Northumbria University Aims to Combat Housing Crisis with Construction 3D Printing

Construction 3D printing promises many advantages over traditional methods. It is often hailed as faster, cheaper and more sustainable than typical builds. However, there is still room for improvement. Concrete, the most commonly used material for construction 3D printing, leaves a huge carbon footprint. Researchers have worked on improving these formulas—a team at the University of Virginia developed concrete that lowers construction 3D printing carbon emissions by 31 percent earlier this year—but the work is not over. This month, the United Kingdom’s Northumbria University announced that they installed a construction 3D printer on campus. Their mission is to test and validate concrete elements that could be adopted by the industry, in hopes that it could help sustainably alleviate the regional housing shortage.

Northumbria’s Structures Laboratory, a subset of its Mechanical and Construction Engineering Department, implemented the 3D printing construction technology through a partnership with Luyten 3D and ChangeMaker 3D. Luyten 3D is a global leader in 3D construction printer manufacturing, and ChangeMaker 3D is a sustainable technology company based in the UK. Financial support came from a Royal Society Research grant.

Construction 3D printing done by ChangeMaker 3D (Photo credits: ChangeMaker 3D)

The University’s research has the potential to greatly impact North East England’s housing industry, which is suffering from a low supply of social and non-social housing. In North East England, social housing waiting lists are the highest since 2012, increasing to over 75 thousand in 2023: a 51 percent increase from 2022. Rents and housing prices are faring no better. In 2022, 82 percent of the region’s landlords reported higher demand for rented housing, and only five percent planned to increase the number of rental properties in the following year.