What if our dreams were 3-D printed? - Home: Part 1

I live in Mumbai where every other building is going in for redevelopment. To sustain old houses, legacy, property and dreams - I see rampant construction going on in absolutely every nook and corner of the city. With gated societies, townships, slum rehabilitation projects and construction for a Mumbai2030 vision - significant

I also saw a revolution in my home city of Nagpur. The rather bungalow-clad city, has become the newest centre for huge residential buildings, many of which seem to be similar with no aspiration to be different from its neighbour - and this is no satire. Of course, for the youngest and most populous nation on the planet, more living, working and existing space is vital. And it is only going to increase.

India’s buildings currently account for 25% for our overall GHG emissions, and of course for a ton of the pollution we all breathe. As per research, India's construction and real estate sector contributes approximately 863-923 million tonnes of CO2e annually, about 30-32% of the country's total GHG emissions. The cement industry alone accounts for 200-230 million tonnes (7-8% of total emissions), while steel contributes 144-173 million tonnes(5-6%). Buildings (residential and commercial) add 230-290 million tonnes (8-10%) through energy consumption. By 2070, this is projected to be 90.85 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in the business-as-usual scenario, exceeding the carbon budget allocated for the entire country - considering India also targets to be Net Zero by 2070.?

Well, the pivot has been significant and hopeful, at least when we focus on innovation and technology.?

What if our dreams could be 3D-printed, what if our homes could be, well, printed? And what if that is already happening?

Meet Tvasta Construction, Tvasta a multidisciplinary automation and robotics firm, that has become India’s first principles-based technology builder - and has been creating absolute magic using its technology. With over 10 projects and 5000 sq.ft. completed of fully 3-dimensionally printed real estate projects with an 80% reduction in manufacturing and construction waste, Tvasta has truly mastered sustainable and transformative buildings.

Tvasta has ventured into Commercial, Public Infrastructure and Residential spaces also, with giants like Godrej, IIT Madras, Saint-Gobain, India Cements and the Indian Airforce? - putting sustainability at the frontier and a focus on people’s needs, aspirations and accessibility.

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a technology that creates three-dimensional objects by building them layer by layer from a digital design. A 3D printer uses materials like plastic, metal, or resin to form objects based on a computer model. This process allows for the creation of complex shapes that are difficult or impossible to make with traditional manufacturing methods. For example, you can 3D print a custom prosthetic limb for a patient, a prototype part for a car, or even intricate architectural models.?

The technology originated in the 1980s when Chuck Hull invented the first 3D printer in 1983, using a method called stereolithography (SLA). This process used a laser to cure layers of liquid resin into solid plastic, creating the object one thin layer at a time. Since then, the technology has evolved, and new techniques like Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) have emerged, allowing 3D printing to use a wider range of materials and applications.

Today, 3D printing is used in many industries. In healthcare, for example, doctors use 3D printing to create patient-specific implants or surgical models. In aerospace, companies like GE Aviation 3D print metal parts for jet engines, reducing weight and improving fuel efficiency. I also covered in an article of mine on space sustainability, here.

Surprisingly, one of the largest construction firms have also been working around the 3D printing technology for homes. Back in 2019, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) completed its first 1BHK which was 3D printed, and in 2021, they printed their first two-storey building in only 106 hours, or almost 4.5 days. This feat also helped them push for the then demand of 3D printed homes as a part of India’s housing schemes for the underprivileged and identified aspirational districts. After this two-storey house, last year, L&T Construction delivered a 1,000-square feet 3D-printed post office facility within 43 days in Bengaluru and this year, has taken on to 3D-print six luxe villas, a first in every way. You can read more about this, here.

While the investment of a 3-D printer, the expertise and technology is a significant one, the benefits of 3-D printing remain unmatched. From a sustainability perspective, waste can be reduced upto 90%, weight reduction upto 10%, logistical emission savings go down by even 60% and process-induced energy consumption reduces upto 50%. When 3D printing was used for manufacturing aircraft components, Airbus estimated that for every kilogram of weight saved, 25,000 metric tonnes of CO2 could be saved over the aircraft’s lifetime. 3-D printing also remains sustainable, with the options of exploring sustainable materials to work with, the flexibility of reusing materials for different components, giving rise to an overall closed-loop manufacturing and a cradle-to-cradle approach when talking about a heavy-duty industry like real-estate.

Of course, from an Indian perspective and people’s consideration, a lot of our rural workforce is often employed as labour for construction - and while the planet-segment is completely transformed by the printing option, we cannot let go of the human angle.

I will talk more about this, with possible solutions and beyond the 3-D printing technology, in the next edition.

Stay tuned!