What Does 3D Printing Have To Do With Sustainability?

This week’s guest blog is by Scott Harmon, Z Corporation Vice President of Business Development.

Over the last several years there has been a global push to improve sustainability. Sustainability in general seems like a pretty complex topic. It seems to combine efficiency, environmentalism, renewable energy, recyclability, etc., etc. I think back to my days camping as a kid. The motto was ‘leave it better than you found it.’

Rapid prototyping in general makes strong contributions to corporate sustainability. Reducing waste represents one of the key objectives of most sustainability efforts. Smart companies are doing everything possible to reduce the amount of waste material generated throughout their supply chains. Improving quality, reducing packaging and miniaturization are all methods that companies use to reduce the waste they generate. Interestingly, architectural designers have created specific certifications to improve how architects approach challenges in sustainability.

Intelligent use of 3D printers to make prototypes and scale models reduces waste in many different ways. By pushing errors and changes earlier in the design cycle, prototypes and scale models reduce the waste streams caused by those errors. When you catch an error in the prototype, you cut less steel and waste less plastic. In architecture for example, the savings are even more dramatic because the scale is so large. When you use prototypes and models to create better designs, you reduce the number of final products that get thrown in the trash.

However, despite the positive contributions that rapid prototyping systems make to corporate sustainability efforts, there are enormous differences in the waste streams created by these processes. I have heard stories of companies whose RP systems generate more waste than printed part material, at enormous dollar costs. Support material, shaving uneven surfaces, dissolving chemicals, etc. contribute substantially to the total cost of prototyping. These systems generate significantly larger hidden costs as those waste streams get flushed down the drain.

Z Corporation obviously prides itself on having the most efficient 3D printers in the industry: no support structures, no cleaning material disposal, no disposable build platforms, no chemical waste water, recycles 100% of the build material. Less waste today, better world tomorrow.

Is your company is starting to think about a more sustainable design process?

See Al Dean's Develop3D blog: Z Corp's Recycling Smarts

Free AEC Event (New York City):
How Leading Architects Leverage 3D Printing for Smarter, Competitive Design (Microsol Resources)
March 15, 2011, 5:30 - 8:30 PM

http://www.zcorp.com

Imagine an industry event in Monaco – imagina2011

Bonjour! Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of giving a keynote address during the Architecture day at imagina2011.

My biggest challenge was to speak slowly enough to enable the translators to communicate in French. Images work best in any language, and images of 3D models worked even better. The talk was entitled Complementing Digital Mock-Ups with 3D Printing for Integrated Project Delivery. You can guess what I covered in this presentation, but just in case you are new to this blog, here is the abstract …

While BIM and digital mock-ups have become increasingly important in AEC, the use of physical mock-ups remains critical in the design and approval process. In particular, affordable and fast 3D printing has enabled designers, architects and engineers to create multiple models to help accelerate approvals -- internal reviews, client buyoff, and regulatory agency go-aheads. Innovative firms, large and small, have incorporated 3D printing in their workflow and use physical models extensively during the schematic/concept phases (not just final presentation models). The speaker will present the benefits of 3D printing for AEC with several case studies and applications. A brief overview of workflow and scaling decisions will also be covered.

I found imagina2011 to be quite unique because it blended multiple disciplines such as healthcare, geospatial/urbanism, media & entertainment, and real-time simulation with architecture and digital design. Exhibitors ranged from the usual suspects like Dassault, Bentley and Autodesk to niche suppliers that I’ve never heard of before. Our French channel partner, 3D Avenir, brought their ZPrinter 650 to the conference and kept busy talking to prospects for three days.

A highlight for me was the presentation from Zaha Hadid on the use of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) for the SOHO China galaxy project.  The complexity of this project drove home the importance of physical prototyping, both scale models and full-scale sections to demonstrate construction for double-fold geometry.

Free AEC Event (New York City):
How Leading Architects Leverage 3D Printing for Smarter, Competitive Design (Microsol Resources)
March 15, 2011, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
http://www.zcorp.com

Wikipedia Features Z Corp. 3D Prints for 10th Anniversary

Today’s guest blog comes from Elizabeth Gullam, director of marketing, Ideate Inc., a Z Corp. channel partner in the northwest USA.

Happy Birthday, Wikipedia!

The free encyclopedia that anyone can edit celebrated its tenth anniversary last month - what a milestone!

Whether fact-checking something at work or helping with kids' homework, many of us use Wikipedia as a go-to reference. And think about it...Wikipedia is written collaboratively by largely anonymous Internet volunteers who contribute without pay. Anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles. How powerful is that, having a community share knowledge?

