In addition to drastically reducing waste, improving the building process, and improving lives, the introduction of 3D printed homes could also extend the dream of home ownership for millions.

The Problem

Having your home built is a multi-faceted procedure. It’s exciting and rewarding, for sure, but it’s also quite often–like, 99.9 percent often–a stressful and time-consuming undertaking. From the delays in production time to the endless budget increases thanks to unforeseen expenses, the residential building process is good at draining emotional reserves and financial resources.

In the most exhaustive study on residential construction waste, the EPA reported that 136 million tons of debris was generated by construction and demolition (C&D) waste in 1996. Of the number, 43 percent was a result of residential C&D waste. And of that 43 percent, 55 came from renovations, 34 from demolition, and 11 from construction. Furthermore, a residential construction and demolition (C&D) waste study conducted by the Houston Advanced Research Center showed that 90 percent of the C&D waste that accrues in landfills is actually reusable or recyclable.

Also alarming are the OSHA statistics regarding construction workers. Approximately 40,000 injuries occur on residential construction sites each year, with framing contractors (an essential aspect of typical home building) being particularly prone to injury (double that of construction workers overall—11 percent vs. 5 percent).

While you could always opt for a contractor that emphasizes recycling C&D waste and hope for the best, imagine if there were a way to construct the home of your dreams with virtually zero waste, zero stress, and far fewer injuries (including on your bank account). Enter: 3D printed homes.

In addition to fulfilling the needs of home buyers already on the market, this avenue would open up affordable, environmentally friendly, and sustainable homes to millions of individuals who would never have had the opportunity to own a home before, including the approximate 1.56 million individuals in the United States who are homeless.

The Solution

Apis Cor is revolutionizing the housing industry by being the “first company to develop a mobile construction 3D printer which is capable of printing whole buildings completely on site.”

Late 2016 announced the completion of the first fully 3D printed home in Russia. The approximately 400 square foot home was erected in 24 hours and cost just $10,134 to build. The total included the home’s foundation, walls, floor, roof, wiring, windows and doors, and exterior and interior finishes. The machine itself can be transported in the back of a truck, uses just eight kilowatts of energy, is extremely efficient in terms of waste and energy, and can be set up in 30 minutes.

The team purposely chose challenging variables in order to test the efficiency and viability of the process. The single-story residential home was constructed during the coldest time of the year, and the curvaceous layout of the design was complex compared to typical square shape. The additive technology has no restrictions on the design of new buildings, which means the house can be any shape. And although the temperature initially set back the printer’s ability to use its “ink,” or concrete mixture, the problem was remedied by erecting a tent to insulate the site.

Things like windows, insulation, steel reinforcements, cabinets, paint, and appliances were installed or applied by workers, but nearly everything else was automated. The finished result was a safe, modern, and inviting home just like you’d expect from the traditional building process. And, in comparison to typical costs, the 3D printer’s ability to construct load-bearing walls and partitions saves around 70 percent when compared to the block construction method, not to mention the lack of physical labor needed.

The Future

Apis Cor isn’t the only innovative company attempting to extend affordable 3D printed homes to everyone. According to BBC, WinSun, a firm in China 3D printed ten full-sized, detached single-story homes in a single day. And perhaps the most ambitious is Contour Crafting. The company’s prototype reportedly built a 2,500 square foot home in only 20 hours. But that’s not all. There is already a proposed plan set forth by the company to extend the operation to other planets, stating the intention to “build safe, reliable, and affordable lunar and Martian structures, habitats, laboratories, and other facilities before the arrival of human beings.”  Apis Cor’s inventor Nikita Chen-yun-tai is also interested in otherworldly construction, saying “we are ready to be the first to start building on Mars.”

The construction and real estate industries have hindered people and the environment for decades. However, with revolutionary technology like the introduction of 3D printed homes, the world as we know it could be impacted for the better. From our inner circles to outer space, we can’t wait for this automated process to change the way we live.

What do you think of the 3D printing process? Share your thoughts on the EcoSalon Facebook page!

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Got an hour to kill? Knit yourself a jumper with the open-source digital loom called OpenKnit.

OpenKnit is the open-source digital fabrication tool that will knit you a jumper in under an hour.

The brainchild of Gerard Rubio, a designer based in Barcelona, OpenKnit uses Knitic software designed by Mar Canet and Varvara Guljajeva. OpenKnit pulls the designs from the software and then after measurements are entered and weights placed to stabilize the fabrics, the machine gets knitting.

