UMaine to 3D-Print Nine Homes for Homeless Families in Bangor

Nine 3D-Printed Homes Bound for Bangor

The University of Maine is turning sawmill waste into a neighborhood. The school's Advanced Structures and Composites Center in Orono has secured $4 million in congressionally directed spending to design and print nine 600-square-foot homes for people experiencing homelessness in Greater Bangor.

Each unit will have one bedroom, one bathroom, and a combined kitchen and living room. The homes will be built using BioHome3D, the center's wood-based 3D printing platform, and assembled on a site still being chosen. Penquis, the nonprofit organizing the project, has already raised an additional $3 million from federal, local, and private sources.

"This first-of-its-kind neighborhood is an exciting next step for UMaine's BioHome3D technology," said U.S. Senator Susan Collins. "By transforming recycled forest products into durable, energy-efficient homes, this innovative technology could help address our housing shortage, strengthen Maine's forest products industry, and create new jobs."

The center will use the world's largest polymer 3D printer, unveiled in April 2024, to produce the homes. A 600-square-foot prototype has been on display in Orono since 2022, surviving Maine winters as a live test of the material's durability.

"Today marks a major milestone for UMaine's BioHome3D technology," said Dr. Habib Dagher, executive director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center. "We are collaborating with Penquis on the world's first project that uses wood residuals from Maine's sawmills to print the homes."

The funding builds on earlier appropriations. Collins helped secure $35 million in fiscal year 2022 and $33 million in fiscal year 2023 for the center's Factory of the Future, including a second manufacturing bay dedicated to 3D-printed affordable housing. The new $4 million award is earmarked specifically for advancing BioHome3D production and commercialization.

If the project hits its targets, it will be the first housing development in Maine built entirely from wood sawmill waste, and one of the first 3D-printed homeless neighborhoods in the country.