They assembled 10 sheds/huts and took longer than that to print them.
Printing time is less relevant than the final construction assembly time as print production facilities would be very scaleable, like the production of bricks. However it becomes relevant if the $4,800 calculation failed to include the full cost of those building materials - a price to include all aspects of production facilities, properly amortizing each tool/machine/building over the lifetime units of expected component production output and including all elements of capital costs. If you needed fifty printers to keep up with an output of ten buildings a day, you’d better make sure they didn’t overlook the unit cost of land, buildings, printers, logistical infrastructure, support staff, research, development, administration, money and profit in their $4,800 unit cost to support fifty printers.
@Michael_Bartlett you can build wooden houses quicker cheaper and greener. Its hype nothing more.
What a shame. I thought it was really good news.
@Nigel_Dickinson please elaborate on your statement of wooden houses being “greener” than a house of “predominantly recycled materials”. I dont have much research into this subject but would love to hear your perspective based on fact and not just opinion. Im no rocket surgeon but using electricity and recycled products seems greener than using gas power and trees… just saying. Thats why I would like to hear some facts back up your logic. Not saying your wrong, just want to know why your right.
@Scott_Snowdon wood is CO2 neutral. Cement isn’t …look at is processing. And this recycled product increases it CO2 imbalance.
And the plastics are hardly green to start with never mind post processing.
You cannot grow new concrete.
I expect it’s correct that wooden houses are greener, even though the trees took decades to grow and deforestation is killing the planet, but speed and cost would be a vast improvement over wooden houses unless you put no value on human labour.
What about deforestation and its impacts on everything from animal habitats to global climate change and its wide ranging effects… hence the “global” part? I kind of see your point but have you ever seen a house demolished and recycled? I haven’t. It is becoming very common practice to recycle cement when it is demolished.
@Scott_Snowdon sorry but softwood comes from maintained forests.
Deforestation that your talking about is cut burn farming.
In the UK we recycle brick and wood.
But I know in the states it different.
@Michael_Bartlett so these concrete houses that are built as panels assemble themselves and no labour is used to make the concrete or watch the machines.
Seems you’ve forgotten labour costs.
Disagree with @Nigel_Dickinson as usual. The point here is that the logical conclusion to this technology is a highly automated and material efficient process to mass produce housing at a fraction of the cost of conventional construction processes. Granted it may not be as ‘green’ because it uses concrete and not sustainable pine, but the saving grace for a deposition technology like this is you can use less concrete where you don’t need structural strength and more where you do, unlike a poured slab which is solid all the way through and very labour intensive if you want an intricate shape because you have to assemble a form in which to pour. You can also create material composites by introducing other materials like nylon, steel or even wood.
Cnc cut, high strength, low weight timber laminates may well end up being part of the system as this develops.
Recent research in fdm is also showing that alternating the infill direction layer by layer dramatically increases shock resistance, there is a strong possibility that this will be true for concrete as well.
@Tim_Rastall I’m not against this I’m against the hype that is the best thing since sliced bread.
One technology in housing isn’t going replace all other methods.
Just down the road they have put up a prefab wooden flats that will be lined with bricks on the outside.
A water tight building for 20 people was put up in 3 days…and it was off the shelf.
Until we get told how long a panel takes to print I’m still sceptical on these claims.
I’m researching this topic myself with a few ideas but using clay and straw…a traditional building method.