes very well for the future of the industry.</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NaDbJuqmdUM?&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;ab_channel=JarettGross&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br></p><p>I’ve visited this project a few times as they made progress on the build. The concrete walls were done before I got there, it was the manual labor (Roof, Windows, Doors, Gutter, Siding) that took the longest. Last time I was inside I saw that some of the walls had been smoothed out with concrete to give the interior a flat finish. For many people, the ability to hide the fact that the home was printed makes it much more appealing although personally I appreciate the raw nature of the exposed concrete.&nbsp;</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SJpCiHjfbS4?&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;ab_channel=JarettGross&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br></p><p>Their newest project to be constructed is a 1,500 sqft 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house. SQ4D is offering a 50 year limited warrantee on the build which is incredible considering that it is the first time a 3D printed house has ever been listed for sale. It is certainly understandable for a buyer to be wary of a new technology so this warrantee is a very important demonstration of SQ4D taking accountability for their work which helps the pioneering buyer be more confident in their decision. The home will also feature a 750 sqft 3D printed garage to match.&nbsp;</p><p>List price has been set to $299,000. According to zillow the average home in this neighborhood is worth $394,000 so it is very likely the house will sell over list price especially in the current housing market where the supply has been low and prices have been increasing.&nbsp;</p><p>It will be very interesting to follow along this project as SQ4D makes history. 0 to 1 is the hardest step in an emerging industry, it is a sure sign of some very exciting builds to come. It is very challenging for people to get out there and be the first in anything but after the first bushwhacking pioneers make it through the rough patches early adopters start to pour in. As exposure and footprint of this technology increases so will its capabilities. Economies of scale will make this already cost saving technique vastly more efficient as competition increases on all fronts, hardware, software and material. If you’d like to stay up to date on what I learn about this industry, subscribe on YouTube or the email list on <a href="http://www.automate.construction" target="_blank">www.automate.construction</a>.&nbsp;</p>

SQ4D List First 3d Printed Home

First Ever 3D Printed House for Sale Listed on Zillow for 299,000 USD

<p>This is the one of the most cost effective and affordable solutions for autonomous construction. Mud and straw has been used as a construction material for thousands of years but never like this. Could this be an early iteration of affordable housing that has 0 emissions? Creators Ronald Real and Virginia San Fratello said ‘On the 40th anniversary of the Smithsonian Magazine, they announced the 40 things you need to know about the next 40 years.&nbsp;</p><p>Number one on that list was: “Sophisticated buildings will be made of mud”. Emerging Objects explores these frontiers of technology and material using traditional materials (clay, water, and wheat straw), to push the boundaries of sustainable and ecological construction in a two phase project that explores traditional clay craft at the scale of architecture and pottery.&nbsp;</p><p>The end goal of this endeavor is to demonstrate that low-cost and low-labor construction that is accessible, economical and safe is possible. The project began in the contemporary borderlands along the Rio Grande watershed beginning in El Paso and Juarez and ended near the headwaters of the Rio Grande in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, which was the edge of the historic border between the U.S. and Mexico prior to 1848.&nbsp;</p><p>The entire region has employed traditional pottery and earthen construction traditions for centuries.’</p>

An Adobe Mixture of Dirt and Straw

3D Printed Hyper-sustainable Shelter called the Mud Frontiers Project by Emerging Objects

<p>Recently I got the chance to speak with Dmitri Julius and Alexander Le Roux from Icon. If you haven’t heard, Icon is a startup that raise $35 Million A round led by Moderne Ventures to continue their progress developing the equipment and methodology for 3D printing buildings at scale. Maybe you've seen this Wevolver <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/is.the.building.of.the.future.3dprinted" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">article</a> discussing 3D printed construction.&nbsp;</p><p>Our initial scheduling got rained out. &nbsp;According to the head of communications at Icon, Brooke Baguess (who was instrumental in organizing our interview) filming after the rain is somewhat of an unintentional tradition for Icon. Also unintentionally, the day we had to reschedule for was 9/11. Coincidentally, Dmitri Julius had served in the US Marine Corps for 8 years earning the rank of sergeant starting in Feb 2003 only a year after the attack on the twin towers. I felt compelled to thank him and the rest of the troops/first responders for their service.&nbsp;</p><p>Dmitri still has the chance to interact with the US Marine Corps in his role as Vice President of Operations at Icon. In California, a project was completed to 3D print a ‘Vehicle Hide Structure’ that could serve to conceal a cargo or weaponized vehicle. Icon has an ongoing relationship with the military that should prove mutually beneficial for years to come.&nbsp;</p><p>Mobile Loaves and Fishes is the non-profit organization that Icon 3D printed these homes in Austin, TX. They’ve built a growing community of tiny homes that features an ICON made building as the welcome center. Homelessness is a rising issue in Austin, America, and around the world. ICON is poised to combat that with their technology. Dmitri mentioned that as Mobile Loaves and Fishes expands, ICON has stepped up to the plate and hopes to print many more homes for them in the future.&nbsp;</p><p>I asked Dmitri how his role at ICON changed pre and post funding. Dmitri expressed that at their startup no task is ‘beneath’ them and the team is willing to get their hands dirty on the job site when it’s needed.</p><p>Icon is on a bit of a hiring spree post funding and as they begin to fill those positions and the company expands the real changes will start to manifest. A big fundraise is huge for a startup but the effects are not fully realized until the money gets spent.&nbsp;</p><p>Next I spoke with Alexander Le Roux, a Co-Founder of Icon and also the CTO. Alex started his first 3D printed construction company in college called Vesta printers. He achieved a rudimentary design that demonstrated the ability to print concrete vertically high enough for a wall of a home.&nbsp;</p><p>After college he met Jason Ballard and Evan Loomis. Together the three of them founded Icon to take the technology to the next level.&nbsp;</p><p>Icon has developed a signature formula to print with that they call Lavacrete. It has a strength of 6000psi and as you can see in the building behind me (not even the latest version) it prints very smoothly. We constantly use the term ‘print’ to describe the automated pouring of concrete without any formwork, I can’t help but consider that in the mature stage of this presently niche industry companies may emulate the business model of paper printing companies and sell the printer at a loss to profit long term on the ink.&nbsp;</p><p>Alex and I talked a bit about the future of this technology. He mentioned how people tend to overestimate what can be done in a day but underestimate what can be done in 10 years. I wanted to know about projects on the horizon for Icon especially now that they have the funding to pursue bigger things and Alex said he can’t talk about it but I could tell he is very excited for what’s to come. If you have a project in mind that you’d like to do with Icon, Alex says to go to their website <a href="http://www.iconbuild.com/" target="_blank">www.iconbuild.com</a> and use their contact form. They won’t accept just any project but if it is a good fit they may be willing to work with you.</p><p>After our discussions I checked out one of the homes they built, I could only go in the living room at the time but it was very nice. It certainly had a tiny home vibe, the room actually featured a full kitchen as well. The space is well utilized and it doesn’t feel cheap like it would if it had been built with cinderblocks.&nbsp;</p>

Interview with Alex Le Roux and Dmitri Julius 

construction

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Printing our way out of the housing crisis: 'it is desperately needed'

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3D Printed Hyper-sustainable Shelter called the Mud Frontiers Project by Emerging Objects

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