3D printed house: the digital transformation in architecture and construction of the Sustainable Houses

There is an increasing demand for sustainable, and dignified housing in the building and construction sector, particularly in developing countries with limited resources, growing energy consumption, population, and CO2 emissions. Therefore, the adoption of digital design, construction, and innovation technology is vital; one of these technologies is 3D printing (3Dp), which has become a recently essential and powerful technology in the construction industry. As such, 3Dp has advantages and potentials over traditional housebuilding in that it can use robotics, software, and advanced materials. The paper investigates the Potentials and limitations of 3DP adoption on digital design and Construction housing projects. Moreover, review and analysis of 3D Printed Houses for evaluation of their performance and future usage capabilities. The study concludes that 3DP technology appears to be a promising alternative to enhance design and construction process performance, address various aspects of advanced materials, affordability, and sustainability, including social and economic aspects. The paper's objectives started with investigating 3Dp adoption in AEC by highlighting the advantages and potentials of 3Dp for sustainable housing. Furthermore, the challenges of 3Dp in Architecture and Construction are discussed.
The research methods mainly depended on three sections as follows:
• A literature review explain the Potentials and limitations of 3DP adoption on digital design and Construction housing projects.
• The analysis of 4 case studies for 3D printed houses built in the construction field between 2018 and 2020. Each project presents significant practical application of 3d printing methods, developed materials, designs, environmental solutions, methods to reduce resources, innovated solutions to get sustainable housing.
• The SWOT analysis of 3D printing technology, which highlights the technology's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It is emphasized that doing a SWOT analysis of 3D printing using various methodologies is beneficial for evaluating and highlighting its practical capabilities.