Pilot programs in Iowa and Virginia aim to address rural housing shortages with 3D-printed structures

A 3D house printer in action. (Photo by Today)

A new Iowa State University project aims to help address the state's rural housing shortage with a novel approach: designing 3D-printed houses, ISU assistant professor of industrial design Pete Evans reports for ISU. The ISU College of Design’s 3D Affordable Innovative Technologies Housing Project has received a $1.4 million grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority for the initiative; the project will be fully funded at $2.14 million.

3D printing works in a similar way at any scale: a nozzle on a moveable gantry spits out a material that hardens into the shape you want. Tech labs use plastic filament, but housing "printers" use cement. Building houses by 3D printing "can lower construction risks, reduce material usage and waste, allow faster response to natural disasters, and provide affordable, resilient and sustainable housing," Davis reports.

The notion is rising in popularity worldwide; Politico's Lorraine Woellert reports that manufacturing company Alquist is using the tech to build 200 affordable housing units in rural Pulaski, Virginia, over the next three years.

Rural areas in Iowa and elsewhere have had housing shortages since about 2008, which has contributed to a spike in demand and prices. Addressing that shortage is necessary in order to attract and support more workers, Davis writes.

"Nationwide, rural housing issues are often overlooked," College of Design dean Luis Rico-Gutierrez told Evans. "For Iowa State, they are central to our priorities as a land-grant institution. This funding allows us to address all aspects of the process, from planning to developing new building codes through construction and the impact on the quality of our lives."

The $1.4 million grant will pay for materials and equipment such as a 3D construction printer and the components to operate it, other robotics and mechanical necessities, and web technologies to support the project, Davis reports. Future funding will help project leaders develop a curriculum to train Iowa Central Community College students to operate a 3D construction printer, conduct further research, and bring in companies across the state as partners.