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These 3D-Printed Homes Address Affordability and the Environment
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These 3D-Printed Homes Address Affordability and the Environment

Azure Printed Homes' Co-Founder Ross Maguire Says His Homes Use 100,000 Recycled Plastic Bottles
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Devin: What do you see as your superpower?

Ross: I’m fairly modest, so I don’t necessarily consider it as a superpower. Although I have goals and objectives and long-term aims, I am often so focused on what’s in front of me that I take each [step] unintentionally. It’s just the way that my mind works. I just kind of focus on what’s immediately required in front of me, which means that I’m, without realizing it, taking those bite-size chunks and steps towards that ultimate goal that I’ve set myself when I’ve sat down and planned it out and figured it out. But as I’m going through it, I’m giving full commitment to each part of it, which ultimately means that I’m getting to where I want to without necessarily realizing it.


Ross Maguire, a co-founder of Azure Printed Homes, is leading an effort to make home construction faster, more affordable and environmentally friendly by using recycled plastic to print the buildings in a factory.

“We have a robotic arm 3D printer that is based in our factory,” is not a sentence that a typical home builder uses, but that is how Ross begins explaining his work creating an assembly line producing homes.

“At the beginning of our production line is the print itself. We complete the entire shell of each module on day one,” he says. “We print the floor, two of the walls and the roof, which is great because it means on day two, we’re already wiring, and we’re plumbing on the inside. It just accelerates the whole process to a-whole-nother level.”

With big dreams for the future, Ross says they’re starting with two simple models. “We can create these modules as an office or an ADU or a home. We can create each module within a five to 10-day period of time, which is extremely fast. That’s been the whole motivation to create homes quickly, affordably and then in a better way for the environment as well.”

When we spoke, Ross said the company had built two models for display in the factory showroom. “We’ve pre-sold now, as it stands, over $16 million worth of units.”

Azure’s starting price for a 180-square-foot accessory dwelling unit is $43,900.

“We’re doing a raise at the moment to fund our second and third printers so that we can get to a point where we can start marketing,” Ross added.

The environmental benefit is pretty significant. “We calculated at the end of the day that one of our modules uses approximately 100,000 plastic bottles,” Ross says. “The plastic’s collected, recycled, broken down and then blended with a few other compounds, including fiberglass, which gives it added strength, a few other additives that give it more durability and protection from the environment.”

Ross has developed and deployed a focus on taking the required steps toward big goals as a superpower. Could we call that FOTRS—an acronym for Focus On Taking the Required Steps?

How to Develop FOTRS As a Superpower

Ross made a tremendous effort to get Azure Printed Homes to this point. He credits his focus on taking the required steps—FOTRS—for the progress.

Ross offers three tips for strengthening your FOTRS.

  1. Make a List. “Initially, just get everything listed,” Ross says. “Let’s set down, in terms of what you want to achieve long-term-wise, and then just take each of those lists and break them down further into what tasks I need to complete to achieve that goal.”

  2. Be impatient. “Part of it comes from impatience and wanting to see progress on a daily basis and feel like you’re getting closer to where you want to go,” he says.

  3. Focus on First Downs. “It can become overwhelming if you’re looking at something so gigantic of a mountain to climb,” Ross says. “But it certainly becomes a lot more palatable to be able to just kind of focus on the next ten yards.”

By following Ross’s example and advice, you can make FOTRS—a focus on taking the required steps toward your long-term goal into a superpower that will enable you to do more good.

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