{"id":20773,"date":"2021-10-31T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-31T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.freethink.com\/?post_type=ftm_article&p=20773"},"modified":"2021-11-02T10:23:22","modified_gmt":"2021-11-02T14:23:22","slug":"3d-printed-houses","status":"publish","type":"ftm_article","link":"https:\/\/www.freethink.com\/hard-tech\/3d-printed-houses","title":{"rendered":"ICON to build world\u2019s largest community of 3D-printed houses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Construction startup ICON has announced<\/a> plans to build the largest community of 3D-printed houses in the world \u2014 an undertaking that could take 3D-printed houses from the fringes into the mainstream of housing construction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The housing shortage:<\/strong> In the past 20 years, U.S. builders have constructed 5.5 million fewer new housing units (single-family homes, apartments, etc.) than what\u2019s needed to support the nation\u2019s increase in households, according to a recent National Association of Realtors report<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe scale of the problem is so large,\u201d David Bank, one of the report\u2019s authors, told the Wall Street Journal<\/a>. \u201cWe need affordable [housing], we need market-rate, we need single-family, we need multifamily.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help wanted<\/strong>: To build those homes, construction companies need skilled workers, but the industry is in the midst of a labor shortage \u2014 85% of respondents to a 2020 National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) survey<\/a> cited finding workers as their top challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor 20 years, we haven\u2019t trained and spent money on educating, and at the same time a lot of the industry is retiring,\u201d Ed Brady, president and CEO of the NAHB-associated Home Builders Institute, told Bloomberg<\/a>. \u201cSo the skills gap is going to get worse before it gets better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICON is partnering with leading home construction company Lennar to build a community of 100 3D-printed houses.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3D-printed houses<\/strong>: One way to address this labor shortage is to automate some of the building process using massive 3D printers<\/a>. These devices extrude a liquid material \u2014 using some proprietary type of concrete \u2014 in layers that then dry to form the solid walls of a home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 3D-printed houses still need laborers to install the electrical, plumbing, and other finishes, but CEO Jason Ballard told AP News<\/a> that ICON\u2019s system can do the work of up to 20 workers in five or six trades, and unlike humans, it can run 24 hours a day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a bonus, 3D printing<\/a> can also reduce material waste<\/a> (another factor contributing to the housing shortage) as all of the construction material goes into building the house \u2014 there aren\u2019t any bits of lumber or drywall leftover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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