3D printed sustainable low-cost materials for construction of affordable social housing in Brazil: Potential, challenges, and research needs

3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) is presented as an important process in the future of civil engineering, as it accelerates the construction process, reduces labor costs, and potentially generates significantly less waste materials. Currently, 3DCP has been delayed as a technical solution for Latin American. However, it could be an important option for tackling the housing deficit in developing countries as well. The deployment of 3DCP depends on many different local factors, either political, economic, or technological. This paper discusses the potential, challenges, and research needs to deploy 3DCP in Brazil. It starts presenting the Brazilian economic context in the struggle to reduce the housing deficit over the years. Then, the challenges related to the implementation of 3DCP are compared with the opportunities, such as the abundance of low -carbon materials (earth -based, biomass, etc.), which could turn 3DCP into a sustainable business. Although this review is focused on Brazil, the authors believe that the context also applies to many other developing countries with similar social inequality conditions.