3D printer can build a house


Ultimate guide to construction 3D printers in 2022 (concrete 3D printing)

What are the best house 3D printers?

A construction 3D printer is a machine that can build houses by depositing a material (concrete for example) layer by layer. Concrete 3D printing – a.k.a. “Construction 4.0” – is a similar 3D printing technology to the one that FFF 3D printers use. Paste-type material, in this case, concrete or earth materials, is pushed through a nozzle in layers to print buildings in 3D.

Concrete 3D printing in the construction industry helps save time, effort, and material compared to traditional construction methods. It’s important to note, though, that 3D printers are not yet capable of creating a fully functional house.

Only the frame and walls of the house are built; other elements, such as windows, electricity, or plumbing, need to be installed separately. But concrete 3D printers can also be used to print bridges, benches, or simply outdoor decorations.

To provide a complete overview of the construction 3D printer market, we have listed 12 house 3D printing solutions. Some of them are 3D printers available for sale, while some are still at the start-up prototype stage or are external construction 3D printing services.

13 house construction 3D printers

House 3D printerCategory* Type** Build size (m) Country
BetAbram P1AvailableGantry system 16 x 8.2 x 2.5 Slovenia
COBOD BOD2Available Gantry system 14.62 x 50.52 x 8.14 Denmark
MAXI PRINTERAvailableRobotic arm 12.25 x 12.25 x 7France
CyBe Construction CyBe RC 3DpAvailableRobotic arm 2.75 x 2.75 x 2.75 Netherlands
ICON Vulcan II Available Gantry system 2. 6 x 8.5 x ∞ United States
MudBots 3D Concrete PrinterAvailable Gantry system 1.83 x 1.83 x 1.22 United States
Total Kustom StroyBot 6.2 Available Gantry system 10 x 15 x 6 United States
WASP Crane WASP AvailableDelta system Ø 6.3 x 3 Italy
Apis CorProjectRobotic arm 8.5 x 1.6 x 1.5 Russia
Batiprint3D 3D printer Project Robotic arm Up to 7m high France
SQ4D – ARCS Service Gantry system 9.1 x 4.4 x ∞ United States
Contour Crafting ServiceGantry system United States
XtreeEServiceRobotic arm France

Build volumes are indicative and may vary based on the specific configuration of the machine.

*Category: some 3D printers are available for sale, others are working projects, and some are only available via a rental service.
**Type: construction 3D printers either use a gantry system (like oversized desktop 3D printers with X, Y, and Z axes) or a mechanical, robotic arm.

How to build 3D printed houses?

Here we explain how 3D printers are able to print houses with paste extrusion.

House 3D printing technology

House 3D printers use extrusion technology. Some construction 3D printers look like super-sized desktop FFF/FDM 3D printers (gantry style), whereas others consist of a rotating mechanical arm.

In both cases, paste-type components such as concrete are used as filament. The material is pushed out of a special nozzle to form layers. To put it (very) simply, paste extrusion is similar to using a piping bag to spread frosting on a cake.

The printer creates the foundations and walls of the house or building, layer by layer. The ground is literally the printer’s build plate. Some concrete 3D printers, however, are used to 3D print brick molds. When molded, the bricks are then piled atop each other manually (or with a robotic arm).

WASP’s construction printer 3D printing with Earth materials (clay, soil). Source: WASP

Benefits of house 3D printing

Eco-friendly

3D printed houses can be built with organic, eco-friendly materials. Moreover, some house 3D printers use solar energy and generate low CO2 emissions.

Affordable

House 3D printers can build affordable housing, being of great aid for people in poverty-stricken regions or after natural disasters.

Scalable

Construction 3D printing reduces certain building costs. For example, the cost for 1 square meter of a wall using traditional construction methods is approximately $75, whereas with the Apis Cor house 3D printer it is only $27.

Efficient

Since the materials are 3D printed on-demand, the machines produce less waste. Also, construction 3D printers can finish a home’s foundations in less than a few days, while traditional construction methods take several weeks or even months.

Design flexibility

With a 3D construction printer, it’s possible to easily create curved walls and unique facades. (Good thing it’s possible to 3D print furniture to match the curves!)

Limits of 3D printing houses

Expensive initial investment

House 3D printers can sometimes cost up to one million dollars.

Partially-built houses

House 3D printers only build house frames. The 3D printing process is usually paused to manually settle plumbing, wiring, and rebars.

Rough exterior

Most 3D printed homes’ exteriors are not as smooth as traditionally-built houses.

