Engineers Printed a 1000-Square-Foot House Out of Soil—No Concrete Needed

[Buster's Uncle]

Engineers Printed a 1000-Square-Foot House Out of Soil—No Concrete Needed
Darren Orf
Popular Mechanics
Tue, August 19, 2025 at 8:00 AM EDT
3 min read



Engineers Printed a House Entirely Out of Soil THOMAS SAMSON - Getty Images


Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:

*Although many parts of the world need more affordable housing, a construction boom also brings with it significant greenhouse gas emissions.

*An architectural firm in Japan is using industrial-scale 3D printers—an already more climate-friendly approach to construction—to create homes made entirely from local soil.

*Called the “Lib Earth House Model B,” the home is five times stronger than the company’s previous model and includes an integrated in-wall condensation detection system for constant monitoring of the home’s stability.


Building a new home isn’t cheap—financially or environmentally.

While many countries need to build fast to address the ongoing housing crisis, all of that building would come with a major environmental toll. A 2022 estimate by MIT Climate states that constructing a single house creates 15 to 100 tons of CO2, and a lot of that carbon comes from concrete, which requires high temperatures powered by fossil fuels to create. While valiant efforts have been made to clean up concrete and cement production, the industry is still one of the biggest greenhouse gas emitters globally.

This unfortunate truth has inspired some engineers to think outside the box in order to help close the gap between needed housing and environmental sustainability. Recycled timber is a popular alternative building material, as trees naturally sequester carbon, so you’re basically building with atmospheric carbon. Another route is industrial-scale 3D printing, which requires less labor and also produces less waste. Granted, most 3D-printed homes still rely on some form of concrete mix (including cement, sand, gravel, and aggregates). But now, companies are trying to 3D-build with a different kind of extruded material—local soil.

In July, the Japanese architectural firm Lib Work announced the successful construction of the “Lib Earth House Model B,” which is a 1,000 square-foot home constructed entirely from soil—no concrete required. Lib Work claims that the Model B (built in Yamaga, Kumamoto Prefecture) is five times stronger than the previous model, which was constructed earlier this year. The company also used a novel approach to the construction by integrating generative AI into the design process. According to Archinect, Lib Work is the world’s first fully automated home construction system.

“We have succeeded in developing a sustainable earthen wall made entirely from earth and natural materials, without using any cement,” according to the company’s website, translated from Japanese. “This is not just a house, but a challenge to rethink the very way we live.”

Of course, this house features more than just walls made of soil. An in-wall condensation detection system constantly monitors for deterioration, and the home is fully off the grid, relying on solar panels and a Tesla Powerwall battery for energy. The home is also fully remote controlled through a smartphone app.

Lib Work isn’t the first architecture company to investigate ways to use soil as a building material. In 2021, for example, Mario Cucinella Architects in Bologna, Italy, partnered with the 3D-printer manufacturer WASP (which also worked with Lib Work on the Model B) to create a clay-based construction material derived from local soil. Although the drying process took longer than other quick-dry concrete products, the material allowed for increased flexibility in terms of construction location.

Building affordable housing and limiting greenhouse gas emissions will require innovative solutions—from broader city planning to home construction. Increased housing density can help keep utility bills low and limit reliance on cars, while sustainable materials can build homes without adding to humanity’s growing CO2 budget. With entire neighborhoods being constructed using 3D-printing in the U.S. and around the world, homes like the Model B could a win-win solution for communities and the climate.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/engineers-printed-1000-square-foot-120000856.html