Robots Built a House That Generates More Energy Than It Needs (dwell.com) 45
MikeChino writes: The world's first home designed, planned, and built with mainly digital processes just opened its doors in Switzerland. Developed by eight ETH Zurich professors, DFAB House is a pilot project showcasing futuristic building technologies that may someday work their way into our homes. It's topped with a solar array that generates, on average, 1.5 times more energy than the unit needs (an intelligent control system eliminates the risk of load peaks), [and there are waste heat recovery systems to recycle heat from shower trays back into the boiler.] Some of the pioneering ETH-developed construction processes include: "Mesh Mould technology, in which an autonomous 'In Situ Fabricator' robot builds a 3D mesh formwork for concrete load-bearing walls; Smart Slab, a lightweight concrete slab with 3D-printed sand formwork that's less than half the weight of a conventional concrete slab; Smart Dynamic Casting, an automatic robotic slip-forming process; and Spatial Timber Assemblies, a digital prefabrication process that uses a dual robot system to create timber frame modules," reports Dwell, adding that people "manually filled in formwork, bolted CNC-milled and 3D-printed pieces into place, and tweaked the digital design process."
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"Stop Trying to Make Fetch Happen!"
Fetchez la vache!
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Prefab.
It means a new spin on a prefab home.
They're basically saying that portions of the building structure were 3D printed or CNC'ed, then assembled on site.
We've had net-positive buildings for years.
We've had prefab net-positive buidlings for years.
We've had 3D printed buildings and buildings with CNC'ed parts.
They're just trying to claim that nobody's ever done it at this level before.
And, possibly, they're right.
In situ (Score:3)
They're basically saying that portions of the building structure were 3D printed or CNC'ed, then assembled on site.
Look at the photos. Here the portions where 3D printed on site.
They're just trying to claim that nobody's ever done it at this level before.
And, possibly, they're right.
Yup, their claim to novelty is to directly have the machine built the house on site, instead of merely assembling pre-fab. /. over the last year).
(Like the couple of other 3d printed house project that got mentionned on
Bitcoin (Score:5, Funny)
So, could I use the excess energy the house generates to mine cryptocurrency so it will pay for itself?
To be honest, I get the feeling it might be exhausting to live in a house that's working harder than I am.
Re:Bitcoin (Score:5, Insightful)
So, could I use the excess energy the house generates to mine cryptocurrency so it will pay for itself?
To be honest, I get the feeling it might be exhausting to live in a house that's working harder than I am.
It would probably be more cost effective to create a grow room for umm "hydroponic vegetables" or something, depending on the local laws regarding growing things which can vary by county and state.
Hydroponic (Score:3)
It would probably be more cost effective to create a grow room for umm "hydroponic vegetables" or something, depending on the local laws regarding growing things which can vary by county and state.
(Note: Though Switzerland is also federal, it is divided into cantons and comunes, not states and counties).
Regarding the legality of growing the specific specie of "hydroponic vegetables" that you had in mind, the law is quite clear [www.ch.ch]: you can go full commercial as long as your producing low... "vitamin" vegetable, and people are allowed to carry their snack (= small quantity for consumption) regardless of content of "vitamins".
In practice, based on what I've heard from friends (sorry only anecdotes, no firs
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(Note: Though Switzerland is also federal, it is divided into cantons and comunes, not states and counties).
Aha, so they are comune-ists !
Thank's I'll show myself out now....
Seriously: sell the electricity (Score:2)
In all seriousness, you could indeed make money with the extra energy:
Most state-owned utility company (including the one in canton Zurich where this is situated) will buy back electricity production.
It's pretty common installation for anyone with local electricity production (such as the TFA's solar pannels) to have special electricity meters that can inject any exceeding electricity back into the network.
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To be honest, I get the feeling it might be exhausting to live in a house that's working harder than I am.
You must not be one of my coworkers.
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Depends on the concrete formulation and the type of steel used.
