Exposing 5 LIES about 3D Printed Concrete Homes
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- čas přidán 5. 06. 2024
- It's time to cut through the 3D Printed Concrete BS! This trending construction technique is littered with fake news and hyperbole and a lack of critique. In this video, we’re going to analyze the claims made not from a pessimistic point of view, but a realistic one.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:50 Costs less than $4000
2:38 Printed in 24 hours
4:22 Eliminate all jobs
5:56 Solve homelessness
7:59 3d printing is sustainable
8:55 Tackling misconceptions
Thanks @Jarett Gross for the footage!
Thumbnail courtesy of XTree
Claim #1: 3D printed homes can be built for less than $4000.
This is a flat out lie that started circulating in 2018. Journalists misled people for the sake of clicks by claiming that ICON 3D, based in Austin, Texas had a $10,000 tiny home prototype that could cost around $3,500 or $4,000 when printed in large quantities. The cost of 3d printed homes is a hotly debated topic because it is a new field with many unknown variables. 3D printing can have lower labor costs, but there are other expenses to consider: the cost of electricity to run the machine which is exorbitant in some countries, the cost of renting or buying the printer, the cost of hiring specialists to calibrate and run the machine, etc.
Claim #2: Homes can be printed in 24 hours
3D printers create walls, not homes. There are dozens of other components that go into building a house: windows, doors, roofs, electrical wiring, plumbing, insulation, HVAC systems, interior walls and finishes, millwork, etc.
Claim #3: 3d printing will make jobs unnecessary
There’s a common thread behind all these misleading claims. The productivity of the construction industry is lagging far behind others. Outsiders from the tech field want to fix it by disrupting and automating the entire industry without having any knowledge of its intricacies. There are millions of variables at play: soil conditions, weather, local materials, culture, economy, design codes, and of course, form and function.
Claim #4: 3D printed homes can solve homelessness
The arrogance of designers and architects really shines when they talk about homeless shelters. Making a shipping container or 3D printed concrete shelter will not solve homelessness. I spoke to Nicholas Patel, the founder of Fullbore Africa. He pointed out lack of consistent power, the need for several backup generators, the carbon emissions shipping the machine to Africa, the poor infrastructure, the legal issues clearing the printers at ports, 24 hour security, cost of foreign-trained specialists, and the difficulty in getting high quality, consistent windows and doors to fit into the precise openings created by 3D printers.
Claim #5: 3D printing is sustainable
The building construction industry accounts for 40% of all energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, of which cement accounts for 8%. As much as I love the material and the solidity of concrete structures, it is one of the most destructive materials on Earth. Also, walls are a tiny portion of the entire structure. We need a holistic approach to construction to make it truly sustainable.
I don’t think the technology is a gimmick, but I despise the sensationalist coverage, misleading claims and over-promises. They generate a lot of buzz and probably help fund startups, but I think the lies cheapen its value.
Right now, 3D printing seems to be a solution looking for a problem. The technology has so much potential, but it’s in its infancy stage. I see so many parallels between the hype and media coverage of shipping container homes and 3d printed homes.
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SOURCES:
• Here's what the first ... CNBC Television
www.treehugger.com/icon-d-pri...
www.businessinsider.com/3d-ho...
• ICON 3D Prints Tiny Ho... Jarett Gross
• Smooth Finish on 3D Pr... Jarett Gross
• ICON 3D Printing for t... Icon 3D Tech
• 3D printers print ten ... New China TV
• French engineers unvei... WION
• This Is The First 3D P... Mashable
• 14Trees pioneers 3D pr... LaFargeHolcim
core.ac.uk/download/pdf/14801...
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#3dprinting #3dprintedhome #concrete #gimmick #scam #construction #architecture #design #icon #icon3d #austin #stem #future #automation - Věda a technologie
What do you think about 3D printed concrete construction? Do you see the potential or is it just a gimmick?
I also stayed at ICON's 3D printed concrete house in Austin! Check out my review: czcams.com/video/JscfKdqLwPo/video.html
Concrete is very hard on the planet. Here is how an Italian company is experimenting with using dirt from the construction site mixed with fibers such as hemp, rice or whatever is bountiful in the area. The excavation from near the building leave a pond to catch roof runoff. I would love to get some of these buildings printed in the US so that people can contemplate living differently. The Tecla is such an "ohm" looking space. Maybe a "house" could be a small structure for cooking, eating and sleeping adjacent to a more storage oriented structure for clothes, tools, things not needed that day. Thank you for the video. I love the Building Science knowledge you shared. I hope you like the video from 3-DWasp. The title is as you mentioned, exaggerated on price. But they did not make the video. It is an article by someone else. I would think the bulk of the cost is moving, erecting, calibrating and operating the machine. The printers, which I think look like frosting a cake with a frosting bag are also hard to scale, but 3-D wasp can do 3 stories, in Italy. Sad face. The company also experiments with printing all kinds of materials. Very "researchy." They have made some lovely replicas of art objects and simply interesting things with spirals and layering. czcams.com/video/4MLJs1KRa0Y/video.html
I think its interesting... although like any new technology, its value is going to be cheapened by the lies and misinformation about it. Despite that, I do not think its a gimmick. It already works. Rather or not it catches on and becomes viable on the large scale is another matter. Not to mention the many other construction materials and methods worth looking into lately. I think many people will be put off by the wall look though, even if it does have its own appeal.
Personally I was wondering how it handles insulation. I don't think my own walls are half as thick as 3D printed ones!
Also I notice your comment is from 2 months ago? Yet the video is well over a year old?
Thanks for the great knowledge!!!! U are AWESOME!!!
As a mechanical engineer having worked in the production as well as in the product development field, also working with a wide Range of AM ( additive Manufacturing) technologies I will say this:
At best it will deserve a niche application where on site construction is worth considering for very unique architecture, however a one by one production of any product will never beat the power of a well automated production line, as engineer like myself and tweak and optimize a production line, control all the variables that arent necessarily under control when on site, and have access to far wide number of utilities in order to have a efficient and reliable production of products.
It is more likely that Prefab or Half Fabricate technologies will take a strong lead in the construction industry depending on Area and Logistical requirements.
But thank you @belinda for showing and educating people on the reality of these overhyped Media Cannons
In the end of it all it comes down to 2 things
The quality and performance of the final product,
And the required investment.
Keep up the good work!
I could see printed shells being used for structures of an organic or complex nature being placed in the normal 48" to 72" lifts used in masonry type structures then reinforced and filled in for strength. Cavities could be incorporated for utilities and insulation. The sourcing the concrete itself could be problematic as any mix would need an engineered specifically for that lift, based on the project size, portability, placement speed, slump, pump and, cure times between layers. Adding additives also does tend to weaken things; although adding fiber reinforcing to the mix would lessen shear cracking vertically within each layer I doubt it would help avert cracking once the project settled in the future. Outside of specific limited applications I don't see many uses that can't be substituted for other proven systems.
Ironically homelessness is NEVER about a lack of houses.
We got empty malls too convert those into condos.
@@gunslinger9171 who's paying for that construction and the lifetime maintenance?
@@petermoran406 and it has more willingly homeless people then houses.
Most homeless people do not lack homes. They have so many mental health issues which prevent them from getting and keeping a home.
It is about affordable houses though. If houses are cheaper homelessness will be reduced
"The arrogance of designers and architects really shines when they talk about homelessness"
Dam, you're right though
It's like saying, if you're homeless, you should just buy a house.
Me waiting for the housing market to crash
@@yunan9610 they spend more time designing hostile architecture aka anti-homeless architecture than they do actually trying to design affordable housing lol.
And they are overpriced in some cases, its like they care about the money more than the ones who need a place to stay
In a few countries there are "mailbox homes" (idk what's the best translation). One big problem for the homeless is that, in order to "get back on track" and find a job, they need an adress, not even a house, just a place where they can recieve their mail. While some more digitalised countries circumvented this problem by introducing the possibility to recieve all mail virtually (so you only need an e-mail adress and a device) this is difficult in more old- fashioned countries. So there are houses, homeless shelters mostly, that provide you with their adress, so your mail has a place to go. Homeless shelters have many other problems, but this seems like a good idea to help those homeless who actually want to rejoin the working population.
