Construction industry goes green with 3D printing technology

To combat climate change, green and eco-friendly resources along with advanced digital technologies are being developed. The construction industry is also facing significant changes in its scale and distribution. With the EU facing resource constraints, new innovations are urgently needed. The EU-funded DigiMat project aims to satisfy this need by promoting a greener circular economic model for production and consumption. 

Specifically, the project will develop a novel 3D printing technology to design and develop environmentally friendly cementitious feedstock using construction and demolition waste as well as other industrial by-products suitable for structural load-bearing building blocks.

The emergence of green and eco-friendly resources, coupled with demands for advanced digital technologies for conceptual structures/designs, are causing changes in the scale and distribution of the construction industry. The increasing resource constraints that the EU is facing strongly affect its competitiveness and the quality of life of individuals. 

Important gains in resource efficiency can be made by replacing current linear economic models with circular models of production and consumption, which results, at the same time, in a substantial reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This project will combine multidisciplinary efforts from various subject areas and innovative technology of 3D printing to design and develop an environmentally friendly cementitious feedstock, driven from construction/demolition waste and industrial by-products suitable for the manufacturing of structural load-bearing building blocks. 

Dr. Chougan (the Fellow) will join Dr. Ghaffar’s (host Supervisor) research team at Brunel University London (BUL), Additive Manufacturing Technology in Construction group. This is coupled with guidance in the form of two secondments at the West Pomeranian University of Technology and Eindhoven Technology University. 

This project will provide a tremendous opportunity for the Fellow to expand his research career and further outspread his network with academic and industrial stakeholders. The Fellow will be supported throughout by other global-leading academics and non-academic including short scientific visits to Nanesa S.r.l. (Italy), Washington State University (USA), and the University of Rome Sapienza (Italy), all of which will equip him with a unique insight into eco-sustainable cementitious composite formulations for 3D printing in the construction industry. 

The training will broaden the Fellow’s skills and career prospects in the academic and industrial construction materials and 3D printing technology fields.

Coordinator

• BRUNEL UNIVERSITY LONDON

Start date: 1 January 2022 - End date: 31 December 2023