It also depends on how soon the structure is used and the the climate it's situated in.
Look at Roman aqueducts. Unlike modern concrete water diversion, aqueducts could sometimes sit for YEARS before water would be put through them (as it took so long to build).
Also, you have two millennium old concrete structures still standing.
Note that many of them have no steel in them. And most of the surviving examples are in relatively mild climates.
Ther
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"Brick walls from literally Roman times are still standing in my city."
That's just because these walls have bricks only on the outside, inside they are all roman concrete, which is much better than ours.
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You are confusing presentation of technological capabilities (a display of what certain technique and technology can do) with architectural design (the "comfortable, convenient and not an eysore" bit).
Also, with science and research.
I'm sorry... but there is no award for that.
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"Smart Slab" in action (Score:2)
Smart Slab, a lightweight concrete slab with 3D-printed sand formwork that's less than half the weight of a conventional concrete slab
Typically cutting corners like that ends like this [telegraph.co.uk].
But... but... they're 3D printing it this time!!!1
Re:"Smart Slab" in action (Score:4, Insightful)
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Sometime Chinese building are too sturdy [youtube.com], though.
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"That's China, where they _really_ cut corners! The Swiss don't cut corners! "
Exactly! They even make their cheese with holes to make them lighter. This concrete is done the same way.
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The Swiss don't cut corners!
Then why are their clocks round? :p
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The picture you link to is a result of poorly planned excavation.
They were digging out for an underground parking structure.
But they were piling the excavated earth on the far side of the building, creating uneven lateral pressure.
After heavy rains, they had the excavated pit erode out from underneath the building.
Over it goes.
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" The house was so well insulated that he wasn't able to use his kitchen oven, since the room temperature became too high."
If he was Finnish, he could have used it as a sauna.
BTW, I had a Scandinavian girlfriend once, not sure exactly which nationality, but during sex she always yelled: I'm not Finnish!
Crap you can do that right now without the robots (Score:1, Insightful)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Roc... [walmart.com]
2KW Gas Generator from Walmart 370 bucks.
Typical Humans (Score:2)
Robots Built a House That Generates More Energy Than It Needs
*Robot stares you straight in the eye*
"Maybe more than YOU need HUMAN"
*Robot sucks on power cord, eyes glow brighter and brighter as it leans back and shudders with delight*
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*Robot sucks on power cord, eyes glow brighter and brighter as it leans back and shudders with delight*
muhahahahahahahahahaha!!!
Phew! (Score:2)
That's has got to be one of the ugliest buildings I've ever seen. But "whimsical" architecture is all the rage right now. I guess I'm becoming an old fart, but this style seems like something that won't be remembered 50 years from now, except by other architects. Many of whom will pontificate about the wonderful daring steps these pioneers took, only to ignore it when it comes to their own commissions.
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This is more a tech demonstration than anything. Those translucent walls filled with aerogel are pretty neat, and I could see them finding some specialized niche. The lightweight concrete ceiling slabs are pretty interesting too. I'm sure over the next few years architects will start using some of these technologies in more appealing designs.
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This is more a tech demonstration than anything. Those translucent walls filled with aerogel are pretty neat, and I could see them finding some specialized niche.
I think the aerogel is the secret to the energy efficiency. It has incredibly low thermal conductivity, but it's also very expensive. Aerogel windows could be much more than a specialized niche if they were less expensive.
From what I can tell, the robots just allowed them to make complex structures out of concrete that would be very difficult with traditional construction. While that concrete adds thermal mass, I don't see the robotics being a huge game changer in energy efficiency.
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You're right, especially since it looks like the robots just made the metal mesh frame & the concrete was manually added to it.
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It doesn't really strike me as particularly ugly. That said it looks incredibly inefficient. I guess if it can actually generate more power than it needs even with such idiotic design choices that is a good thing. I wonder what could be accomplished with an efficient design.