As someone who spends a lot of time 3D printing, I get bombarded with questions about 3D printed homes all the time. I was skeptical from the beginning. 3D printing any item requires a calibration effort that is ongoing. The concrete can also be effected by weather at the time of printing too. Day time to night time temperature changes could create problems too.
as someone who has a 3d printer with a 2000mm x 2000mm x 1000mm print volume, i find the idea of a house size 3d printer running without constant monitoring laughable. the more you scale a printer the more exponentially difficult it is to keep running. mine is a scaled up Troxy printer and i would almost always rather have the smaller printer for stability. its just that the stuff i print needs the scale
plus i would think those homes would crumble into ruins within a year of two from all the gaps due to it being printed and would lack the structural integrity of normal concrete
Plus 0 reinforcement of any kind, so in earthquake prone areas this stuff would collapse instantly. Also, concrete that thin? Probably could accidentally punch a hole in it
@@dillzilla4454 TBF this is something AI could potentially fix if a learning algorithm is developed to monitor output and calibration.
@@meinbherpieg4723 no it can't. AI is another tool that has gotten almost as bad as 3D printing as far as people just cramming it into things that it doesn't belong in. AI is not going to calibrate the machine and ensure that it remains properly level. No matter how you look at it, that is going to take a group of people to do.
As a retired residential builder, I was drawn to your video about 3D Printed Homes. I know very little about them, but nothing I’ve seen has me particularly excited about the technology. Your video was an immensely impressive, articulate, tour de force on the subject of these homes and on construction in general. It was very informative and a true pleasure to watch. I rarely take the time to even sign into CZcams, but after watching this video I felt compelled to subscribe to your channel and to thank you for your contribution. Thank you!
I mean the technology is very young, but I find the idea of 3d printing concrete incredibly appealing. If you could do more dynamic shapes for walls/structures/forms etc, the sky's the limit on what can be made, and the technology should only get better. Time will tell if it can realistically help with residential construction, but I'm still super excited for the technology irregardless.
yes!
I second every word 👍🏻
There is no ir in regardless. It's not a word. And 3D print houses is a gimmick .@@mikelander
@@rayleblanc7209its "3D printed houses *are* a gimmick"
"The lies cheapen the value." Awesome statement.
The cost of 3D printed products does not drop as production volume increases in the same manner as manufactured products. The cost advantage of small scale prototyping with 3D printing come down to less cost for specialized tooling and faster prototype production. The cost of the manufactured printers might decrease with volume. Any manufactured fittings might be cheaper with scale, but that would not be different from existing methods.
This can be applied to so many different things.
Media has long been used to propagandize, they are accustomed to sensationalizing anything/everything. They almost can't help it!
@@Grunchy005 it sounds great and for some industries like metal printing, it is a game changer.
But for building walls, it's just square peg trying to go in a round hole. Ask any builder who does formed concrete walls or ICF if they would switch.. answer is no. Costs more, more complex and offers no advantages. Walls are just to easy to build so it's not worth bringing/setting up a printer and the onsite mixing plant.
@@digitalnomad9985 Maybe there is some place where they can strike a balance where it makes more sense to make a really big printer that can span multiple lots and print several houses in one go in a way that reduces the setup + teardown + transportation cost, but that is really stretching the limits of the benefit of the doubt because building bigger tends to increase prices pretty rapidly
Having grown up in Africa let me put forward my two cents. the issue is not a housing issue in Africa the issue is Africans by nature tend to be semi nomadic so move to where the work resources are. I have seen traditional mud huts that were over 50 years old, they don't need some tech company to build them something they can build from the earth. They need a static place to stay with the required resources infrastructure and work. Unfortunately political issues don't always allow this.
Where do you live now?
Well said.
Yessss so tired of hearing about businesses failing due to bad government regulations and massive donations replacing the seller's market
Curious which African country did you live in?? You are mis infomed or your information is outdated ...
@@gillianmogomotsidambe1338 I have lived in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. And yes I have seen shanty towns and townships and have lived both in towns and rurally. I have seen the urbanisation of the people over the years as more and more move to urban areas into townships looking for work.
I have been involved in the 3d printing space for 11 years and have used them in many industries and have even built several of my own and your breakdown was spot on regarding all of your points. Well done.
Me too but 3d printed homes is a beast of its own. Thats a major part of the problem here.
I'm a cabinetmaker and have also worked in the architectural cast concrete industry. I can't imagine trying to clean concrete printed backsplashes in kitchens. It will not age well in that area. Also, hanging cabinets has got to be difficult. I think sealing windows and doors has got to have some issues along with waterproofing floor to wall joints. It's sort of like self-driving cars. Everyone wants it to work, but in reality, it's maybe a ways off yet.
Is it much different than designing & CNC laser engraver (CO2-80W 5'x9'x2.5' cabinet), or CNC Mill 4x4 using MasterCAM or CNC router (11'x 4') using Inventor? I've designed, built, program and used them until I retired in 2018. What Autodesk (my most experience) product do you use to build CNC machines. I suppose I should start plastic (like ABS?) before going straight to laser sintering metal powder, right?
Most people didn't get early computers that were good like Commodore. "Early Adapters" find the problems before the main product stream gets involved. If early adopters don't find solutions to the problem, the technology is shelved until the solution is found -- or the whole project is deemed economically unfeasible. That is called progress. EARLY ADAPTERS FOREVER!
@@bryck7853 its all so closely related. The difference is the materials. The technology that powers the tools is all basically the same
I'm in the construction industry and build alot with concrete. Concrete block, poured concrete, tilt up and ICF. Not all cement is the same. The cement they are using in 3D printing is mortar mix and has no structural strength. Structural concrete gets its strength from the rock that is added in the mix it should have enough rock to break above 3500psi. I'd like to see a break test on this and see how it breaks. With no rock in it it probably breaks below 2500psi. It's like building a block wall using only stacked up mortar joints and no blocks.
Concrete can handle compression loads but does not do well with torsion loads, tension loads, shearing loads, etc. When it is used in a structure steel rebar must be added in order to handle the different loads. You can take base cement powder, just portland and wet it down and it will harden and take a compression load but it is very brittle. When you add an amount of sand it will become less brittle and tolerate a higher load, add an amount of rock and it will handle an even higher load depending on the size, shape and amount of the rock. A mix containing crushed rock will handle more load than a gravel mix because the rocks tend to lock together like pieces of a puzzle but without steel to reinforce it, it will fail.
Building a wall with only mortar mix and no steel is the worst possible way to build with cement.
Amen, brother. My father is a residential home builder, and even with my limited knowledge of construction, this technology gives me anxiety.
I never understood why 3d printing concrete walls is an advantage to preformed panels. Only thing I can think of is shipping, but the same will apply to the shipping of raw materials
Its not an advantage to manufacture concrete on site. Show me a 3d printer that beats Martin Marieta ready mix for quality and price. They never will.
to be honest, for basic straight walls there isn't any real advantage at all. block wall will go up faster, and is cheap. can be bought anywhere. a decent bricky can lay 100 to 200 blocks in a day, easy.. to a recommended height of 16 blocks high, for higher levels, time is needed to allow the cement to set.
16 block high walls are over 3m higher, more than high enough for that 3d printed garage as an example. a block equivalent could be done in a single day.
You have to ship an enormous gantry to the site and install it, one taller and wider than the whole structure. Notice they always show a closeup of the print head, not the enormous structure it's riding on.
I’ve used SIP on an addition and was able to do everything but the foundation. 3D walls scare me without rebar.
Only actual point is making pretty shaped walls. 3D printing is way overhyped in all materials.
"3D printing creates walls, not homes."
*YES!*
Good border solution.
@@eunoiavision7567 lmao
Yeah, I really liked that line.
You could equally say builders build houses not homes... or brick manufacturers make bricks not walls. Sounds good but bares little examination.
One day someone will build a full house shell from 3D printed concrete and, like all concrete buildings, it will be massively ugly ...
@@I_Don_t_want_a_handle concrete is beautiful brutalism ftw
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your calm analysis is so refreshing. I’ve been in construction for over 20 years and I’ve looked at 3D printing in a few different applications. I’m encouraged by the possibilities, but I’m frustrated by the hype. So thank you for your well-thought out and well-executed video.
