EcoBioPrinter
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
Category
Project Description
The aim of "EcoBioPrinter" is to develop an economical and ecological prototype of raw earth 3d printing gantry for the construction of elementary habitats.Faced with the challenges of global warming and the reduction of carbon footprint, earth seems to be a good material. EcoBioPrinter is an open-source project that makes accessible to everyone the habitats printing. A another goal is to create a 3d printing maker community of earth building for preserves the know-how of earth construction.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
During milleniums, whatever the place on the planet, humain have always build their own housing by using earth. "Modernism" has made us forget these skills to force us to build using stone or concrete and creating cubic-shaped habitats.
Due to its low environmental impact, earth construction has received much consideration in recent years.Thus, at a time when 3D printing is booming with extraordinary realization capabilities, the idea of our project of the "EcoBioPrinter" project that we are developing is to take advantage of this technology and develop in open source mode on an economical and ecological prototype of 3d printing gantry of raw earth for the construction of elementary habitats.
The aim of "EcoBioPrinter" is to develop an economical and ecological prototype of raw earth 3d printing gantry for the construction of elementary habitats. Currently, cement production is a very polluting industry,yet this material is predominant in the construction of buildings. However, earth is also a very common building material. Faced with the challenges of global warming and the need to reduce the carbon footprint of the building, this natural material seems to be one of the solutions because of the non-use of hydraulic binder, the use of local and renewable resources, and the possibility of infinite recycling of the material.
Our project Ecobioprinter is an open-source project. The objective is to make it accessible to everyone in the world for the printing of habitats qualified as elementary. It also brings another dimension to construction in order to extend the construction method by 3D printing to more environmentally friendly materials and to fight against the precariousness of habitats in urban areas and fight against social vulnerabilities in developing countries.
The goal of this project is also to create a 3d printing maker community of earth building to facilitate exchanges.
Key objectives for sustainability
The main advantage of EcoBioPrinter in the construction industry is saving a lot of production costs. We can produce buildings layer by layer and with lattice structures inside allows for a huge cost reduction and directly using local earth materials. This factor also benefits the environment. This means much smaller emission, which is a big problem in today’s construction industry. The open-source printer can really help to build a better future for the construction industry.
Also, build with a additive Manufacturing process allows for less material usage and involves fewer people to work on construction.Those factors radically reduce the costs of building any 3D printed construction. With 3D printing structures, we use just the amount of material we need, here local earth, therefore we are eco-friendly and save money. This aspect can really bring the costs down.
EcoBioPrinter machine we have developed is economical, uses common materials, and operates with components that are easily sourced from any country, and does not require complex manufacturing processes. It must also be easily dismountable, transportable and exploitable. Its printing capacity is required is 36m3 but can be enlarge. It is manufactured with elementary components, easily reproducible… and therefore allows to produce habitats at low costs.
The last, but just as important benefit of using 3D printing in the construction industry, is all the innovative solutions it brings. 3D technologies can improve each project planning as they can be used already at the design stage. Additive Manufacturing gives us new design freedom allowing for the production of new shapes and solutions more adapted to needs. We have never had such a great possibility to customize structures. It’s easier to set up a 3D printer somewhere for a few days than move all the workers there. Also, some of the machines don’t even need electricity as they run on green energy, which means that we can reach undeveloped areas easier.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
Currently our project Ecobioprinter is an open-source project in order to be able to share our experience and allow others to also be able to experience earthen construction by 3D printing. The objective is to make our printer accessible to everyone in the world for the printing of habitats qualified as elementary. It brings another dimension to construction in order to extend 3D printing to more environmentally friendly materials and to fight the precariousness of habitats in urban areas.
We want to work with the École de design de Nantes to propose a habitat built with materials from the circular economy and to reuse the land extracted from the site in nearby agricultural land.
The design of the house that we would like to propose: is an organic,3d curved form that seems ancient and carved out of nature, visually contradicting the innovative technology behind it.The idea generally is to be as eco friendly as possible, and also effective with building / living, so there’s a lot of cleverness with using less energy through better architecture based on 3D printing.
The other idea of the 3D printed house is that passive heating and cooling as the most efficient when you have thick thermal mass around you: berms of dirt instead of open walls that leak energy to the air even with insulation.
The process of 3D printing that we developpe through our project is the implementation of the traditional / manual BAUGE technique which consists in depositing layer by layer raw earth following a path.
The composition of the earth mixture used for the 3D printer was created in direct response to the local climatic conditions. This means that thermal performance has been optimised, desgin by the architects.The house appears coherent, with the same visual style both inside and out. The environment feels natural and warm, with gentle colourings and a tactile surface finish that is friendly to the touch and the Fitted furnishings are produced as part of the 3-D printing process.
Key objectives for inclusion
The word "inclusive" is in the DNA of the EcoBioPrinter project ...
Indeed, the Ecobioprinter project is an open-source project in order to give and share all the technical data that will allow others to DO.
As a result, it is a community of sharing and exchange that will be created in order to capitalize and pool the work of all and ensure that the different types of houses created can be used by all.
The EcoBioPrinter will be controlled by an open source board, Arduino for example.The cost of producing an ecobioprinter is of the order of 500 to 700 euros plus the pump which can be rented. An Ecobioprinter will then make it possible to build many homes. As a result, the cost of building a house that will use local materials will be really very low and will therefore offer housing possibilities to many people ...
Realizing an ecoboprinter from the data provided is a form of inclusion because it will generate creativity, technical upgrading, training of young people, creation of local business, ...
Innovative character
The innovative character of the project is the development of sustainable and low-cost homes with the advent of 3D technologies.
Our project contribute to the protection of nature and biodiversity in the construction field, taking into account cultural and social needs.
EcoBioPrinter is a open source 3D printer solution to facilitate the houses building with the integration of living nature in construction but also for share experiences of low-cost constructions.
The final objective of creating the EcoBioPrinter European community would be to offer:
• Exchange tools for the community: map of EcoBioPrinter projects in Europe and in the world, project holders helping, social networks, etc. ;Collaborative work tools for the community: demonstration platform, online work tools (Gsuite, Trello, ...), Meetup
• Community projects around the EcoBioPrinter: the realisation of the Homes In Poor Countries To Give Housing To Poorest People,…
