[Maru]

This cheap 3D-printed home is a start for the 1 billion who lack shelter
https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/12/1...housing-crisis

This cheap 3D-printed home is a start for the 1 billion who lack shelter

Food, water, and shelter are basic human needs, but 1.2 billion people in the world live without adequate housing, according to a report by the World Resources Institute’s Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. Today at SXSW, an Austin-based startup will unveil its approach to combat that deficiency by using low-cost 3D printing as a potential solution.

ICON has developed a method for printing a single-story 650-square-foot house out of cement in only 12 to 24 hours, a fraction of the time it takes for new construction. If all goes according to plan, a community made up of about 100 homes will be constructed for residents in El Salvador next year. The company has partnered with New Story, a nonprofit that is vested in international housing solutions. “We have been building homes for communities in Haiti, El Salvador, and Bolivia,” Alexandria Lafci, co-founder of New Story, tells The Verge.

The first model, scheduled to be unveiled in Austin today, is a step toward providing shelter to those in underserved communities. Jason Ballard, one of ICON’s three founders, says he is going to trial the model as an office to test out their practical use. “We are going to install air quality monitors. How does it look, and how does it smell?” Ballard also runs Treehouse, a company that focuses on sustainable home upgrades.

Using the Vulcan printer, ICON can print an entire home for $10,000 and plans to bring costs down to $4,000 per house. “It’s much cheaper than the typical American home,” Ballard says. It’s capable of printing a home that’s 800 square feet, a significantly bigger structure than properties pushed by the tiny home movement, which top out at about 400 square feet. In contrast, the average New York apartment is about 866 square feet.

The model has a living room, bedroom, bathroom, and a curved porch. “There are a few other companies that have printed homes and structures,” Ballard says. “But they are printed in a warehouse, or they look like Yoda huts. For this venture to succeed, they have to be the best houses.” The use of cement as a common material will help normalize the process for potential tenants that question the sturdiness of the structure. “I think if we were printing in plastic we would encounter some issues.”

Once ICON completes material testing and tweaking of the design, the company will move the Vulcan printer to El Salvador to begin construction. ICON says its 3D-printed houses will create minimal waste and labor costs are significantly reduced. The company also intends to build homes in the US eventually. It’s a compelling solution to solving housing shortages but one that could be contentious among labor unions that represent workers.

It’s almost cliché that tech innovations happen in the high-end, for-profit segment long before they filter down to the masses, where innovation could serve the greatest social good. ICON and New Story are challenging that premise. Lafci uses the example of latency in cellphone availability to reach the African continent as the reason she believes in the endeavor. “(ICON) believes, as do I, that 3D printing is going to be a method for all kinds of housing,” she says.

But the company is already looking past the global housing crises to think about communities that will one day live off-planet. “One of the big challenges is how are we going to create habitats in space,” Ballard says. “You’re not going to open a two by four and open screws. It’s one of the more promising potential habitat technologies.”

[DemolitionRed]

I think its fantastic. Cheap modular housing is the way forward. The only problem with the UK is the lack and cost of building land.

[Livia]

I don't know why people aren't all over this kind of thing. Housing the homeless should be a priority. There has to be a whole range of affordable options... the one Maru posted is brilliant. Everyone should have the dignity of being able to shut a door on the world and retreat into some kind of home.

[Toy Soldier]

Looks nicer than my house . Though as DR says, a big problem in the UK is a lack of land. Its the land / location itself that pushes house prices so high - which is why my rented 2 bed house would cost approx £100k to buy whereas two villages over the same style of house but bigger / 3 bed can be found for as little as £55k, if you don't mind risking your kids coming in from playing in the local park with AIDS from needle pricks, or broken glass injuries...

But yeah, where there's abundant space to put them on, these are a brilliant idea.

[DemolitionRed]

Originally Posted by Livia

I don't know why people aren't all over this kind of thing. Housing the homeless should be a priority. There has to be a whole range of affordable options... the one Maru posted is brilliant. Everyone should have the dignity of being able to shut a door on the world and retreat into some kind of home.