If you remember back a few decades, there were foam portions of concrete forms along with rebar for pouring concrete walls instead of using concrete block. Essentially as I look at that industry in the United States, the most unreliable people who did that kind of work were masons. Not all masons, but block layers and bricklayers historically have been a problem child. As I talk to builders I find out it is the toughest thing to get them on the site and get them to do the job as contracted. I want to build a home and it was during the winter and they had a big problem being able to brick the front of the house because of the weather. I told them when you get here tomorrow morning the front of the house will be tented and there will be a heating unit in there to keep it well above freezing and well above 45°. It never occurred to them to do that kind of a job so they could work, they just wanted to work under ideal conditions for them and the hell with the job. Then the bricklayer and the concrete guy got into an argument on who was going to pour the porch floor first or after the brick job. So I just fired them both and hired a company that did brick and concrete work and let them decide in their own mind what they wanted to do first. 3-D printing to some extent tries to replace the troublemakers which are the Masons.
No offense, but the guys you fired sound like definitely-not-working-together-assholes that run up costs needlessly. There are more and more of those kinds of asshats in eastern europe 😤😤
"Outsiders from the tech industry want to disrupt and automate the entire industry without realizing its intricacies"
That's just standard tech people mentality, not only in regards to construction.
Or it's people realizing that we have a problem right now with people working, and offered a real solution. No one wants to do construction when they could be a youtuber or a sales clerk. But no one wants robots because it'll make those non-existent jobs vanish, those non-existent people not be able to feed themselves.
Meanwhile, we're seeing construction companies shutting down because *they don't have workers anymore because they all quit*.
@@gigaus0 this childish answer does not match reality,since lockdown construction jobs have been increasing as e market because more favoured and regards to clerk here is a hint (pay them more)an American must have written this ,as the idea that a worker(mcdonalds cashier,waiter,construction worker etc) shouldn't be paid a living wage for an 8 hour+shift is not tolerated in most of the developed world.Your solution is payment their will always be people going into industries but unless people fight like hell for better pay or get second jobs you cant be mad that the turnaround rate is high(eg we all scream, we doesn't have enough teachers and blame "Mah youtubers"why are people leaving a profession they have studied for years,shadow followed ,trained and finally landed as well as did further studying and academic workshops and leaving children who they grown fond to isnt "let me make Mah easy internet money" its payment.Just pay them more or dont get angy that people want the privilege of not worrying about bills.
@@gigaus0 Spotted the butthurt techie.
tech bubble is taking so long to burst...
@@gigaus0 WTH are you on about?! Construction jobs are highly demanded, they pay damn well for one thing. And I have no idea why you'd bring up sales clerk as an alternative, that's just bonkers.
Construction companies don't shut down from lack of workers; they shut down after finishing a project and then restart under a new name, to avoid liability lawsuits when the cheap housing project falls apart ten years later.
“It seems to be a solution looking for a problem” what an eloquent way to summarize these sensationalized, ambitious trends. Thank you for being able to articulate your thoughts so well, I’m happy I found this channel.
The problem is that housing is unaffordable due to artificially inflated real estate prices in the US. The problem is very obvious. The solutions may not be ideal or complete yet, but the problem they are attempting to solve is very clear. Just because something is 'eloquent' (it's not) doesn't mean it has any value beyond sounding pretty. Of all the lines in the whole video to openly agree with, you picked the stupidest one with the least value. Congratulations.
Its a common phrase in design.
@@sammygee7125 but that problem isn’t compatible with this solution
there isn’t a housing shortage
@@sammygee7125 congratulations to you and your, now public ignorance
@@MykiiMescal yes there is, how do you not think there is a housing shortage? There are literally too few homes. If there are more homes, the cost of homes goes down. Prices are driven by scale of surplus and price elasticity. More homes = cheaper homes. Cheaper homes = more accessibility and lower rents. A large surplus causes a price drop. Building many more homes causes a large surplus.
Stop believing things you hear on social media or buzzfeed and go take an econ class.
Way too many homebuilding "experts" online have no clue what they are talking about. As someone who builds houses for a living, I often watch this type of videos to laugh. You did an excellent job at explaining the housing elements of the video. Perhaps my favorite element was your nod to a need for humility when solving complex problems. Politicians are often the type of people who think that if everything was done their way it would all work better. That mindset pollutes modern society, and diminishes the value of a mulitfaceted approach.
Excellent detailed coverage of this topic. I learned a lot and, like you, I despise hype that creates an unrealistic picture of anything -- especially about something as fundamentally necessary as good housing! Thanks very much, you're an excellent teacher!
When I travelled in Ecuador, the trend in construction was to build the first floor of a house, and start living in it, and build the second floor when they had the money. There were houses all over with re-bar sticking up, anticipating the addition of a second floor. Then someone got the idea: build the second floor first, and live in a house up on stilts, until they could afford to build the first floor. This created a sheltered space beneath the house, that they could use for drying laundry, motorbike repairs, etc. This is the kind of shifts that occur in house construction techniques. Designers who think they're going to swoop in with a better way of doing things are deluded; innovation is local, situational, and incremental. Oh, and the houses with the re-bar sticking up just looked like the old way of doing things, even though the houses weren't finished yet.
Honestly the 2nd floor first idea is really smart! People can still utilize the space of their yet-to-be-built 1st floor.
Father makes the ground floor, son adds another floor before bringing in his wife. And if they want the house to be self sustaining through renting out, they add another floor. Welcome to Nepal.
Great way to corrode your rebar down into the wall. No wonder houses there don't last. But I do understand their need for affordable shelter.
Sometimes they don't even put up many walls. Just enough support to build a second story. I saw a lot of these types of construction going through Montanita just this last year. Luckily the weather there is great, even in the coldest winters you will only need to wear a jacket for a few hours of the day...every few days (if even that). We were there end of Sept to the first week of Dec and only had to wear our jacket a total of 3 times for a couple hours. So needing walls wasn't too big of a concern. Their method of building is very fascinating. Also, they lived by the water so I can only assume many of them have had lost their homes or severe damage from flooding and hurricanes.
in some countries, leaving re-bars sticking up has a second purpose. due to the house is "unfinished" they don't pay taxes for the building.
"I'm sure people will call me a buzz kill" - yes, and I am eternally thankful to you for doing this! Finally, not everyone is just riding a hype but actually formulating constructive criticism.
Literally.
I stopped believing any hype since Cyberpunk 2077 and Fallout 76.
Marketing is everything today.
"Constructive criticism" nice pun
Some buzzes need killing.
“Killing them softly with these words…”
This video is two years old so you may not see this message, but I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your video. You are spot on, humility and honesty are needed!
I can see why this lady gets a lot of flak from the people she criticizes: She talks facts!
No she doesn't.
@@KefkeWren why
@@KefkeWren give some insights on why she's not giving away facts.
@@KefkeWren please feel free to explain where she lied at? She give educated critism and point of views. You just don't like it coming from a woman who isn't white.
@KefkeWren don’t understand your logic. A simple couple google searches can give you the info so just look it up and you can post the facts you find from trustworthy sources and post your sources. If you find any information that directly contradicts or gives more additional or more accurate information I would be happy to see it.
as someone who has been in charge of a few construction projects, walls are the least of my problems lol
of all the problems i need to solve, walls aren't one of them
Dude, she made some really good points, i never thought of. Im not in the industry, but this is a facinating topic.
Back in the 1970s I installed drapes in a house in Arlington, Tx. By the time the fabric mill printed and shipped the fabric for the last room of drapes the vacant lot across the street had been cleared, foundation poured, and the house framed, and roof decking installed. A few custom requests can take longer than constructing the whole house.
Framing is the easiest part and done in a day or two. It's everything else that takes months.
I'll be hiring a company to build a house from zero. Problem is, I live in a super corrupt country. What should I watch out for/what could they cheat me on?
@@cnutsack the highest cost per square foot is your footers/foundation. If your frost levels and soils allow, a full basement adds OST room for the buck and stabilizes your building temperature, helping to cool in the heat and warm in the cold.
So basically even when used to its full potential, it's still only an option instead of being a magic cure all. Depending on where the job site is or local electricity costs, 3d printed concrete can be potentially incorrect to use. It still looks really handy for urban environments. Very insightful video
I love your presentations. You dive deep into the technical details and present them in an easy to understand way to give a complete, big picture understanding of the topic.
This is what is the hardest about being a grownup(i.e. mature), having to do honest talks and sometimes being a buzzkill. Still though, realistic and honest reviews of exciting technologies such as this is what I think will actually make them truly successful in a much shorter time frame that all the marketing hype. The hype in most cases have great intentions but can really lead to negative outcomes by setting unrealistic expectations. Thanks for the info and your channel Belinda, we need more like this for sure.
Thank you, Curtis!
