Page 45 - May-June 2018 GSE Report Flip Book

FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC MAJAYN-UAJRUYNE20210818
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1. 3D printed homes. In 2017, Russian company Apis Cor 3D printed a 400 square foot house in 24 hours. Industrial 3D printers aren’t exactly cheap, but over time their price has plummeted. It seems likely that soon, small to medium construction and housing companies will be able to work with additive manufacturing. They may not have the resources to print entire houses, but could begin to work on smaller projects with the aim of making building processes quicker and more robust. 3D printing could streamline the time it takes to build a house, as well as making it cheaper to do to. It also has the potential to offer personalization and customization, perhaps giving buyers the opportunity to have an influence on design elements too.
2. Self driving technology. Built Robotics has developed an autonomous track loader that is safer and more efficient than human driven alternatives. The autonomous track loader is fitted with lidar sensors and a computer ‘brain’ that helps it navigate around building sites. Just like other autonomous technologies, the system gets better over time. The company has also avoided some of the major challenges associated with self driving cars by deploying the self driving machine in more controlled environments. Using autonomous technology could create cost savings that should, in theory, make it quicker and easier to construct homes.
3. Smart home systems. With demand for housing comes demand for resources, power
and maintenance. This places immense strain on housing associations and housing companies, as well as inconveniencing tenants or homeowners when their needs are not met. Smart home systems, however, reveal when and where resources are needed most through property profiles. Kasita, for example, has created a modular smart home that regulates lighting and climate. By applying home automation systems, housing companies and organisations can target limited resources. This can also help to flag potential problems before they become serious, such as faulty home appliances.
4. Blockchain for real estate. Even if you can afford to buy a house (or at least get a mortgage), the next steps are far from straightforward. Real estate relies on cooperation and communication between lots of different parties, all of whom demand a fee. However, by moving this process onto the blockchain, house sales could take place without the
need for brokers and banks. Smart contracts could be set up to build trust in real estate negotiations, showing the full record of agreements and transactions to avoid confusion and streamline the process. Blockchain technology could also be used to make renting more efficient and rewarding. Decentralized rental platform Rentberry is the first company to use blockchain for this application, automating standard rental tasks and bringing transparency to rental agreements.
5. DIY digital tools. For many, owning (let alone building) a house is often an unattainable dream. This is especially the case for younger people, who are often tied into 35-year mortgages. In a TED talk given [in May], PLACE Technologies founder Sarah Murray
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