Nov 29, 2016 | By Benedict
Led by 19-year-old millionaire entrepreneur Chris Kelsey, San Francisco-based Cazza Construction claims it can use large-scale 3D printing to build entire 100 sq m houses in as little as 24 hours. Cazza will, however, be keeping the secrets of its 3D printer under wraps until December.
Plan for a 3D printed building designed by Cazza Construction
Despite technically being a high school dropout, Chris Kelsey has more to show for his labors than your average nineteen-year-old. Instead of living in his parents’ basement and playing video games, Kelsey is the millionaire CEO of Cazza Construction, an up-and-coming construction company that is currently receiving a lot of attention in both the additive manufacturing and architectural worlds.
Impressively, this new 3D printing startup isn’t even Kelsey’s first foray into business. At the age of 17, prior to founding Cazza, Kelsey started Appstitude, a mobile app development startup that was eventually acquired by Indian entrepreneur and investor Deepansh Jain. Afterwards, using funds from the takeover, Kelsey was able to start Cazza, a project that could potentially change the way additive manufacturing is used across the globe.
Cazza Construction, which has developed its own 3D printable construction material and a giant, crane-like 3D printer, is actually a joint effort between Kelsey and Fernando De Los Rios, formerly Appsitude’s COO. Between them, Kelsey and De Los Rios hope to create a new kind of construction company, one that can build 100-square-meter houses in as little as 24 hours (or 300-square-meter buildings in 10 days), and which could have a positive impact on the environment while doing so.
CEO Chris Kelsey and COO Fernando De Los Rios
A 3D printer that can fabricate a house sounds impressive, but there are other aspects of Cazza which set the company apart from other additive manufacturing construction companies doing similar things. Part of the huge appeal of Cazza’s technology is its reported ability to 3D print massive structures on site following a half-hour set up period, rather than having to fabricate individual pieces off site which then have to be transported in trucks. Furthermore, by automating a great deal of the construction process, the young company claims it can reduce waste and pollution, not to mention costs.
Despite the hype surrounding Cazza right now, the company is actually keeping a fairly tight lid on its technology, with details of its construction 3D printer and concrete-like materials not set to be unveiled until December. At present, the company is arranging partnerships with a number of construction companies, real estate developers, and other organizations, primarily in Middle Eastern and Asian countries like Dubai and China. Dubai hopes to 3D print a quarter of its buildings by 2030, while China is home to a huge 3D printed villa, making both locations a prime target for ambitious 3D printing projects.
“We already have the patented technologies available not just for houses, but also buildings and architectural structures of massive scale,” said De Los Rios. “We plan to release some of these technologies for houses in December and the technology for buildings in mid-2017. Over the coming year, we will begin showcasing more and more of our technologies, which involves far more than just 3D printing.”
Another 3D printable Cazza design
While many are excited about the prospect of 3D printed buildings, others are skeptical of the negative aspects associated with automated construction processes, in particular their potential to cut jobs for laborers. According to Cazza, just one person is needed to add steel rebar reinforcements while the machine is 3D printing its concrete-like material. Kelsey has acknowledged this resistance to additive manufacturing, but hopes to convince potential partners and customers that the benefits of using Cazza technology outweigh the disadvantages. The Cazza process purportedly reduces labor and material costs by up to 90 percent.
To add to its giant concrete-printing 3D printers, Cazza is also developing machines which can automatically install plumbing and electricity systems, making construction even more integrated and efficient. Again, however, the prospect of further reduced labor is sure to encounter resistance, and Cazza will surely have to play its cards right if it is to convince the construction industry that the future will be 3D printed.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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life is bullshit #pull out game strong
Joe P. wrote at 12/6/2016 10:26:44 PM:
I'm sure this is 100% valid, and not another vaporware/Silicon Valley circlejerk.
222 wrote at 12/1/2016 10:42:30 AM:
"convince" the construction industry? Who is asking them? 90% savings...
seth wrote at 11/30/2016 7:05:46 PM:
why bullshit? check out videos online and then think about how it will improve vastly over time.
Jon wrote at 11/30/2016 4:20:20 PM:
Cutting jobs is a big part of how this process is going to cut expense. Eventually when the technology is mature, the savings will be 90%. Think about what that does to the need to have a job in the first place. If your typical high end $400,000 house now costs $40,000, how much work do you really need? In the future, everyone is going to be working part time (in the traditional employment sense), if they're working at all. This is actually a good thing.
andrew wrote at 11/30/2016 2:43:40 AM:
bullshit
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