3D Printing: An Affordable Solution for World's Housing Crisis

CIO Review ^ | August 10, 2018 | Staff

[Hootowl99]

Sorry about the dreaded double post!

[familyop]

"Zoning building codes and over regulation is a major cause of the housing shortage.
In the USA."

Yes. Also, there are many lots here and there that can be bought but not built because of local regulations (lots less than minimal large acreages, etc., e.g., 15-acre minimums for residential building in county regs.). Some encumbrances are *not* visible to buyers in contracts or from research done by title offices.

It can also be very difficult to find vacant lots that are not controlled by the de facto governments of homeowners' associations in many areas. I've also seen encumbrances hidden by HOAs, for example, minimum house sizes set by architectural committees but not stated in covenants. Those are sometimes given to buyers only *after* a required intent to build is delivered to an HOA. And yes, HOAs will fight to protect those.

Lot research can be very time consuming, and regulatory fees can be very high. Many counties require everything to be engineered (plans by state licensed engineer), including outbuildings (greenhouses), septic systems, etc.

Owner-building can be much like getting into a new game of king of the hill, where established locals have many ways of shutting the efforts of a new arrival down and leaving their lot worthless. There are also local builders' rackets, where regulatory offices go beyond regulations to coerce owner-builders into signing their lives away to local, established builders--often local, established builders (who do none of the actual work) who hire crews of unlicensed, goon-looking drunks and drug addicts to to build the projects with many code violations that pass inspections.

[Vinnie]

Gigantic menu?
What about the size of the printer that can spit out an entire house!

If they’re talking about components for the house, we already have some. It’s called lumber.

[familyop]

Call an engineer who is in the business of making and stamping house plans in his or her jurisdiction. Ask that person how much money and time would be necessary to have a so-called 3D printed house completed as compared to a similar stick-built or concrete house built to the requirements of the IRC.

;-D

[Bellflower]

Best way to possibly invest in this?

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Hah! Thanks for the information. I never knew that diamonds burn. But it’s copyrighted by a military contractor. Solid fuel I wonder?

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

You might consider NOT investing in certain things. Diamonds for example. And perhaps other things that can be 3D printed.

One thing you can bank on — tech will help every aspect of the human condition if government gets out of the way.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

‘If they’re talking about components for the house, we already have some. It’s called lumber.’

True. Hammering or drilling lumber doesn’t take all that much. Nor does insulation. It’s the plumbing, roofing, wiring, and regulations.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

But you have to admit — 3D printers are going to change things!

[Bellflower]

Do you think graphene is 3D printable? Just wondering, since you say diamonds are.

[NetAddicted]

That is what I immediately thought, although I was thinking of their food replicators. When will they start 3D printing food?

[Reeses]

With Demonrats pushing to replace natural gas heating with electric, 3D metal gun printers, which produce copious amounts of waste heat, could be the ideal replacement home heater. Co-generation of heat and sintered titanium powder firearms could cover the cost of the electricity. Using limited energy resources to not manufacture something is a crime against humanity.