“[I]ts novelty lies in the fact it is not only relatively affordable to build from the instructions posted on Github [around $700] but there is already something of an ecosystem around the venture,” reports Wired. “Collaborators Mar Canet and Varvara Guljajeva have designed the Knitic software that lets you input parameters for the machine to adhere to, to tailor the garment; and Takahiro Yamaguchi has launched DoknitYourself, a place to share all the digitally designed knitted clothes already made using it.”

But what’s the big deal? Why should we care about a modern knitting machine? Well, fast fashion for one. Anything we can do for ourselves is one less garment made in a sweatshop. “The point of the project, of course, is to upend and question all forms of traditional mass production — no biggie, then,” Wired explains.

“Presently, production outsourcing has become the norm: mass fabrication of goods at low costs improves corporate profit margins but pushes precarious labour conditions due to a race to the bottom in competing developing markets,” Rubio wrote on his blog. “Production entails long and precise processes before those goods reach our hands, many of which are pervasive in our daily life, and frequently in intimate contact with us, such as textiles. In such a context the market price we pay for goods has not absorbed the externalities created, thus we end up paying far less for them than the real impact they have in society and the environment.” He adds: “It’s always great to have fun and learn while working on something you enjoy doing but it’s also important to do things for a reason once in a while, and that’s the combination of ingredients that created the OpenKnit project.”

The best part of all of this so far is Rubio’s brazen attitude. He’s taken his knitted clothes and after disrobing mannequins at H&M and Benetton locations, he re-clothed them with his own creations.  He explained it  that he just wanted to “put some company names on the table, companies that perpetuate the status quo of the fashion industry and its model of production and consumption”.

Made In the Neighbourhood (ft. a clothing printer, OpenKnit) from Gerard Rubio on Vimeo.

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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If it weren’t for 3D printer technology, we’d pretty much still be living in the Dark Ages.

Your computer and smart phones are practically cavemen tools these days. Besides anything Elon Musk is behind, the real impressive technology du jour is, of course, anything made on a 3D printer. Especially if it happens to be shoes.

Enter Continuum Fashion’s Myth, a collection of high heels meets high-tech 3D printed shoes. Designer Mary Huang has called them ‘computational couture.’

“The collection contrasts overtly digital geometry with very organic, natural forms,” the company says on its website. “The tree-like designs are inspired by Bernini’s statue of Apollo and Daphne– the story of the nymph who turns into a laurel tree. These designs were created to exemplify the beauty of how objects are made on a 3d printer, where the object “grows” layer by layer.

The time lapse video of a Myth shoe being printed is pretty darn amazing.

While the kitsch factor of 3D printed fashion is quite impressive enough to stand on its own, the really great thing about these 3D printed shoes is the smaller carbon footprint. The shoes can be made with less environmentally intensive materials, such as a wood composite and the urethane soles on the shoes, which are also 3D printed. And, says the brand, “these designs are a virtually zero waste product. 3D printing will be the leapfrog technology in achieving sustainable manufacturing.”

We love a good leapfrog technology, particularly if it means fashion at your fingertips and not at the cost of fossil fuels.And  as everyone knows, no matter how strange and sic-fi the future may get, couture footwear will always be in style.

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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images via Continuum Fashion

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When the 3D printer world collides with the medical world, amazing things are in store.

It didn’t take long for 3D printer designs to move away from gadgets and guns, and into the much more exciting field of biomedical technology. Now, researchers at the University of Cambridge claim that their work with 3D printed eye cells could one day rid the world of blindness.

In late December, scientists at the University announced that they had 3D printed two types of cells from the retina of adult rats―ganglion cells and glial cells – for the very first time in history. “This is the first time the technology has been used successfully to print mature central nervous system cells and the results showed that printed cells remained healthy and retained their ability to survive and grow in culture,” stated a University press release.

To prove that 3D printed eye cells could be a worthy replacement for those we’re born with, “the researchers used a piezoelectric inkjet printer device that ejected the cells through a sub-millimetre diameter nozzle when a specific electrical pulse was applied. They also used high speed video technology to record the printing process with high resolution and optimised [sic] their procedures accordingly,” explains the same press release.

Besides being absolutely mind-blowing, the proof-of-principle achievement has big implications for the field of regenerative medicine. “The loss of nerve cells in the retina is a feature of many blinding eye diseases,” explain study co-authors Professor Keith Martin and Dr. Barbara Lorber, both from the John van Geest Centre for Brain Repair. “The retina is an exquisitely organised structure where the precise arrangement of cells in relation to one another is critical for effective visual function.” The ability to fabricate these essential cells in a laboratory could be key to developing treatments that could reverse the effects of blinding eye diseases, effectively restoring sight for those who thought they would never see again.

