The tallest building in the world is Burj Khalifa, an 828-meter skyscraper in Dubai. There is also the 355-meter JW Marriott Marquis Dubai hotel, included in the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest on the planet. The emirate will now go down in history as the site of the first fully 3D printed building.
More recently, such unusual, nowadays 3D printers are used everywhere in industry and in design bureaus. Attempts to "print" the building on them began about two years ago - the technique has quite successfully learned to reproduce individual blocks stage by stage. However, so far only the emirate of Dubai has managed to get the first house entirely. The new building received the promising name - "Office of the Future", and it was installed on the territory of the Emirates Towers complex. The "Office" became the temporary home of the Dubai Future Foundation, which initiated the project.
The office, which seems to have teleported from the future, is a composition of several one-story volumes. Its total area is about 250 m2… To create the office, a gigantic printer was used: its length is 37 m, width - 12 m, and height - 6 m. Instead of the traditional plastic, which is used to roll out small objects from a 3D printer, the builders turned to a secret mixture of cement and other materials. about which it is only known that it is "designed and manufactured in the UAE and the United States." To test the mixture, the experimental sites of China and Great Britain were involved.
The printing of the volume components took 17 days, two days were spent on their construction on the site and interior decoration - this is at least twice as fast as it takes to build houses of the same footage in the "old-fashioned" way. In addition, there was no need to call a team of plasterers and bricklayers, which made it possible to reduce labor costs by 50-80%. The total cost of the project was $ 140,000.
The building has everything you need for work and a comfortable pastime: electricity, telecommunications, running water, as well as an air conditioning system. ABB, a world leader in energy and automation, supplied the Office of the Future with lighting control systems, grounding and surge protection systems, main and auxiliary switchboards, wiring accessories and a wiring management system.
The electrical infrastructure of a building is managed using the Building Management Data Protocol (KNX). ABB's intelligent lighting control system i-bus KNX, developed by ABB, interacts with third-party communication protocols. The system allows you to change the brightness, color and lighting mode, thus ensuring the comfort of people in the building. Remote control of the lighting of various zones is carried out from the tablet. In addition, buildings using a KNX lighting control system have higher energy efficiency rates (up to 25%) than buildings without automatic lighting systems.
Mike Mustapha, Head of Construction & Infrastructure Equipment at ABB, explained: “ABB, a leader in technology innovation, is proud to have contributed to this landmark project. The Office of the Future project is a model for futuristic building projects, and our technology contributes to the achievement of the ambitious goals of this project. The intuitive interface and great design of additional equipment look aesthetically pleasing and fit perfectly into the interior.
ABB is an expert in smart building solutions, electrical protection and control systems and electrical fittings for all types of buildings. We can adapt our solutions to a wide variety of needs, and we are proud of it. As part of our technology strategy, we have taken innovation to a higher level. To reduce energy consumption in the office building, innovative components have been implemented, such as shading control to protect against direct sunlight and keep it cool.
ABB is the world leader in automation technology that enables utility, industrial, transportation and service customers to increase productivity and reduce their environmental impact. The ABB group of companies operates in approximately 100 countries and employs approximately 135,000 people.
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