This just in (yesterday, in fact)! :
Khoshnevis of Contour Crafting has plans to create machines that can build 2,500 square-foot homes in as little as 20 hours! This machine will use a form of 3D printing. (He already has prototypes & a TEDtalk).
Overall, this way of building seems rather efficient. The costs of production is decreased using this technology (financing building materials, decreasing CO2 emissions created and energy used)...however, the amount of manual labor is also decreased, which means fewer people are needed to work it.
He wishes to use this process of building for poorer areas where shelter is problematic. On the Contour Crafting website, he even mentions using this on other planets (because Earth's going to deteriorate sometime- thanks, humans). This way, shelter can be created in a very short amount of time-and lots of it, too. Imagine, Contour Crafting as a way to quickly create shelter for survivors of natural disaster (Hurricane Katrina, for instance?).
Decreasing the physical labor required for building homes is a controversial part of the project. Will this put millions of people out of work? Should this technology only be used for special projects? Will the benefits out-weigh the negatives?
Check. It. Out.
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