I've been called a buzzkill before when I start pointing out issues with these kinds of technologies. Most things that people say will revolutionize a mature industry don't.
@@BelindaCarr nice work and really like your videos. Being in construction for over thirty five it's nice to see honest overviews of new techniques and their limitations.
In many parts of the world, the problem isn’t a lack of housing but its ridiculous high cost. My city is filling with apartment buildings which are unoccupied because of the extremely high rent prices.
Nobody wants to rent to people with shit credit. Blame the difficulty in evicting people who dont pay. Thats a state issue.
Speculative housing developments being bought by speculative investment firms whose value is driven by the expectation that eventually someone who needs a place to live will actually pay these ridiculous prices & that this amount is only ever going to keep going up.
Which city?
@@InnuendoXP and low interest rates. Cheap money has been flooding the market for years in many parts of the world; when people can afford to borrow more, they can afford to pay more, and the prices go up to reflect that.
there's also an aspect of it that's a sort of self feeding cycle. Developers need to make the project attractive both to prospective tenants, investors and the city councils who have to approve the build. So they propose buildings that include underground parking, gyms, green spaces, social spaces, security and other amenities. The price goes up. And the people who could potentially afford the elevated prices want the highest end finishes. Stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops etc. The price goes up further.
This is the first video of your channel I've seen and I'm an instant subscriber. Keep up the great journalism,
Matt from Texas :)
Another great, balanced video Belinda
My education increases the more of your videos I watch
In most areas around the world, the issue isn't housing, it's the market itself. We have the tech and labor to build highly efficient smaller homes that are affordable, it's just that no one will build them! Unless you count pre-manufactured homes, which have a stigma at least here in the US of being for those in poverty and as a result, most are only ever allowed in "trailer parks" which are often poorly maintained and tightly packed so no one really wants to live in them.
Here in ND, the only way you can get a sub 2,300 sqft home that isn't pre-manufactured is to go for an older home, but unless you go for a home that needs remodeling, they often sell for just as much as a larger home due to them being in an "established" neighborhood. IE: My parents 1300sqft home is valued at 235k, but I can get a new home that's 2300sqft for the same price. Yet there is no one offering a brand new home under 2300sqft for nearly half the cost?
Heck, where I used to live, they straight up will deny a permit for any home that's under 1200Sqft! My Grandparents raised 7 kids in a home that's 710sqft!!!!
I can back this. I got out of Construction but stuck with the Union, and now only do real estate; The issue is the companies that ask to have homes built. People, individuals, don't typically ask to have a home built. The people making the choices of when and where to build homes is companies. They don't ask for these cheap houses, they ask for 'house farms', those neatly made villages of two story+base houses that have all this nice wood, cool tech, all this shine to them, and cost 500k~1m because ya know, the real estate company needs to eat.
And as the above said, a lot of places deny homes to be built if they don't meet size or material requirements. One of the rural areas near me is infamous for being gentrified due to the fact that they will not allow anything under a specific size and material value. Why? Because home value. You can't restrict people from building something expressly for it's home value, but you can restrict them from doing things that would have a low value. Thus, you have places like Buffalo and Albany, where there's a 70% vacancy rate of houses, yet they're still building more of the same...
@@gigaus0 to build on this, homes built on lots all have a certain 'break through' costs that's similar to every hole big or small. Septic or rural water has to be run/installed, permits made, ground work done, lawyers and agents paid etc etc. Most homes the house is a relative fraction of costs, with land and infrastructure taking a big chunk of a new homes sale. Things like that don't really scale unless someone makes a neighborhood like that, and as was said, those guys have a profit motive themselves. Why make $5k a house when you can make $50k?
@@Nope_handlesaretrash You're on the right track with your comment. I live in a 1200 sq ft modular house dating to 1996. It is still in really good shape for any 25 year old house. Mine is erected in a country setting, so the original builders had well and septic costs to cover. I'm not sure of the original installation cost, that was three owners ago and all involved have passed away, but it is currently valued (with the land) at $115,000, low priced for may area.
To replicate this house on the lot next door would cost $40K for the lot (1.25 acres around here); $15 would cover well and septic (we have reasonable septic standards around here). The house itself would be in the $125k range, with some unknown set up fees and building permit fees. That already adds up to the $180K range, and that is a bare bones estimate. That means duplicating my existing house is already 50% more expensive that buying the existing house.
I actually do think that manufactured housing can save money for home buyers. To stick build a house in my area it is now the rule of thumb to plan for $175 a square foot for construction alone, no lot, no well or septic. That puts duplicating my house in the $210K range plus $55k or more for all the other stuff. SO we are back to the $280K range for a new, small home.
The Us federal Government could help this issue a bit by creating a third class of pre-built homes. Now, a two piece modular home needs to arrive on site with everything included to be able to move right in as soon as the modules are set and the power and water connected. Parts of these house need to be over built because they are transported. Eliminating the need for the interior space to be dry walled and cabinets hung, fixtures set and furnace and hot water heater included could knock down the initial costs of these houses. Hiring local can help here. It can also give the buyer a better handle on applying their purchasing dollars to the quality level they desire for the items in the home. It would also stop some of the 'mobile home' look featured found in so many modular houses.
This is one perspective from one part of the US - and obviously different parts of the US experience different perspectives on housing.
In Texas where I've lived for 20+ years - they build new houses all the time down here. Tons were built in the late 90s and early 2000s - like a ton. But even today theres still dozen of neighborhoods going up - 200-400k homes. Anything between 1300 and 3000sqft are fairly easy to find new.
Since Texas is a place where alot of people are moving to and we have alot of land - theres builders who come out here and foot the bill for a whole neighborhood to be designed, permitted and built, usually by one set of contractors.
Down here they are called "cookie cutter houses" - and unless you live way out of the city - most middle class families live in these. only maybe 20-40ft separating the bricked houses. Small yards, fenced in backyards.
Most of the rest of the country has houses that are alot more unique - purpose built - made to match the land, etc. There might be "developer neighborhoods" here and there but thats what a lot of people in the north called like "planned communities" and those houses are usually even more expensive up there.
Thats basically the default out in Texas - except they build these houses as cheap as possible, so while its made to look nice - once you get inside and see what your working with its pretty basic, insulation needs upgrades, etc.
Many places in NY have micro apartments, but the landlords charge MORE for them
The claim that it could cost as little as $3500 USD in El Salvador is quite reasonable... however a hand constructed block home with roof using conventional and classic techniques of the same footprint can be had for about $2800 USD in El Salvador.
Not really, it cost around 4K to 5K, remember, this houses use steel frames.
$3500 sounds nice if you're an American feeling charitable to donate a few homes, not a local
Fantastic video! Theres alot more that goes into the construciton that anyone thinks of with the basic structures of these 3d printed spaces. Especially the bigger thing I find strangly forgotten about is theres also alot of additional time spent on modelling out the home, Having tospend 2-3x more time with the electrical system and getting the pumping in without having exposed plumbing without sections built in a more traditional method.
Everytime I stumble upon one of your videos I am impressed by how thorough and intelligent your commentary is. It's obvious you know a lot about construction materials and civil engineering.
I love hearing a pragmatic voice on these sorts of subjects every now and again.
There is no way a house made like this would stand after an earthquake. No rebar, and due to the method in which it's applied, quite porous.
I think you wouldn't even get a permit from the municipality here in Chile.
Also, brick is way cheaper.
Some places are lucky to have as good as no earthquakes though. I get that in Chile thoses houses are out of the question though XD
Amen
If American prudes could get over their refer madness paranoia, hemp is 5 times stronger than concrete and would flex in an earthquake whereas concrete won't do that rebar or not.
I don’t know if this has been brought up, but I believe the largest contribution this tech has is in reducing the amounts of materials needed to build the structure. This is why homes is so expensive. If there is a lumber shortage, prices soar and construction stalls. If you replace wood frames with steel frames, there could also be supply chain issues. I don’t know if the automation is the biggest selling point. It’s the streamlining of materials, in my opinion. Overall, would ICF blocks or even Hempcrete blocks be the best solution? I don’t think solving homelessness is the immediate goal, but reducing home costs and challenging the status quo and runaway inflation due to housing crisis is necessary. Thoughts?
They do use rebar, I saw a video about it.
Belinda, I love your channel and the realistic way you present everything!
Congrats on the awesome work and I hope to see your channel well into the future as we need more people like you!!
