Speaker:
- Dr. Dagher is the founding Executive Director of the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC).
Moderator:
- Stephen Thorpe is the vice chair of the Land Use Committee for the State and Local Government Law Section.
On November 21, 2022, Dr. Dagher and his team with the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC) unveiled BioHome3D, the first 3D-printed house made completely out of bio-based materials. The 600-square-foot prototype featured 3D-printed floors, walls, and roof made of wood fibers and bio-resins. The house is fully recyclable and highly insulated with 100% wood insulation and customizable R-values. This innovation seeks to address the crisis-level shortage of affordable housing by addressing labor and material costs. In addition, the use of recyclable bio-based material and the precision of the printing process is also able to reduce global carbon emission and waste associated with building construction. While this is still early days this new process in housing construction has the ability to appreciably impact the needs of affordable housing in the United States and climate change globally.