3 ms·
The castle itself is pretty cool. What I would be interested in are the numbers in terms of cost saving (when implemented at scale). The printer seems to repla
by bruce511 12y ago
The castle itself is pretty cool.
What I would be interested in are the numbers in terms of cost saving (when implemented at scale). The printer seems to replace some of the labour of building in say brick or wood, but of course the labor to build the walls is only one of the costs involved.
Consider the major cost areas; land, earthworks, foundations, structure materials, structure labour, windows and doors, plastering, plumbing, electrics, painting, bathrooms, kitchen, floors.
Clearly this optimizes one of the processes, and it may make construction timeless and if you like the finish you can avoid plastering etc, but given that you only save the labor, not the materials,I'm not sure what the eventual monetary saving would be.
Architecturally though it can do things your regular brickie probably can't do - curves for example - so that may end up being the true value of the printer.
- krasin 12y agoWith a second printer head added, it should be possible to deposit thermal insulator right within a wall. The insulator just needs to be semi-liquid (small balls are ok).
- saalweachter 12y agoSprayed insulation is already a thing. Additionally, there are additives (aerogels maybe? I can't remember but aerogels can do anything) you can add to concrete to raise its insulating value significantly.
- maxerickson 12y agoBoring old styrofoam is a major one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanded_polystyrene_concrete http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanded_polystyrene_concrete
- 2muchcoffeeman 12y agoWhat about using these to make prefab components?
- nawitus 12y agoThere are already prefab "components" that one can assemble into a bare-bones house. The production of this prefab parts can utilize traditional manufacturing processes. 3D printing is typically more expensive than traditional solutions.