3DSpaceTerraform

RDH Building Science has done important research into moisture issues with ventilated attics, including a 2-year study highlighting how moisture is an issue because they are ventilated, not just when warm air is leaking into the attic from interior spaces into a high-performance roof space. Their research into moisture problems is revealing - we need to redesign our attic spaces for high-performance enclosures. In coastal Canadian climates the wetting and drying potential of materials leans to high wetting season and a low drying season, contributing significantly to the well known mold issues on our coasts. Conventional ventilation design doesn't help. Here in central Alberta we have a high drying season, but we snap between high wetting events and high drying conditions. And there is, of course, our winters. As we explore natural building materials and methods it is critical to consider studies like these, and add to them for our regions and materials. How can we do better, accommodate the wetting and drying potentials (as well as increasing frequency of what was once 50/100 year weather events)? How can we show performance and outcomes of using these materials? https://lnkd.in/g-MaFnpb #regionallyappropriatedesign #canadianclimate #alternativematerials #envelope #enclosure #naturalbuilding #CANBE #3dspaceterraform

We've been busy! After the SmartMTX we jumped into proposal writing and collaborating with Red Deer Polytechnic's CIM-TAC. One of the proposals just came back approved! We will continue developing the hempcrete extruder thanks to Tech-Access Canada and the Strategic Interaction iVisit. Stay tuned! #techaccesscanada #CIMTAC #3dspaceterraform #3dst #3dep #alternativematerials #alternativesolutions

That's a wrap for the (2nd Annual) 2024 #SmartMTX in Red Deer! I didn't think it would be possible to beat the first one, but this one was even better. The connections made were of the highest caliber. 3DSpaceTerraform was invited to present our "alternative materials in construction and 3D printing" research and technology development display to Premier Danielle Smith, as part of her Expo Tour. It goes without saying that we are pretty excited about using local agricultural and earthen materials in engineered product development, and we daresay the Alberta Premier was intrigued and excited as well. Alberta is an incredible place for natural resources. From hemp fiber to local minerals for binders, we literally "have it going on." Our ability to develop technology and products is unmatched; we have the land, the resources, and the people who truly care. It isn't talked about in the news as much, but our holistic food movement, alternative building movement, and permaculture-focused living movement are rich and matured and very active. What's next? Well, we made additional connections at the show, particularly around funding for the next stages of technology development for hempcrete 3D printing (insulative extrusion development) - part of what we need for Canadian-appropriate 3D printed construction. It's time to scale up and apply our long experience in alternative conventional construction with the potential of 3D printed construction. Thanks Manufacturing & Export Enhancement (MEE) Cluster for another excellent SmartMTX. #3DEP #construction3dprinting #alternativematerials #CANBE #engineeredresilience #carboneconomy #alberta #3DCP #regionallyappropriate #3DST #3dspaceterraform

3DSpaceTerraform is all set up at the #smartMTX trade show in Red Deer! We are here with Strongprint3D (SP3D) and 3DPHC. We are set up to talk about the use of local alternative materials in construction 3d printing and to hang out with Strongprint and the 3DPHC crew as we learn about Strongprint’s printer and how to apply it here in Alberta! The big printer will be running on and off all day, so come visit all of us and see how local 3D construction printing is developing! #construction3dprinting #alternativematerials #3DCP #3DEP #strongprint3d 3DPHC - 3D Printed Homes Corporation

We are headed to the #SmartMTX in Red Deer next week, and it is always a bit of a struggle to figure out what to bring. We are just lifting out of the #bootstrapping stage, so all the bigger prints that take specialized transportation have to stay home, and our spicy prototypes need to stay under wraps. But we will still have some fun things to display, and some exciting things to look at. And, even better, #Strongprint3D (one of our colleagues and development partners) and our fellow Albertan construction company #3DPHC are bringing Strongprint3D's large cement printer to the show! If we are lucky and our next stage of funding kicks in, we will be able to bring the printer from the show to our location for testing our new #hempcrete #3Dprinting extruder #prototype. In the meantime, we are using our onsite printer lab to prep transportable prints to bring and show. Hot off the printer are some examples of #hempfilament and #landfilament (filament made from landfill biochar). And you might recognize the Alberta-shaped hemp filament print... a design for the large printer but scaled down for the desktop printers. Come visit us and chat, we can talk about printing alternative materials like hempcrete, the design potentials, and much more. #3dspaceterraform #3DST #3DEP #alternativematerials #greenbuilding #engineered #canadianclimate #energyefficient #multimaterial #CANBE #thepathtochange #trulyaffordable #coldclimates

Time is moving in that blisteringly fast and mildly unsettling way it tends to do. In just over two weeks I'll be headed to set up my small scara printing robot and bring some of the prototypes and prints I have been working on over the last year - though of course some of it I cannot share quite yet. This will be my second SmartMTX. Last year I spent the entire two days talking non-stop about what I do and how I do it, and how I'd like to work with others and start recruiting. As a result I attracted the funding that has brought me to where I am now. This year I plan to get into the higher levels of funding and start really "digging in" to the applied use of stabilized earth and fibres in construction printing at full scale. Sound interesting? Want to talk about it? Come find me. The deets: SmartMTX - Western Canada's Premier Manufacturing Technology Show! May 15 and 16, 2024 Westerner Park, Red Deer smartmtx.ca hashtag #SmartMTX Learn, connect, and transform your hashtag #manufacturing (and mine!) See you there! #3DST #3DEP #3dconstruction #localmaterials #alternativematerials #hempcrete #localindustry #canadiansolutions #3dspaceterraform