I unironically hoped for a split second you would list millions of variables at 4:52
Amazing video and channel, gives me something new to binge 😀
As a mechanical engineer I have to agree with you on the "solutions looking for problems" point. I've seen it repeatedly over the last 20 years or so (and even participated a couple of times). It used to be called "rapid prototyping" which was maybe a more honest description of it's typical applications. It's not that I don't think the concept has potential, I just know the gap between where it is and what is being sold is significant. I see lots of press about the speed and labour savings, but little about the mechanical properties or durability of structures made this way.
I also wonder what 3D printing concrete achieves that pre-cast and/or poured concrete can't.
Pre cast and pouring needs someone to design and make molds for the concrete
@@mrslinkydragon9910 There are plenty of modular pouring systems, that are assembled on site as needed. You add rebar into it, then the concrete pump arrives along with a bunch of mixers and you are pouring in 10 minutes. No giant CNC structures, and is pretty fast. You can create whatever structure you want, as tall as you need it, you can put water, heating pipes and cables in the molds before pouring the concrete...
This so called 3d printer is very limiting and won't be any cheaper than traditional methods. That's why no self respecting construction company is adopting it.
All I can think of is niche work where a form would be exceptionally difficult to build or tear down.
I guess extremely complicated curves in walls.
But few civil engineers dare design them. PITA to do the calculations.
Looking at the walls in videos like this, the benefit is crazy thick walls. That may not be a benefit though, it may simply be an inherent flaw in the design. I'd think it would be cheaper to cast blocks at a factory with 25% of the concrete used in these solid walls. It looks like with a decent work crew, they could put the concrete block walls up just as fast. Or precast the walls at a factory, and deliver them to the work site.
Mark Twain said "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.", but we should all be grateful for your doing so.
Thanks Belinda.
He also said "Never let your schooling interfere with your education."
A much better quote. :)
Thank you for taking the time. Lovely information.
I am in the pre-engineered metal building industry, and I completely agree with you on the areas that I have experance and insight. Glad that you mentioned the light gauge steel construction. Light guage steel is a construction type that many scoff at, but can be an extremely affordable option. The pre-engineered industry uses light guage framing when possible. The a 30x50 house, depending on location, can be designed with just one structural frame and two light gauge frames that can with stand 110 mile an hour wind gusts and 60 sustained winds.
This just in: Journalists are consistently saying dumb shit. "No end in sight", experts say.
And now, the weather.
Front page news title: “THE WORLD WILL END IN 12 YEARS IF WE DON’T SWITCH EVERYTHING TO RENEWABLES!!!”
CZcams comment of the year, right here.
Sadly, they aim for profit, not to do uhhh... what do you call it again? Oh yeah, to do your actual job.
Media: "Turn information into an industry, purposefully misread scientific work and word articles as controversial as possible to farm "outrage clicks" or support a political narrative."
Also media: "Why do people have more trust in tinfoil- Terrence and his unwordly social media- bubble than in us? It must be them who are at fault!"
@@solonyetski I'm sorry, I had already died because of Net Neutrality.
As someone that live in a country with heavy seismic activity he idea of living in a house without a steel frame is kinda scary specially when construction companies often cheap out with the concrete
I'm in the structural side of design, and my first thought whenever I see any of these videos is "and how are you reinforcing? Is it in the cores, similar to CMU? If so, HOW." I don't blame you for being scared. I see this as presented by news agencies, and I see "Unreinforced Masonry - but High Tech!" URM is a huge killer in earthquakes.
There you go, then Container House become safer than any other house in the market... I will be having fun with my GF while an earthquake is taking place and everyone else will be running back and forth for safety.
Are you guys slow? Most houses in america are made of wood and drywall, not steel.
@@thefunshackwars5418 I am from Peru in South America it's located in a continental fault line so we get magnitude 5 and 6 quakes somewhat often, most good houses are made from brick and concrete with steel frames
They could be printed using hemp which is 5 times stronger than concrete and would flex in an earthquake whereas concrete won't do that rebar or not. But hemp has been so demonized by ignorant pearl clutchers and those in power.
Belinda Carr is the Sabine Hossenfelder of the Architecture world. Architecture without the gobbledegook. This is brilliantly presented. One of 2022's Up-And-Coming Video Creators to Watch. Thank for this excellent segment! Stay safe out there!
I was aware of some of these points but you've covered a lot of different points in a wonderfully concise (yet interesting) way.
Thanks for the content.
Belinda, you're not a ballet choreographer, but you stay keeping us on our toes!! Thanks again for another insightful video
As a civil engineer, I have been saying this for years. Glad to see this video. Hopefully it informs the uneducated masses.
I always said, 'oh great, some walls, what about the rest...!'
3D printing is trying to solve a problem that does not exist. Whatever material are you trying to make walls with is already cheap, standardized and has large supporting infrastructure
@@jankom.7783 Standardization is the death of creativity if devoid of anyone challenging it. It may not be obvious now why it's useful, but people said the same thing about regular 3d printers, which are already speeding up the process of rapidly prototyping unique parts across so many industries. Maybe it'll fail, maybe not, but it's dumb to shut the door on it already.
@@jankom.7783 Almost 2 billion people around the world don't have adequate housing and you're going to suggest that developing a technology that would be able to produce the rough framework for a home in a day is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist?
Great you're trying to make a home with cheap standardized materials. Maybe that works in the US, or europe and maybe you might even be able to make it as cheap as running a 3D printer... TODAY, not necessarily when the technology and patterns take off.
The problem of affordable adequate shelter is a problem right NOW and with the way housing prices are going it's going to be a problem in the very near future. Something that you describe as a problem is a crisis for those in 3rd world country and a new group of 1st world citizens devoid of generational wealth.
Your ignorance has landed you right on the opposite side of the spectrum regarding this argument.
@@GuardDog42 3D printing will not solve problem with housing. The walls themselves are only small part of price of a house. Building the walls of a regular house take maybe two days. So it is as fast, or faster than 3D printing. Material for normal house costs probably even less than for 3D printed house, because you can use local materials. Which probably will not be so easy with 3D printer.
Building a house is already cheap today. The reason why houses are not cheap is because people do not want a cheap house. Everybody buys or builds a house that is as big and expensive as they can afford. That is just human nature. And people want to live in a good location. Which is another thing that drives prices of houses up. Price of land. None of this things will be solved by 3D printing.
And regarding 3rd world countries: they usually can afford to buy a building material. Because that is cheap. And find few people who help them build a house. Because they have family and friends. Problem is then to buy a build everything else, that makes house "adequate" - windows, doors, water, electricity, heating, plumbing. And this is the expensive part
Anyone who has used a 3D printer will tell you one thing
The first layer is CRUCIAL. If it fails the whole print is most likely ruined. Now apply that concept to a house which can be SUPER expensive
No, that's not a meaningful comparison. The reason first layers are important on traditional printers is that the material shrinks as it dries/hardens/cures, and it solidifies extremely quickly. The first layer needs to hold it tightly so that it doesn't warp as it's curing.
Concrete has some shrinkage, but that happens very slowly, and the material is weak in tension. Instead of shrinking inwards, it primarily develops microscopic cracks.
@@louisvaught2495 Still seems like the first layer of a 3D printed house would be important to the overall structural integrity. 3D printed concrete may not have the same issues as home 3D printer material, but it will have it's own challenges.
@@MimiRAM0NE The problem is that trying to draw an analogy to normal 3D-printing is basically a complete failure to understand how and why the two things work.
Printed plastic can extend and contract a lot, and builds internal stress that causes it to warp and change shape. The first layer has to *hold the part in place* so it maintains shape while printing.
A small mistake at the base of a printed concrete building doesn't cause the entire structure to curl inwards - aka failure of the entire print.
@@louisvaught2495 I agree about a small concrete flaw not likely ruining the whole structure. Thanks for explaining more about 3D printing, very interesting!
@@louisvaught2495 "The problem is that trying to draw an analogy to normal 3D-printing is basically a complete failure to understand how and why the two things work."
No, the problem is that you're too anal.
Riy said "The first layer is CRUCIAL." THIS IS TRUE. Period. You're MISSING THE POINT, trying to act like an expert on here.
