By: Jacob Alvear, Pedro Rodrigues, & Priya Shahi
A start-up company on Long Island plans to 3D print a 1500 square foot house in Riverhead this March, with hopes to land a certificate of occupancy.
The printer is able to build interior and exterior walls of an eco-friendly house layer by layer.
“We’re looking to go green,” Bob Smith, a design engineer for S-squared, the company testing the new building technology, said. “This concrete can be torn down, ripped to shreds and then reused on roads or other houses.”
The cost of manufacturing a home using a 3D printer is roughly 60 to 70 percent less than current construction costs. With test prints outside the firm’s office and smaller models of house structures, S-squared is testing their own designs of the anti-corrosive 3D printer, which has been in construction for two years.
“The cement formula takes about 7 days to reach full strength, so after a week it can be worked on without any damage done to the shell or structure,” Smith said. “After that, the roofers, the electricians, and plumbers are free to go in. So within less a month’s time, we can complete a house.”
The company is looking to install metal roofing and build heating and solar panels right into the roof. Additives and coatings are being applied to the cement formula to enhance water repellency and fire resistance when printing structures of the house. Extra columns are also being attached inside the wall passage ways for heating ventilation and air-conditions to make the house air and water tight.
“Houses made out of wood and drywall mold suck in water, so we’re trying to build longer lasting homes,” Kirk Anderson, an engineer who has been with S-squared for one year, said.
While 3D printers have been around for 20 years, the company plans to perfect the the technology and turn it into a regular construction style.
“There are competitors,” Andersen said. “We aren’t the first, but we are going to be the best at it. Our machine is proven to be more accurate and of easier use. It’s a race right now and we’re looking to lead it.”
The company’s greatest obstacle is getting certified for improved construction. The 3D printing of homes is brand new. Adapting to the federal and local process of building a home with 3D printing can mean new rules and regulations.
“The town of Riverhead has been gracious enough to invite us with open arms to build an experimental house up there,” Smith said. “They don’t just want a structure, they want a house. They want to us showcase a piece out there.”
S-Squared is expanding their manufacturing by selling their 3D printers.
“Bob and his partner Mario made the design and the first prototype to schools and libraries,” Norman Borter, an intern at S-Squared, said.
The anti-corrosive 3D printer made out of aluminum and stainless steel that can print out a cookie cutter house, 1500 sq foot house, in a set amount of hours may lead the firm into larger projects in the near future. Construction workers, like Eddie Nunez, a worker at the 831 Construction Corporation in Medford, thinks 3D printing is part of the future.
“I think it’s (3D printing) a step in the right direction if it ends up working out.” he said.
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