🚀 3D printing goes galactic

Together with

Good morning! Was your vote 👍 or 👎 for Elon Musk to step down as the head of Twitter? The billionaire asked his followers the question in a poll on Sunday. More than half of the 17.5 million respondents think he should not be in charge of the social media site. While no official announcement has been made, Musk said he would respect the results.

However, many had their attention elsewhere. The number one trending topic on Twitter has been “Messi” in response to Argentina’s thrilling win over France in the World Cup. It seems hard to argue against Lionel Messi being the most famous athlete in the world right now.  

- Russell Hixson, editor

MARKETS

*Stock data as of last market close; currency, oil and crypto data as of 11:00PM ET Dec 19th

Markets: Following a series of interest rate hikes, variable rate products are still popular despite the risk of further increases, say mortgage experts. They believe that many consumers are betting rates are reaching their peak and will come down in the spring.

THE BIG STORY

Lunar construction job? Bring a printer 

If you think the labour shortage is bad here, try finding tradespeople on the Moon. To overcome the many challenges of galactic job sites, NASA is turning to 3D printing to create future lunar structures. They are partnering with ICON, an Austin-based construction tech company on a $60-million project to research and develop space-based construction systems to support planned exploration of the Moon and beyond. The company's experience includes delivering the first permitted 3D-printed home in the U.S. in 2018.

Here’s the deal: Get ready. Researchers believe the global 3D printing construction market could reach $36 billion by 2050, especially when paired with modular construction methods. They noted that this is an expandable, malleable and moveable way to address housing shortages. They found that these techniques can decrease overall construction costs by 35 per cent. In Canada, Nidus3D is already leading the charge. This summer they used their technology build the country’s first 3D-printed two-storey house layer by layer on Wolfe Island in Ontario.

The big picture: According to Ibon Iribar, an investment advisor for global building materials supplier CEMEX, the technology still faces some challenges:

• While cost savings can be significant, getting a 3D printing business up and running is expensive and large companies have not yet made major moves to do it. 

• The industry still needs more trained experts to design computer models, operate the equipment and do maintenance. 

• The regulations and legislation of 3D printed buildings also need to be hammered out.  

To see what your future 3D-printed home could look like, take a tour of Canada’s first residentially permitted, multi-unit project, also built by Nidus3D.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

🦾 Manufacturing sales are going up. Statistics Canada reported sales rose 2.8 per cent thanks to higher fuel prices. The agency reported sales increased in 12 of the 21 industries it tracks, led by a 12.7 per cent gain for petroleum and coal industry sales, which totalled $10.6-billion in October. 

🧑‍⚖️ A legal battle over a massive $500-million Metro Vancouver wastewater project continues to simmer. The latest filings in the case call for more information on how Metro Vancouver’s confidential legal strategy fell into the hands of Spanish multinational conglomerate Acciona. 

⛱️ Canadians are banking their holidays. A recent ADP survey found that only 29 per cent of respondents will use up their 2022 vacation days while 66 per cent stated they plan to work extra before or after they take time off. 

🏠 Pomerleau received a major investment from CDPQ as it looks to expand its residential business across Canada. CDPQ’s latest financing of $150 million is its second major Pomerleau investment. The builder also recently acquired residential builder ITC Construction Group as part of its expansion strategy.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Futuristic facility guards Canada's past

To protect and preserve: Canada’s history just made history. This November, Library and Archives Canada opened its state of the art Preservation Storage facility, the first net zero carbon archival centre in the Americas. It’s also the largest automated archival facility in the world. The overall design of the building provides the storage conditions required to preserve documents for 500 years. The facility includes six large vaults, totaling more than 21,000 cubic metres to store paper, microfilm and motion picture film. The project was a partnership between Library and Archives Canada and Plenary Properties Gatineau (Plenary Americas and PCL Investments Canada Inc.).

PROJECT UPDATES

Canada gifts millions to rebuild damaged Ukrainian infrastructure.

Foundation work has started on Surrey’s new sports complex.

Crews are ready to start on an interchange project for Newfoundland/Labrador.  

Pomerleau wins P3 contract to build Ontario hospital.

Soaring drone shows progress on Broadway Subway in Vancouver.

WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT

WATCH: 🏂 Athletes bust a move on this Clark Builders project in Edmonton.

READ: ☀️ Tokyo will require solar panels on large-scale home projects in 2025.

TWEET: 👀 Whatever you do, don’t look down from this iconic building…

WATCH: 🚛 Time lapse shows record shipping day for B.C. contractor.

TWEET: 🌊 Yes. Undersea roundabouts exist. And they are epic.

🙏🏻 Thanks for reading! 

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe so you don't miss a beat.