24 hours to print a house

As a follow up to our previous discussions on 3d printing in the construction industry and as a new tool for manufacturing on a larger scale, here is a new type of 3D printer being tested at University of Southern California: a "Contour Crafting" printer, which will essentially be a super-sized 3D printer capable of printing walls.
The printer pours the cement following the design and can therefore build structures fast, and according to specifications in a short period of time. It could potentially print a house within 24 hours.


 Source: Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum , "Why Design Now?: Contour Crafting" (Screenshot), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yv-IWdSdns

Of course, it is then relevant to ask if this will lead to further standardisation of the housing market of if, to the contrary this will mark the end of blocks of identical row houses all built following the same model, if thousands of different house designs where, in the long term, available, and easy to build in a such a short time frame. How will this impact the construction industry as a whole? The labour market? The housing market?

Here is an introductory YouTube video by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, that is currently considering the use of this tool for rapid prototyping and as a way to make construction technology more energy efficient. This video showcases the current prototype which works on a system of rails:

Source: Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum , "Why Design Now?: Contour Crafting", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yv-IWdSdns