“Economic uncertainty” is the most discussed topic in the recent news—apart from the global health crisis. This pandemic has managed to disrupt several business operations and we have witnessed more than a majority of businesses putting their operations on halt. But amid all this chaos, there is Mighty Buildings that are flourishing and growing through these trying times. Despite the rich infrastructure and lavish living, there is a scarcity of feasible housing solutions in the country. The lack of proper solutions has led to concerns of affordability, and sustainability. Mighty Buildings is the revolutionary housing solution of the future that is not only hoping to tackle housing affordability but is also taking into account sustainable and safe living. Recently, this construction tech company is making headlines for the ‘world’s first 3D-printed zero net energy homes community’ in Rancho Mirage, California. This builds our curiosity to explore their journey and how did the company manage to thrive in such a catastrophic business environment.
Reinventing the Industry
Incepted in 2017, Mighty Buildings were in stealth mode until August 2020. It is a construction tech company that specializes in 3D printed homes of varying sizes, presenting a technology-forward solution that could address issues like the housing crisis and sustainability. Since the establishment, the vision has been to reimagine the building industry, from the factory to the foundation.
Mighty Buildings leverages state-of-art automation and innovative new technologies that can 3D print structures 2x quickly with 95% fewer labor hours and 10x less waste than conventional construction. The accurate efficiency is the result of working with compliance and regulatory agencies to develop future-forward materials that are tested to the most rigorous standards with nearly zero waste production methods. The built products range from pre-designed ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit)—also called Mighty Mods— for homeowners to residential developments using Mighty Kit System (MKS) for the nation’s largest homebuilders. Mighty Buildings recently introduced MKS to the market—which features its single-family zero net energy homes product line.
The company’s vision is to provide production-as-a-service, with builders and architects designing their structures and then using Mighty Factories to produce them. Mighty Buildings is dedicated to making beautiful, affordable, and sustainable homes a reality for the people.
Valuable Accreditations
3D printing has been around for a while now with its applications expanding imagination. This outlines that Mighty Buildings is not the first company to leverage 3D printing in construction, however, the differentiator is that they invented a new construction material and has raised the standards by working with regulatories to create new building codes and standards.
As aforementioned, the company was established in 2017 but stayed in stealth mode because they wanted to certify their product and ensure it is safe for consumers. When the company created its proprietary composite material, the team noticed that there were no specific industry standards for 3D printed materials and 3D printing in the construction industry. Despite this, several players rushed to the market and then had to back-track to think about standards and regulation. Another aspect that was paramount with 3D printing applications in the construction industry was the factor of safety. Mighty Buildings could not gamble with the safety of the consumers and hence started working with UL to develop rigorous standards, meanwhile also ensuring its materials and printing technology adhere to these guidelines.
The company attained its first UL certifications for a 3D printed building component, the first UL Evaluation Report of a 3D printed wall construction, and is the first company/product certified under the new UL 3401 standard for 3D printing in construction. Alongside these credentials, Mighty Buildings became the world’s first 3D printing company to receive approval under California’s Factory Built Housing program for a residential unit incorporating 3D printing. For its exemplary offerings, the company has been featured by renowned publications such as Forbes, CNN, ABC News, Los Angeles Times, CNBC, Business Insider, Fast Company, Dwell, The Guardian, and Yahoo.
Adhering to High Standards
The prime focus of Mighty Buildings was high standards as it is offering a place that people can safely call their homes. The team never aimed for rapid growth, the only goal was to create something good for the world right away. “Because we’re building homes for people to live in, we’ve been very deliberate in carrying out our vision to make housing better. This isn’t software that could be debugged on the fly,” explained Slava Solonitsyn, CEO and Co-Founder at Mighty Buildings.
Slava Solonitsyn is an accomplished investor, entrepreneur, inventor, and currently the CEO of Mighty Buildings. Over the years, he has been part of several R&D and production facilities, and due to his elite skills in growth facilitation, he was inspired to invent a new material in 3D printing tech. Why invent? Because this material combined with 3D printing enabled them to print not just walls but an entire building in a single cycle making it time-saving and attainable. This innovation would address the dearth of housing affordability crisis in Silicon Valley, California, and the rest of the world.
With this invention, Slava has established himself as the global visionary of this 3D printing technology using advanced materials to revolutionize the construction industry, which allowed the production of prefab housing with up to 80% of operations automated—a feat that his competition has yet to solve. Sharing a rare vision and intuitive skills has earned Slava several opportunities to speak at global, prominent industry-related events alongside Fortune 500 Companies as a judge, panelist, speaker, and round table member. Moreover, his strategies and business acumen have earned him several awards and accolades.
Constantly Thriving and Growing
Slava’s strategy and his team of experts together were the reason behind Mighty Buildings propelling amidst the pandemic. Since their launch out of stealth in August 2020, the company has only witnessed a massive demand and more than a tenfold increase in bookings for the ADU product line, with B2B contracts saved for its single-family housing product line with forward-thinking developers. “Despite launching amid a pandemic, we are racing to fulfill the demand and orders for 2021 at our Mighty Factory in Oakland, California,” happily asserts Slava. After announcing the ‘world’s first 3D printed zero net energy homes community’ in Rancho Mirage, California, the team is looking forward to work with various B2B residential developers and helping them to unlock the potential of 3D printing in the construction industry by leveraging its unique Mighty Kit System. As for the coming years, the Mighty Buildings will be focusing on engineering, design, and material selection, by keeping sustainability at the center. Mighty Buildings is moving towards a low-carbon and sustainable future. Slava concludes, “We are committed to getting to Net-Zero by 2028 (that’s 22 years ahead of the construction industry!) and we have recently joined UN’s #RacetoZero campaign which we are very excited about!”
Read Full Magazine:- The 10 Compelling 3D Printing Companies, 2021
