A Shanghai construction company used three-dimensional printing to fabricate 10 houses during the course of a day. 

Made of a concrete composed of cement, glass fiber, and other construction waste, the houses, built at hangjiang Qingpu High-Tech Park, each have a facade measuring 10 x 6 meters (33 x 19 feet) and stands four meters (13 feet) tall, with a living space big enough to house a couple. Houses can be produced for under $5,000 (USD), and remove several of the hazards associated with construction sites. 

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Modest by themselves, the houses could be attached to one another to create larger living spaces. 

The structures were constructed by a 3D printer invented by construction firm, Winsun. The mechanism sprays the material on to a designated area layer by layer according to a digital blueprint and builds the house from the ground up. Initially in a viscous state, the cement hardens within 24 hours. The process is markedly faster than traditional house-building, and could be a boon to disaster-struck areas where homes and other structures have been destroyed on a mass scale.

The printing schematics allow for voids to be included so construction crews can fill the hollows with insulation and wiring, and doors have to be installed in the traditional manner. Conceivably, the Winsun technology could be expanded from homes to industrial studios, theaters, hotels, and even bridges. 

While the technology is so new there are as of yet no standard safety codes for structures made via 3D printing, Winson company chairperson Ma Yihe says houses built using 3D technology have a strength and durability already higher than China's national standards 

Yihe is also quick to tout the eco-friendliness of the technology, as it forgoes the mining of stone or the harvesting of trees. Municipal dump sites could be tapped as sources of construction material, further cleaning the environment. 

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