April 25, 2024

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The Canadian city plans to use a 3D printer to build homes for flood victims

In November 2021, catastrophic storms hit the Canadian area around the small town of Merritt, leaving many homeless. The severely affected city of Merritt is considering 3D-printed housing to help its residents quickly build their own homes. They are currently in the process of financing.

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Extreme levels of flood danger were announced in the western Canadian province of British Columbia last November. The city of Merritt was particularly hard hit. City officials are thinking louder Article in local magazine Is now exploring the use of 3D printers to quickly build homes in order to provide a new home for homeless residents. Know the benefits. 3D printed houses can be built much faster than traditional construction methods, which can take months in poor condition. Costs are significantly reduced due to lower material consumption and efficient work. We have already reported about 3D printing of houses in 300 articles.

Details of Merit City plans

The city is currently exploring the value of using 3D printing as a practical solution for homes. Rescue manager Greg Solecki explains that he is in partnership with the pilot University of British Columbia (UBC) will take place. Construction of the 55-square-meter home will begin in April.

He says:

“UPC saw the technology and engineering involved. And if you have enough money, you can definitely put the money in something like this and start printing these houses. It costs about $ 30,000 to print one of these houses. It works just like imagining a regular printer and printing sideways on paper, but you can multiply it by 10,000 and flip the real ink box. It’s basically a motor on a stand, which starts printing rows of these houses and walls, and so on.

3D printing community model
A 3D printed village is already in operation in British Columbia. Last year we presented it (Image: Planned Village Model) (Image © World House).

The pilot is moving forward depending on how the Hell or High Water fundraiser on March 13 goes. Soleki says with a little fundraising, the city could raise funds with various public and private associations. Then they can get a construction 3D printer and start “printing” houses. Soleki estimates that the basic structure for a home will be operational in five days.

Funding your own construction 3D printer with support

3D printed house by TAM
Prior to this project, TAM had already built the first 3D printed house (pictured) in Canada (Figure © Twente Additive Manufacturing).

A construction 3D printer can cost over a million dollars, which is not affordable in a small city like Merit. UBC, as well as partners with charities and other levels of government to help raise funds.

Soleki adds:

“If we can make some money, UBC can top it up, and the federal government can top it up, and we’ll keep the printer on site, so we can set up printing shops for people who need it. There are other options like small houses and modular houses, but they’ll help us Or we hope the promised money will come from High Water so we can start bringing people home. “

According to Soleki, there are already some 3D printed houses in British Columbia. Merit can act as a case study when rebuilding a community. In February 2021, we reported that an entire village in Canada was being built with 3D-printed houses at affordable prices. In the United States, some 3D-printed homes are also made from a 3D printer. Construction 3D printer manufacturer ICON and New Story have already presented their plans to build an entire village in South America with a 3D printer by 2019. 3D printing will be a solution for people in the Ahr Valley who lost their homes in devastating storms last summer. After all, 3D printing of houses is not an unknown topic in Germany. For example, the PERI Group completed a home in Beckham in the summer of 2021. We will continue to report further developments in 3D-grenzenlos magazine (subscribe to the newsletter).

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