Reporter
Starsand Technologies co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Adrian Sinclair shows a model of a “tiny home” built using 3D printing construction technology on April 26, 2024.
An affordable concrete home, with walls, plumbing, and electrical fixtures built and installed in one day’s time?
It sounds farfetched, but company Starsand Technologies wants to bring such capabilities to Guam with the rapidly advancing technology of 3D concrete printing.
Adrian Sinclair, the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Starsand, showcased a 3D printed ‘tiny home’ at the Asia-Pacific Real Estate Investing Summit, which took place at the Dust Beach Resort. This home was constructed within a day utilizing 3D printing technology.
This construction technique utilizes the same 3D printing technology widely employed for creating gadgets, toys, and components, but on a much larger scale.
According to Sinclair, a 3D printing machine that can construct a home requires only two people to operate. He suggested that 3D printing with concrete would revolutionize the construction sector similar to the transformation occurring in the transport sector due to electric vehicles.
In collaboration with the veteran nonprofit Got Your 671, Sinclair, and Ann Dela Cruz, a co-founder from Guam, are already initiating a pilot program. This program aims to construct 3D-printed tiny homes for homeless veterans in Guam.
Starsand’s intended technology is scalable, allowing for the construction of homes up to two stories tall with customizable wall thickness, according to Sinclair.
In conversation with the Pacific Daily News, Sinclair stated that the estimated cost of a 3D-printed house, whether one-bedroom, two-bedroom or three-bedroom, is uncertain since such a project is yet to be pursued on the island.
While uncertainties remain concerning how things will progress on Guam, Sinclair anticipates clarity as the pilot program initiates and construction begins.
In the mainland U.S., where 3D printed construction is already practiced, potential savings on labor, materials and time could reduce home construction costs by 15% to 30%. Thus, a traditionally constructed home initially priced at $400,000 could potentially decrease to around $280,000 due to these savings.
Starsand is committed to delivering residences that are “more efficient, superior, and economical” for the housing sector in Guam, stated Sinclair.
The construction sector in Texas is already employing 3D printing methods to construct an entire community, he mentioned at the investors’ summit on Friday.
The most recent 3D printing technology enables a substantial amount of customization in building, to the extent that “you could even sketch it on a serviette, input it into a computer, pass it to the machine, and it will print it out,” stated Sinclair.
In the context of Guam, this implies houses can be designed to suit and utilize materials that are locally available.
Sinclair offered an illustration of a house featuring a rooftop water catchment reservoir, which could serve as an emergency water source and an insulator simultaneously.
Starsand is currently collaborating with the University of Guam to facilitate the promotion of innovative design concepts.
Sinclair pondered about the potential of printing new structures which will be unique and originate from Guam, drawing inspiration from nature-inspired designs, and create novel materials that could be designed, built and experimented with in Guam.
While sand, cement, and limestone are often employed in 3D-printed construction, Sinclair expressed optimism for the potential to experiment with fibrous materials that could be mixed into the building structure, such as bamboo or coconut fibers.
He stated that with limited resources available on the island, there was a potential for the local community to emerge as a hub for innovative construction solutions.
Responding to a query about durability during the investors summit—heavy storms were a significant worry—Sinclair mentioned that Mudbots tested the resilience of the walls they constructed by shooting them with a Glock .22 gun.
“The robustness can be customized depending on the materials,” he added.
To illustrate, he said, “If you desire a strength of 5,000 pounds per square inch (psi), you can formulate a mixture for that. If you want a 50,000 psi bunker, that’s also possible.”
The chief technology officer said he and Dela Cruz have already invested about $100,000 into the venture, and are looking to raise about $1.5 million to purchase two 3D printers and parts.
A crowdfunding campaign is in the works for the company, and Sinclair said he wants to open up investment opportunities to everyone from big investors to people who believe in the new technology and are willing to contribute what they can.
Starsand plans to bring in printers from stateside company Mudbots 3D Concrete Printers USA, and both distribute and provide services as a subcontractor on island.
Reach reporter Joe Taitano II at
Reporter
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Your comment has been submitted.
Reported
There was a problem reporting this.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don’t Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don’t knowingly lie about anyone
or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the ‘Report’ link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We’d love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
“Why did the 3D printer go to therapy? Because it had too many layers of unresolved issues!”
0 Comments