A Sustainable Solution to Affordable Housing? The first 3D-printed home by Habitat for Humanity in the United States nears completion in Tempe BY DAVID M. BROWN
O
On this loud, lively Habitat for Humanity of Central Arizona building site in Tempe, Arizona, power tools grind and whir, and construction workers and yellow-shirted Habitat volunteers briskly walk from one job task to another. At one part of the site, large green lights top an elevated steel mast; everyone on the site dutifully notes them, as they would a traffic signal.
At intervals, a loud flat sound cuts through the construction clamor and the green lights blink. Immediately, a BOD2 gantry printer designed and built by the Danish construction company, COBOD, begins delivering Laticrete®, a proprietary cement, through a steel head that travels along the wall alignment and makes pinpoint corner turns as it creates Habitat for Humanity’s first 3D-printed home in the United States. As the gantry moves along both x and y axes of the walls and vertically to complete columns, the head outputs the high-strength cement until each section is complete, placing it as meticulously as a printing press does ink on paper. A technician posted next to a large delivery hopper issues commands through a hand-held control unit; the lay-down is spot-on. “When the green light is on, that means the walls don’t need material, and when the blinking begins, the software
30
GREEN LIVING
|
greenlivingmag.com
delivers the Laticrete,” says Steve Horst, director of construction for Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona. Habitat’s President and CEO, Jason Barlow, and his team have partnered with the Shivers family, who plan to move into this historic 1,738-square-foot, three-bedroom, twobathroom home designed by award-winning Scottsdale architects Candelaria Design Associates. As with all Habitat for Humanity families, they have agreed to make their “down payment” with 400 hours of sweat equity, Barlow explains. Three other traditionally built homes will complete the oneacre site, purchased by Habitat Arizona at a nominal cost from the City of Tempe, a longtime project partner. Other participating businesses in the printed home include the PERI Group, 3D Construction, The Brewer Companies, Chas Roberts, Younger Brothers, Lowe’s, Cox Communications, Ramsey Social Justice Foundation, and many more.
