{"id":23194,"date":"2023-11-11T13:05:44","date_gmt":"2023-11-11T21:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/building-with-inflatable-concrete-formwork-and-other-news\/"},"modified":"2023-11-11T13:05:45","modified_gmt":"2023-11-11T21:05:45","slug":"building-with-inflatable-concrete-formwork-and-other-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/building-with-inflatable-concrete-formwork-and-other-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Building with Inflatable Concrete Formwork and Other News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Here are our industrialized construction updates from February 2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Automatic Construction<\/a>, an NYC startup, was one of eight 2022 Construction Startup Competition winners.\u00a0Alex Bell<\/strong>, the co-founder, presented the company\u2019s concrete building solution at the competition\u2019s Pitchday in October 2022.<\/p>\n

Bell\u2019s and\u00a0Tyler Robins\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>company produces inflatable concrete formwork in a factory and transports it to the building site. The formwork consists of an outer house form and an inner shoring form.<\/p>\n

On the site, ready-mix concrete is pumped between the molds that contain the necessary pre-installed reinforcement and spaces for openings. At the same time, the air is pumped out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A design software plugin generates the digital design of the formwork.<\/p>\n

From months to hours<\/h3>\n

The startup claims its solution builds structures \u201cin minutes, not months.\u201d In addition, the prototypes have shown a 30% decrease in construction costs.<\/p>\n

Bell firmly believes in concrete construction: \u201cThe future of construction is concrete. It doesn\u2019t burn in wildfires; it doesn\u2019t rot after hurricanes. It\u2019s the second most used material on earth. It\u2019s everywhere.\u201c<\/p>\n

However, he does not see 3D printing as a feasible solution: \u201c3D printing has been around for 25 years for buildings. It continuously underperforms. It\u2019s more expensive than traditional. It\u2019s not the solution our industry needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sustainable and industrialized<\/h3>\n

Bell points out that their solution is sustainable. There\u2019s zero jobsite waste, the buildings are airtight as the PVC house form is left in place, and they can use zero-carbon concrete.<\/p>\n

The inflatable formwork is a \u201csemi-industrialized\u201d solution. Every design can be unique, which would probably not be cost-effective in panelized concrete prefab production. Automatic Construction\u2019s technique applies to infrastructure construction as well.<\/p>\n

A gold medalist<\/h3>\n

The jury of the Construction Startup Competition liked the pitch and the solution. They awarded one of the four gold medals to Automatic Construction.<\/p>\n

You can read my interview with them and other gold medalists on\u00a0AEC Business<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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FROM AEC BUSINESS<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Introducing the Gold Medalists of the Construction Startup Competition<\/h2>\n