Can 3D Printed, Composite Homes Help Us Survive Climate Change?

source: https://all3dp.com/1/3d-printed-house-homes-buildings-3d-printing-construction/#curve-appeal

After the last few weeks of watching hurricanes tear apart islands, flood major cities and demonstrate the existential threat to coastal living, as I look out my window at a calm (today) ocean, I can’t help but think that something’s gotta give.

We’re on an unsustainable path. We can’t keep living in these vulnerable areas the way we do it today. Storms like Irma and Harvey aren’t going away. Rising sea levels, removal of natural buffers and higher ocean temperatures are a toxic combination. We can’t re-build our way out of this every time. Flood insurance is taxpayer subsidized today because the real cost of flood insurance for a house anywhere near the water would be exorbitant.

Earlier this year, I listened to a presentation by MIT Department of Architecture Associate Professor Mark Goulthorpe about composite housing. He’s soft spoken, understated and informal. He blew my mind. I’m still processing what he said:

It’s time to build (3D printed) plastic (composite) houses.

We’ve been programmed to believe that plastic is bad — that it’s not environmentally friendly, that it’s not very strong, that it’s not aesthetically pleasing. But, he convinced me that we couldn’t be more wrong.

Below is just a taste of this construction revolution is coming and why that’s probably a good thing. Read/watch Professor Goulthorpe’s research or find your way into one of his lectures to get the real version.

Here are 10 reasons why I think 3d printed, composite housing is the future and why they might be an important part of how we deal with the impacts of climate change on coastal living:

1. Composites can be made as strong as metal. Modern airplanes, bullet-proof vests and race cars (and boats, bikes, motorcycles, etc) are increasingly built of composites (such as carbon fiber or Kevlar).
2. They can be designed to withstand sustained force (hurricanes), impacts (debris) and shaking (earthquakes). You can build structures that can withstand very high winds, could float in floods and even be movable relatively quickly and cheaply
3. Composites are waterproof and resistant to mold and mildew
4. Modern 3D printing techniques allow virtually any designs to be made using composites. And, once it’s built once, the “molds” can be saved in software to print some or all of the same design again (and again…)
5. Composites don’t lose strength in curves (unlike most other materials). You can build more aesthetically pleasing designs using composites without paying a penalty. Large open rooms, curved staircases, curved exterior shapes are all very plausible
6. Composite homes can be truly modular — a whole house can be dozens of total pieces — instead of 100’000’s of houses today — allowing them to be constructed on-site, easily upgraded/expanded and even moved
7. Composites use less energy to produce than even wood construction. To build a wood house requires burning many times the fossil fuels of composite construction. Composite homes weigh less, are more stable and require less foundation work, further reducing energy consumption during building. Composite homes can be nearly 100% recycled (into nearly anything)
8. You can build plumbing, electrical, HVAC and other services built right into the structure to dramatically reduce the time and cost of construction. And, composite homes can be more fire resistant than conventional construction
9. Composite homes can be extremely energy efficient. Composite materials are naturally air-tight and poor heat conductors (i.e. good insulators). 3D printing and building in a controlled environment offer yet more opportunities for increased insulation and heat exchange optimizations
10. At scale, composite homes could be ~1/10th the cost of conventional homes. They could be a solution for building mind-blowing works of art at the high-end of the market and affordable, safe and environmentally sustainable housing for the bottom of the pyramid in the developing world

Like many other technologies, we’re just getting started with 3D printing, especially using high-tech composites. And, very few examples have been built to scale. But, it seems like all the technology pieces are in place for this approach to already be better, faster and cheaper than conventional construction.

Thanks again to the MIT Center for Real Estate for sharing this and other amazing technology.