3D printing revolutionizes home building in Texas: Fast, cheap, durable

3D home printing technology is not only faster but also cheaper and requires fewer building materials. ICON, responsible for building 100 homes in Georgetown, Texas, used the Vulcan 3D printer, which has a width of over 45 feet and a weight of 10,472 pounds, according to Reuters.

With traditional foundation and roof assembly, printing a single-story home with three or four bedrooms takes about three weeks. The market value of these buildings ranges from $450,000 to nearly $600,000.

“So, where there were maybe five different crews coming in to build a wall system, we now have one crew and one robot,” said project manager Conner Jenkins. The first stage of construction involves mixing cement powder, water, sand, and other additives, which are then pumped into the printer. The printer nozzle extrudes the mixture like toothpaste, layering it one layer after another according to a pre-programmed path. The wall texture resembles corduroy.

The concrete walls resist water, mold, termites, and extreme weather conditions. They are so solid that they also block wireless signals, meaning residents need to use mesh routers that transmit signals from multiple devices throughout the building.

Developers report that just over a quarter of the 100 homes in the Georgetown development have been sold so far.

ICON received a contract from NASA under the Artemis program to develop construction systems enabling the building of landing pads, shelters, and other structures on the Moon.