This is interesting. Many people talked about this on reddit. They have various scientific levels of understanding and engineering based questions. A suggested read.
Chemicals, leaching, compression, heat gain and heat retention qualities, various structural integrity differences, questions on pre drilling, pliability and ability of regular laborers to work with the product, etc, etc. At first I was thinking this is some form of petrified wood. Which it actually is, in a certain way, but with a different process. Once when I was doing all this fence research for how to make the fence last as long as possible I read about a fossilization process one can apply, but it's complicated and expensive. So we went with regular clear waterproof and got the job done with a bucket, a few paint brushes, and a dozen or so cans of Thomsons from wal mart. And I've even sprayed it down, and re sealed it once a decade later and that project went well too.
I ran across a guy once whom went for the 100 year roof, he was all in his remodeling. Then he pulled that roof off for a traditional and paid all over again for regular high impact, said every time it rained or hailed they heard it all through the home because despite durability, it had practically no sound or sound absorption comparison. He also put on cement filament siding which he really liked, but also said most cell phones stopped working in many areas inside, and it took him ten times the install, as he had to pre drill everything and lost more material if something was not exactly perfect on the size up. And was a little disappointed it was not quite as simple to set up christmas lights, etc. That dude was a pro construction guy whom knew how to do everything himself, even built his own custom kitchen and dining cabinets with traditional handworking woodshop tools, it was pretty amazing.
That's the thing with new technology and materials, the people working with the material will have to be able to use it. And then home owners will have to know all about it as well. Care needs to be clearly described and the labor available to be sourced easily anywhere. Investors and inventors can throw a lot of money into the concept but that does not mean everyone will embrace it or be able to shift gears to use the material. Think new FNMA forms for appraisers. Nobody else is going to voluntarily adopt this outside of GSE lending.
Me as a consumer; But I like real wood. I know how to work with it, so do all the every day laborers so I get service at an expected avg market rate, it's simple enough to paint and change the colors, screw in a dish for tv or chrismas light hook, repair as necessary, replace one piece at a time if needed, and is there any chance of chemical leeching, offgassing, extra heat gain, etc, etc. Is this product available at lowes and home depot? I'd immediately ask technical questions about the product most people would not be able to answer. Which is exactly why we prefer older homes; Standard reliable materials. Real copper piping. Real wood framing and joists not pressboard, full plank hardwoods vs engineered flooring, hopefully you can still get a true iron pipe and old fashioned solid iron soak tub already there or put into in the laundry area. Products guaranteed to last. If anyone wants to 3d print me something out of this material, I'll take a christmas tree complete with incandescent lighting, so I don't have to toss the disposable one every year or two.
Things to know about, keep your eye on the material. We've been hearing about this sort of thing for some time though. Don't always believe the hype. Custom formed 3d printed blocks, a fancy forever glue to bind them, pressed organic material to form renewable building materials from recycled substances, heat and energy recapture devices, grey water systems, the list goes on. Where are they now? How come we don't see them in commercial? We're still seeing the same old routine, regular sprinklers, gutters, grass, square windows, municipal tie ins, etc, etc, on commercial and most residential.
For all the potential new technology offered, what we really get is a bunch of spyware, monetization of consumer habits, health destroying wireless and jumpers instead of hard wired, garages without a side door, smaller lots, hoa controls and restrictions, and a stream of never ending plastic items which is basically destined for a landfill. Ignore the fact that barn rescue is a thing and garage finds are worth more than brand new items, and a never ending stream of tech updates and ewaste streams we are forced to adopt in order to continue operating in our particular working space. We have a problem with 'planned obsolescene' with corporations which will need answered before any new technology will be able to be so widely adopted as people may hope.
Have you seen the light bulb conspiracy video? Planned obsolescene is the biggest thing. If we could reign in companies whom did this, the action would save more resources and be more environmentally sound than any of these new building and material technologies, by exponential factors.
Posted from my HP early version Win 7 pro now fitted to 10, but not capable of 11 (thankfully), on an HP Envoy and twenty + year old HP 20" monitor.