Not long ago, our friends over at the design build studio Because We Can worked with Wikimedia to remodel their offices. Jeffrey McGrew and his creative cohorts did an amazing job. When it came time to put together the components of the Wikipedia 10 design concept, Jeffrey was asked to provide small 3D printed models. Needing to print 3D models that could be used, photographed, touched and passed around, Jeffrey contacted us to make his Blender model come to life.

Using the Z Corporation ZPrinter 650 in our San Francisco office, Ideate printed 14 of the 3D Wikipedia globes that appear in the Wikipedia 10 campaign, as shown in the photo above, in less than a day. The ZPrinter 650 works great for multicolor physical prototypes of real world objects, design elements or scale model buildings. We were glad to have a small part in helping Wikipedia look good on their birthday!

Next time you look up a word on Wikipedia, tip your hat to the community of users who are working diligently to build a powerful, multilingual, Web-based, free-content encyclopedia.

http://www.zcorp.com

SolidWorks Enters AEC Market

Last week at SolidWorks World '11 in San Antonio, TX, a new product called SolidWorks Live Building was introduced by SolidWorks management. The software was described as a conceptual process and planning tool aimed at owners and planners. The product marketing manager showed a demo of interior office design and build out of Dassault Systemes' new campus in Waltham, MA. In addition to doors, stairs, windows, cubicles, and offices, there was a solar energy analysis shown. Here is a link to a YouTube video that captured the demo on screen - http://www.deelip.com/?p=5487

The software was described as an “on-line offering based on the V6 platform available later this year.” While journalists and bloggers debate the merits of SolidWorks Live Building versus Autodesk, Bentley, Google, and other major AEC supplier offerings, I have a different take. My view is “Bring on more 3D design tools!” The more that architects and designers work in 3D, the better it is for the 3D printing industry. As somebody who has been promoting 3D design since the early 1980s, it has been, and continues to be a long transition march from 2D to 3D. Perhaps a new tool like SolidWorks Live Building will give those late adopters out there a reason to look at new 3D technologies, both digital and physical prototyping.

Please share your thoughts on SolidWorks entry into the AEC market, especially as it relates to your design process.

http://www.zcorp.com

Common Misperceptions and Myths about 3D Printing – Part II

When we conducted a survey last year among architects in North America, we asked them to consider the following question – “What are the obstacles to making more physical 3D models?”

Last week, we shared with you that the number one concern was "cost," and we showed a 3D printing example to help dispel that myth. This week, we will address the number two answer which was “Takes too much time.”

Constructing physical models by hand from cardboard, chipboard, wood, etc., is very time consuming, often taking days, even weeks. Cutting 2D sections with a laser cutter, and then assembling a 3D model is also time consuming. Even a wire-cut foam massing model can eat up valuable time – time that could be spent in design development. What many AEC professionals might not yet know is the surprising speed of 3D printing, specifically thermal ink-jet 3D printing, like ZPrinters. A typical ZPrinter will create 3D printed models at speeds ranging from 0.8 to 1.1 vertical inches per hour (depends on model length and width). That means that most scale models can be printed, cleaned and finished in less than one work day. Even larger, complex models can be printed overnight, and finished the next morning. Let’s look at some examples …

This concept model below is about 7 inches long x 4 inches wide (at widest point) x 2 inches high – it printed in 2.5 hours.

Here is another interesting model from the RPI School of Architecture Rome Studio in 2008.  The model measures 9 x 6 x 5 inches.  The print time is 7 hours.

Here’s a massing model designed in Autodesk Revit.   It is 7 inches tall with a base of about 2x2 inches. The model is solid, not hollowed out.  It printed in less than 2 hours.

What’s even more interesting is that you can stack multiple models in the build chamber and print them all in one job. Four of the same massing tower printed in only 3 hours.

Oh, by the way, at about 10 cubic inches per tower, the cost per model is less than $50. With what other technology can you produce tangible 3D models in less than half a workday at such low prices? I would argue that photorealistic renderings would cost more in labor, and are not as effective for communication.

How about color models? Look at this Ecotect energy analysis of a building tower. A 2 x 2 x 5 inch model will print in 2 hours in high definition color, depicting the towers hot and cold spots over a 24-hour period.

Your client prefers a 15 inch model? Print it in 9 hours and have it ready for her the next day!

You can even run the printer for another 43 minutes and get three smaller scale models to go along with the large one.

I’d like to hear from others who have taken advantage of speedy 3D printing to help design visualization and project collaboration.  And, I would like to hear from the naysayers who still think it takes too much time to make 3D physical models.

http://www.zcorp.com

Common Misperceptions and Myths about 3D Printing – Part I

When we conducted a survey last year among architects in North America, we asked them to consider the following question – “What are the obstacles to making more physical 3D models?”

