Research:
3D Printing Technologies (3DP) and Building Information Models (BIM) can help build homes for the climate and cultural environment that are resilient and energy-efficient for indigenous communities. According to Statistics Canada, the 10-year “British Columbia Urban, Rural, and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy” (released in early 2022) aims to determine housing solutions for over 30,000 Indigenous households in the province. Despite the growing maturity of the 3DP technologies and processes, there has been a lack of a clear understanding of the indigenous housing needs for building resilience and efficiency. Each community may require specific solutions of 3DP homes to address the local climate and cultural environment. Through this GCRTC seed fund (Module 1), the proposed research project aims for the long term goal that is to improve the well-beings and the built environment for indigenous communities when using 3DP and BIM technologies to provide resilient and adaptable homes to the varying climates, cultural, geography and topographies needs of the indigenous communities in Canada. We will conceptualize a 3DP digital construction framework compatible with the indigenous housing needs that include the local available materials and sustainable material choices for construction, the design of connections of major structural elements for required strength, and construction installation techniques.