The Bleeding Edge

I, like many people, was quite intrigued when I first heard about concrete 3D printing.? I couldn’t believe such a thing was possible.? When I watched some of the early videos, it was mind-blowing.? So much so, that it was easy for me to believe the hype regarding the cost-savings, time-savings, the single-handed solution to our housing dilemma, and its potential for curing cancer.? OK, I may be overstating the claims that were being made…but not by much!? Who remembers the claims that you could build a house for $6,000?? I actually had a developer remind me of that one just a few months ago!? Or who remembers the stories of building a home in hours instead of months?? Again, these were easier to believe when you’re watching a video of a big robot extruding perfect layers in rapid succession.

What we didn’t know was that those perfect layers were being created in a perfectly controlled environment.? What we didn’t know is that the previous 6 takes had to be cut because the layers were far less than perfect.? Just like the rest of social media: we were seeing the highlight reel…not the real reel.

Now we’re older, wiser, and much more experienced.? Like Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until they’ve been punched in the face.”? We now have the kind of experience that can only be gained by being punched in the face a couple hundred times…and there are more beatings to come!? The reality of concrete 3D printing is that it’s hard!? What everyone sees as a perfectly extruded layer on a beautifully edited social media post came with a great deal of pain, anguish, luck, and answered prayers.? There are a lot of boxes that need to be successfully checked to produce that perfect layer you see in the video:

• Secure funding for a 6-figure 3D printing system
• Find an architect and engineer that can design a building that’s printable
• Get building department approval to build a home using this new technology
• Find and train a crew
• Erect the printer and place the material delivery system
• Order your locally sourced materials for your concrete mix
• Create a custom mix design based upon the unique locally sourced materials, temperature, humidity, size of the “print object”, and layer time.
• Complete a dry run (or dry runs) to make sure that plumbing and other concrete imbeds were properly placed
• Begin extrusion keeping fingers crossed that one of the thousands of connections that were made upon erection of the printer don’t fail.
• Adjust the mix design as the temperature changes throughout the day.
• Continually monitor your print speed and extrusion rate so you’re not over or under extruding.
• Thank your lucky stars if you get 6 hours of printing done in a 10-hour workday.
• Manage the curing process so that the printed layers don’t crack overnight
• Properly align the printer the next day so that the new layers integrate well with the previous layers.

There are a whole lot more boxes that need to be checked than these…and plenty of punches to the face between every checked box.? If things go very well, you can actually complete the printing on a home.? To get consistently beautiful layers is a wonderful bonus!? To consistently do so faster, cheaper, and better than conventional construction is a fantasy…at least today it is.?

The 3DCP industry is not going away.? Those of us brave enough (na?ve enough, stupid enough, hopeful enough) to jump into the 3DCP ring will figure this thing out.? The checklist will get smaller and smaller as we one-by-one solve the many challenges that the current members of this industry are dealing with.? As we do that, the general population will fall in love with the types of structures that we create.? At some point, it won’t be about price or even speed (although we will see reductions in both of those categories), it will be about the beautifully organic and shapely buildings that we can create and how our buildings will make their inhabitants feel.? It will be about disaster resistance, climate resilience, energy efficiency, and durability.? It will be about cleaner construction with less waste filling our landfills.? It will be about the new “tech” generation of construction workers with the skills and confidence to build our communities and their futures.?

Once that begins to happen, 3DCP technology will take its rightful place in the construction industry. ?Not as the lower cost option, but as the only option for creating specific types of buildings.? If you want straight, square, and plumb, buy a stack of 2X4’s and build it.? The framing industry has been perfected over decades.? It’s hard to beat them at their game.? But what about them playing our game?? If a customer wants a curved, organically shaped home, let’s see a framer do that!? I can guarantee you that 3DCP will be faster and cheaper than conventional construction for THAT house!?

Let’s make the public fall in love with what we can create with this new tool.? That way, when a property owner asks their architect to design that curvy house, we builders can pull out the right tool for the job!

Donald Ajamian , Emergent CEO