Brief
Repurposed plastic is the pioneering 3D-printing material used by Azure Printed Homes in place of concrete. Azure’s new California factory is capable of smaller projects, but the company is aiming to eventually produce full-sized homes.
Insight
Azure Printed Homes has reportedly become the first construction 3D printing company to repurpose plastic waste as a primary home building material.The firm is seeking to redefine the notion of sustainable building by reusing plastic destined for landfills or incineration in favor of typically-used concrete, in a bid to “close the loop” within the 3D home building industry.
The firm has now announced the opening of its new 15,000 square foot factory in California to house its custom-built construction 3D printer, which is capable of producing backyard studios, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and, eventually, full-sized homes. “The construction sector is the largest global consumer of raw materials, responsible for approximately 20 percent of the world’s total carbon emissions,” said Gene Eidelman, Co-founder of Azure Printed Homes.
The construction industry has, on the whole, used many of the same building techniques for decades, often leading to projects being delivered over budget and behind schedule, while also producing vast amounts of waste.Eidelman and fellow Co-founder Ross Maguire launched Azure Printed Homes in 2019 with the goal of developing homes faster, more economically, and with less of an environmental impact.
The company’s technology combines its large-scale robotic 3D printers with recycled plastic polymers as feedstock in order to prefabricate studios, offices, ADUs and homes 70 percent faster and 20-30 percent cheaper than existing construction methods, the firm claims.More than 60% of the firm’s print material comes from recycled plastic, specifically a plastic polymer that is most commonly used in the production of plastic bottles and food packaging.
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