We've been eyeball deep in scaled technology development, with our printers running full sized prototype prints for the last few weeks. This week we have finished a new nozzle-extruder head integrated assembly that allowed us to change flow dynamics and extrusion width for our scara robot batching printer. We've also been printing the augers and casing for our #hempcrete extruder, finishing up this phase of funding, and starting the on-site testing right in time for mixing and build season with our regular hempcrete builds. Our technology development is an application within our current expertise, particularly with hempcrete as an infill within wall assemblies. That said, we had a very exciting meeting with a local company, one that has opened a door we didn't think to look for, one that hints at structural possibilities while also keeping the hygrothermal properties and interface behaviour we hold to as a critical constraint. We are also working together with other Canadian engineers (our association page to be released soon) to examine how to enable wider code adoption and compliance understanding of alternative materials in Canada - something that many, many professionals are also working on and who we are working with. Technology development, code compliance and the push to direct change, pilot projects at scale, and materials development. The future is changing, inch by inch... millimetre by millimetre. Photos: Design of extruder nozzle, 3DST Performance PLA solid print of extruder nozzle V2, 3DST Prototype extrusions of hemp-clay, hemp-lime, and red clay. 3DST Extruder nozzle V1 print, hemp-clay [18mm], 3DST #3dspaceterraform #3DST #additivemanufacturing #industry #3dprinting #hemplime #hempcrete3dprinting #testing #productdevelopment #extrusionrecipes #3DST #CANBE #alternativematerials

What are you up to May 15 & 16th? Want to come hang out with 3DSpaceTerraform, say hi to our batching printer, see some of our latest prototype prints, and talk sustainable construction 3D printing? Yeah you do. All the fun, and plenty to see and do. Check out the program at smartmtx.ca 3DSpaceTerraform #3dst #alternative3dprinting #naturalmaterials #localmaterials #resilientsystems #SmartMTX Manufacturing & Export Enhancement (MEE) Cluster

Here is a video of #geopolymer 3d print mix (RENCA geopolymer), changing phase from dry to wet with mechanical input. If you need more excitement in your life, definitely try printing with geopolymers. First you will fight at least eight urges to add water (Unbreakable Rule 1: DON'T ADD WATER, EVER). Then you will take at least 12 videos waiting for the phase change. Here is our one minute video so you may also feel the excitement. 😅 Larger batches of this would be challenging, for sure. But still not as challenging as printing #hempcrete (true hempcrete). #geopolymer3Dprinting #excitingchemistry #3dprinting #construction3dprinting #alternativematerials #3dspaceterraform

It's been a busy week for #3DST, working through catalyzer acceptance forms that will allow us to access higher levels of funding, development progress with our new extruder technology, and registration as an exhibitor in the #SmartMTX Innovation Expo this May in Red Deer. And then this - the announcement today (link below) that there will be 50 million allocated towards regional initiatives to accelerate home building innovations like 3D printed construction. This allocation is part of several that make up the 600 million earmarked for an entire series of innovation programs aimed at scaling up modular, prefab, and innovative rapid construction - all led by an innovation cluster known as Next generation Manufacturing Canada, or #NGen. That's pretty exciting. 3DSpaceTerraform is in the middle of a small funding grant from NGen (through NRC-IRAP), allowing us to work with the Center for Innovation in Manufacturing at Red Deer Polytechnic these last several months to develop new extruder technology for 3D construction printing with clay and fiber-based materials. And it may seem like clay (earth) and fiber based 3D construction printing may not be very helpful with high density housing, or housing starts, or even retro-fitting. It helps to think of our approach from more of a materials and application angle, one that allows us to consider how to print structural and insulation elements that are locally sourced, non-toxic, can integrate regional agricultural fibers like hemp, and are appropriate for use in Canadian climates. It may be worth a reminder that the use of stabilized earth and engineered earth-fiber blends in building is nothing new. The new element is utilizing parametric design and robots to build with these materials and expand the range of "hand-built" that limited them before. What we know for sure is that there is a new world of design application and engineering opening in front of us, one that accommodates vapour-open building elements, high insulation values, robust protection from fire and flood, indoor air quality, energy efficiency, and the best of our construction industry's innovations in air handling and materials. This is exactly the time to dream of a new way forward. Our goal at #3DST is to start with modest, affordable, resilient Canadian homes made using regionally appropriate materials, like earth and hemp. And (we will always say this) also printing "the full set" that includes the home, a greenhouse, shed, garages, animal shelters, garden beds, and even pizza ovens. We're almost there, and this new initiative may be the thing that gives us the final boost to fully lift off. It's not just time to dream, it's time to act. And there is no reason at all why Alberta, and Canada, can't lead the way. See you out there! ------- Funding News Link: https://lnkd.in/geaaTjet #3dspaceterraform #alternativematerials #stabilizedearth #hemp #envelopedesign #regionallyappropriate #biogenic #carbondrawdown #hempcrete