Developments of 3D-printed homes are taking off suddenly – this is how they look

Just a month ago, a 3D-printed house was listed for sale for the first time in the US

Now, a small 3D-printed community in Texas is following suit. Another larger community in California is also in the works.

In other words, 3D printed real estate is taking off in a big way.

The first house that was put up for sale has not even been built yet. The company, SQ4D, printed a house model in a concrete yard in Long Island, New York, and hosted over a hundred shows. The new home will be printed on a nearby lot.

ICON, a pioneer of 3D printed homes in the United States, has just completed four homes in East Austin, Texas. In partnership with developer 3Strands in Kansas City, two- to four-bedroom homes are now on the market, starting at $ 400,000.

“Demand has been low, even difficult to manage,” said Gary O’Dell, co-founder and CEO of 3Strands. “Feedback could not have been more positive.”

Austin, one of the fastest growing metropolitan markets in the country, has already embraced the concept of 3D-printed homes, so the zoning and licensing process has been relatively easy, O’Dell said.

“We built four houses in the configuration we did, because we could do it in the existing zoning,” he added.

A year ago, ICON printed seven 400-square-foot single-story homes in Austin in collaboration with Mobile Loaves & Fishes, a non-profit organization in Austin. Homes are part of a homeless community. This experience, along with printing about a dozen homes in another project in Mexico, gave ICON all the knowledge it needed to move quickly on new larger homes that are now for sale.

“We will graduate from dozens of homes to hundreds,” said Jason Ballard, ICON CEO.

ICON prints the houses on site, using its Vulcan construction system, which spits out “proprietary extrudable concrete,” according to Ballard, who added that this is the fastest, lowest-cost method. It also allows the greatest flexibility in floor plans.

In the new development, ICON 3D printed the first floor and then built the second story conventionally, but this allowed them to certify the wall system for two-story construction.

“It’s the fastest way from imagination to built-in options,” Ballard said. “You can produce things that look very high and very high, but they are not more expensive to deliver than a straight wall.”

Ballard said the construction of the houses is 10% to 30% cheaper and a few months faster than conventional construction. This is especially important, given the rising costs that builders see for conventional building materials, such as steel, aluminum and especially timber.

“Housing has been an economic bright spot amid the Covid-19 pandemic, but the industry’s potential to drive the economy is limited as long as building materials remain expensive and scarce,” researchers from the National Association of Home Builders wrote earlier this month. . “Builders are doing their best to avoid consumer prices outside their homes, while maintaining the competitive prices needed to operate.”

There is also an acute shortage of labor in the house building industry. 3D-printed houses require very few workers, as the printer does most of the construction.

The ICON community in Texas may be the first, but even on the heels it is a much larger community planned in Rancho Mirage, California, by competitor Mighty Buildings.

Together with developer Palari Group, the company has just announced that it will build 15 3D print houses in what it considers “the world’s first planned 3D print community … focused on integrating technology and sustainability.”

Mighty Builders claims that the production process of 3D printing removes 99% of construction waste and is 30-40% cheaper than traditional construction. It will also use solar energy.

Mighty Builders started in 2017, inventing a polymer composite that could be compared to synthetic stone. He made the house into panels from a factory and then moved them, but for the Rancho Mirage community, the houses will be printed on the site.

“This is totally different from concrete because our material is thermally efficient,” said Alex Dubov, chief operating officer at Mighty Buildings. “We aim to reach a net zero energy standard for each unit. Our material has a lower thermal conductivity. There is no loss of heat and cold between inside and outside.

Whether made of concrete or polymer, these houses have proven to be much more energy efficient, more durable and more resistant than conventional houses made of wood.

Just ask 70-year-old Tim Shea, who lives in one of the ICON homeless homes in Austin. He recently endured the cold and ice storm there without any problems.

“I didn’t even know there was one until I lifted the blinds,” Shea said. “It’s wonderful. I can only deliver a lot of adjectives, but it’s a fantastic place. It’s the most unique place I’ve ever lived. Houses, apartments, are like a bug in a carpet in this place.”

ICON homes in Mexico have already withstood a major earthquake, with no damage. Since the houses are made of concrete, they are resistant to mold, termites, water and rot.

Mighty Buildings is still assessing whether its material is strong enough to withstand hurricane winds, as it appears to be expanding its geographical footprint.

“We have some interest in Florida and the East Coast,” Dubov said. “We serve customers across California, so we’re 100% sure our homes can withstand earthquakes or wind. The only exception is that hurricane tests aren’t complete.”

Given the so strong demand for 3D printed homes, the biggest challenge for these companies is how to grow them fast. ICON has four printing systems and is already building several. Ballard, which now has 40 employees, said it expects the company to reach more than 100 staff this year.

ICON has announced a $ 35 million series A round of financing led by Moderne Ventures in August 2020. The investment brings ICON’s total funding since its launch in 2018 to $ 44 million. Investors in the seed round included Oakhouse Partners, Cielo Property Group, the country’s largest home builder DR Horton and Emaar, among others.

“The biggest challenge for ICON is that we are constrained by supply. We have more people asking us to build houses than we know what to do now,” Ballard said. “Every construction system we have is reserved for the next 24 months.” He calls it a “champagne” problem.

“It’s every entrepreneur’s dream,” he said.