Live data from Hacker News

Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

singularityhub.com

91–100 of 172 posts

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#91
post #66
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still dont understand why people keep talking about " House ". When 90% of area that needs urgent "housing" are in needs of Tower Blocks / High Rise Residential Buildings. We Need to find a way to quickly and cost effectively build a lot of mid to high quality apartments. Better heat isolation. Network Pipes ready rather than relying on WiFi. Note: Yes, I know zoning and planning etc are still the biggest hurdle.

Because house is cool and has integrated comfort. No neighbors, no useless administration. Building tall buildings is not a rocket science. Look at Burj Khalifa‘s construction: clever designed crane, lots of rebar and extremely powerful concrete pumps. And it’s really fast. One year to build enough space for thousands of people.

Should have taken more than one year so they wouldn't have to haul away sewage by truck.

https://inhabitat.com/the-incredible-story-of-how-the-burj-k...

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#92
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In modern european homes, plumbing and wiring is done via "octopuses". Most of the time, every connection coming from the exterior are coming through the floor in a little room that we can use for storage and from there, everything is dispatched through inner walls which are basically empty (except around bedrooms if you want acoustic isolation). This allows to maintain everything from the inside. I wouldn't call it…

I was just watching the construction of my new home and they drilled into the brick walls all the time. [0] None of the walls were empty, all were solid brick with no empty space. It was quite a mess, though the guys doing the job were very professional and handled the dust disposal very well. [0] https://imgur.com/a/A3i1ANg

wow ! In which country are you ?

I've never seen something like this in France.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#93
post #67
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because house is cool and has integrated comfort. No neighbors, no useless administration. Building tall buildings is not a rocket science. Look at Burj Khalifa‘s construction: clever designed crane, lots of rebar and extremely powerful concrete pumps. And it’s really fast. One year to build enough space for thousands of people.

>And it’s really fast. One year to build enough space for thousands of people. Building Tall building isn't Rocket Science, but building them fast, high quality ( comparatively speaking ) and cheap has not been done yet. And one year to build space enough for thousands of people is not my definition of fast. At least building "On Site".

From what I have found watching this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eIxUuuJX7Y and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXZ_0wOY96E is that very tall buildings are cool only for the very rich but they are not very liveable.

Burj Khalifa does not have a severage system. Trucks are used to take the human waste away every single day from burj khalifa.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#94
post #67
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because house is cool and has integrated comfort. No neighbors, no useless administration. Building tall buildings is not a rocket science. Look at Burj Khalifa‘s construction: clever designed crane, lots of rebar and extremely powerful concrete pumps. And it’s really fast. One year to build enough space for thousands of people.

>And it’s really fast. One year to build enough space for thousands of people. Building Tall building isn't Rocket Science, but building them fast, high quality ( comparatively speaking ) and cheap has not been done yet. And one year to build space enough for thousands of people is not my definition of fast. At least building "On Site".

Mmmm, there are a few examples of prefab high-rises that have gone up in weeks or months. I guess high-quality is something of a shifting bar, but if you prefab all the pieces, build them at volume, and have enough demand to justify that volume, it's been done before. That's how all the plattenbau (ugly commie concrete towerblocks went up in eastern europe) got done.

I figure the problem is basically politics. Liberal democracies typically do planning by asking 'stakeholders' (e.g. business owners, home owners, etc) what they think about proposals. Since you're asking the stakeholders in an asset class whether or not you should build more of their asset, usually nearby, the answer is usually a lawsuit.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#95
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just watching the construction of my new home and they drilled into the brick walls all the time. [0] None of the walls were empty, all were solid brick with no empty space. It was quite a mess, though the guys doing the job were very professional and handled the dust disposal very well. [0] https://imgur.com/a/A3i1ANg

wow ! In which country are you ? I've never seen something like this in France.

The Czech Republic. I have seen this in all homes under construction that I saw, except for wooden ones.

Granted, it is a small set, N < 10.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#96
post #49

In what way is concrete a sustainable building material? It's a huge carbon emitter, a poor insulator, concrete production is devastating to natural habitats turned into sand quarries, etc. Plant-based construction materials, e.g. hemp, seem to be vastly superior on every ecological consideration. Plus, an unreinforced concrete dome has to be one of the inherently least population dense structures, and density potent…

Yeah, replacing wood, which is a carbon sink, with concrete, which is a huge emitter of CO2, seems like a bad trade.

Concrete doesn’t burn.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#97
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>And it’s really fast. One year to build enough space for thousands of people. Building Tall building isn't Rocket Science, but building them fast, high quality ( comparatively speaking ) and cheap has not been done yet. And one year to build space enough for thousands of people is not my definition of fast. At least building "On Site".

Mmmm, there are a few examples of prefab high-rises that have gone up in weeks or months. I guess high-quality is something of a shifting bar, but if you prefab all the pieces, build them at volume, and have enough demand to justify that volume, it's been done before. That's how all the plattenbau (ugly commie concrete towerblocks went up in eastern europe) got done. I figure the problem is basically politics. Libera…

Do you have any links on that? Most of the reference I found, Pre-Fabs only works for about 10-15 Floor buildings.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#98
post #70
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still dont understand why people keep talking about " House ". When 90% of area that needs urgent "housing" are in needs of Tower Blocks / High Rise Residential Buildings. We Need to find a way to quickly and cost effectively build a lot of mid to high quality apartments. Better heat isolation. Network Pipes ready rather than relying on WiFi. Note: Yes, I know zoning and planning etc are still the biggest hurdle.

Because Americans regard living in anything other than a detached house as a failure.

Quite the broad generalization! What say you about American cities? The Americans living there are viewed as failures by other 5, as well as themselves?

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#99
post #21
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Concrete construction without rebar is more durable and worth bringing back. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_concrete

How well does it handle earthquakes?

Earthquake resistance is increased by strengthening the concrete, but it mainly depends on how the structure is built, not just the shape but additoinal measures used to strengthen the structure. We've been stuck on rebar for so long that research on alternatives has stalled, but there are interesting opportunities and developments in that area. For example, basalt fiber and bamboo have potential.

Sustainable, innovative building structures that don't require energy-intensive and corrosive steel will depend on a convergence of strengthening technologies and archtectural techniques, maybe even including ones like described in the original article.

Considering all the environmental and social problems we have with modern housing and construction, this is a prime area for innovation!

https://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/two-natural-reb...

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#100
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ventilation is not HVAC. Ventilation can be as simple as having openable vents at proper locations in a structure which could be manually operated to provide air exchange on demand.

> Ventilation is not HVAC. That 'V' in 'HVAC' must have an industry-specific meaning beyond "Ventilation" then.

Ok, let me say it more precisely: You can have ventliation without an HVAC system.
Post reply on HN