The Rise of 3D-printed Houses 3D 打印房屋興起

A batch of new houses across California is selling unusually fast. In the past two months， 82 have been snapped up， and the waiting list is 1，000 long. That demand should， though， soon be satisfied—for Palari Homes and Mighty Buildings， the collaborators behind these houses， are able to erect one in less than 24 hours.

加利福尼亞州的一批新房子正以異常快的速度售出。在過去的兩個月里，已經有82套房子被搶購，而等候名單上的人數多達1000人。不過，這個需求應該很快就會得到滿足——因為這些房子背后的合作公司Palari Homes和Mighty Buildings，在不到24小時內就能建成一座房子。

They can do it so rapidly because their products are assembled from components prefabricated in a factory. The components involved are made in an unusual way： they are printed.

這兩家公司之所以能做到如此快速地建造房屋，是因為他們的產品是直接用工廠預制的部件組裝出來的。而這些部件的制造方式很不尋常：它們是打印出來的。

Not only does 3D-printing allow greater versatility and faster construction， it also promises lower cost and in a more environmentally friendly approach than is possible at present.

3D打印不僅帶來更多樣的建筑和更快的建造速度，而且也讓人們能以比現在更低的成本、更為環保的方式來建造房屋。

There are limitations to 3D-printed homes. For a start， construction codes need to be tweaked to accommodate them. To this end UL， one of America’s largest certifying agencies， has collaborated with Mighty Buildings to develop the first 3D-printing standard.

3D打印的房屋也有局限性。首先，為了適應3D打印的房屋這一變化，施工規范需要進行調整。為此，美國最大的認證機構之一UL與Mighty Buildings 合作開發了第一個3D打印房屋的施工標準。

While this is a welcome boost to a fledgling industry， most governments have yet to come up with country-specific standards. There are also questions about the quality and finish of homes built by 3D printers.

雖然這對一個羽翼未豐的行業來說是個可喜的進步，但多數政府尚未出臺具體的國家標準。而且人們對3D打印房屋的質量和裝修情況還有一些質疑。

Even so， the direction of travel looks promising. Dubai’s government wants a quarter of new buildings in the country to be 3D-printed by 2030. And India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs wants to use 3D printing to address the country’s housing shortages.

即便如此，這個行業的前進方向看起來還是很有希望的。迪拜政府希望在2030年以前，國內四分之一的新建筑都用3D打印。而印度住房和城市事務部則希望，通過3D打印技術來解決印度住房短缺的問題。

If successful， building by 3D printing is likely to spread beyond housing. Opportunities also exist in warehousing， offices and other commercial buildings. And beyond earthly structures， NASA is exploring the use of 3D printing to build landing pads， accommodation and roads on Mars and the Moon.

如果能取得成功，3D打印建筑的應用很可能會擴散到住房以外的建筑領域。倉庫、辦公室和其他商業建筑中也有應用 3D 打印的機會。而且除了在地球上的建筑物，美國宇航局還正在探索如何利用3D打印技術在火星和月球上建造起降場、住房和道路。

Word Study

erect /?'rekt/ v. 建立;建造

The church was erected in 1680.

prefabricated /'pri?'f?br?ke?t?d/ adj. 預制的;用預制構件組裝的

versatility /'v??s?'t?l?ti/ n. 多用途;多才多藝

tweak /twi?k/ v. 稍稍調整（機器、系統等）

After exiting the installer， we have just a few settings to tweak.

boost /bu?st/ n. 增長;提高;幫助;激勵