The World’s Largest 3D Printer Is Building Cozy Homes from Wood

nnAt the University of Maine, one of the world’s largest 3D printers is using sawdust from the state’s lumber industry to 3D-print cozy 600-square-foot wooden cabins.nnIt’s part of a move towards making 3D printing faster and more sustainable in a state where the housing shortage that has metastasized in most states around the country is dire.nnIt’s thought that 80,000 new homes will be needed over the next 5 years to keep pace with demand, and though it takes years for building codes to be changed, the technicians at the Advanced Structures & Composites Center (ASCC) at the Univ. of Maine hope their new toy can help address this need.nnGuinness World Records certified the machine at ASCC as the world’s largest prototype polymer 3D printer, capable of creating an object that is 96 feet in length, 36 feet in width, and 18 feet tall—entirely out of bio-based material at a rate of 500 pounds per hour.nnIn 2022, it could print the walls, floors, and roof of the house in just 96 hours, but the ACSS has been refining the design with the hope of doubling the printing speed and getting it down to a 48-hour timeline.nn“When they’re doing concrete, they’re only printing the walls,” Habib Dagher, the executive director of ACSS told CNN. “The approach we’ve taken is quite different from what you’ve seen, and you’ve been reading about for years.”nnIndeed, GNN has reported on a fair number of 3D printing projects, but most if not all involve printing only the walls. One fantastical exception is an Italian firm that is 3D-printing domed, beehive-like, modular concept homes inspired by the Great Enclosure in Zimbabwe.nnSTAND-OUT 3D-PRINTING PROJECTS: n

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nThe ASCC is calling the house design the BioHome3D, and says it’s rare people who tour the concept version don’t ask when they “can have one up?”nnThe interior gives the feel of a modern Scandinavian wooden cabin, making it fit well with the Maine aesthetic. The ASCC is now doing work on how to incorporate conduits for wiring and plumbing “exactly where an architect would want them,” says Dagher.nnWATCH a time-lapse video of the printer doing the job…nn[raw] [/raw]nnSHARE This Mix Of High And Low Tech With Your Mainer Friends…