Will truly affordable housing for ordinary Ghanaians be possible in less than a decade?

For those in Ghana, who lack imagination to imagine the future, it is quite difficult to be optimistic about the prospects of our homeland, Ghana.

But this old fool, Kofi Thompson, wants all ambitious young people in Ghana to be hopeful: The rapid transformations of many areas of human activity, made possible by cutting-edge technology, will ensure Ghana's transformation into a prosperous society. and fair. , in ten years. As sure as the day follows the night. Cool.

To serve as inspiration to Ghan's younger, ambitious generations, today we have selected an article by Prachi Patel's Scientific American titled: "How 3D Printing Could Be Introduced in the World." Building industry ". A truly affordable home for ordinary Ghanaians will be possible in less than a decade. Cool.

Please read on:
"American scientist
Engineering
How 3D printing could introduce into the building industry

Imagine a single trained operator making a bridge, a house or a barracks

By Prachi Patel on March 25, 2019
How 3D printing could introduce into the building industry

The first pedestrian bridge printed in 3D is in a park in Alcobendas, Spain. Credit: Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC)

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Since Spain opened the first pedestrian bridge printed in 3D in 2016, the push for printed architecture seems to be accelerating. Shanghai inaugurated the longest printed concrete bridge in the world in January, and the first-ever printed steel span will cross a cbad in Amsterdam this year. Beyond the bridges, the first 3D printed rental houses – five bulb buildings in the Dutch city of Eindhoven – are expected to hit the market this summer.

Some of the artistic designs, even zany, seem to be an architectural fantasy. But some experts believe that these new prototypes could announce a major change in the construction sector. "The construction industry is very stubborn" when it comes to change, says Captain Matthew Friedell, who heads the Marine Corps 3D printing operations. But "once we have proven the benefits of 3D printing for construction, its adoption will increase rapidly."

In the construction of the usual bridges, skilled workers mix concrete and pour it into plywood molds, called shapes. Large-scale 3D printers, on the other hand, pump quick-setting concrete sludge from a nozzle onto a crane or gantry arm that moves on rails, guided by a computer, to create entire structures, layer by layer. Instead of creating new forms for each part, designers can reuse a printer to create various projects. Without requiring forms – or skilled workers to build them – a printer can work faster, with less hardware and less labor.

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In 2018, the Marines used a 3D concrete printer to build a 500 square foot barracks in Champaign, Illinois. Credit: Marine Corps Systems Command

Designing and building objects such as bridges fast and moving is of obvious interest to the armed forces, who often launch new technologies that end up spreading in the trade. It was the Marines who created the first three-dimensional bridge in the United States, a 32-foot flat span at Camp Pendleton, California, late last year. According to Friedell, they managed to do it five times less than traditional methods.

Soldiers usually carry cantilevered mobile bridges in the order of $ 750,000 each, which they can then bademble to cover the water or rough terrain. A 3D printer would cost about the same price as one of these units, and the military should still carry its components to bademble them on site. But once he arrived, a single printer could create several bridges, buildings, walls, and water tanks – everything the troops would need during their deployment. For example, the Marines also printed a concrete barracks large enough to accommodate eight soldiers, that they could instead use housing units containing shipping containers.

In addition to offering greater flexibility, this option would reduce costs and manpower. The ingredients for concrete are cheap and soldiers could source locally raw materials, says Friedell. After that, their 3D printer could work with minimal human intervention. "The ultimate goal," said Friedell, "is to make sure that only one person gets up and strikes" the impression "." In fact, a report released by the Associated General Contractors of America indicates that some companies are considering the use of 3D printing to help reduce the work. shortages.

Test of a 3D printer that architects use to build five concrete houses in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Credit: Technical University of Eindhoven

Some people think that lower costs could make a difference to affordable housing. The Austin-based construction technology company, Icon, recently unveiled a 3D printer that, according to the company, can create a 2,000-square-foot family home in three days, at about half the cost of traditional construction methods . Icon says that he plans to build affordable housing communities at sites in Austin and Latin America. "The idea that we can use this cheap machine to build houses is very exciting, especially for humanitarian relief missions," Friedell said. "And I see a direct correlation for the housing market."

Although the residential construction industry does not have the same needs as military or relief missions (rapid badembly of bridges or barracks in isolated locations), it could still benefit from a construction method that allows save time, labor and building materials. In addition to this, printing can make complex designs far more difficult to achieve with traditional methods. For example, according to Friedell, the winding walls of the Marine Print Barracks are 2.5 times stronger than the clbadic straight barracks, but the construction of these winding walls in the usual way (from individual concrete blocks) would have been much harder and takes a lot of time. to print them, he says.

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These complex designs can allow architects to use fewer materials. Take the first bridge printed in Spain, which looks like an entangled vine: this pattern offers the greatest possible resistance using the least cement possible. "By placing the material exactly where you want it, you reduce consumption and waste," says Leroy Gardner, structural engineering professor at Imperial College London. A study by researchers at Brunel University suggests that 3D printing could generate up to 30% less material waste than the usual construction techniques, while consuming less energy. " energy and generating less carbon dioxide emissions.

"It's clearly an interesting technology with huge potential," says Timothy Gutowski, who heads the research group on environmentally responsible manufacturing at the Mbadachusetts Institute of Technology. But, he adds, more systematic studies are needed to compare the environmental impacts of 3D printing technology and conventional techniques throughout the life cycle of a structure, from raw materials to the end of his life.

For example, most current 3D printers use concrete, a material responsible for 7% of the Earth's carbon dioxide emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. To combat this, some developers are working on more sustainable alternatives: in 2016, a Dutch architecture firm printed a tiny 86-square-foot sustainable bioplastic booth, and in 2017, the University of Hong Kong presented a demonstration of terracotta printed in 3D bricks.

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Mr. Gutowski also warned that the supposed reduction in costs and the use of materials could be the target of the rebound effect, term used in economics: if a system works with less energy for example, users will do more, thus canceling energy savings. 3D printed houses could reduce the use of materials in theory, but this could encourage builders to become larger. The benefits are diluted, says Gutowski, when "wealthy people begin to expand their homes or build vacation homes."

Despite the obstacles, the number of architectural projects based on 3D printing has continued to grow over the past five years. Theo Salet, professor of technology on concrete at the Eindhoven University of Technology, is leading the Dutch project to print houses for rent.

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The technology is still young, however, and requires more development for wider use. Printing a giant bridge or skyscraper will not be as easy as pressing a button in the foreseeable future, says Skylar Tibbits, MIT's computational architect. Printers that operate on this scale are still slow and expensive. And for now, they only produce one type of material at a time, so builders still have to manually integrate doors, windows, wiring and plumbing. In fact, aside from the Marine projects, which focused on rapid on-site construction, most existing bridges and houses were printed in parts that humans later badembled.

According to Tibbits, the construction industry is likely to use 3D printing for the mbad production of modular components that still require human labor. Printers can also be used to build structures with unique designs or to decorate them with intricate architectural details. "Printing," says Tibbits, "is one of many tools you can use in harmony to create buildings and products."

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