Lack of certification

Construction sites are regulated by laws and there are important safety standards that need to be met, which can be challenging with 3D printing techniques (varying repeatability, dimensional stability, etc.).

Another downside that has been noted over the years is that house 3D printing can potentially harm local economies, especially in poverty-stricken regions or cities with high unemployment rates. Indeed, since construction 3D printers reduce the need for manual labor, they create much less employment for local workers.

Differences between 3D printed houses and traditional houses

Concrete 3D printing saves time, uses less material, and requires less manual labor. Even 3D printed houses have a rougher exterior, post-processing is an option just as it is for regular 3D printed objects. 3D printed houses tend to be smaller due to 3D printer build volume limits, but this is not always the case.

Construction 3D printers: overview

We break down construction 3D printers into three categories: house 3D printers that are available for sale, concrete printer prototypes, and 3D concrete printing services.

House 3D printers available for sale

BetAbram is a small Slovenian team that has been working on construction 3D printing hardware since 2012. Their flagship home 3D printer, the BetAbram P1, is currently in its second version and is available with optional print heads: basic, “Orto” for smoother layers, and rotating for more design possibilities.

Contact manufacturer Get a quote Add to comparison

This construction 3D printer is fast, reaching announced speeds of up to 60 meters per minute. The BOD2 is modular and can be adapted is many different sizes. COBOD is a 3D Printhuset company.

Contact manufacturer Get a quote Add to comparison

Constructions-3D is a subsidiary of French 3D printer retailer Machines-3D.

Their MAXI PRINTER machine is mobile thanks to its caterpillar-style rubber tracks and fits into a 20-foot shipping container for easy transport from one construction site to another.

Contact manufacturer Get a quote Add to comparison

The CyBe RC 3Dp consists of a single robotic arm with a nozzle at its end.

This easy-to-move house 3D printer is capable of reaching up to 2.75 meters high and requires only two people to operate it.

Contact manufacturer Get a quote Add to comparison

ICON wishes to revolutionize the construction field with their Vulcan II printer. The whole process is designed to be user-friendly with a tablet-based interface, and ICON’s Lavacrete concrete mix is optimized to be easier to print.

Contact manufacturer Get a quote Add to comparison

MudBots is a concrete 3D printer manufacturer based in the United States. Their smallest model (1830 x 1830 x 1220 mm approx.) is available at the price of $35,000. Larger build sizes are available as well, reaching up to 30 meters long.

According to MudBots, their 3D printers can 3D print a small house in only 12 hours and can drive costs down 70% compared to traditional construction methods.

Contact manufacturer Get a quote Add to comparison

The StroyBot, also known as the Rudenko 3D construction printer (made by Andrey Rudenko), is an all-in-one mobile construction printing system delivered as a kit to be assembled by the user. On average, it is able to print a 100-square-meter house in 48 hours (walls only).

The Crane WASP is the evolution of WASP’s previous construction printer, the BigDeltaWASP 12MT. This open source construction printer is modular and multiple Crane printers can work together on one project, for theoretically infinite 3D printing possibilities.

Concrete printer working projects

Apis Cor, a 3D construction company, is based in San Francisco and claims to be able to 3D print a house in under 24 hours. Their Apis Cor printer is similar to a robotic arm and has won first place in NASA’s Phase 3 3D-Printed Habitat Competition.

Contact manufacturer Get a quote Add to comparison

Batiprint 3D made international headlines when completing their Yhnova 3D printed house in Nantes, France. Their 3D printer not only prints cement but also insulation foam, which makes it one of the most complete 3D construction solutions.

Construction printing services

This automated construction system is able to 3D print large buildings and tall infrastructures. Contour Crafting (a.k.a. CC Corp) aims to make disaster relief more efficient with their concrete additive manufacturing technology.

SQ4D – ARCS aims to provide quick, robust, eco-friendly, and affordable housing solutions for impoverished areas.

XtreeE develops specific 3D printing solutions for construction, engineering, and architectural design. This startup is based in France and has already completed a number of 3D construction projects.

Special mentions: interesting 3D construction projects

DFAB HOUSE

This unique building was completed by a consortium of companies in early 2019 and is based in Switzerland. The 3-story DFAB building offers 200 square meters of space.

Branch Technology C-FAB and WATG’s Curve Appeal design

The WATG architectural design firm won the Branch Technology Freeform Home Design Challenge in 2016. In 2019, their project is set to be printed in Tennessee by Branch Technology’s C-FAB freeform construction 3D printing method.

DUS Architects XL 3D printer (KamerMaker)

The XL 3D printer was created by DUS Architects to build a prototype canal-house (simply dubbed “3D Print Canal House”) in Amsterdam using recycled materials.

