In the pine-scented air of Maine, a technological marvel is taking shape. The University of Maine’s Advanced Structures & Composites Center (ASCC) is home to a behemoth – the worlds largest 3D printer, now turning sawdust into snug wooden cabins.
This isn’t just another 3D printing project. Maine needs a huge number of new homes—about 80,000 in the next five years. This project is a big step to solve this serious housing problem. While building codes crawl towards change, the whiz kids at ASCC are racing ahead, their new toy promising a revolution in home construction.
Just how big is this printer? Guinness World Records big. It can churn out a 600 square foot house – walls, floors, and roof included – in a mere 96 hours. But the ASCC team isn’t stopping there. They’re gunning to slash that time in half, aiming for a blistering 48-hour build.
“When they’re doing concrete, they’re only printing the walls,” boasts Habib Dagher, ASCC’s executive director. “The approach we’ve taken is quite different from what you’ve seen, and you’ve been reading about for years.”
Indeed, while other 3D-printed homes often stick to concrete walls, the BioHome3D is a different beast altogether. This printer gobbles up bio-based materials at a rate of 500 pounds per hour, spitting out entire house structures up to 96 feet long, 36 feet wide, and 18 feet tall.
Step inside one of these printed wonders, and you might think you’ve wandered into a chic Scandinavian retreat. The modern wooden interiors blend seamlessly with Maine’s rugged aesthetic, leaving visitors asking, “When can I have one up?”
As the ASCC team fine-tunes their creation, even tackling the nitty-gritty of wiring and plumbing placement, one thing’s clear – the future of housing in Maine might just be emerging layer by layer from the world’s biggest 3D printer.
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Alexa Sipes is a U.S. tech journalist with 5 years of experience, now writing for 360TechInsights. She covers emerging technologies and industry trends across North America, Europe, and Asia. Sipes’ concise reporting offers readers valuable insights into the latest tech news, innovations and the companies behind them.
Feel free to reach out to me at AlexaSipes@360techinsights.com.
