Barron’s recently predicted that 3D printing would be a $13 billion industry by 2018, up from $600 million two years ago. AEC industry use might represent only a fraction of the total, but the trend is definitely ascending.
There’s no doubt the technology can do some fascinating things. Machines can now print with all sorts of powderized materials, from concrete to chocolate. ZGF Architects’ Robert Petty printed his wedding ring using powderized silver, and “it’s held up fine,” he says. At the recent 3D Print Design show in New York, Perkins+Will displayed a six-foot-tall model of a skyscraper that it had printed on a MakerBot machine.
The 3D printer industry keeps making strides in technology and affordability. WobbleWorks recently released an upgrade of its 3D printing pen—yes, it’s a pen, the 3Doodle—that it’s selling for $100 a pop.
After two years of secretive development, Redwood, Calif., startup Carbon3D unveiled a 3D printing process called CLIP (for “continuous liquid interface production”) that uses light to cure the extruded resin that forms the physical objects and models. The company claims this process is 25–100 times faster than anything that’s currently available. Autodesk recently invested $10 million in Carbon3D.
Carbon 3D's continuous liquid interface production process
In March, Trimble released an update of 3D Warehouse, its online platform for sharing and downloading free 3D models and materials, which is a key component of the SketchUp 3D modeling software. Autodesk recently introduced Spark, an open-source platform that enables 3D applications and services to deliver 3D models for any printer or service bureau.
Higher quality printers, greater affordability, new technical processes—all represent promising solutions that AEC firms are looking for as they try to figure out where 3D printing fits into their larger technology picture.
Amid all the ballyhoo, there’s still the question of how embedded 3D printers will become in AEC firms’ workflow. Jorge Barrero, a Senior Associate at Gensler, compares 3D printing to a familiar domestic technology: “It’s like the microwave,” he says. “It never replaced the oven, but it made it into everyone’s kitchen.”
Related Stories
| Dec 9, 2013
Does technology help or hinder innovation?
Whether digital technology will help or hinder workplace insights remains a topic of ongoing debate. FastCo.Design features insights from business scholars on both sides of the issue.
| Dec 5, 2013
Translating design intent from across the globe
I recently attended the Bentley User Conference in Vejle, Denmark. I attended the event primarily to get a sense for the challenges our Danish counterparts are experiencing in project delivery and digital communication. One story I heard was from a BIM manager with Henning Larsen Architects in Denmark, who told me about a project she’d recently completed overseas in the Middle East. She outlined two distinct challenges and offered some interesting solutions to those challenges.
| Dec 3, 2013
‘BIM for all’ platform pays off for contractor
Construction giant JE Dunn is saving millions in cost avoidances by implementing a custom, cloud-based BIM/VDC collaboration platform.
| Nov 27, 2013
Exclusive survey: Revenues increased at nearly half of AEC firms in 2013
Forty-six percent of the respondents to an exclusive BD+C survey of AEC professionals reported that revenues had increased this year compared to 2012, with another 24.2% saying cash flow had stayed the same.
| Nov 25, 2013
Electronic plan review: Coming soon to a city near you?
With all the effort AEC professionals put into leveraging technology to communicate digitally on projects, it is a shame that there is often one major road block that becomes the paper in their otherwise “paperless” project: the local city planning and permitting department.
| Nov 22, 2013
Kieran Timberlake, PE International develop BIM tool for green building life cycle assessment
Kieran Timberlake and PE International have developed Tally, an analysis tool to help BIM users keep better score of their projects’ complete environmental footprints.
| Nov 8, 2013
Can Big Data help building owners slash op-ex budgets?
Real estate services giant Jones Lang LaSalle set out to answer these questions when it partnered with Pacific Controls to develop IntelliCommand, a 24/7 real-time remote monitoring and control service for its commercial real estate owner clients.
| Oct 30, 2013
Why are companies forcing people back to the office?
For a while now companies have been advised that flexibility is a key component to a successful workplace strategy, with remote working being a big consideration. But some argue that we’ve moved the needle too far toward a “work anywhere” culture.
| Oct 30, 2013
11 hot BIM/VDC topics for 2013
If you like to geek out on building information modeling and virtual design and construction, you should enjoy this overview of the top BIM/VDC topics.
| Oct 18, 2013
Meet the winners of BD+C's $5,000 Vision U40 Competition
Fifteen teams competed last week in the first annual Vision U40 Competition at BD+C's Under 40 Leadership Summit in San Francisco. Here are the five winning teams, including the $3,000 grand prize honorees.
