3D Printed Homes Solve Global Homelessness

By JENNIFER EISENBERG | Special to the Palisadian-Post

Over one billion people do not have access to adequate and safe housing.

Have you ever thought we could provide shelter for families in extreme poverty in less than 24 hours? With advances in today’s technology, we sure can.

Improvements in robotics, software and materials enable a printer to build a home from scratch.

ICON is a construction technology company revolutionizing homebuilding. It is partnering with New Story, an international housing nonprofit, to bring safe living conditions to impoverished communities.

In less than 24 hours, ICON uses the Vulcan printer to develop a 3D printed home. Like most of us, you are probably thinking, how does a printer build a home? It is fascinating.

The printer pours cement as its framework and applies the concrete layer by layer until the walls are up. The 3D printed home is not entirely technologically sufficient and will still require some human labor.

The home will need human hands to help with fixtures the printer cannot pour. Conventional construction methods will be used to add the windows, roof, and electricity and plumbing.

It can build a home up to 800 square feet. Sounds small, but the average home size in New York is about 866 square feet.

The Vulcan printer—I like to call “the mobile printer”—was specifically designed for the developing world. It prints on-site and does not require printing in an off-site location.

Jason Ballard, one of ICON’s three founders, told NBC News MACH in an email that the home is printed seamlessly in one piece and is sustainable, produces nearly zero waste and is resilient.

The first ever permitted 3D printed home was recently unveiled in Austin on March 18. The 650-square-foot model home is currently being used as an office for ICON to test its materials and living conditions.

The home costs a whopping $10,000 to build and was built with a Vulcan printer. According to Ballard, the cost to print this size home should come all the way down to $4,000. You will need to factor in some additional costs for the elements the printer cannot print on its own.

This is a game changer for bringing quick and affordable housing into underdeveloped communities. ICON and New Story’s plan is to launch the first community of 100 printed homes next year in El Salvador.

The partners are starting in El Salvador because News Story has already built homes there. If all goes well, 3D printing could be used in other countries. Sooner rather than later, you might see a home built from a 3D printer pop up in your neighborhood.

Since January 2017, California has enacted several bills, aka “granny flats,” to promote more affordable housing. Granny flats allow a homeowner to build a second small home called an Accessory Dwelling Unit on their property.

If you aren’t sure where the name granny flats came from, it’s the simple concept of building additional space for one’s elderly parents. After receiving city approval and the proper permits, one can build an ADU on their property up to 1,200 square feet.

With the Vulcan printer being able to print a 3D home up to 800 square feet in less than 24 hours and the price being undoubtedly economical, the future of ADUs might very well be 3D printed.

To build a detached new construction ADU, the same 650-square-foot size as the model 3D printed home, you are looking at months of labor and about $147,000.

This price includes design, permit and construction costs. That’s a night and day difference from the $4,000 to $10,000 Vulcan-printed home.

Sustainable 3D printed homebuilding is not in the future, it is here now and will quickly help solve global homelessness by bringing safer, more affordable homes for families in undeserving communities.

Time will tell if this will be a one-time project or if the proper training will be instilled in these impoverished communities to use the technology and keep the printer to build more homes after ICON and New Story launch the first batch.

Eisenberg is a sales partner with the Marguleas Team at Amalfi Estates, which has sold

over $1 billion in properties and was selected by Wall Street Journal as a top 60 team in the country out of one million agents. She specializes in working with buyers and sellers in the local community. She can be reached at 818-919-4582 or jennifer@amalfiestates.com. Stop by 984 Monument Street, Suite 105, or visit amalfiestates.com.