I'm a small developer and am so thankful there are some people talking about these topics. So many people and I mean a ton of people think there is this giant conspiracy about why homes are so damn expensive (yes they are damn expensive but for good reason). It costs me $260k just to build a 1500ft 3bed 2bath home and thats before financing, land, permit and agent selling costs. Add in all those other costs and I have to sell that house at $335k just to make a 10% profit. And I'm in the Midwest where prices are nearly half the coastal states. People talk about how good their grandparents had it that they could buy a house (adjusted for inflation) for half or a third the cost of today and this is all true. But it is not a conspiracy, there is just not enough resources for the number of people on the planet compared to days past. In the 1950's lumber was cheap, steel was cheap and skilled labor was cheap. Probably a third of the population had some sort of construction experience, today I pay my plumber $120/hr just to show up on the job site. We are facing overpopulation, climate issues and a massive decrease in both raw resources and skilled trade per capita compared to 70 or even 30 years ago. Houses are expensive for a reason and you're not the victim of some conspiracy theory. You just happened to be born in the time period you were born in, at least we don't have to deal with polio or fight in a world war (knocks on wood).
Hello Belinda,
I am an Architect from Germany teaching at a university. You are right with your criticism of the media.
3D printing in general has great potential. This technology needs time to evolve. As you mentioned, it is a complex field of interfering technology. If you compare it to other technologies, it might take decades to get ready for series production.
At the moment, concrete produces about 200kG Co2 per m³. The cement which is a main part of concrete is responsible for almost 8% of the worldwide carbon emission. In Germany, we research a promising technology.
3D Printing with clay.
Clay is a material, that is used for thousands of years. It is almost completely recyclable, which means it can be simply reused by grinding and adding water. In combination with 3D printing, it is a promising way to reduce carbon emissions. As mentioned at the beginning of my comment, all these new technologies need time to evolve.
it would be more accurate to call them 3D printed walls.
What are the reasons why India has 1 3rd of its population living in abject poverty?
I've actually looked at a "3d printed home" and honestly, I'm not impressed. At first it seems like a cool idea until you realize that the cement is often low quality and cracks very easily. The foundation used in these projects are not high psi concrete and with all of the weight added from the concrete printed onto the foundation the structure begins to fail almost immediately. The lack of rebar used to give structural support is also a major factor. Essentially what you end up with is a weak shell that cracks and crumbles as things like wood swell push and twist inside the structure. These are the used car version of homes.
True. Also there is absolutely no reason why 3D printing a house should be easier than stacking pre-isolated cinder blocks. Which seems the easiest process now days.
When my brother told me he wanted to get into this kind of thing a few years back, the first thing I thought of was the lack of reinforcement.
They need to at least add some fiberglass in there to give it SOMETHING, for crying out loud.
That’s the scary thing if there is no rebar in it and of the concrete is not the correct MPA and if an earth quake was to happen (I’m in New Zealand) the whole thing would fail because of the lack of strength it has
More like the YUGO of home construction...
Why not to use prefarb panels like in USSR ?
Your competence in dicussing all the parameters involved, shine through, Belinda.
You have an uncommonly large amount of "common sense".
Everything you said are good points to ponder and problems to be solved.
Thank you.
A well thought out analysis. Belinda, thanks for doing the research and making this video!
Solving homelessness is indeed a weird target for these 'printers'. If you're just trying to create shelters or cheap housing, prefab would win on cost and speed I presume? I think the flexibility of these systems is more 'organic' architecture, things that are harder to do with square bricks or straight sticks. But it can only be cost effective if these machines are fully autonomous (no babysitting or complex setup), are easily transportable (or are used for big development projects) and would allow for multiple tool attachment (same rig is used to also place windows or lintels, insulation,...)
They also state it is printing 'concrete' is this regular concrete or are they doing more of an aircrete mixture?
they don't want to solve anything. There are numerous stories of people trying to build small, cheap shelters for homeless people by spending their own money and they are always shut down. Governments only want to "solve" a problem if it means a giant spending bill that they can siphon money from to line their own pockets.
Good for constructing very intricate shapes I guess.
And only good for that. Humans could have built straight brick walls faster than that machine.
@@dash4800 sometimes these projects are shut down because they were building substandard structures that would ultimately end up needing to be torn down.
Affordable housing is usually a zoning problem. Shipping containers, tiny homes, and 3D printed homes are all single family homes.
Taking a plot of land that could hold six of these could also support a 40+ unit apartment building and increase the overall housing supply in a city.
Single family homes aren't the solution to housing shortages because the problem isn't a shortage of housing, it's a shortage of land.
Yup prefab designed to be thrown up with no skill or low skill labor on site would be cheaper. Build a factory that uses the same techniques and technology as the automotive industry. Make the components small enough to be transported easily. You reduce the cost through mass production. The cost drops dramatically when you churn out millions of units a year.
Amish people would be laughing their asses off if they ever saw this vid. "You want a house built in 24 hours? sure we can do that, we did 1 yesterday for Ezekiel's son."
The question of the finish/utilitys is solidly outside their time frame too.
No doubt
@Morgan Allen Not a strong point, though. I can wait a few weeks it's fine.
They save time with no need for wiring!
@@lads.7715 There are different types of Amish, a lot of them use electricity, or cars, or mobile phones.
I recommend you the last videos from Peter Santenello on this (very interesting and fascinating) topic.
Not a buzz kill at all. This video is very informative and an eye opener. The way these companies sensationalize these 'instant' homes is so unrealistic. Thank you for making this video :)
Thank you, Belinda. You are right about everything. I don't think this machine can ever do a building as well as other methods. If the price per SqFt is the chief concern I think the inflated balloon with spray foam or spray hemp fiber on the outside forms a shell and then shotcrete is sprayed on that to waterproof it. Other than that there is the mud brick or the rammed earth brick. These are not very durable construction materials. The best choice for cheap and durable construction materials is the plain cinder block and tin roof construction. In cold climates, we need to go underground or use thick walls & better insulation.
I'd heard some of the claims, knew they had to be false just because if they were true, all construction would've already moved to this technology, but I hadn't the faintest idea why or how it was wrong. Thanks for sharing this, learned a lot about things I knew nothing about. ^^
Funny, cause San Francisco stopped building an "affordable" container apartment because it's getting expensive to build.
Great video. You made sure to list the problems and possible solutions. Both sides of the argument were laid out beautifully. Thank you
i love your stuff, u earned a subscriber, keep up the good work! i love dismantling misinformation
Balanced, informed, and honest commentary is too rare! This is well worth watching
In these days that I am preparing to launch my new build concept , I was happy to be asked my opinion and to contribute to this video....Belinda Carr is a very down to earth and practical professional who has insight into construction. And I enjoy reading her informative posts.
Again I will say, I love 3D printing...and one day it may allow for house construction. But right now this video will explain in detail the technical hurdles. And maybe the 3D house construction crowd can stop hyping this beyond what it's capable of as of now. And definitely not a solution for Africa , especially rural Africa.....And by the way , that Madagascar school build does not exist.... I hope I can be proven wrong , although apparently you can donate to it......🤔
I'm an electrician apprentice, so take my point of view for what you will. However, I've been in the commercial field long enough to recognize that there is an order of operations to construction. Speeding up one part of that process doesn't mean the entire process is faster or easier, it just means a tighter window to do what needs to be done, such as put in PVC piping for electrical and plumbing. That does not help the situation hardly at all, especially when there are concrete guys who want to make sure they go home with a 40 hour check at the end of the week. There have been sites where we've had to find work arounds because a different crew, like concrete, pushed ahead despite us and we had to either tunnel under their pours or drill through them.
I do love new technology like this, but this does not help most construction sites outside of urban housing, and urban housing have their own inherent issues. Personally, I'd like to see a resurgence of traditional masonry and carpentry. Clay, stone, and strong wood. There are some structures made with these techniques, in some of the harshest climates, that stand to this day.
I love that project where the first floor is printed and the second floor is stick frame. I think that shows the real potential of the technology, where it’s integrated with more traditional techniques without necessarily replacing them.
Thanks for the logical analysis of 3D printing of concrete walls. You always have top-notch content that doesn't get sucked into the hype. I love the idea of saving time/money but not all technology does that.
Thank you!
@@BelindaCarr I know that a lot of energy goes into making of cement for concrete. Also I'm sure there are a lot of chemicals needed to make the special concrete mix for 3d printing. In my experience these chemicals are not cheap. I'm thinking this is all similar to the self driving cars, there is so much hype, but yet we are so far away from it really being practical. That said, I'm glad that we are looking for solutions in the building industry.
Great overview of what 3D “house” printing is really like not the media filled fantasy shown by others less knowledgeable . 👍
@@ralger Yeah I like you're term "media filled fantasy". I think the total driverless car is another media filled fantasy, at least for now.
