david erling writes it would be nice if each house had its own power supply solar panels batteries wind power etc that would be a step in the right direction. to embryonal likes new technology palaces could be 3 d. printed and not just out of concrete we could melt garbage to make plastic bricks or bricks out of fungus. wow thanks for all your interesting ideas. construction is booming in some parts of the world increasing prosperity and population growth are among the drivers but an awful lot of natural resources are consumed in the process the supplies are finite and the environmental impact is often problematic so researchers are looking for ways to use smaller amounts. materials in architecture. court based researchers. and inspect a concrete roof element on display outside the institute for lightweight structures and conceptual design it's semi hollow but still stable their team's aim is to develop concrete components with less mass thereby conserving resources the idea seems simple enough they take freshly made concrete and pour it into a mold. it's then turned into a hollow ball