UMaine Will 3D Print Nine Homes in Bangor Using Sawmill Waste

From prototype to neighborhood

The University of Maine's Advanced Structures and Composites Center is moving its BioHome3D technology out of the lab and into a real neighborhood. The center is partnering with Penquis, a Bangor-based nonprofit, to produce up to nine 600-square-foot homes in the Greater Bangor area. Each home will have one bedroom, one bathroom, and a combined kitchen and living room.

The project is funded by $4 million in Congressionally Directed Spending secured by U.S. Senator Susan Collins, along with additional support from MaineHousing, the KeyBank Foundation, and NeighborWorks America. That funding covers design, engineering, and construction of the first-of-its-kind village.

Printed from sawmill dust

BioHome3D is not made from ordinary concrete. The floors, walls, and roof are 3D-printed using bio-resins derived from residual wood fibers sourced from Maine sawmills. The approach turns a local waste stream into building material, avoiding the carbon footprint of Portland cement and reducing dependence on imported supplies.

The original BioHome3D prototype, unveiled in November 2022, was manufactured, transported, and secured on its foundation in about half a day. Since then, UMaine has scaled its manufacturing capacity dramatically. A new large-format printer in the GEM facility's Factory of the Future can now deposit material at 500 to 1,000 pounds per hour, up from 100 pounds per hour when the prototype was built.

Testing the limits

The Bangor project is not just about housing. It is also a research platform. UMaine will build the homes in three stages, testing each batch for fire resistance, structural performance, and code compliance before moving to the next. The goal is to develop the data needed to scale the technology beyond a pilot project into a repeatable manufacturing system.

Habib Dagher, executive director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center, said the project addresses two problems at once: Maine's shortage of affordable housing and the systemic cost pressures driven by labor shortages and supply chain disruptions. "By combining local sawmill waste with advanced additive manufacturing, we are demonstrating how code-compliant, sustainable housing can be produced faster and more efficiently," Dagher said.

Why it matters

Large-format 3D printing for construction has mostly lived in demos and single-home prototypes. UMaine's BioHome3D project is different because it is designed as a manufacturing process rather than a one-off demonstration. The Factory of the Future setting lets researchers test higher production speeds, automated processes, and new material formulations under real conditions.

For the 3D printing community, the lesson is not just that houses can be printed from wood fiber. It is that the same technology can be adapted to local material availability, turning regional waste streams into structural feedstock. If BioHome3D proves scalable, it offers a blueprint for affordable housing in forest-rich regions where sawmill residue is abundant and conventional construction labor is scarce.