The University of Maine has unveiled what it claims to be the world’s first 3D printed home made entirely with bio-based materials. The home, developed by the university’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC), measures 600 square feet and features walls, floors, and a roof made of 3D printed wood fibers and bio-resins.

Titled BioHome3D, the single-family project was printed offsite in four modules before being transported to its current site and assembled in half a day. Sandwiched within the 3D printed structure, wall and roof insulation are made of wood, while floor tiles are made from recycled materials. The house itself is also fully recyclable.

“Many technologies are being developed to 3D print homes, but unlike BioHome3D, most are printed using concrete,” said Dr. Habib Dagher, ASCC executive director. “However, only the concrete walls are printed on top of a conventionally cast concrete foundation. Traditional wood framing or wood trusses are used to complete the roof. Unlike the existing technologies, the entire BioHome3D was printed, including the floors, walls and roof. The biomaterials used are 100% recyclable, so our great-grandchildren can fully recycle BioHome3D.”

The home is currently situated on the university campus, equipped with sensors for thermal, environmental, and structural monitoring to test how the home performs throughout the winter. Researchers hope to use this data to inform future iterations of 3D printed homes.

The team behind BioHome3D sees the scheme as an important step in tackling the U.S. affordable housing deficit which, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, stands at 7 million units. In Maine alone, the deficit is 20,000 housing units, while nearly 60% of low-income renters in Maine spend more than half of their income on housing.

The initiative is one of several 3D printed architectural projects we have reported on in recent weeks. Earlier this month, we covered news that a community of 100 3D printed homes was beginning construction in Texas, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and ICON, while in October, ETH Zurich students and researchers unveiled a prototype 3D printed eggshell pavilion.

In September, two Cornell professors announced that they were building the first multistory 3D printed structure in the U.S., while a team from IAAC in Barcelona 3D printed a zero-waste housing prototype using local earth.

You can learn more about the process behind 3D printed architectural design and construction by reading our feature article on the subject, which tracked the delivery of a 3D printed home for Habitat for Humanity in Arizona.