Robot 3D 'printing' 2 Habitat for Humanity homes in Brevard County

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Updated  December 6, 2024 10:38pm EST
FOX 35 Orlando
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Robot 3D 'printing' 2 Habitat for Humanity homes

A robot may be the future of home building. On Friday morning, it was pouring the exterior walls of two Habitat for Humanity houses in Melbourne.

MELBOURNE, Fla. - A robot may be the future of home building. On Friday morning, it was pouring the exterior walls of two Habitat for Humanity houses in Melbourne. 

"I'm beyond excited. I'm trying to contain myself. It's been a lot of work, but we feel like, especially living on the Space Coast, we have an obligation to be innovative," said Anna Terry, Space Coast Habitat for Humanity Executive Director.

One home will go to a local family in need, the other is going to a nonprofit that will rent it to clients. They say the homes will be energy-efficient and hurricane-resistant. 

"It's solid concrete, it's 5,000 PSI, so it's strong. They're just like blocks, solid poured concrete. So we have an "R" value of 20 for these walls, versus R 13 for framing and 9 or 10 for block," said Joe Moran, Habitat for Humanity General Contractor. "R" value rates a wall's energy efficiency.

These were Habitat's first 3D printed homes in Florida. The robot was basically an industrial-sized 3D printer, squeezing concrete through a tube, like toothpaste. Apis Cor was the Melbourne-based company that owned and operated the robot. CEO Stefan Safko said they were committed to making homes more affordable. 

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"Building homes for affordable housing is one of our key missions. Habitat is obviously one of our most important organizations that we work with."

Samuel Lower, with LLG Architecture, said the process to build these homes was faster and less expensive than before, leading to quicker, more cost-effective home building projects. He also said the robot could build more than walls — it could even create bathtubs and sinks. 

"You can do a lot more with 3D printing. You can curve walls, pattern walls, pattern kitchen islands."

Support for the building came from Wells Fargo, the city of Melbourne, Community Foundation for Brevard, and the Space Coast Association of Realtors foundation.

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