A first of its kind housing project with 3D homes has begun this month to sell them near Austin, Texas. This is the first large-scale 3D-printed housing development project in the United States.
There are around 100 3D printed homes in Georgetown, Texas, that will be going up for sale with prices ranging from $475,000 to $570,000. The homes will be between 1500 and 2000+ square feet with several bedrooms and bathrooms each.
In order to build the homes, eight 3D printers have to run simultaneously and print the homes on top of a concrete slab. This process can take around two weeks. The homes are fitted with roofs, solar panels, and other features like WIFI and smart thermostats.
The material used is called Lavacrete, which is known to make cooling and heating costs lower. This material is a high strength concrete and exceeds building code design requirements by more than 350%.
One of the benefits of a 3D printed home is that it can save a lot of time. Also, the construction methods are less expensive and require fewer workers to build.
One of the concerns that some have, however, is about the durability of these homes. They haven’t had the duration of time to say that they’ve “stood the test of time.” The technology is too new.