Totally agree.

A couple of years ago the government proposed riverbank modular housing here in the UK. If smart modular housing could be incorporated onto floating pontoons or built on pillars dug into sandbanks, it wouldn't only be environmentally to both land and rivers but would provide affordable housing for those who need it.

So far nothing has happened. I think local councils are against such plans which is such a shame because its another great solution for the housing crisis.

[Mystic Mock]

It's a good idea, but the there will need to be tests to make sure that this thing doesn't go caving in on itself or something else that could go wrong.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

Totally agree.

A couple of years ago the government proposed riverbank modular housing here in the UK. If smart modular housing could be incorporated onto floating pontoons or built on pillars dug into sandbanks, it wouldn't only be environmentally to both land and rivers but would provide affordable housing for those who need it.

So far nothing has happened. I think local councils are against such plans which is such a shame because its another great solution for the housing crisis.

All the villages surrounding me are having houses built and without exception they are executive and luxury homes. Then our council makes a big thing of them building houses. It's ridiculous... those in most need should be a priority. I've seen a few of those "little house" programmes on TV and think they work so well, surely as a society we can come up with a simple, affordable solution?

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Livia

All the villages surrounding me are having houses built and without exception they are executive and luxury homes. Then our council makes a big thing of them building houses. It's ridiculous... those in most need should be a priority. I've seen a few of those "little house" programmes on TV and think they work so well, surely as a society we can come up with a simple, affordable solution?

Our local council had some land available in my village and had earmarked it for Housing Association houses... But the "local community group" kicked off hard about it so it was sold to a private housing developer, and now its 4 and 5 bedroom fully detached houses.

This is a village where there is NO council housing. None, at all... Every single one was bought out 10+ years ago.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Our local council had some land available in my village and had earmarked it for Housing Association houses... But the "local community group" kicked off hard about it so it was sold to a private housing developer, and now its 4 and 5 bedroom fully detached houses.

This is a village where there is NO council housing. None, at all... Every single one was bought out 10+ years ago.

I remember when I worked for the Tories, the local council wanted to build affordable homes outside one of the market towns. A local councillor told me that no way would they let that sort of scum take up residence. I asked him, you mean, like teachers, nurses, carers, those sorts of people. He said that I knew what he meant. Oh yes, I knew what he meant. He's a nasty, bigoted old b*stard who I hope never needs a carer or a nurse.

Personally I think the biggest mistake the Tories ever made - and they've made a few - was to sell off council housing because it was never going to be replaced.

[Kizzy]

We already have those, they make them in Sherburn in Elmet in Yorkshire. Yes they are a fantastic idea, the issue here is not what but where... Nobody wants to give up their swathes of unoccupied land.

[DemolitionRed]

Originally Posted by Kizzy

We already have those, they make them in Sherburn in Elmet in Yorkshire. Yes they are a fantastic idea, the issue here is not what but where... Nobody wants to give up their swathes of unoccupied land.

Tell me about it A family member who lives in Surrey is kicking up merry hell atm because the field behind her house has just been put forward for planning permission. The plans are only for half a dozen houses. She's so angry and she's trying to rally her family and friends to object.

[Kizzy]

That's I guess what is described as a NIMBY?
Personally I disagree with the ownership of undeveloped land that is not designated green belt.

[Ammi]

..surely the ‘affordable housing’ options are already there in the UK without having to secure land also...with all of the empty offices../..shops etc that we all see in our towns and cities..many seem to lay empty for many years and could surely be sectioned into flats../rooms etc quite easily...’you can’t sleep and take shelter in this doorway because you’re ‘messing up the town’ but we won’t let you inside one of the many empty buildings’..has always felt so dumb to me, so illogical in reasoning...

[Ammi]

..it’s just if it’s always said...we don’t have the land though, is the problem...it’s just deferring from addressing the problem to the extent it may be able to address it without securing land...looking every possible which way as a priority...

[Kizzy]

The cost of bringing these building up to standard must be outside already stretched budgets? Many abandoned out buildings, offices, schools and mills around here contain asbestos so don't get touched