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How to print a building: the science behind 3D printing in construction Building sites are going to look a bit different, in the future. Shutterstock. Seyed Ghaffar, Brunel University London It’s often claimed that 3D printing – known in the trade as “additive manufacturing” – will change the way we live. Most recently, a team from Eindhoven University of Technology announced plans to build the “world’s first” habitable 3D printed houses. But it’s one thing to build small, prototype homes in a park – it’s quite another to successfully use additive manufacturing for large scale projects in the construction sector....

Transparent wood is coming, and it could make an energy-efficient alternative to glass Glass windows like these could be replaced with wood. Shutterstock/Visions-AD Steve Eichhorn, University of Bristol Wood is an ancient material humans have been using for millions of years, for the construction of housing, ships and as a source of fuel for burning. It’s also a renewable source, and one way to capture excess carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere. Today, the main component of wood - cellulose – is produced annually at 20 times the volume of steel. One thing you wouldn’t use wood for is making...

Bendable concrete and other CO2-infused cement mixes could dramatically cut global emissions Bendable concrete created at the University of Michigan allows for thinner structures with less need for steel reinforcement. Joseph Xu/University of Michigan College of Engineering Lucca Henrion, University of Michigan; Duo Zhang, University of Michigan; Victor C. Li, University of Michigan, and Volker Sick, University of Michigan One of the big contributors to climate change is right beneath your feet, and transforming it could be a powerful solution for keeping greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. The production of cement, the binding element in concrete, accounted for 7%...

Smart City Development Pushing Huge Shift In Construction Materials Multiple nations around the world are making massive investments in smart city mega projects. All of them contain elements meant to reduce pollution or produce power. As a result, researchers expect the demand for advanced green materials to skyrocket. A study by a technology market research company predicted a $400 billion market for the materials needed to construct the highly integrated smart cities of the future. Global Shift In City Planning Underway In places as diverse as South Korea, Singapore, New York City, Saudi Arabia, and Mumbai, both smart residential and...

Stunning new photos from around the world showcase the beauty and importance of concrete Over 10,000 worldwide entries to the GCCA's Concrete in Life photography competition capture concrete's role in our daily lives LONDON, Feb. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Concrete plays a fundamental role in the world around us and in our daily lives. It supports our communities, keeps us connected, and provides our homes, key infrastructure and the cities around us. The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) is celebrating concrete, the most used human-made material on our planet, with the release of the winning pictures from its 'Concrete in...