UMaine to Print Up to Nine Bio-Based Homes in Maine

Inside UMaine’s Factory of the Future in Maine, a single demonstration house is becoming a manufacturing test. The University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center is working with nonprofit Penquis to produce up to nine 3D-printed homes in the Greater Bangor area, in three stages that will let researchers test, adjust and repeat the process.

The project tackles the hard part that follows a successful prototype: output. When BioHome3D development began, UMaine’s printer deposited material at roughly 100 pounds per hour. The newer large-scale printer now operates at about 500 pounds per hour, and future equipment is expected to reach around 1,000 pounds per hour. The Factory of the Future is designed to test those higher speeds and more automated processes under real production conditions.

The material is part of the experiment. UMaine’s BioHome3D prototype, unveiled in November 2022, printed its floors, walls and roof from wood fiber and bio-resins, giving residual wood from Maine sawmills a new use. The 600-square-foot house was manufactured in three six-sided modules and secured on its foundation in about half a day. Researchers have monitored it through three Maine winters, while the university estimates that each unit absorbs 46 tons of carbon dioxide as a carbon sink.

So what changes, concretely? If the staged project works, Maine could test a way to produce more homes without a matching increase in on-site construction labor, a relevant prospect in a region facing both a housing shortage and a limited workforce. For now, the nine homes are a validation step, not a full-scale housing factory.

The remaining gap is safety at scale. Habib Dagher, executive director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center, says fire-resistant materials and further testing are needed before wider deployment, including proof that the homes can meet the standards required for broader use. The partnership’s value is precisely in creating repeated opportunities to find and fix those limits.