3D concrete printing for sustainable and economical construction: A comparative study

Literature about 3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) examined small-printed elements or structures, while the data available about printed buildings are from the market. Therefore, there is no robust answer regarding 3DCP efficiency compared to other construction methods. In this research, a two-storey building was designed using five construction methods: 3DCP, prefabricated modular construction, cast-in-situ reinforced concrete, cold-formed steel and hot-rolled steel. The aim is to compare 3DCP to other construction techniques in terms of the construction duration, cost and CO₂ emissions. This study shows that excluding prefabricated modular concrete, 3DCP reduces the construction duration by about 95%. 3DCP also offers the greatest cost savings and behaves similarly to cold-formed steel to produce approximately 32% less CO₂ emissions. Thus, this work provides a necessary outlook on the current viability of 3DCP to relevant stakeholders and industry professionals and inspires future research on 3DCP as an economical and sustainable construction solution.