3Strands is a multi-home housing development in Austin , Texas , that leverages ICON ’ s proprietary 3D printing technology .
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“ Technologies like 3D printing allow industrialization and systematization to come to a construction site . It ’ s a little like bringing the factory to your build site .”
— Peter Zelinski , editor in chief , Modern Machine Shop and Additive Manufacturing magazines , and co-host , “ The Cool Parts Show .”
3D printing is precise , using only as much concrete as is absolutely necessary , which helps minimize the net carbon footprint . It also can help create walls with special elements in between the layers that decrease energy consumption . Oak Ridge National Laboratory , for example , is experimenting with techniques to cool walls by piping water lines through them instead of having to rely only on air conditioning in the summer .
A PARADIGM SHIFT IN CONSTRUCTION The advantages of 3D printing homes are mostly due to the construction industry becoming like its cousin , the manufacturing industry , continues Peter Zelinski , editor-in-chief of Modern Machine Shop and Additive Manufacturing magazines , and co-host of “ The Cool Parts Show ,” a video series .
Traditionally , construction has been like a big manual assembly project onsite : “ You bring sticks and bricks and put it all together with power tools ,” Zelinski explains . But when you view each part of the constructed unit as a discrete part to be manufactured , the calculation changes . Just as an airplane wing or a mask can be 3D printed , now so can a wall .
“ Technologies like 3D printing allow industrialization and systematization to come to a construction site and for the industry to build more sophisticated objects ,” Zelinski says . “ It ’ s a little like bringing the factory right to your build site .”
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ICON