There is increasingly more discussion about sustainable construction. For years it has been encouraged to find solutions that will reduce our impact on the environment, boost energy savings and restore a conscious use of materials.

Now a genuine and legitimate technological revolution is emerging on the market that could overturn our way of devising homes and residential buildings.

In Beckum, a German town with a population of over 37,000 residents in the northern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, is the first to “print” their first ever 3D printed residential building: a two-story detached house with approx. 80 sqm of living space per floor and composed of three-layer walls filled with insulating compound.

The innovative project is taking shape thanks to the high-tech material "i.tech 3D", developed in the Italcementi research center in Bergamo, specifically for 3D printing and suitable for versatile use with different types of printers. The 3D construction of the Beckum house is managed by PERI GmbH, a leading German company in the production of formwork and scaffolding systems in the construction industry sector.

3D Printing is an “additive manufacturing” technology, through which the material is deposited in successive layers, in order to get the exact intended shape; in some sectors it has been used for over 50 years, in construction for only 10/15 years, and will allow us to open scenarios that were unthinkable until a few years ago, as has already occured in other industrial sectors.

The construction of the 3D printed residential building in Beckum is being built with a BOD2  3D Construction Printer from the Danish manufacturer COBOD, owned by PERI. A fixed frame allows the movement of the print head along the three orthogonal axes. The printer is also able to take into account the spaces that must be left for piping systems, such as hydraulic or electrical, that will be laid later.

3D Printing has significant advantages over traditional construction, from the speed of construction to design flexibility, thanks to the relatively infinite construction possibilities granted with this particular technology.

Another fundamental factor is its sustainability;  in fact, thanks to the optimization of the use of materials, it is possible to obtain up to 50% reduction of the necessary products needed to build houses in respect to traditional methods. Furthermore, some studies show that the construction of a house with the 3D printing system involves an approximately 50% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to traditional construction methods.

It will take time before 3D Printing indefintely establishes itself in the construction industry sector, it will be a real cultural leap for operators in the construction world, from designers to builders and, also from a regulatory point of view, adaptations will have to be made. Furthermore, with 3D Printing it is not yet possible to create constructions with medium/large sizes.

However, the road is marked: examples of constructions built with this innovative technique are multiplying all over the world and soon it will be possible to truly create the house of your dreams!

We at UNIQ∙Ǝ! are on that road. Get updated!

Photo taken from the site idealista.it: