Black Buffalo 3D Corporation has been awarded the gold Global Innovation award at The Nationals, presented by the National Association of Home Builders. The award is in recognition of providing the first 3D-printed construction solution to comply with the International Code Council Evaluation Service’s standards for structural walls, ICC-ES AC509. The NAHB Global Innovation award recognizes the most advanced and cutting-edge original products, services, homes, communities and champions of the building industry worldwide. The recognition of the BB3D construction printing solution is an industry honor only possible thanks to the hard work of its team and its partner on material development, MAPEI Corporation. This year had the largest pool of applicants, with over 70 companies competing for the Gold Award.

Black Buffalo 3D was selected for its commitment to provide code-approved, large-scale 3D concrete printers, ink materials and training to allow builders, developers and contractors to improve upon and supplement traditional building methods with 3D printing (additive manufacturing) for construction. Its achievement of being the first company to meet ICC-ES AC509 criteria provides evidence that structures printed with Black Buffalo NEXCON printers and Planitop 3D mortar/ink can be considered the equivalent of building with CMU block, with the advantage of greater efficiency, design freedom, automation and speed. This is a significant milestone for the future of the construction industry and one of the necessary steps to increase legitimacy among peers in the construction and homebuilding industry.

“Black Buffalo 3D recognized early on that standardization would be the key to adoption,” remarked Peter Cooperman, Interim CMO at Black Buffalo 3D. “To date, every 3D-printed construction project has been a one-off exception or relied upon methods of traditional coding to be approved. Our goal in focusing so heavily on R&D, field and lab testing our technology is to move beyond pilots and see 3D construction printing technology become integrated with traditional construction projects globally.”

Photo courtesy of Black Buffalo 3D

BB3D partnered with MAPEI Corporation to develop a proprietary 3D construction ink mix, Planitop 3D, that could consistently print high-quality walls in many different environmental conditions. The mix is the result of years of research, testing and evaluation by engineering and R&D teams from both companies. It provides a durable, repeatable and consistent result that requires minimal effort on the job site. Contractors simply add water to begin printing structural walls.

“We congratulate Black Buffalo 3D on the NAHB Global Innovation award,” said Luigi Di Geso, President and CEO of MAPEI Corporation. “This industry recognition underscores a fact that we’ve known all along —that this 3D printing system developed by MAPEI and Black Buffalo 3D is industry-changing. The only 3D mortar/ink to be ICC-ES AC509 certified, walls that are printed with MAPEI’s Planitop 3D and Black Buffalo 3D NEXCON printers can be considered equivalent to concrete masonry units block. This is a huge shift in construction trends and will allow us to help address the scarcity of low-income housing in an innovative, efficient and affordable manner.”

The 3D construction printing process is improving the way we build attainable housing, commercial buildings and infrastructure. On-demand and on-site 3D printing is now a legitimate coded technology. Black Buffalo 3D customers can streamline the approvals process and gain permits by citing verified lab results published in ICC-ES ESR-4623. Request a quote or more information at http://www.bb3d.io. Planitop 3D is now available for sale directly through MAPEI for all 3D construction printers.