Logan Riley
3D printers have been dramatically rising in popularity recently, so there is no shortage of availability to anyone. Unfortunately, not everyone is going to be satisfied with what you can make on a traditional starting printer; whether it is for your job, or just for your entertainment, the classic plastic filaments are good for the smaller jobs, not the bigger ones. So, what is being done to improve on this small flaw?
To start, plastic is not the only thing you are able to print with. There have been more industrial printers located around the world (specifically in places like Europe) which have been able to print with a variety of materials, spanning from soft things such as clay, to much more solid materials such as glass or even concrete! So, what does this mean? Well, there are now certain jobs that can be done easier and cheaper with 3D printing to a better degree of quality. There have even been instances where entire houses have been 3D printed in places like Italy. Just imagine, you would be able to have a house constructed for meaningfully cheaper, and in less time. The materials that can be used are bio-based, which means that they produce meaningfully less waste then traditional house building. As previously mentioned, these houses have many, many advantages. One of the biggest advantages is that the sheer quality of the houses is the same or better than the more traditional ones.
Unfortunately, it’s not like you can pay 200$, get a 3D printer, and make yourself a house. As much as I wish that were true, it is a big, mechanical process, which takes money and resources to make. Thankfully, there are many startup projects in places such as Canada who aim to incorporate 3D printed houses into communities. Projects like 3DPHC are trying to bring these modern day solutions to housing to a reality. In the future, we can expect to see many of these companies and houses I have been describing in global and local areas.
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