US: World’s largest 3D-printed neighborhood to provide strong insulation from heat

ICON’s Vulcan printer is finalizing the world’s largest 3D-printed neighborhood, completing 100 homes in Georgetown, Texas.

The printer, which is over 45 feet wide and weighs 4.75 tons, is finishing the last of homes, building them layer by layer like a desktop 3D printer but on a much larger scale.

According to ICON senior project manager Conner Jenkins, 3D printing brings significant efficiency to the trade market by replacing the need for multiple crews to build a wall system with just one crew and one robot, Reuters reported.

Once concrete powder, water, sand, and other additives are mixed together and pumped into the printer, a nozzle extrudes the mixture like toothpaste onto a brush, layer by layer, along a pre-programmed path to create corduroy-textured walls.

Jenkins also noted that the single-story, three- to four-bedroom homes take about three weeks to complete printing, with the foundation and metal roofs installed traditionally. He added that the concrete walls are engineered to resist water, mold, termites, and extreme weather conditions.

“Feels like a fortress”

Lawrence Nourzad, a 32-year-old business development director, and his girlfriend Angela Hontas, a 29-year-old creative strategist, purchased a home in Wolf Ranch earlier this summer. They noted that the house feels like a fortress and believe it will be resilient to most tornadoes.

The walls also offer excellent insulation against the Texas heat, maintaining a cool interior even when the air conditioner isn’t running at full capacity. However, they found that the 3D-printed walls also seemed to interfere with their wireless internet connection.

“Obviously these are really strong, thick walls. And that’s what provides a lot of value for us as homeowners and keeps this thing really well-insulated in a Texas summer, but signal doesn’t transfer through these walls very well,” Nourzad told Reuters.

ICON added that to address this issue, most Wolf Ranch homeowners use mesh internet routers, which broadcast a signal from multiple units placed throughout the home, rather than relying on a traditional router that emits a signal from a single device.

Wolf Ranch homes priced from $450K to $600K

The 3D-printed homes in the Wolf Ranch community, known as the “Genesis Collection,” are priced between $450,000 and $600,000. Developers report that just over a quarter of the 100 homes have been sold.

ICON, which 3D-printed its first home in Austin in 2018, aims to eventually bring its technology to the Moon. As part of NASA’s Artemis Moon exploration program, the agency has contracted ICON to develop a construction system for building landing pads, shelters, and other structures on the lunar surface.

Furthermore, ICON isn’t the only construction start-up engaged in these projects. Houston-based startup Hive3D is developing a project in Round Top, Texas, where the company has built five 400 to 900 square-foot “casitas” designed for short-term rentals in the popular tourist destination known for its festivals and antique shows.