The Merkles "New 3D Printed Material Makes Future Homes More Energy Efficient"

3D printing is one of those technologies most people do not think about everyday. It is still a niche market among consumers. Researchers and scientists use large-scale 3D printers to produce innovative solutions from which everyone can benefit. Dutch researchers recently came up with a way to potentially change the way houses are built years from now. They used a 3D printed facade to optimize a building’s thermal performance. It is an interesting idea, although Spong3D is not ready for mass production just yet.

SPONG3D CAN BE A GAME CHANGER FOR THERMAL PERFORMANCE

The way we build houses and apartments has not changed all that much over the past few decades. Bricks, mortar, and insulation are the main components of every building to date. Add a few windows and balconies, and you have yourself a nice apartment building. However, there are still a lot of improvements to be made and it appears a 3D printed solution could be the missing piece of the puzzle. That is what researchers in the Netherlands firmly believe, at least.

A collaboration between students at the Universities of Delft and Eindhoven has yielded some unexpected results. They came up with a way to 3D print a facade system viable for constructing houses and apartments alike. This material, which is known as Spong3D, can be adapted to different climate conditions and optimizes the building’s thermal performance. Hotter regions result in the facade providing enough ventilation, whereas colder regions will require a version that keeps heat trapped inside at all times.

Spong3D is installed inside a wall. It will not replace the way walls are built, although their compounds will look a lot different. The main benefit of this new material is how it can be 3D printed with relative ease, and it can be produced with a complex structure to successfully complete various functions thermal insulation and heat storage are just two of the examples which come to mind almost immediately. Being able to store heat within your walls would be significant.

This material gives occupants of the building more control over the heat exchange between the interior and exterior. Right now, that is pretty much impossible to achieve, as the building itself can be prone to small gaps through which air and heat can travel freely. A more energy-efficient solution such as Spong3D would also prevent occupants from paying too much for heat and electricity, since everything would be more efficient.

Even though the seasons change several times throughout the year, the internal climate of the building can be maintained at all times. Spong3D also has the potential to decrease any negative environmental impact a particular building may have, at the energy requirements for heating and air conditioning will be severely affected. Once that happens, the whole world will slowly become more energy efficient as a result. All of this will take years, if not decades, before any major changes will occur, though.

The main question is if and when we sill see Spong3D come to market. For now, it does not appear that will happen anytime soon, as the project still needs to be optimized and modified accordingly. An initial test was successful, but it was performed within a controlled environment. It remains to be seen how this material performs when used in the real world, as the results will probably be very different. It is possible we will see this material become commercially available in the future, but for now it will not happen anytime soon.