There's a company that has its hopes set on "printing" homes on-site. Let me present a scenario.
A natural disaster takes place- displacing thousands. The government moves in to either a) provide a trailer or b) enable quick construction.
Trailers for Katrina cost as little as $19k or as much as $75k. Constuction could take months. Solution? Bring a machine to print a house on site... a two story, 2,000 square foot home could be built in as little as 24 hours.
This is the claim of Contour Crafting. Caterpiller sees enough merit that they are sponsoring the research behind it. See, "Caterpillar Inc. Funds Viterbi"
Subtitle: 'Print-a-House' Construction Technology System can already build six-foot walls; further work will address design, robotics and other issues"
One of the advantages explained on the company website, "Contour Crafting technology has great potential for automating the construction of whole structures as well as sub-components. Using this process, a single house or a colony of houses, each with possibly a different design, may be automatically constructed in a single run, embedded in each house all the conduits for electrical, plumbing and air-conditioning. The potential applications of this technology are far reaching including but not limited to applications in emergency, low-income, and commercial housing."
Here is an additional aritcles that explores the what-if's of a disaster scenario:
USC Information Science Institute - Katrina Text
I see this as an ecouraging solution for disaster scenarios or in places where housing is substandard. Maybe it could be used as an alternative to low-income housing. Who knows... is this the construction method of the future... Homes stamped out George Jetson style?
Chuck Willman, Arizona East Valley Realtor®
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Now this is an amazing concept... I really had to STUDY it to begin to comprehend it, but now I can picture what it can--- and probably will, do, especially in a disaster. Thanks for keeping us informed with what's on the horizon.