The next time you take a bag of plastic bottles to the recycler, you might be providing the building material for a new home — at least if the would-be refuse ends up on Azure Printed Homes' production floor.
That's because the California company uses some of the plentiful plastic waste we produce to "print" homes. And after years of development, co-founder Gene Eidleman told The Cool Down during an exclusive interview that Azure is poised for impressive growth.
What's more, the innovative production method could remedy housing problems in cities around the world, as well as address homelessness in war-torn countries and storm-ravaged locations.
"We need to get this problem under control," Eidleman said.
3D-printed homes aren't new. An entire community is being completed in Texas by Icon. Mighty Buildings, from California, claims to print most of a home in 24 hours.
Azure's process is different from most others because it prints complete housing modules in a factory instead of at the home's location. The abodes can then be shipped anywhere in the country, according to Eidleman. He has been working with his business partner, Ross Maguire, on the project since August 2019.
"The way we save time and money is by doing it in a factory," he said.
Part of the efficiency comes from a streamlined process. Customers choose and customize a design. The printer needs only one day to print the home. It is then prefabricated with all the fixings, including plumbing and electrical wiring, a four- to 15-day process. The home is then delivered by truck within a couple of days. The technique is touted to be 30% less expensive than traditional construction and 70% faster, all per the Azure website.
Eidleman said that one home's shell uses about 150,000 plastic bottles. The plastic comes from a supplier that uses recycled material. It is then mixed with fiberglass and other additives as part of the "ink," and it's treated for fire protection and with an ultraviolet light stabilizer, as well.
"Plastic makes great resin," Eidleman said. "Mixed with fiberglass, it's stronger than concrete and much lighter."
It's also an abundant commodity. We produce more than 385 million tons of plastic waste each year, according to data collector Statista.
The Azure printer, as shown on the company website, is essentially a giant robotic arm with an extruder on the end that lays down the plastic-laden slurry on preprogrammed designs.
The structures have a modern style. Photos shared by Azure show unique, mostly rectangular shapes with lots of glass. Some are offices, one is an apparent gym, and others are part of the "tiny home" trend. Eidleman said many are used as she-shacks and man-caves.
"These homes are frequently incorporated into properties and used as rental units, providing homeowners with an additional source of income," he added. "You can pick your own architectural look."
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The builds range in size from 100 square feet to 1,500 square feet. The latter type is still in development. They cost from $20,000 to $300,000, with the average price tag of around $100,000, all per Eidleman. He said that Azure is in the "rapid growth stage." In fact, he expects Azure's 20-employee workforce to expand by multiples in the coming years.
There are three printers operating in California, with a Colorado factory in development. Orders have already come in from 19 states.
"States are now getting more involved," Eidleman said, noting that Colorado invested tens of millions of dollars in affordable housing programs. To put the problem in perspective, about 20 out of every 10,000 U.S. residents were experiencing homelessness "on a single night in 2023," according to a government analysis.
Eidleman, a Ukraine native, feels that his quick and inexpensive units can help solve that problem across the country and internationally. Wildfires, coastal storms, and wars are leaving people homeless in every hemisphere. Weather-related concerns are linked to the overheating of our planet, according to experts from NASA.
Azure's building material can help to reduce air pollution to some degree if it replaces cement. Cement and concrete production is commonly reported to churn out 8% of the world's planet-warming fumes. Using recycled plastic waste is a big perk, as well.
On top of that, recycling is a win that anyone can take part in by simply taking used bottles to a recycler. Some states will even pay you to turn in certain bottles.
Eidleman, a long-time entrepreneur, said that securing funding was the biggest challenge to get Azure off the ground. A successful crowdfunding effort and angel investors jump-started the project with around $6 million.
Now, he wants to send his printers to where dwellings are needed in a hurry.
"Anywhere there will be a need for rebuilding," Eidleman said. "The construction industry is primed for disruption."
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