Predicting wildfires and combating them, smart building sensors, 3D-printed building materials, building integrated fire safety systems that go beyond sprinklers and clean-room protection were among the topics discussed Oct. 13-15 at the Society of Fire Protection Engineers’ annual conference and exposition at the Sheraton Grand Resort at Wild Horse Pass near Phoenix.

As the world’s largest equipment manufacturers convened in Munich for the Bauma equipment show April 4-14, the overriding question was what has changed in the industry since the last show three years ago.

The global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. has released a new study of 2,400 construction technology providers serving the entire life cycle of the industry.

Pushing the limits of additive-manufacturing processes, 3D-printing startup Branch Technology recently completed installation of a bandshell in Nashville, Tenn., that it says is the largest 3D-printed structure in the world.

A construction tech company that printed the walls of a 350-sq-ft “tiny house” in 48 hours in Austin, Texas, in March is now partnered with a nonprofit that aims to start printing walls for 800-sq-ft homes in El Salvador—in 24 hours for each—by the end of the year.

Getting 3D-printing technology to work for construction has been a struggle for decades. 

A standard, industrial robotic arm has “printed” about a third of a 12-meter pedestrian bridge that is destined to span an old Amsterdam canal in the Netherlands as early as next year.

When Caterpillar began its current investment in 3D-printing components for heavy equipment earlier this decade, the company’s engineers and chemists tried to manage their expectations.

The nascent 3D-printing industry is working toward the goal of printing large-scale structures with specially designed feed material, but researchers working at a smaller scale are currently exploring techniques for printing a wide range of materials in complex shapes.