Home prices in the U.S. continue to rise, while ongoing labor and materials shortages have driven up construction costs of late.
Observers have long pointed to 3D printing as a possible solution to some of the nation’s housing woes. Now, two companies are partnering for the largest test yet of 3D printing as a way to build homes at scale.
Homebuilder Lennar and 3D printing construction firm Icon want to build a community of 100 3D-printed homes near Austin, Texas. The development, according to the Wall Street Journal, would be the largest of its kind in the U.S.
Icon says its printers, at more than 15 feet tall, gradually layer concrete material to create home frames. The walls for a 2,000-square-foot, single-story home can be printed in about one week. Lennar would then finish the homes on-site with conventional construction methods.
Icon hopes that the printing process will get faster in the future, allowing homes to be built more quickly with less waste and less manpower required. Its process, officials said, also allows for more creative design than traditional, wood-framed homes.
The technology remains novel in the homebuilding sector, which could prompt hesitancy on the part of both homebuyers and local zoning officials, but if the project succeeds, it could eventually help alleviate chronic shortages of affordable housing in cities across the U.S.
The Lennar-Icon homes, however, will reportedly go for prices that mirror those of other Lennar-build homes in the area. And in Austin, that translates to a median price of about $450,000.
