The 3D Print Component in the Housing - Essay Sample

Introduction

Three dimensional (3D) printing is one technology that has various applications that have transformed the world tremendously especially in the building and construction industry. Researchers note that construction is one of the most expensive industries because of the huge investment capital and resources that go into it and significant environmental stress that emanates from the construction activities. According to Wu, Wang & Wang, (2016), buildings consume more than that 30 percent of raw materials, 36 percent of the total energy generated and approximately 15 percent of the total amount of water consumed in the United States. Research further indicates that the construction industry has low productivity across different countries including developed nations (Wu et al. 2016).

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Over the past few years, research on innovations in construction has been done to address the environmental, productivity and other related issues. Regarding innovation, past studies focused on two main forms which include response to clients' needs (external) and invention originating from other industries (Arayici et al. 2011). However, one thing that stands out is the fact that more emphasis was put on the use of technology from other industries to increase the competitive advantage in the construction industry. It is for this reason that the construction industry is regarded to be a low-tech industry with little innovation despite the ever-changing technological advancements. (Harsha, Charan, Kumar & Reddy, 2013) defines 3D printing as an automated, additive process of manufacturing 3-D solid objects using a digital model. There are different types of 3-D printing technology processes. The five common types of 3-D printing used in building and construction include stereolithography, fused deposition modeling, Inkjet powder printing, Selective laser sintering and Contour crafting (Harsha et al. 2013). 3-D printing technology is poised to continue transforming the building and construction industry due to its unlimited potential. To understand how 3D printing can aid in achievement of affordable housing in Cambodia, it is important to critically analyse the population and housing statistics in Cambodia.

According to UNFPA (2014), Cambodia is in transition with an approximate developing and growing population of 16 million. The number of people is projected to rise to 18.9 million people by 2030 with youths and children forming the majority (UNFPA, 2014). Incomes have also been on the rise even though at a slower rate compared to the cost of living. Research by the Ministry of Housing of Cambodia notes that the 2.5-3 million increase in population by 2030 will require approximately 1 million housing units. The 2016 report by the United Nation's Word Cities estimated that more than 55 percent of the urban population in Cambodia live in slums. The situation is even worse in rural areas of Cambodia with 70 percent of people living in poor houses. According to local research, majority of Cambodia's population lives below the national poverty level, and a majority of such people dwell in unworthy houses (UNFPA, 2014).

Due to the shocking statistics above, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) is determined to carry out several initiatives aimed at addressing the housing challenge for poor people in Cambodia. The government adopted the National Housing Policy and established the General Department of Housing under the Ministry of Land in 2014. The two initiatives were aimed at designing, coordinating, supporting and delivering development of low-cost houses that are affordable for the lowly urban population of Cambodia. To formalize the strategies, the Royal Government of Cambodia incorporated them into the National Strategic Development Plan 2014-2018. However, there is one main challenge to the attainment of affordable low-cost housing for people in Cambodia which is the construction costs involved.

To address the cost and sustainability factor in affordable housing, innovative building technology needs to be adopted. Production of different construction materials, components and products is the main contributor to the soaring cost of construction. According to Thunberg et al. (2014), for construction projects to be efficient, construction firms need to master the projects within short time frames and limited available space. However, this is a challenge for the building of the houses due to non-value addition activities and low productivity from wasted materials. It is because of this reason that housing construction is considered inefficient and low-tech (Thunberg et al. 2014). To solve the inefficiency problem in building and construction, flexible way of producing building components called additive manufacturing has been developed over time. With the 3D printing (3DP), building components are produced in a faster, efficient and cheaper way compared to other alternatives (Petrick & Simpson, 2013).

Petrick & Simpson (2013), notes that the increase in the use of additive manufacturing and 3D printing are gradually replacing the conventional economies of scale production due to their ability to produce one model within the shortest time possible. One of the largest building and construction companies in Sweden, NCC, has been exploring ways through which they can offer sustainable solutions to the construction industry. One of the ways through which NCC has managed to create sustainable construction solutions is the use of 3D printing technology to in building houses and this has given the company a competitive edge against her competitors (Skold & Vidarsson, 2015). The Construction industry has not been able to implement innovative technologies such as total quality management, just-in-time delivery and supply chain management yet other industries have done it. The Construction industry has a challenge of standardization of activities, therefore, cannot benefit from economies of scale related to volume (Skold et al. 2015). Building and construction industry is more project-oriented such that each housing project is customized according to the conditions and the surroundings. The project-oriented feature makes housing projects to be unique which require construction companies to be flexible and able to customize the developments to meet the ever-changing conditions. One of the ways to do this is through 3D printing of houses.