Haus.me

This US-based company, previously known as PassivDom (dom.ai), 3D prints walls, floors, and roofs for their fully autonomous prefab houses.

Autodesk metal construction printer

Autodesk may or may not be working on a construction 3D printer that uses metal material. This 3D printer, which is more a pair of robotic arms than a printer, is able to make metal components for construction sites. We can’t wait to hear more about this!

CONCR3DE Armadillo stone 3D printer

CONCR3DE is a Dutch company that manufactures stone 3D printers. They are able to 3D print stone thanks to a special binder jetting process. Their two 3D printers, Armadillo Black and Armadillo White, aren’t able to print a house but can 3D print stone decorations or molds.

Discontinued projects and printers

Many startups have come and gone in the construction 3D printing industry.

D-Shape construction 3D printer

The D-Shape 3D printer is a multifunctional construction 3D printer that can 3D print very large objects, including houses and prototypes. D-Shape seems to be inactive since 2015.

Winsun house 3D printer

The Winsun 3D printer is a house 3D printer that was in the spotlight a few years ago. In 2015, however, Contour Crafting’s CEO accused Winsun of stealing their patented technology. Winsun’s website has since been taken down.

Cazza X1 3D printer

Cazza was founded in 2016 with its X1 construction 3D printer. However, it seems that one of the co-founders stole the company’s funding in 2018, and Cazza is now on standby.

HuaShang Tengda

HuaShang Tengda 3D printed a house capable of withstanding a base 8 earthquake on the Richter magnitude scale. Today, the company seems to be off the radar.

3D printed house time and cost

Construction 3D printing is faster and more affordable than traditional construction methods.

However, since construction 3D printing is still in its early years, it is difficult to provide definitive statements about how long it takes to 3D print a house and how much it costs to 3D print a house.

How long does it take to 3D print a house?

Various construction 3D printer manufacturers such as Apis Cor or ICON boast that they are able to 3D print a small house in 24 hours. As mentioned before though, print jobs generally only include laying down the house’s foundations and walls.

This does save whatever amount of time it usually takes for a standard team to build walls for a certain project. The rest of the timeframe for building a house remains equal.

3D printed house price

In general, it is estimated that a 3D printed house costs 30% to 55% less than a traditionally-built house.

For reference, Apis Cor’s small house cost less than $10,000 to produce, and ICON’s compact 3D printed home even cost less than $4,000.

Construction 3D printer price

A construction 3D printer can cost anywhere between around $180K to over $1M. Robotic arm systems tend to have higher price tags than gantry-type systems.

Other 3D printed infrastructures

Aside from housing or buildings, construction 3D printers are able to 3D print bridges and space-station infrastructures.

3D printed bridges

Construction 3D printers can also 3D print bridges. In 2015, the world’s first 3D printed steel bridge was 3D printed for testing in Amsterdam by MX3D. MX3D printed the final version of their stainless steel bridge in 2018 and installed it in Summer 2021.

In 2017, a 12-meter-long pedestrian bridge was 3D printed in Madrid, Spain. In the same year, the first 3D printed concrete bridge was built in the village of Gemert in the Netherlands.

More recently, in 2019, Shanghai became home to the world’s longest concrete 3D printed bridge. It is 26.3-meters long and 2.6-meters wide, and was 3D printed in only 18 days.

3D printed infrastructures in space

NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge has given life to a number of teams dedicated to bringing 3D printing to space. Apis Cor, namely, won the top prize for one of this project’s phases. The goal is to create sustainable and efficient 3D printed housing for deep space exploration.

Many other companies have been involved in space-building projects, including the European Space Agency and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. It is possible that we will see the first space house 3D printers in space sometime in the next couple of decades (!).

Apis Cor and SEArch+ team’s 3D printed space infrastructure (render) for the NASA 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. Source: Apis Cor and SEArch+

FAQ: construction 3D printing

What is a 3D-printed house?

A 3D printed house is a house composed of 3D printed elements, such as 3D printed walls, floors, or roofs. It is also possible to use the term “3D-printed home”.

How much does it cost to 3D print a home?

It can cost as low as $4,000 to 3D print a home. Prices vary greatly according to the material being used and the size of the home to be 3D printed.

What are the best 3D printed house companies?

See our selection of the best 3D printed house companies here.

Where are there 3D-printed houses for sale?

There are 3D printed houses for sale in the US (Los Angeles, San Francisco), China, France, Russia, UAE, and many other countries.

Is concrete 3D printing just for houses?

No, concrete 3D printing is also for infrastructures such as bridges.

