Building the future: 3D‑printed homes revolutionize Texas housing
3D home printing technology enables faster and more affordable construction, utilizing fewer materials. ICON has constructed 100 homes in Texas using the Vulcan printer. Reuters reported that building a single home takes three weeks, and its market values range from approximately CAD 620,000 to nearly CAD 825,000.
3D home printing technology is quicker, less expensive, and requires fewer building materials, according to ICON, which built 100 homes in Georgetown, Texas. They used the Vulcan 3D printer, which has a width of over 14 metres and a weight of nearly 4,750 kilograms, as per Reuters.
Efficiency and construction costs
With traditional foundation and roof assembly, printing a single-story home with three or four bedrooms takes about three weeks. The market value of such buildings ranges between CAD 620,000 and nearly CAD 825,000.
– 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 after another according to a pre-programmed path. The wall texture resembles corduroy.
Durability and innovations
The concrete walls resist water, mould, termites, and extreme weather conditions. They are so solid that they also block wireless signals, meaning residents must 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's collaboration with NASA
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.
