How much does a 3D printed icon home in Texas cost? | Businessman

How much does a 3D printed icon home in Texas cost? | Businessman

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Although U.S. mortgage interest rates are now at their lowest level in 15 months, home prices are still high.

With the U.S. facing a 4.5 million home shortage, construction company Icon is using 3D printing technology to mass-print homes — and package the final properties into a 100-home community in Georgetown, Texas.

Icon uses a 45-foot-wide 3D printer and fills it with a combination of concrete powder, water, sand and other materials. The printer then stacks the mixture into a pipe and layers it until it stacks to form a house.

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A project to build 100 of these 3D-printed homes in Georgetown, Texas began in November 2022 and is expected to be completed by the end of the summer, according to a Reuters report.

The homes are single-story, three- to four-bedroom units that span 1,500 to 2,000 square feet.

They cost between $450,000 and $600,000 each. By comparison, the median home price in the area was $499,900.

The exterior and interior walls of each house are made of 3D printed concrete, which Icon says can withstand extreme weather.

Icon says that 3D printed houses have several advantages over traditionally made ones. The company claims that concrete materials make the home soundproof, energy efficient and carbon friendly.

It also takes less time and money to build homes — one human crew and one robot could replace five different human crews, the company says.

Icon has sold about 25 homes in the community so far. One resident told Reuters the house “feels like a fortress” capable of withstanding a tornado.

In addition to 3D printed homes, Icon is also testing an AI architecture robot that can spit out dream house floor plans.

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