It seems to me that when tech inflates the importance of their product, they purposely diminish the contributions of labor. It is just not true, so thank you for articulating that so beautifully.
This was a really solid video. I remember being really excited by the initial coverage of 3d printed housing years ago. I don't think it's all unwarranted, it is an exciting technology, but it's interesting to see how it's been so sensationalized and oversold. Very eye opening, and I like that you brought up ways people's culture could be integrated into other types of constructed housing; that wasn't something I had really considered before. I think the way forward has to be having options. There will never be one fit all solution, but having choices is good! The more the better; and instead of trying to cram 3d printing everywhere, it should be considered a useful tool with it's own set of use cases.
I have been considering posting something about the nonsense around 3D-printed "houses", but there's no need... you have covered the subject very well.
I feel like a "house printer" needs to be a lot more than just a concrete extruder. I feel it could be viable with using plastic and metal extruders in addition to concrete in order to lay electric and water lines as well as insulation, but it also needs a lot more maturing of the technology before it can be used to just slap down houses and call it a solution to housing problems.
That isn’t possible I’m afraid, 3D printed pipes would take ages and would be far weaker and more prone to leaks than standard
And you’d have to have very different nozzle sizes for wiring and the walls, this would slow down the process massively as the walls would have to wait for that layers piping and wiring to be made before it could do the next layer. This would result in the concrete section idling which would increase the cost of using
Realistically a 3D printer is nothing more than an extruder with some movement
Prefabricated modules are much simpler, cheaper, and adaptive.
Lots of interesting work done here, unfortunately a lot of regulatory and perception problems.
@@chrissmith3587 They're getting there. There is a company printing metal rocket engines. Aluminum, I think. They can print the pipes into the bell and motor assembly while printing the whole engine. It's a neat idea.
czcams.com/video/kz165f1g8-E/video.html
Common consumer/hobbyist 3d printers being used today can print multiple materials at once. Either with multiple extruders and nozzles on the carriage, or combining nozzles where they can provide one material or a combination of a few dynamically.
I don't think they'll ever be able to pass cement and aluminum through the same nozzle, but they could be able to print each on their own heads.
If they can build rockets with it, they can print your residential system to whatever local code is, unless code requires factory manufactured tubes. I suspect building codes around the world will need to be adjusted to allow on-site manufacturing like that.
I'm not totally convinced that printing the whole house, with plumbing and electricity, with one machine, is practical. Really, those metal and plastic printing parts will be idle most of the time during the process. It's (probably) better to still manufacture pipes and wires elsewhere, and install them as needed. It should be a lot cheaper and easier to repair. Imagine trying to replace a printed pipe, inside a solid cement printed wall.
It might be practical in another 50 years, when the components are already heavily used in industry on their sites. Right now, any of those parts are rare. I can't just go on Amazon or eBay to buy any of primary functional parts. It wasn't that long ago that I couldn't afford to buy 3d printer parts, and people with microcontroller experience were limited. Now every kid can learn in school how to program microcontrollers, design circuits, and print projects. It's us older people who fall behind, if we don't try to keep up with technology. I just happen to be one of the older people who does stay up to date on such things.
It takes hours just to print a useless tchotchke that fits in the palm of your hand
Yes recyclable plastic would be better choice than concrete? Probably would be earthquake proof also?
in this world full of hype, you need a Belinda Carr to bring you back to reality.
The biggest strides in construction industry efficiency were not fancy technological toys, but the Just in Time methods of the LEAN principles. I have a normal 3D printer and I would never claim it makes injection molding obsolete. I also question the material properties of a layer wall, compared to the homogenous concrete walls.
0:53 as a brit, the cost of building the house is insignificant compared to the cost to buy enough land to fit that given house.
Awesome! thanks for sharing some of the footage from my channel and bringing new attention to the industry!
Thanks, Jarett! I tagged you in the YT description and on the LinkedIn post. Hope we get to collaborate soon!
I'm a huge fan of 3D printed homes, but excluding the dirt homes, I never saw it as a 'cure' for homelessness, but rather a potentially new and exciting architectural medium which could provide its own strengths similar to bubble houses.
The strengths of bubble houses?
@@slolerner7349 Bubble houses are really neat! They inflate what are effectively large balloons and cover them in cement. They then deflate them and insulate them. They're fire resistant, easy to thermally regulate, and surprisingly cheap.
Always nice to see a little of scepticism and critical thinking to all these viral SoMe technology videos that everyone seems to be eating raw each time. Good job! please continue to make this kind of video, it is highly necessary
I love how informative you are and how you base all your arguments in facts and even source your statements! You are very intelligent and beautiful! Keep up the great work!
People always seem to miss the fact that these are just tools to give us more options, not some trendy fix all band aid for every issue in the construction sphere.
That's what you get with people obsessed with narrative. Things can't be just things, they have to change the world as though we lived in a sci Fi movie
I'd like to point out another problem with 3D printed construction. The lack of any layer reinforcements. The absolute number one problem with 3D printing, is the weak connection between layers. The layers work great in compression, but absolutely terrible when subjected to linear and opposite vertical forces. Aka, if you hit it from the side or put the layers under pulling pressure, you will eventually obtain cracks. A mitigation of this, without introducing rebar, could be to print the layers in different angles, although this would increase construction time of the home. At the end of the day, I cannot see a 3D printed home as a realistic approach to housing for the masses. It's made in a way that simply isn't durable for decades, as unsealed concrete isn't exactly happy for being exposed to the elements and paint isn't a great sealant either, which means the best solution would be a mortar mix for resurfacing the outer shell, which means more work and thus a higher price. Furthermore, concrete isn't exactly an environmentally friendly way to produce housing, as you also pointed out in the video, which further adds to the likely hood of 3D printed houses being nothing more than a gimmick for arrogant designers, architects and the rich and famous.
The average population is better off with prefab homes, as even their concrete elements can be made in controlled environments, thus reducing their pollution by collecting and repurposing their pollutants. I live in Denmark and our houses are a mix between prefab and built on site. Most of them feature brickwork on the outside and plasterboard on the inside, but between those layers are insulated, prefabricated concrete slabs, on which interior and exterior insulation is added, to make high energy efficient homes that can easily last 100 years. Which then makes up for the pollution that have been released during construction. Best of all is we do a semi-custom ordered villa in about 2-3 years (semi-custom means that the overall shapes are predetermined and selected from a catalogue, but the rest is up to the customer to decide. All the way down to which light switches, antenna output, internet connection and their placements in the home)
Even cast in the conventional way concrete without rebar works good only on compression.
That's a common misconception - concrete doesn't need rebar, and the layer lines aren't as bad as they are in normal printing because of how the cure process works. We have alternative technologies and additives to make it strong in tension, rebar is just well-understood and generally cheaper.
The additives needed to give it tensile strength aren't cheap or easy to use, but they improve the results of the printing process by making the material stronger while it's curing.
However, that does defeat the potential "it's cheaper" argument.
While I do think 3D printed houses are a dumb idea (in europe we mostly use large bricks work in construction, and a couple of good bricklayers can build the walls of a small house in a couple of days, It's a small part of the total cost of a house). Reinforcement is not always needed. I live in a brick house from the 1780's. Obviously it's unreinforced, but since there are no large earthquakes here, it's still fine. Even most modern houses here have unreinforced walls.
@@slome815 Your brick house is enforced. It's built by bricks overlapping each other, which automatically reinforces it, rather than just running straight line after straight line on top of each other, like 3D printing houses do. A single, continuous straight line, will crack along that straight line, if there's nothing to stop the crack. Most brick houses crack along the edges of the bricks and thus create a zig-zag crack, which won't compromise stability unless it's really severe (like bricks starting to fall out) and it's easy to fix. A crack running along the edge of a house, in a continuous straight line, is just seriously bad and you wouldn't want that ever. It can though be easily fixed. Just add steel rods every 60 cm. and you're good.
For context, I am a Dane.
@@Arterexius There is no bond in the horizontal joints, the same as with with the 3D printed buildings. No engineer would call a traditional brick and mortar building reinforced just because it's built with a cross bond or half brick bond.
In reinforced buildings there is steel to take tensile loads. A normal brick building will not take tensile loads any better then an unreinforced concrete building would.
And while my house, with it's soft lime mortar joints, will indeed crack along the joints, and not straight through the bricks, that is not always the case with modern brick buildings.
