The First 3D-Printed Building in Spain: A Study on Its Acoustic, Thermal and Environmental Performance

Andrea Salandin, Alberto Quintana-Gallardo (), Vicente Gómez-Lozano and Ignacio Guillén-Guillamón ()
Additional contact information
Andrea Salandin: Center for Physics Technologies (CTFAMA), Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 València, Spain
Alberto Quintana-Gallardo: Center for Physics Technologies (CTFAMA), Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 València, Spain
Vicente Gómez-Lozano: Center for Physics Technologies (CTFAMA), Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 València, Spain
Ignacio Guillén-Guillamón: Center for Physics Technologies (CTFAMA), Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 València, Spain

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 20, 1-20

Abstract: The first 3D-printed building in Spain is the object of this study, and it is presented and physically described herein from different points of view. This study combines on-site measurements, simulations, and a life cycle assessment to assess some relevant parameters concerning the acoustic, thermal and environmental performance of the 3D-printed house. The main objectives are to analyze whether the house complies with the acoustic and thermal regulations and to assess whether it can act as a sustainable alternative to conventional masonry construction, especially when time plays an important role. The build surface (3D prototype) of the house is approximately 23 m 2 . The internal space includes a living room (12.35 m 2 ), a bedroom (7.36 m 2 ) and a bathroom (3.16 m 2 ). The total surface of the house is 22.87 m 2 and it has a volume of 64.03 m 3 . The acoustic insulation was measured according to the ISO 9869-1:2014 standard. In terms of the acoustic insulation, the sound reduction index was tested following the guidelines of the ISO 140-5:1999 standard. Additionally, the study includes a comparative life cycle assessment comparing the 3D-printed façade with two conventional wall typologies. The 3D-printed house displays an excellent thermal performance, with a measured thermal transmittance of 0.24 Wm −2 K −1 , suitable for all Spanish climate zones. Regarding the acoustic insulation, the measured global sound reduction indexes of the façades range from 36 to 45 dB, which is adequate for areas with noise levels of up to 75 dB. The environmental results indicate that 3D-printed façade manufacturing emits 30% more CO 2 e than a façade constructed using concrete blocks and 2% less than a masonry block wall. Overall, this study shows that, in addition to its multiple advantages in terms of the construction time, the studied 3D-printed house has similar acoustic, thermal and environmental traits to the most common construction typologies. However, it cannot be considered a sustainable construction method due to its high amount of cement.

Keywords: additive manufacturing; acoustic insulation; thermal transmittance; life cycle assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/20/13204/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/20/13204/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:20:p:13204-:d:942270

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().