Research by Skold et al. (2015) indicates that additive manufacturing of building components requires no tooling during the production process thus leads to the reduction of production expenses and ramp-up time. 3D printing technology has proven the economic viability of one-off printing of products or small batches with a possibility of a quick and late change of product design (Skold et al. 2015). The 3D printing process in additive manufacturing of construction materials allows optimization of a component to perform a specific function according to needs. Also, 3D printing reduces wastage since only required materials are produced with precise measurements (Skold et al. 2015). The whole supply chain for construction is streamlined through lower inventories and shorter lead-times which is a common problem for most house construction projects.

Past studies have recorded some of the best examples of how 3D printing was used in the building industry. The Canal House in Amsterdam by Dus Architects is a good example where different parts of the house were printed by a giant printer (Hager, Golonka & Putanowicz, 2016). According to the architects, printing of the house components on site eliminated wastage of building material while also reducing the transportation cost. Application of similar concept while putting up houses will help in reduction of construction cost by a significant margin. A giant 3D printer by the name KamerMaker was used to print house components through the creation of models that were then used in printing (Hager et al. 2016). The use of thermoplastic material which is biodegradable reduces the environmental impact of the building.

According to Hager et al. (2016), Winsun Decoration Design Engineering Co. from China has been at the forefront of using 3D printing to built affordable houses. In 2014, Winsun managed to build various houses from printed prefabricated elements which are readily available in many countries. The estimated cost of one house that was constructed by Winsun is 4,800 dollars (Hager et al. 2016). Comparing this cost with income of the majority of residents in Cambodia who earn above 500 dollars a month, the houses are affordable. In the Winsun project, fiberglass, a hardening agent and industrial wastes were used to make the components. All the above materials are environmentally friendly, and Cambodia can borrow a leaf from China.

Wijk & Wijk, (2015), in his book, assesses the benefits of 3D printing in environmental conservation. He compares the amount of concrete and CO2 emitted when building a traditional town house and the one for a printed house. From the research, it is clear that more concrete is used thus producing more carbon emissions to make a traditional house than a 3D printed one (Wijk et al. 2015). Generally, 3D printing technology offers a more sustainable, cost-effective and affordable housing for people. 3D printing technology is still young, but it offers a lot of opportunities for affordable house construction. From the literature review, Cambodia stands to benefit most by applying 3D printed technology in the realization of the National Housing Policy of providing low-cost housing for people in Cambodia.

References

Arayici, Y., Coates, P., Koskela, L., Kagioglou, M., Usher, C., & O'Reilly, K. J. S. S. (2011). BIM adoption and implementation for architectural practices. Structural survey, 29(1), 7-25.

Harsha G., Charan G., Kumar K., & Reddy V. (2013). 3D printing: the dawn of a new era in manufacturing?. Assembly Automation, 33(4), 307-311.

Hager, I., Golonka, A., & Putanowicz, R. (2016). 3D printing of buildings and building components as the future of sustainable construction? Procedia Engineering, 151, 292-299.

Petrick, I. J., & Simpson, T. W. (2013). 3D printing disrupts manufacturing: how economies of one create new rules of competition. Research-Technology Management, 56(6), 12-16.

Skold, G., & Vidarsson, H. (2015). Analyzing the Potentials of 3D-Printing in the Construction Industry.

Thunberg, M., Rudberg, M., & Gustavsson, T. K. (2014). Identifying and positioning construction supply chain planning problems. Management, 1069, 1078.

Wijk, A. ., & Wijk, I. (2015). 3D printing with biomaterials: Towards a sustainable and circular economy.

UNFPA. (2014). Report on Urbanization and its Linkage to Socio- Economic and Environmental Issues. Retrieved from https://cambodia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Urbanizationreport%282015%29.pdf

Wu, P., Wang, J., & Wang, X. (2016). A critical review of the use of 3-D printing in the construction industry. Automation in Construction, 68, 21-31.