Last April, Dubai unveiled its 3D Printing Strategy, which calls for 25% of buildings in that city to be constructed using 3D printing technology by 2030. That strategy focuses on three major sectors: construction, medical products, and consumer products. The use of 3D printing in Dubai’s construction sector will increase by 2% starting in 2019.
One month after the strategy was publicized, Dubai completed what it asserts is the world’s first 3D-printed office, a 250-sm (2,691-sf) building made from a mixture of cement and other building materials, and assembled in 17 days by a 3D printer measuring 20 feet high, 120 feet long, and 40 feet wide, with a automated robotic arm.
Can a 3D-printed city be too far behind? The answer might lie in the Minitank, a 3D-printing crane under construction that its developer, a Silicon Valley startup called Cazza Construction Technologies, says can layer 2,153 sf of concrete per day, which would make it 50% faster than conventional construction methods.
Cazza’s 19-year-old CEO and co-founder Chris Kelsey tells CNN that construction is the natural progression for 3D printing. Last year, the Dubai Road and Transport Authority invited Cazza to present its technology to government officials overseeing the 3D Printing Strategy initiative. “Out of all of the groups they’d seen online or spoken with, they were most fascinated with the capabilities of our unique machines,” Kelsey told ConstructionWeekOnline.com.
It remains to be seen, though, whether this technology is practical for large-scale projects. There’s not much information about Cazza’s origins or its technology on its website, nor any images of the Minitank. (The site, however, is opening soliciting for partners and distributors for its technology.) Previously, Kelsey founded a company called Appsitude, an app development company. Part of Cazza’s funding came from proceeds of Appsitude’s sale last year.
Cazza, though, is undeniably following in the footsteps of pioneers who have tested the limits of 3D printing for construction. These include Behrokh Khoshnevis, a professor at the University of Southern California, who invented a concrete-extruding 3D printer in 2009 that could print a 2,500-sf structure in 20 hours; the construction firm WinSun, which in 2014 3D printed 10 one-story houses in a single day; and DUS Architects, which last year 3D printed a full canal house in Amsterdam.
Cazza’s process is relatively straightforward: an architect would upload blueprints onto a computer system, which transmits the information to the crane printer that layers the concrete in the shape of the design.
The Minitank, if it becomes operational, will be able to print on-site, and construct buildings up to three stories high. “The barrier to companies [printing on-site] so far has been that it’s extremely difficult to develop a machine with all of the factors needed,” Kelsey explained.
The Minitank would use cement made from 80% recycled materials. Cazza claims that its portable equipment can be set up within 30 minutes, and that its process would reduce labor and materials costs by up to 90%. Fernando De Los Rios, Cazza’s COO, said his company would soon bring its engineers from across the world to start working in Dubai and surrounding areas.
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority has several 3D printed projects in the works already, including the Museum of the Future, and DEWA’s labs in the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park.
Related Stories
| Jun 3, 2011
BIM software helps Michigan college students improve building performance
With Autodesk Revit Architecture, Western Michigan University students model campus buildings for energy analysis, renovations and retrofits
| May 10, 2011
Solar installations on multifamily rooftops aid social change
The Los Angeles Business Council's study on the feasibility of installing solar panels on the city’s multifamily buildings shows there's tremendous rooftop capacity, and that a significant portion of that rooftop capacity comes from buildings in economically depressed neighborhoods. Solar installations could therefore be used to create jobs, lower utility costs, and improve conditions for residents in these neighborhood.
| Mar 10, 2011
Taking ‘PIM’ Beyond E-mail
Newforma enhances its Project Center information management platform with a Revit add-in’ and mobile capability.
| Feb 10, 2011
Medical Data Center Sets High Bar for BIM Design Team
The construction of a new data center becomes a test case for BIM’s ability to enhance project delivery across an entire medical campus.
| Feb 10, 2011
Zero Energy Buildings: When Do They Pay Off in a Hot and Humid Climate?
There’s lots of talk about zero energy as the next big milestone in green building. Realistically, how close are we to this ambitious goal? At this point, the strategies required to get to zero energy are relatively expensive. Only a few buildings, most of them 6,000 sf or less, mostly located in California and similar moderate climates, have hit the mark. What about larger buildings, commercial buildings, more problematic climates? Given the constraints of current technology and the comfort demands of building users, is zero energy a worthwhile investment for buildings in, for example, a warm, humid climate?
| Jan 28, 2011
Firestone Building Products Unveils FirestoneRoof Mobile Web App
Firestone Building Products Company unveiled FirestoneRoof, a first-of-its-kind free mobile web app. The FirestoneRoof mobile web app enables customers to instantly connect with Firestone commercial roofing experts and is designed to make it easier for building owners, facility managers, roofing consultants and others charged with maintaining commercial roofing systems to get the support they need, when they need it.
| Jan 25, 2011
Bloomberg launches NYC Urban Tech Innovation Center
To promote the development and commercialization of green building technologies in New York City, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has launched the NYC Urban Technology Innovation Center. This initiative will connect academic institutions conducting underlying research, companies creating the associated products, and building owners who will use those technologies.
| Jan 19, 2011
Large-Scale Concrete Reconstruction Solid Thinking
Driven by both current economic conditions and sustainable building trends, Building Teams are looking more and more to retrofits and reconstruction as the most viable alternative to new construction. In that context, large-scale concrete restoration projects are playing an important role within this growing specialty.
