Following the completion at the end of 2020of the first two printed residential buildings in Germany, PERI, a Bavarian family-owned company, has taken an important step in the market development of this new technology. This project is reported to be one of the first 3D-printed housing projects in the USA that has fully and successfully passed all regulatory approval processes.

PERI’s team is printing a single-story, detached house with almost160 m² of living space in Tempe, AZ. The total printing time is estimated at around two weeks. According to the current construction schedule, the house will be ready for occupancy in August / September 2021.

PERI's client and partner in this project is the regional chapter of “Habitat for Humanity” in Arizona. “Habitat for Humanity” is a global non-profit, whose local chapters coordinate donations, sponsors, and volunteers to construct residential homes for people in their area. Habitat for Humanity has chapters in more than 60 countries around the world.

“With this printing project in the USA, PERI is taking the next step in the market development of 3D printing technology”, says Thomas Imbacher, Board Member for Innovation & Marketing at the PERI Group. “As a pioneer of this new type of construction, PERI has printed the first houses in Germany. We are delighted to be delivering this first project in one of the largest housing markets in the world with a partner like Habitat for Humanity.”

“The use of 3D printing technology is a tremendous opportunity for Habitat for Humanity”, said Jason Barlow, President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona. “The current housing problems in Arizona convincingly demonstrate the need for affordable home ownership. To solve the problems in a sustainable way, we need new ideas and methods to build adequate, affordable and more energy-efficient houses at lower costs, in less time and with less material consumption. The Tempe project is a forward-looking step for us.”

As with the successful printing projects in Beckum (North Rhine-Westphalia) and Wallenhausen (Bavaria), PERI is using the COBOD BOD2 gantry printer from the Danish manufacturer COBOD. PERI acquired a stake in COBOD back in 2018.The system has a print head that moves about 3-dimensionally on a securely installed metallic frame. The benefit here is that the printer can move along its frame to any position within the construction and only needs to be calibrated once. This saves time and reduces construction costs.

During the printing process, the printer creates raceways for takes the pipes and connections for water, electricity, and other utilities. etc. The BOD2 has been designed to allow other construction activity to safely continue within the job site while printing is in progress. With this design, project timelines can be shortened. For example, workers can This layout allows means workers can pipes, wiring, and HVAC as printing progresses.

Two operators are required to run the printer a few steps away from the action. The print head and the print activity are monitored by a camera. With a speed of 1 m/s, the BOD2 is currently the fastest 3D construction printer available on the market. The BOD2 only takes around 5 minutes to complete 1 m² of a double-skinned wall.