3DCP vs Conventional Construction (2025-06)¶

3D Construction Printing (3DCP) is an emerging technology that has shifted from the research realm to that of the commercial. This shift can be credited to the various advantages that such approach offers, for instance, increased design freedom, affordability and higher levels of sustainability. Projects originating from ICON (de Souza et al, 2024) and Mario Cucinella Architects (Gomaa et al, 2022) are representative of this. However, despite the media exposure, detailed and impartial assessments on the performance of such projects have not yet been rigorously disclosed. In the past year, the authors of this paper have collaborated with Havelar, a 3DCP construction company based in the north of Portugal. After purchasing a large-scale 3D printer from COBOD, produced two of the first 3D printed houses in the country. This unique collaboration between academia and industry, has allowed the research to overcome many limitations commonly associated to exclusively academic investigations. Consequently, the research has been confronted with the tangible challenges of full scale 3DCP, such as, design, material, performance and finance issues. The current paper draws from this privileged experience, by scientifically assessing the ecological impacts of 3DCP and by comparing them to conventional construction techniques (Kyriakidis et al, 2018) within Portugal. The ecological aspects that will be analysed, will be the life cycle assessment (Motalebi et al, 2024) and the energy performance (Sovetova & Kaiser Calautit, 2024). In doing so, the paper proposes and describes a digital workflow to assess the performance of those buildings. This research can positively impact both the academic and non--academic communities, by providing actual data on 3DCP along with providing a methodology for further projects. Thus, encouraging improvements within the field and subsequently instigating new research directions, that can promote a more sustainable 3DCP strategy.