I have seen cracks in new buildings build with hard portland cement mortar, and they will often go right through the brick and morter without distinction.
I love the down to earth honesty of this video. This world could get so much further if we had more people presenting technologies in a realistic way to make problems and opportunities visible.
This is very similar to the Computer Science industry
Example:
I saw an article in the news yesterday claiming that autonomous vehicles will be doing school runs for all parents in the UK by 2025 (3 yrs from now)
When the reality is most autonomous vehicles (cars) are at Level 2 autonomy, with some merging out at Level 3. Companies such as TuSimple, and Tesla have started achieving Level 4 autonomous freight trucks, however, Level 4 autonomy still requires a driver in the cockpit to take over in the event of an emergency, only Level 5 autonomy can be driverless, meaning the government won't be able to replace parents, and parents will still be needed to drive, so hiring staff to pick up all children is not practical and the infrastructure does not exist to have self-driving cars on British roads by 3 years that are "node" guided or on a separate circuit (road)
Similarly, the Artificial Intelligence people seem to think that robots like Sophia will be taking over the world when we are nowhere near generalized AI, Sophia is just a sophisticated Google Home or Alexa, that being said in the next 15 yrs, it will see more hospitality and robots within retail dedicated to helping clients within their stores, effectively being a clever chat bot familiar with all the store's products and services
Whilst these two paragraphs are very off topic for the video, the point is this, the media distorts information that professionals in the field are not claiming, and this is largely down to ignorance, click bait to get paid per views, it misleads and misinforms the public for financial gain (fraud) and discredits the news source as pour journalism
Thank you for providing reality-based information about 3-D printing. There are still problems to solve before they can really change the world. I appreciate very much your stating the 3-D and shipping containers discussions do not cut either down to ribbons but your honesty about "problems abound" was reasonable. Keep on keeping us steady!
Just got in to the BIM field 2years ago I started watching for your shipping container videos but I stayed free great content. Keep it going!
Thank you!
@@BelindaCarr cv...,c
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What an _intelligent_ AND _compassionate_ take on several controversial points of a controversial topic. *_Brava!!_* (new subscriber 😌)
Problems cannot be solved with a "miracle" technology - a holistic approach with humility and respect for people and their context is necessary.
This is the first time I've heard about this, wonderful information about it, thank you so much for explaining it in a rational and even handed way.
"A solution looking for a problem." You said it all. Subscribing to your channel, I love the realistic way you talk.
Praise logic. I love the honest content. So tired of clickbait, viral videos and trendy nonsense. I've been researching shipping containers for over a decade. I see their practicality, and their drawbacks. I see the same for 3D printing. It's important to push the envelope and to examine alternative means. Stick frame isn't the answer, but neither is ignorance.
I'll point something out. I'm a builder. I researched containers before everyone else 20 years ago and realized there was no benefit to using them and moved on. You say you've been researching for years. Think for a mintue about someone like me who did more knowledgeable research and came to the conclusion its not worth the time, lesser performance and worse for the environment. ( this was when containers cost 8-1200 and New Jersey and at times chicago ports would GIVE them to you if youd haul them away) Over the decades since I researched container I've come to the conclusion THE ONLY REASON THE ENTIRE CONTAINER FAD EXSIST IS BECAUSE HOMEOWNERS AN DYI DONT KNOW YOU CAN JUST RENT COMMERCIAL CONCRETE FORMS AND POUR AN EXPOSED CONCRETE WALL THAT PERFORMS BETTER THAN A CONTAINER IN EVERY WAY FOR LESS MONEY. Hell I even went on a date with an a pricipal at the top firm doing container houses in the country a few years ago. After a couple of minutes of questions she realized i could build better than she could in every way. She was making money doing them and wasnt a workaholic like me so she just stopped advancing her skill set once the firehose of money of container geeks hit her. In all fairness she was making more than me then, I'm making waaaaay more than her now.
I love how factual and straight forward this is. This is fantastic. I love it. Thank you.
This was well thought-out and very insightful. Thank you!
This seems to be spot on. People always look at a house when the walls are up and the roof on and say 'nearly finished then'. Anything but! Speeding up wall construction would definitely be a plus, but there are plenty of other system to do that. But I think building a house in a factory and shippng the parts to site is a better way.
....It is though. After the frame is up, you have plumbing, wiring, thermo, water tank, ac/ventilation, maybe gas in depending on the area, and fixtures. If the insulation is already taken care of with the walls, then yes, 70% of the work is done when the frame is done. The rest is small beans.
Also, building the parts and shipping doesn't work well in most environments. That's the problem. We tried pre-fab panels in hurricane and flood zones; They break apart extremely easily. It's why they're called disposable homes.
Well said Belinda, put all my partly formed thoughts and intuition into high relief. As someone said below, walls are the least of your problems during a build.
Thanks, Ross!
The recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria - and distressing number of collapsed concrete buildings - makes me wonder how 3D printed concrete buildings can be safe without any steel reinforcing. This is the first of your videos that I've seen but I'm interested to see more. Thank you.
At last a video which addresses the outrageous claims of 3D printed construction. The idea that an expensive and complicated 3D printer is cheaper than say, a concrete block structure to erect I always found laughable. I have seen the walls go up an a building in concrete blocks using traditional techniques faster than it takes to set one of these machines up and with less people. Other techniques like using more modern materials can be done even quicker. Building the walls is a small fraction of the total work involved in building a home and it isn't the most labour intensive or the most expensive. You pretty much covered every aspect in this video and covered them all well.
I don’t always agree with Belinda, but I love how fearless she is in taking on BS merchants!!!
Thank you for this thorough explanation! I learned a lot!
As a person that runs a printer farm as my side hustle and frames houses as my trade... I think your on point in everything your saying here, though I do think this tech will be the future of construction as materials and 3d printing continue to evolve, it is not there yet.
Recently, I went to a lecture about 3D printed plastic structures. It was interesting, but I'm certain that it will never take off for a variety of reasons.
One is that plastic is seen as a cheap, poor quality material by most people; why would you spend the money to make a house just for it to look and feel like the cheap garbage you'd buy at Walmart?
Two is that plastic as a construction material is a terrible idea. Plastic not only warps and brittles over time, but also melts and drips as it burns. There is no way to fireproof plastic structures, so their uses are very limited and people must be very careful about introducing heat to them. Topplogy can be used to optimize the strength of the material, but it is still plastic and has the weaknesses of a combustible, melty material that is prone to warping and becoming brittle.
Three is that 3D printed forms are a lot more limited than many people would lead you to believe, and finding pleasant yet realistic forms is much harder and more time consuming than you'd expect. It takes months and dozens of prototypes to figure out what the limits of a design when it is 3D printed. It is also very difficult to properly 3D print roofs and floors. With plastic structures, the failed prototypes can potentially be recycled, but you can't really recycle concrete. Concrete is typically sent to a landfill as soon as it is taken out of a structure. 3D prints can also fail for a variety of reasons, especially if you print on-site in an area that is not climate controlled. These failures may not be recyclable, depending on their materiality, and could occur very frequently.
There are more practical and philosophical reasons why 3D printing structures (regardless of material) is likely not the future. As much as some people dream of beautiful, intimidating, alien forms generated by AI and printed and assembled by robots, I highly doubt that there will be either a market or the technology to make this commonplace for quite some time, if ever.
"It's a solution looking for a problem" is the best quote ever.
Omg I love your video! I debunk these daily, now I can forward this video to people misled by marketing 👏👏 - Josef
The legend himself! Love your work and what your doing in the industry.
Josef, your turn buddy ! ;) We need mini concrete extruders to fit Prusas ;)
Prusa 4 life!!
Hi Mr printer 😁
with all that saved time will we ever get more info on the Prusa XL? It's been 2 years now and there's not even a picture or an ETA
It does have some pretty cool protentional though. For the past couple weeks I've been studying comparing foundation pours and 3D printed technology (general interest). I think WASP almost has the right idea by taking the actual grade located on site and mixing whichever solutions is missing in that local environment (if any). This idea can be used to create forms for a foundation pour or 3d printed cement. I'm not sure if we can truly get away from concrete and cement mix when it comes structural integrity and building codes (like in the US). Which like your saying does pose a conundrum saying its sustainable and eco friendly if what your taking from isn't local in the area and is not reused.
Now if there was a way to take recycled concrete, plastics, and polymers and use that as a building material that gets mixed with on site grade and processed that would be a little more friendly at least in the first 100 years.