UMaine Gets $4M to 3D-Print Nine Homes for Homeless in Bangor

The University of Maine is moving from prototype to neighborhood. A $4 million federal award will fund nine 3D-printed homes in the Greater Bangor area, built from wood waste and designed for people experiencing homelessness.

The project uses BioHome3D, the university's system for printing walls, floors, and roofs from wood fibers and bio-resins. Each unit is about 600 square feet, with one bedroom, one bathroom, and a combined kitchen and living room. The Advanced Structures and Composites Center will manufacture the modules off-site, then ship them to the neighborhood for assembly.

Why Wood Waste Works

Maine produces roughly one million tons of wood residuals every year, mostly from sawmills that no longer have the pulp and paper mills they once supplied. BioHome3D turns that surplus into feedstock. The result is a building material that is renewable, locally sourced, and fully recyclable at the end of the structure's life.

The printing process produces almost no construction waste. Concrete walls need formwork, bracing, and cleanup. BioHome3D modules emerge from the printer ready to stack. The university's original 2022 prototype proved the concept; this funding makes it a community.

What Comes Next

Penquis, the local agency running the project, has already selected an architectural and engineering partner. The next phase covers detailed design, site selection, and permitting. UMaine plans to build three homes at a time, learning from each batch before the next round of printing.

The homes must meet Maine State Affordable Housing standards and perform through cold winters. Sensors embedded in the prototype tracked thermal and structural behavior through its first year of outdoor testing. Those data points will shape the neighborhood design.

If the project works, it offers a template for other communities with both a housing shortage and a wood products surplus. Nine homes is a modest start, but it is the first bio-based 3D-printed neighborhood in Maine.