Check Out This Super Cool Sustainable 3-D Printed House and Car Combo A look at the future of green architecture.

By Nina Zipkin

OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY
It's the creation of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill—the big-name architecture firm that designed One World Trade Center—and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Ever wanted to live completely off the grid? Thanks to the work of the architectural minds behind 1 World Trade Center and scientists from Tennessee, 3-D printing technology could one day be used to do just that.

Architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and College of Architecture and Design at the University of Tennessee teamed up to design one of the biggest 3-D printed structures ever created -- the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy Structure, or the AMIE 1.0, Wired reports.

Check Out This Super Cool Sustainable 3-D Printed House and Car Combo

The Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy structure--AMIE 1.0, for short--is a 3-D printed structure and a glimpse at how architects think we might live off-the-grid, and in the future.
Image credit: OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY

Related: For the First Time Ever, 3-D Printed Pill Receives FDA Approval

In January, AMIE made its debut at the NAHB International Builders Show in Las Vegas. So what's so special about it? It is a sustainable 3-D printed home and car that generate and share electricity. The car and house are linked together by a wireless charging pad that is switched on when the vehicle is parked on it.

The 3D-printed house, which looks a little like the skeleton of an Airstream trailer -- white and tubular with slotted sides -- comes equipped with lights, faucets, a stove and a refrigerator that are all powered by solar panels. When the appliances are turned off, the electricity is stored in the home's battery. The SUV also has a battery and a generator that runs on gasoline. If the sun isn't out, the structure can pull energy from its batteries.

Check Out This Super Cool Sustainable 3-D Printed House and Car Combo

AMIE is very much a prototype, but because the structure's functional "kitchen"--complete with faucets, a refrigerator, and induction stovetops--the SOM and Oak Ridge designers were able to put their concept to the test. The wireless, bidirectional energy system worked--at least, in a controlled setting.
Image credit: OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY
Related: High School Students 3-D Printed a Custom Wheelchair to Help This Resilient Little Kitten

The idea of sustainability has been a throughline of the project. "We were really intrigued with it because the whole idea of 3-D printing is that eventually you can design a building, and print it in a way that you have no waste," Phil Enquist, a partner at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, told Wired.

Enquist also believes that with a continued collaboration between the private and public sector, 3D-printed homes could be made on a broader scale as soon as next year.

Check Out This Super Cool Sustainable 3-D Printed House and Car Combo

The Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy structure--AMIE 1.0, for short--is a 3-D printed structure and a glimpse at how architects think we might live off-the-grid, and in the future.
Image credit: OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY

Wavy Line
Nina Zipkin

Entrepreneur Staff

Staff Writer. Covers leadership, media, technology and culture.

Nina Zipkin is a staff writer at Entrepreneur.com. She frequently covers leadership, media, tech, startups, culture and workplace trends.

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