The number one answer was “Too expensive to make.”

Frankly, this response was a head-scratcher for us. We expected more responses around model features, workflow from BIM software, scaling challenges, etc. But, too expensive?

I would argue that it is too expensive to NOT make more physical 3D models, especially in the early design stages. As with manufacturing prototypes, collaboration and iteration around physical models drives better design and faster project approvals. This has been proven over and over at many AEC firms around the world.

Let’s get down to specifics about costs (here I must use Z Corp. information since I am not expert on other 3D printers). For those users who own a ZPrinter, the material cost per model typically ranges from $2-5 per cubic inch of total materials used. For small, white models, it would be closer to the $2 cost. For large, multi-color models, the $5 estimate would apply. Consider the concept model below….



The ZPrint time estimation report calculates that 38.37 cubic inches of powder and 246.3 ml of binder and ink will be used to print this model on a ZPrinter 450. Using exact end user costs (US dollar pricing), including print heads, the material cost for this model would be $99.36. Using a salt water spray finish (good for visualization models), the final cost would be under $100; the total cost of materials for this model is less than $3 per cubic inch. The model is 7 inches tall with a base of 10 x 7.5 inches. Is this not a cost-effective way to communicate this design concept?

The alternatives include multiple digital screen renderings or asking a junior designer to spend several days trying to construct the model from other materials. The first approach includes only labor costs but will never replace a physical model for communication, especially for a design this organic in nature. The second approach, if even possible, will take too much time and just demoralize your junior staff. Did I mention that this model can be printed overnight, de-powdered and finished in the morning, and ready for collaboration before noon?

More on 3D printing time misperceptions in my next blog.

http://www.zcorp.com

2010 in Review, Trends for 2011

As I look back at 2010 in the rear view mirror, objects seem much closer than they appear. What ‘objects’ you say? Is there a T-Rex chasing me like in Jurassic Park? No, in fact not dinosaurs, but fresh new thinkers who understand the value of iterative physical modeling in creative design. These objects are the inexpensive, fast-turnaround 3D prints made in large quantities by the architectural firms who understand the tangible benefits of 3D printing. And, it’s not just the big-name “starchitects” who are experiencing the value of 3D printing. Sure, Amanda Levete Architects, Antoine Predock Studio, Cannon Design Yazdani Studio, Foster+Partners, HNTB, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Morphosis, NBBJ, Pelli Clarke Pelli, Pei Cobb Freed, Populous, RTKL, SHoP Architects, Steven Holl Architects, and others (apologies to those I forgot to mention) have been 3D printing for some time now. But, smaller firms are now jumping in. Last year, while many architects experienced continued declines in their businesses, Z Corp. experienced growth in 3D printer sales to the AEC market. Imagine if the economic climate for architects were better?

The other thing I noticed about 2010 is the continued investment by Schools of Architecture in new technology to support their curriculums. Adding new ZPrinters in their architectural departments, in no particular order, were American University in Dubai, Portland State, U Texas Austin, Cornell (two), U Tel Aviv, U Kentucky, Instituto Empresa Univ, U Newcastle, Syracuse, Woodbury, Yale, Instituto Statale D’Arte, Mukogawa Women’s Univ, Royal Melbourne Institute (their third printer), Barcelona Institute, and New School of Architecture. At the same time, we experienced an increase in the purchase of consumables from other universities that have been 3D printing for some time. The big users last year included Harvard GSD, Columbia, SCI-Arc, UCLA, Arizona State, U Cincinnati, Catholic U, U Michigan, Pratt, MIT, USC, Penn, U Toronto, Florida, Illinois, Carnegie Mellon, UNC Charlotte, the Cooper Union, and on and on. Many of these schools are recognized in the Design Intelligence report of top undergraduate and graduate programs in architecture. Do you think there might be a strong correlation between technology investment and successful programs? Rhetorical question. I would even argue that this positive correlation is true in the commercial sector [see list of firms above].

What does Professore DeMarco foresee for 2011?

• Continued strong interest in the AEC community in 3D printing, with spending catching up later in the year to drive market growth.

• AEC firms doing 3D printing stretching the limits on build sizes to accommodate larger scale models.

• Software vendors will deliver better tools to make physical models from their BIM software.

• Reprographic suppliers, now entrenched in 2D solutions, begin to understand the business opportunity for 3D printing.

• More engineering and construction firms investing in 3D printing (a trend we see in Japan).

• Continued consolidation in the AEC reseller community with larger firms offering more complete solutions including both digital and physical prototyping.

• More guest blogs from sharp minds in our community…volunteers?

http://www.zcorp.com