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World’s largest 3D-printed community nears completion in this fast-growing Texas city

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World’s largest 3D-printed community nears completion in this fast-growing Texas city

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Buying the materials to build a home is an expensive investment. Technology such as the 3D printer might be a solution.

In Georgetown, 100 3D-printed houses in the Wolf Ranch community are near completion. Technology startup company Icon began work on the community in November 2022. The company said it used the world’s largest 3D printer to build the homes.

Could robots be the future of building your dream home?

More: Homebuyers get first chance to buy 3D-printed homes made by Austin-based Icon

Icon uses cranelike robotic arm to assemble 3D-printed homes

Since its founding, Icon has produced its own giant 3D printers, which can build housing walls layer by layer and have allowed the company to turn out boundary-pushing designs with elements such as curved walls. 

This year, the company is unveiling a new printer that will be able to produce not only the walls but also the foundation and roof of homes. Icon CEO and co-founder Jason Ballard said the new printer, called Phoenix, removes some of the biggest limitations of the company’s gantry-style Vulcan printer systems while continuing to lower costs and expand design potential.

Phoenix looks cranelike but is actually more like a building-scale robotic arm. Its extensive range of movement allows it to print in a steady line, no matter the weather or design.

Is 3D printing better than traditional construction?

Some argue that 3D printing of homes is faster, is more cost-effective, requires fewer workers and reduces construction material waste compared with traditional construction.

In an interview with Forbes, 3D printing company Mighty Buildings Chief Technology Officer Dmitry Starodubtsev said building homes this way could reduce the time it takes to produce a single-family home by six months.

“We’re trying to automate the construction process, increase quality and increase factory throughput in order basically to unlock productivity in the regions with high housing demand,” Starodubtsev said. “The entire system works to eliminate as much labor hours on site as possible in order to reduce pricing and make it more affordable for different generations of people, not only millennials.”

According to Reuters, the single-story, three- to four-bedroom 3D-printed homes in Georgetown take about three weeks to finish printing.

More: Austin’s Icon unveils new 3D printer, AI tool, building material at SXSW

How much does a 3D-printed home cost?

According to Business Insider, Icon said it could create a 600- to 800-square-foot building for as low as $4,000 in 24 hours.

More substantial homes with additional features and higher-quality materials might cost between $50,000 and $150,000.

Highly customized or larger homes could cost anywhere from $150,000 to more than $500,000, depending on the design and the level of finishing.

How does a 3D printer work?

Three-dimensional printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a process of creating objects from a digital file by layering material. Here’s how it works:

  • CAD software: The process begins with creating a digital 3D model using Computer-Aided Design software. The model can also be created by scanning an existing object or downloading a design from a repository.
  • Slicing: The 3D model is then divided into thin horizontal layers using slicing software. This software converts the model into a file format (such as .STL or .OBJ) that the 3D printer can read, defining how each layer should be printed.
  • Printer configuration: The printer needs to be configured based on the material used, the desired resolution, and other parameters such as temperature, speed and layer thickness.
  • Finishing: Depending on the material and the quality of the print, further finishing processes such as sanding, painting or curing might be needed.

Former Statesman staff writer Kara Carlson contributed to this report.

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