“We plan to extend this study to print other cells of the retina and to investigate if light-sensitive photoreceptors can be successfully printed using inkjet technology. In addition, we would like to further develop our printing process to be suitable for commercial, multi-nozzle print heads,” said Professor Martin.

Eye cells are only one body part that can now be created in a laboratory. Working ears, kidneys, and even a trachea have been 3D printed, grown or otherwise fabricated outside the womb.

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Image: Michele Catania

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A round-up of what we’re reading right now.

If you think the widening chasm between the financially-rich and the rest spells trouble for American democracy, have a look at the growing gulf between the information-rich and-poor. [Via Salon]

This article deconstructs some of the most common myths that create unnecessary anxiety in relationships even among the most level-headed, intelligent people. [Via MindBodyGreen]

It finally happened. An artist has attempted to replicate herself using a 3D printer. You might be surprised at the results. [Via Fast Co. Design]

When the cool weather hits, your skin freaks and gets extra thirsty. Counteract it by making this moisture-boosting smoothie that’s full of stealth skin-savers. [Via Well+GoodNYC]

In a new video, Emmy-award winning actor James Cromwell discusses the horrors pigs endure at Walmart supplier Pipestone System’s Rosewood Farm in Minnesota. [Via Care2]

Image: amecoli

The post Link Love: 5 Myths About Relationships and A Beauty-Boosting Smoothie appeared first on EcoSalon.

3D printing got quite a slimy upgrade when researchers at MIT (where else?) employed 6,500 silkworms to help create a dome guided by computer technology.

The worms were unleashed onto 26 panels fitted with a string of silk thread and then guided by spatial and environmental cues. Changing the light and heat as well as the geometric density, MIT’s Media Lab professor Neri Oxman and her team were able to direct the silkworms and influence the outcome in the first 3D printing experiment using living creatures. “They swarmed over the structure’s surface and spun silk threads that ultimately created a dome that was equal parts Buckminster Fuller and Charlotte’s Web,” reported Wired.

Oxman and her team say the experiment with these “MakerBugs” offers many benefits, “The silkworm embodies everything an additive fabrication system currently lacks,” says Oxman. “It jets a structural material with superior function-specific variable properties; it’s small in size and mobile in movement; and it can spin, rather than print, non-homogeneous fibrous structures without waste. In more than one way, a silkworm is a sophisticated multi-material, multi-axis 3D printer.”

As well, the use of silkworms is more environmentally friendly than other building materials, reports Wired: “[T]he worms transform White Mulberry leaves into building material, their creations biodegrade over time, and when the job is done the worms turn into moths and fly away, leaving enough eggs behind to create approximately 250 more structures.”

The Silk Pavilion’s success shows potential for more architectural structures as well as advances in fashion design and relief efforts—being implemented in natural disaster areas to build temporary shelters could be one of the most exciting applications. “The project speculates about the possibility in the future to implement a biological swarm approach to 3D printing,” said Oxman. “Google is for information what swarm manufacturing may one day become for design fabrication.”

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Image: dezeen

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The future is so bright, you might want to 3D-print yourself some shades.

Amid worries about what untraceable, printable firearms mean for the future of our society, don’t be fooled into thinking this is all the world of 3D printing has to offer. In fact, thanks to a community focused on open-source design, and the collaborative powers of the internet, 3D printers have already begun to change our world for the better.

Robohand

Richard van As is a carpenter who tragically lost two fingers in a woodworking accident. When he began searching for a prosthetic replacement that would restore the use of his hand, he was shocked to learn that the only market options started at $10,000. Determined to find a more affordable alternative, van As took to the internet, where he soon encountered Ivan Owen–a DIY enthusiast who posted a YouTube video about a mechanical hand he’d made for fun. A few Skype conversations later, the two became a team. The pair used their Makerbot 3D printers to send ideas back and forth. Within a year, they had a working protype they called “Robohand.” To celebrate the fruit of their collaboration, the pair donated the first 3D printed Robohand to Liam, a five year-old boy who was born without any fingers on his right hand. The design plans for Robohand are available on the internet for anyone to use, and many other disabled children have already benefited.

3D-Printed Food

If there’s one thing our culture loves, it’s customization. We want our name, face, and personality infused into everything–including food. A recent report from TechNewsDaily asserted that creating customized novelty food will be one of the main reasons for a crossover into 3D printed edibles. Last year, designer Ralf Holleis unveiled a 3D-printer that can be used to whip up a batch of intricately-designed, perfectly-shaped sweet snacks in a jiffy (pictured above). But not all 3D printed foods would be novelties. NASA recently invested $125,000 for the development of a 3D printer that could automate food creation in space, and eventually, here on Earth as well. The device will use cartridges of sugars, complex carbohydrates, and protein to assemble a nutritionally acceptable meals that never spoil.