Companies using 3D printing to build houses at half the cost

Home

A 3D printer can build the walls of a house in as little as two days versus weeks or months with traditional construction materials.

/ Source: TODAY

By Ronnie Koenig

3D printing technology has led to the creation of an amazing array of three-dimensional objects and now it's being used to create something on a much larger scale — the house of your dreams.

The future of home building may be headed toward a 3D printing revolution with the technology being used to build homes at half the time and at half the price of traditional construction. It just might be an emerging market that builders and buyers simply cannot ignore.

Jason Ballard, co-founder and CEO of ICON, a construction technologies company that uses 3D printing to create homes, told Weekend TODAY that picking out the house you want can be as simple as selecting a design and pushing print.

Check out the 3D printer in action: pic.twitter.com/TQkrV8BFWr

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) May 1, 2021
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"3D printing is taking a digital file of a house design and layer by layer, depositing material to build up the house in three dimensions, one layer at a time," Ballard told NBC's Kathy Park.

And unlike traditional homes, which can take weeks or even months to frame out, the walls and foundation of a 3D-printed home can be ready in as little as two days, with only a three or four person crew. All of these factors brings the production costs of a 3D-printed house down to as little as $4,000 per unit.

3D-printed homes are a cost-effective way to build from the ground up. Production costs for one 3D-printed home can be as low as $4,000.TODAY

Companies like ICON are creating homes from the ground up, using a massive printer and a special concrete formula. The proprietary concrete used to make the homes is inherently resilient and this cost-effective yet sturdy construction could help make homes nationwide more affordable, making it a major contender in the fight against homelessness and the effects of climate change.

3D-printed homes like the ones created by ICON use a proprietary concrete formula.TODAY

"My hometown's been destroyed multiple times by hurricanes and tropical storms," said Ballard. "I've spent Christmas in a FEMA trailer. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," he added, pointing out that it takes a lot of money and time for a town to try and recover from disasters.

3D printing might be a solution for the country's housing shortage and homeless crisis.TODAY

ICON built the nation's first community of 3D homes in Austin, Texas to uplift the local homeless population.

Tim Shea was the first person to move in.

"I could never have imagined from where I came from that I would ever have this beautiful a place to live in," he told TODAY. "I'm so thankful."

Austin resident Tim Shea is grateful to live in a 3D-printed home.TODAY

3D homes are starting to hit the wider market. On Long Island, New York, SQ4D constructed the first 3D-printed home for sale to the public.

"We're trying to build houses in half the time for half the price," SQ4D's director of operations Kirk Andersen said. "Our profits will be higher and we'll be able to show that with more projects that we do."

A three-bedroom, 2-bathroom house built in just two days using 3D printing technology was listed for just under $300,000 — approximately half the cost of a comparable home in the same area. Offers poured in by the thousands.

"It's just impossible to find anything at this price," said potential buyer Mitch Johnson.

"And this quality," added Patty Johnson.

And with a housing shortage and a labor shortage, it seems that 3D-printed homes couldn't have come at a better time.

Ronnie Koenig

Ronnie Koenig is a writer for TODAY.com, covering the food and pop culture beats. She also writes about health and wellness, parenting and relationships for NBC Better and TMRW x TODAY, serves as a senior editor for New Jersey Family, and contributes to The New York Times and Real Simple.  She is a graduate of Barnard College and a mom of twins.

What Europe's first fully 3D printed house looks like

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Photo: Project Milestone

Europe's first fully 3D printed home welcomes its new occupants, a couple from Amsterdam

What's happening

What it means

The creation of the first fully 3D printed house in the Netherlands is just the beginning of a new phase in the industry. Residential buildings built using 3D printing technology have a number of significant advantages over "classic" buildings. Firstly, the speed of the project, the first house was printed in five days, but going forward, the company plans to produce concrete elements on site, as well as use a 3D printer to create auxiliary installations, which will reduce construction time and costs.

In addition, in an era of global concern about the state of the environment, such "green" technologies help to reduce environmental damage to the environment - with 3D printing, the consumption of cement and waste of building materials is much less than with "traditional" construction.

Finally, with the help of a 3D printer, almost any design idea can be realized, which will allow you to move away from the concept of residential buildings in the form of "concrete boxes". The development of this technology makes it possible to erect buildings of such forms that are difficult and expensive to build using traditional methods.

The technology of printing houses on a 3D printer is actively developing in Russia, France, the USA and other countries. It is assumed that this will help solve the problem of providing citizens with affordable and decent housing.

Updated on 07/30/2021

Text

Ksenia Yanushkevich

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