[bri3d]

This design actually seems pretty interesting - one of the advantages of additive manufacturing by printing is that the resultant parts can be made with a strong internal structure (triangles, honeycombs, etc.) while still being made of mostly air, an outcome that's difficult to achieve using molding/casting, forging, or subtractive manufacturing (milling).

I also suspect that the mostly-hollow walls have a decent R-value on their own.

I do wonder how this competes with straw bale / rammed earth, shipping containers, and other recycled, rapid prefab building manufacturing.

"Making cheap houses for the poor" seems to be a common design+architecture firm/student theme - does anyone know of any success/failure stories where these "cheap house" designs were applied in real life?

[toomuchtodo]

> I do wonder how this competes with straw bale / rammed earth, shipping containers, and other recycled, rapid prefab building manufacturing.

On labor? Much cheaper. And labor is typically the greatest cost.

[Turing_Machine]

In First World countries, sure. In Third World countries, maybe not so much.

A lot would depend on whether there was a local concrete industry.

Edit: I'm not so sure that this is all that "eco-friendly" either -- cement production requires a lot of energy.

That said, concrete is very durable (if made and poured properly) and might be a win in the long term.

[toomuchtodo]

I should have said "skilled labor". Also, while cement production takes energy, it can be made in a carbon-neutral way. I'd argue its a win with regards to longevity vs energy input.

[bkmartin]

This is very promising and on its way to commercial availability http://www.ruralstudio.org/initiatives/20k-house

[hershel]

For the indian market Worldhaus.com has a roof/floor panels that reduce construction cost and time by around 40% and blocks that reduce construction time by 50%.

[stcredzero]

Monolithic Domes did such a project in India. I have no idea how successful it turned out to be in the end.