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Comment by bluGill | Hacker News Reader

Interesting, but I think that modern factory built panels - which are already in common use for commercial buildings - are the future. They regularly put foam insulation between two layers of cement so they are well insulated (or at least can be), and because they are built in a factory they can better control quality. A worksite can put panels up a lot faster once they get going.

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So west is again catching up to the East block?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khrushchevka

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_panel_system-building

Prefab concrete was popular in some areas of western Europe too, but fell out of fashion for housing probably partly because of its association with drab, dull public housing projects.

I don't know about you, but I find this one rather charming! Just demonstrates the Plattenbau were a failure of imagination, not materials

[] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:19860910310NR_Rostoc...

It fell out of fashion because the size of rooms in those flats was limited by the size of the biggest panel, which was small indeed. Also, those panels conduct vibrations very effectively.

It's also not as well sealed as insulated concrete forms where you pour concrete between, because the panels have gaps.

Except Russia seems to have moved on from that. The Soviet panel buildings have a bad reputation in general. Most new apartment buildings I've seen are built out of monolithic concrete (is this the right English name for this technique?)

The wiki article isn't exhaustive btw — there exist very common 9-story panel buildings as well. Also taller ones but those are rarer and usually tower-like (as opposed to repeating sections with separate entrances).

I don't know if it's the word you're looking for, but one word you hear people use for this type of prefab stressed concrete construction (especially evoking the Soviet era) is Panelák.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panel%C3%A1k

I meant this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cast-in-place_concrete

This pretty much sums it up in a darkly hilarious way:

> The panel buildings called khrushchevka are found in great numbers all over the former Soviet Union. They were originally considered to be temporary housing until the housing shortage could be alleviated by mature Communism, which would not have any shortages. Khrushchev predicted the achievement of Communism in 20 years (by the 1980s). Later, Leonid Brezhnev promised each family an apartment "with a separate room for each person plus one room extra", but many people continue to live in khrushchevkas today.

Pretty much. Many homes in the uk even meet the quality of the era - flatulate in your upstairs bedroom, it can be heard opposite end of the house downstairs. Some have the audacity to claim east europe has lower quality housing while living in worse quality builds themselves, albeit modern looking and well maintained.

> They regularly put foam insulation between two layers of cement so they are well insulated (or at least can be), and because they are built in a factory they can better control quality.

Not always possible: some locations need counter-measures against termites by building code, and insulated concrete forms (ICFs) have no/fewer options in that regard:

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxJkYAA5jTU

Further, on shorter schedules, it may be difficult schedule a large concrete pour on short notice, so a team of guys and a portable mixer can lay block on an ad hoc basis on short notice. Blocks (cinder or other) also also often used for (small(er)-scale) retaining walls. The Essential Craftsmen channel has a video titled "Block vs Concrete" (where they used both for different aspects of the same project):

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ld9sIbkEJA

I watched the video about the termites... not impressed. Obviously people in the area are using ICFs (which are a little different from prefabricated panels anyway)- and still getting building department approvals... so a call to the local building office to ask would be the smart approach rather than just to assume that it can't be done. Just because one company couldn't do it doesn't mean that no companies can.

https://www.icfmag.com/2017/09/termites-and-icfs/

https://www.nachi.org/icf-termite-inspection.htm

Based on the facts presented in these post, I would be hesitant to rely on ICF where terminates are a peril. Concrete (formed or block) is simply a superior building material when considering resistance to termites.

Thanks, that is a much better source. It gives several methods, two of which are already in the building codes, to combat termites with ICFs.

Whenever anyone pitches an on-site robot to do something, and important question to ask yourself is "can centralized factory robots already do this?"

Pizza is a great example. We know how to get robots to make pizza (sorry, but DiGornio is not hand-made), we just long-ago realized that you need a pretty large volume of output to make robotics economical.

Until we get AI to the level where the robot drives itself to the site and collects/prepares materials on its own, centralized factory robots will always be the answer.

It seems that way to me as well. There are interesting challenges involving electrical and plumbing systems -- say, around connecting in-wall sections with in-floor sections. I imagine these can be overcome within the limits of existing building codes.

I agree, if the goal is cost and speed, prefab is the way to go.

I also think a major limitation here is the boom itself, there's plenty of bricklaying done in fairly confined spaces. Between two buildings for example. Here one could just lower panels into a confined space with a crane.

I am building a house by hand. Laying CMU one brick at a time is one of the most practical ways to build foundation and walls by yourself with no heavy machinery and limited hauling equipment especially in remote areas. Prefab you quickly run into massive expenses for delivery and heavy equipment rental.

Seems like this would be quite useful for earthworks projects.

The only thing I disagree with is that factory built equals better quality control. Lots of factory built things lack quality. Furthermore this brick laying machine might have high precision ability it’s not fair to say it won’t without seeing it in action.

The parent said "can" not "are, in every instance".

At least if you buy from a large supplier, it's a known quantity. With something built on-site, there are a lot more variables.

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