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Cake day: February 3rd, 2025

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  • I just don’t think that 3D printing channels and foam insulation instead of using a stud-like arrangement and fiberglass insulation would actually make sense for the large-scale insulated structures you mentioned in your initial comment.

    The main reason to make these instead of normal buildings is cost and convenience and having to disassemble and ship the parts to be melted down into a new design instead of being able to renovate on-premises using any contractor you like is a big negative.

    This type of construction seems not to make sense for insulated structures at the moment if renovation isn’t affordable or convenient. It may not even be code compliant (electrical or building code) to install electricity in these structures.


  • When you’re renovating a structure, often the existing circuits and piping systems (for which you’ve suggested channels) must be relocated or modified. Since the channels are created by additive manufacturing, you can’t relocate or significantly modify them without cutting them away.

    When you fill a space with expanding foam insulation, it fully encapsulates the wiring and piping. Often you can’t actually see them anymore and you may not even be able to tell they’re there. If you wanted to move something, you have to cut open the foam and dig it out. There will be foam everywhere and it will take hours to get all of the foam off.

    It would be much, much, much easier to not use channels and to use the tried-and-true method of evenly spaced studs/compartments and filling the spaces with fiberglass insulation. Foam is such a headache in electrical that my former boss refused to work on new builds and renovations that used it.