Azure Printed Homes is 3D Printing Houses With Recycled Plastic
With construction and environmental issues at the heart of 3D printing today, U.S.-based Azure Printed Homes has developed a solution to address both issues. In Culver City, California, the company announced the opening of its new 15,000-square-foot factory, which will house Azure Printed Homes’ custom-made 3D printer. With their technology, the machine is capable of creating large structures and buildings, such as houses or garden studios, from recycled plastic. An environmentally friendly manufacturing process that aims to transform construction methods.
Through its process and 3D printer, Azure Printed Homes wants to minimize the amount of waste going to landfills, which unfortunately regularly ends up in the oceans. Gene Eidelman, co-founder of the company, presents his motivations: “The construction sector is the largest global consumer of raw materials, responsible for approximately 20% of the world’s total carbon emissions. Our responsibility to our customers and to future generations is to use the most sustainable practices imaginable.” And to achieve more sustainable practices, Azur Printed Homes seems to have the solution.
Benefits of Azure Printed Homes’ Technology
According to the company, its technology would be able to build 70% faster than traditional methods, and construction costs would be reduced by 30%. Ross Maguire, also a co-founder of Azure Printed Homes, says, “We have created production efficiencies not only by capitalizing on the advances in 3D printing but by creating a design and process that is completed in only 12 hours.” He also explains that he wants to revolutionize construction processes through additive manufacturing, and offer sustainable, automated and accurate production processes. This is also because unlike traditional methods, Azure is able to produce the entire structural skeleton, , the exterior sheathing, the water control barrier, the exterior finish, the passageways for utilities, and the grounding for interior finishes, in a fraction of the time and cost.
At this time, Azure Printed Homes has not begun printing full-size homes but plans to start its first project by 2023. However, the company is currently accepting pre-orders for accessory dwellings and garden studios. Similar to the solution developed by the California-based company, several initiatives to combine environment and construction are emerging. For example, just recently, the Cacao Eco Village in Ecuador was announced. In this project, Valentino Gareri Atelier seeks to create dwellings out of cacao waste. You can find out more about Azure Printed Houses on their website HERE or in the video below.
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*All Photo Credits: Azure Printed Homes
