One approach to this is lightweight construction: the thinner the ceilings of a multi-storey building, for example, the more space is left for extra floors.
Anyone who has an upstairs neighbor: fuck you
Given the way these are suspended and that you can fill the empty space with noise dampening material, they might be significantly better than normal concrete floors regarding noise transmission.
but have they tested it against various types of wear and tear, environmental exposure, being hit by an american truck or other large damage, water damage from a toilet overflowing and going unnoticed for a couple months, other stuff…
Obviously not yet, but given that similarly build churches have survived hundreds of years and multiple heavy earthquakes, I would say chances are high that it will be quite durable.
For water damage it would be probably more durable that regular concrete construction, as this mainly damages the rebar reinforcement, which can not be easily inspected for damage.
… “using 3D printing – but instead of concrete, they used sand combined with a binder.” … o.k.
So… Mortar.
IT’S TOTALLY DIFFERENT BRO
Concrete is something like a tenth of humanity’s total CO2 emissions, so if this is something that lets us use less concrete then that’s actually great
Plus structurally, even if it were off-the-shelf concrete vs mortar, it’s still structurally different, so I’m sure that also makes a difference.
Mostly I was just making fun of the phrasing and distinction without actually clarifying the difference.
How does concrete emit CO2?
The process of making it involves cooking limestone until the carbon dioxide comes out, basically. Limestone is CaCO3 (one calcium, one carbon, three oxygen). Cement requires lime, which is CaO (one calcium, one oxygen). That leaves a C and two O, which stick together on the way out
Pretty clever, and I like how organic it looks. Come to think of it, wasn’t H.R. Giger also Swiss?
Guess they like those organic designs.
Freaks me out if there was a little plaque explaining it before I went into the building, but if it works, no one’s going to blink an eye.
Sounds like the right kind of retrofuture tech to me.
