With material and labor shortages impacting new home construction, companies are having to develop new strategies to keep up with demand. Lennar, one of the largest homebuilders in the nation, is turning to 3D printing technology as a way to build homes faster than conventional methods. One Austin community is slated to break ground on 100 3D printed homes in 2022. Lennar partnered with ICON to bring this community to the Texas city.
3D printed homes – theory or practice?
Last year, The Washington Post called 3-D homes “futuristic” and “homes of the future.” 3D printed homes are supposed to be less expensive to build and energy-efficient, but the real push for 3D printed homes is the time frame for building. 3D Homes can go up much quicker than traditional homes while following code and building structures that can withstand the weather conditions of the area. Still, it’s a new technology. Currently, only homes up to 3,000 square feet can be built through 3D printing.
Concerns about 3D printed homes
According to Fictiv, a Digital Manufacturing Ecosystem, 3D printing has grown from $4.4 billion in 2013 to an industry bringing in a projected $21 billion in 2021. 3D printing is changing many industries, from jewelry to healthcare. 3D printed homes hold a lot of potential, but there are skeptics in the construction industry. The technology is in its early days. Currently, only walls are being printed. Foundations still need to be built. Currently, roofs are not being printed. Some experts believe that it may take 30 to 40 years to see a disruption in the construction industry.
Lennar is not the first company to build 3D homes. New Story, a San Francisco non-profit, partnered with ICON to build 50 3D printers in Tabasco, Mexico. A German-based company, Peri, partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build a 3D-printed home in Tempe, Arizona. Apis Cor built a home in Russia in just 24 hours using 3D technology.
We’ll have to watch and see how 3D printing changes construction.
