New materials are being used in construction and one of these processes promises to revolutionize our homes by reducing time and cost.
Inflation and the rise in commodity prices have had significant effects on the construction of new housing in France, particularly individual houses, the costs of which have soared. What if the solution lies in innovation and the use of completely new materials?
For several years, unusual materials have been popular: wood, hemp but also residues of invasive algae such as sargassum (especially in the French West Indies) are among the possibilities.
The other project is of course the construction of a fully recyclable house through the use of 3D printing. Simple fad, crazy and unrealistic project? Think again, technology is advancing quickly, very quickly even to the point that the first homes have already emerged from the ground. A 55 square meter house, entirely built in 3D printing, was recently unveiled by the University of Maine, in the United States.
You are probably wondering what material is used for 3D printing? Not plastic or carbon. If these two materials are used daily by 3D printing enthusiasts, they remain raw materials that are both expensive and highly polluting. Not necessarily a solution for the future so…
To build this house, the researchers used bio-resin, which is made from wood fibers and sawmill waste. Concrete was no longer used except for the foundations of the house. Researchers are moving fast. Already in 2021, a first fully 3D-printed house was presented in Germany. The American project could go much further. The governor of Maine, Janet Mills, even sees it as a solution to the housing shortage observed in her state.
3D printing has several advantages, highlighted by a German architect, Waldemar Korte. “We are much faster to build,” he explained to Deutsche Welle before giving the construction time: only 4 days! “We need fewer people, and that helps when you have a shortage of qualified people in the industry.” The contribution of artificial intelligence in 3D construction projects could also make it possible to speed up the process and quickly make the process profitable.
