ORNL and University of Maine researchers design 3D recyclable natural-material floor panel to replace steel

In Tennessee, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Maine have designed and 3D-printed a single-piece, recyclable natural-material floor panel tested to be strong enough to replace construction materials like steel. The project is part of the Sustainable Materials & Manufacturing Alliance for Renewable Technologies, or SM2ART, program. The SM2ART team previously constructed BioHome3D, the nation’s first additively manufactured home made entirely from biologically based materials.

BioHome3D’s components and the floor panel were recently displayed during the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development’s 2024 Housing Innovation Showcase on the National Mall. 

The SM2ART Nfloor cassette panel was developed to replace traditional steel-and-concrete surface assemblies as a transformative step for constructing apartment and condominium buildings. The technology has the potential to create strong, biologically based sections that could make multistory buildings more environmentally friendly. It could also help increase the use of sustainable structures that are made in a modular construction facility.

Modular, or panelized, manufacturing creates complete sections of a building at an offsite factory before delivery to a construction site for final assembly. The method is becoming a cost-effective way to develop sustainable residential structures in urban areas.