Cleaner, More Self-Sufficient Cities

Transportation–of ourselves and the goods we need to survive–is a major source of planet-killing pollution. The interdependence caused by a global economy can backfire when a natural disaster or war interrupts the normal flow of things. In order for future cities to become more self-sufficient, we’ve got to restore the ability to make things around the corner from where they’re sold, something that 3D printing makes possible for just about anyone.

“3D printing creates its final product in one process – unlike conventional manufacturing which often demands extensive casting, forming and molding and assembling up to thousands of parts, some from distant locations,” writes Neal Pierce for the Washington Post Writers Group.

“This could spell big cutbacks in massive container ships and their ports, together with fuel-guzzling truck rigs crisscrossing continents,” Pierce adds. “The United States’ heavy reliance on overseas manufacturing, especially from China, could be cut back dramatically. The carbon footprint of today’s manufacturing and transport could be reduced substantially. 3D involves dramatically reduced waste and use of toxic materials in manufacturing and can ease the demand for such nonrenewable resources as rare earth minerals.”

Images: Watz, Robohand, Ralf Holleis, 666_is_money

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Are we witnessing the beginning of the end of the cut and sew garment production industry?

The majority of today’s fashion is produced using techniques that remain largely unchanged for the past 150 years. It is labor intensive; with many hands touching and working to produce the garments we wear everyday. The industry that manufactures our clothing is one of the least automated industries, and has by and large failed to ever fully embrace mass production techniques.

Mass manufacturing processes such as rotational molding revolutionized the production of furniture and other objects for industrial design, while robotics have transformed vehicle production. Automated processes and technologies are routinely used in almost all other industries, but human hands largely still make the bulk of what we wear.

The processes that come together to produce a fashion garment are broken into tiny actions, each operated by a different highly efficient and well-practiced individual. For example there will be one person who rivets your jeans, another who top stitches the pockets and yet another who only trims threads. One of the few aspects of garment production that has been automated is cutting. CNC blades or laser cutters rapidly cut multiple layers of cloth at the same time. However, this only occurs in large-scale production, as most small and medium scale manufacturers still cut by hand. By the time your garment reaches you it has passed through many hands, each person paid a fraction of the cost to produce the whole.

There are many contradictions apparent in this high labor industry.

The Good: it keeps a lot of people employed, in fact more people are employed by the textile and apparel industry than any other.

The Bad: they are generally paid a low wage and often work in poor working conditions in a repetitive (trimming threads for the rest of your life anyone?) and sometimes dangerous job. Transitioning into a more automated industry had profound impacts on the motor vehicle manufacturing industry, reducing the cost of cars and increasing production, while leaving thousands unemployed and the communities who relied on the industry decimated. If garment production were to follow the automated route the impacts are difficult to gauge, though unemployment would likely be one of them. The question of whether the payoffs are worth it is part of an ongoing debate, but what would an automated fashion production industry even look like? What might it mean for consumers and designers?

Many of the advances in industrial design technology focus around the transition from subtractive production processes, where you start with a sheet or block of material and remove what you don’t need to make the finished object, to additive processes, where you start with nothing and you only add what you need. Additive technologies are faster and less labor intensive when automated and produce substantially less waste to produce the same or better end result. It enables form and structures never before possible with reductive processes.

Julian Roberts, Subtraction Cutting

Some of the most interesting developments in regards to garment design and production are occurring at the threshold between industrial design, science and fashion. Revolutionary thinkers at these intersections have produced spray on fabric, 3D printed swimwear and couture, Liquid Molded garments, and DPOL. These emerging (and still developing) technologies add to more mainstream techniques such as whole garment knitting, digital printing, embroidery and laser cutting, to present us with a future for the fashion industry which is vastly different to the one we have now.

Conflating the textile production and garment production processes through technological advances such as 3D printing, as well as producing garment forms otherwise impossible, also significantly reduces waste and carbon emissions. The highly globalized nature of the fashion industry leads to the raw materials of textiles grown in one country, processed in another and cut and sewn in yet another, all while being sold all over the world.

Imagining in contrast, a future where we have a 3D printer on our desktop at home is not that far off, so picture this: You are about to go out on a Friday evening and realize you “have nothing to wear!” You pay $50 to download from the internet that latest Fall 2018 dress design you love, software modifies it to fit exactly and then sends it to your desktop 3D printer, 30 minutes later you’re out the door.

This will happen.

Image: Kheel Center, Cornell, The Denim Wiki

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