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posted by Fnord666 on Friday March 16 2018, @09:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the got-a-little-Z-banding-going-on dept.

A startup is 3D printing houses in under a day at a cost of about $10,000 each, and hopes to get it down to $4,000 each:

ICON has developed a method for printing a single-story 650-square-foot house out of cement in only 12 to 24 hours, a fraction of the time it takes for new construction. If all goes according to plan, a community made up of about 100 homes will be constructed for residents in El Salvador next year. The company has partnered with New Story, a nonprofit that is vested in international housing solutions. "We have been building homes for communities in Haiti, El Salvador, and Bolivia," Alexandria Lafci, co-founder of New Story, tells The Verge.

[...] Using the Vulcan printer, ICON can print an entire home for $10,000 and plans to bring costs down to $4,000 per house. "It's much cheaper than the typical American home," Ballard says. It's capable of printing a home that's 800 square feet, a significantly bigger structure than properties pushed by the tiny home movement, which top out at about 400 square feet. In contrast, the average New York apartment is about 866 square feet.

The model has a living room, bedroom, bathroom, and a curved porch. "There are a few other companies that have printed homes and structures," Ballard says. "But they are printed in a warehouse, or they look like Yoda huts. For this venture to succeed, they have to be the best houses." The use of cement as a common material will help normalize the process for potential tenants that question the sturdiness of the structure. "I think if we were printing in plastic we would encounter some issues."

Also at Fortune, Wired, and BGR.


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by tfried on Friday March 16 2018, @09:21PM (15 children)

    by tfried (5534) on Friday March 16 2018, @09:21PM (#653802)

    Neat as this is, I wonder how they printed the wooden roof structure, the window glasses, the plumbing... and whether any of that is included in the price tag. Laying the bricks is rarely the main cost driver in home building.

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  • (Score: 2) by Snow on Friday March 16 2018, @09:24PM (2 children)

    by Snow (1601) on Friday March 16 2018, @09:24PM (#653803) Journal

    Also, the video appears to have them start with an already poured foundation.

    • (Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday March 17 2018, @12:41AM (1 child)

      by frojack (1554) on Saturday March 17 2018, @12:41AM (#653880) Journal

      Not to mention utilities trenched in and blumbed, permits isserd, plumbing and electrical installation by licensed professionals, inspected, then do it all again for the next house on the next postage stamp sized lots.

      No way anything is delivered for 10,000.
      ,

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
      • (Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Saturday March 17 2018, @12:59PM

        by bobthecimmerian (6834) on Saturday March 17 2018, @12:59PM (#654043)

        If you read the article or watch the video, they're working on doing this for shanty towns in El Salvador - the places where the homes are built from metal and an earthquake kills 200,000 people. So I don't think permits and inspections are a problem, since they're replacing structures built without permits and inspections.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Appalbarry on Friday March 16 2018, @09:35PM (8 children)

    by Appalbarry (66) on Friday March 16 2018, @09:35PM (#653816) Journal

    My thought entirely. Sure, $4000 might get you a concrete shell, but how much will you add for plumbing, wiring, septic connections etc? Does four grand include the concrete pad, and the cost of hauling in, leveling, and supporting the 3D concrete shooter? Beyond that, does this really meet the building codes in most places? Aside from the cool factor does it really improve on adobe or even hay bale construction?

    I know people who could knock together a similar sized wood frame box (aka "a garage") in the same time frame, and for about the same price. All things considered I'd prefer that to concrete any day.

    Ultimately, once again, proof that 3D printing is still largely a solution in search of a problem.

    • (Score: 2) by Bobs on Friday March 16 2018, @09:50PM

      by Bobs (1462) on Friday March 16 2018, @09:50PM (#653822)

      Good points.

        I did see in the video that it had at least one channel filled with pipes and/or wiring, so am guessing at least some of that is covered in the build.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by bob_super on Friday March 16 2018, @11:22PM (4 children)

      by bob_super (1357) on Friday March 16 2018, @11:22PM (#653844)

      > a similar sized wood frame box (aka "a garage") (...). All things considered I'd prefer that to concrete any day.

      The termites and utilities would like to thank you.

      Most of the buildings in my hometown as far beyond 100 years old (that includes a 7 earthquake a few km away 110 years ago). Besides the obvious medieval cathedral, there's even a couple fortification walls that are over 1000 years old, and a couple Roman structures.
      Wood is like bad programming: slap it together quickly and cheaply, it can hold together pretty well. But you eventually have to tear it down, and restart from scratch, a lot more often than if you had gone with proper durable techniques.

      • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday March 16 2018, @11:54PM (3 children)

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Friday March 16 2018, @11:54PM (#653854)

        The construction industry around here just loves wood to death. Low cost of materials, keep most of the customer's money for your labor, and bonus remodeling and rehab work just a decade or two down the road. Trying to get a contractor to build with concrete is much more painful (expensive, and inconvenient) than it should be, and they keep lobbying for new building codes that are tailored in favor of wood frame construction - in a hurricane strike zone.

        --
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        • (Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday March 17 2018, @08:03AM (2 children)

          by anubi (2828) on Saturday March 17 2018, @08:03AM (#653991) Journal

          For a while, I was watching a promising new technology known as "Arxx Blocks" [ottawaicf.com]. The company that started this technology has been bought out and several others are now in on it... Insulative Concrete Forms is the new name for them. But long time ago when I first saw them, they were Arxx Blocks.

          These were like large styrofoam LEGO blocks. They would interlock. You stacked 'em together, wired 'em, plumbed 'em as you saw fit. Windows, whatever. You could take your time getting everything just right. It was all held together by rebar going up through the holes.

          When you had it all like you wanted it, call the cement pumper in. He would fill in the holes from the top. The concrete would then flow into the channels in the foam blocks, forming a steel reinforced concrete grid. It wasn't going anywhere after the concrete set. Once the cement set, attach interior and exterior fascia of your choice.

          The LaHabra school system ( Southern California ) has one of these buildings. It is quite an unusual building. Nothing unusual to look at, but its right next to a noisy construction yard... and its dead quiet in the building. If it happens outside, you do not hear about it. Kinda odd to watch this huge noisy truck through the window, but not hear it.

          They also claim much superior thermal insulation... like being in a cooler box.

          The marketers claim its fire retardent... and I would also fear outgassing of hydrocarbons of plastics. But, all in all, if I were considering a house in the middle of nowhere, this looked damned good.

          Its claim to fame is that it was much faster than framing, and cheap. The guy I talked to said the unions hated the stuff. Building went up so fast there wasn't enough time to run up a big labor bill. To me, it looked like something that would be dirt-easy to modify or build add-ons. However, not so easy to retrofit. You ain't running new pipe or wiring conduit in this thing all that easily once everything is set in concrete.

          --
          "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
          • (Score: 2) by Spamalope on Saturday March 17 2018, @03:00PM (1 child)

            by Spamalope (5233) on Saturday March 17 2018, @03:00PM (#654083) Homepage

            I'd love something that deadens sound a ton!
            For the foam blocks, polystyrene foam (styrofoam) isn't all the same and there are similar foams. As long as they supplied the right material it could last. (My dad was a research chemist working on the manufacturing tech for plastics and worked with this stuff often so I heard about it)

            I wonder if you attach a wall covering material that's attached to threaded wall anchors as a removable skin that's spaced out a bit. So you'd have wiring on the outside of the foam, and if you needed to run cat 5 you'd pull the wall skin off for perfect access. It looks like there are plastic braces for anchoring to the walls (siding/drywall). I'm a bit concerned about attaching cabinets/heavy pictures etc though.

            • (Score: 1) by anubi on Sunday March 18 2018, @06:37AM

              by anubi (2828) on Sunday March 18 2018, @06:37AM (#654365) Journal

              I posted because I would love to build my "retirement house" out of these, out in the middle of nowhere. Put 'em up and sheath it with a layer of stone fascia... and make it so I do not spend a fortune heating and cooling the thing... If I play my cards right, I would love to go somewhere I can access the water table so I can get or put heat into the water using propane as the refrigeration fluid ( propane... cheap and nontoxic... so if I lose a load due to a leak, no big deal - I just do my heat engine work outside so there is no way of filling my home with escaped propane vapor. ).

              I intend to run an ice bank as well, so I can store thermal energy that way, so I can save away the ability to heat or cool my place during times of plenty of solar panel energy. Nothing says I can't make a small subterranean "ice chest" for making ice in on hot days. So I can cool my place by chillled water fancoil units.

              Hoping I can get enough energy from solar panels to run those new brushless three-phase motors like used on the Fisher and Paykel machine. Maybe someone in the refrigeration business will start making hermetically sealed compressors with motors of this design. Something like this will not only let me very precisely let me set the rate of heat transfer, it will also let me make the best use of limited amounts of power by letting me use optimal power point tracking techniques.

              There are so many neat things one can do with refrigeration and heat transfer... but I find so few people who are interested enough to actually build the things. I fully intend to, now that I have some retirement income coming in and don't have to answer to the leadership men who tell me not to do such things.

              --
              "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
    • (Score: 2) by legont on Saturday March 17 2018, @12:22AM

      by legont (4179) on Saturday March 17 2018, @12:22AM (#653870)

      Yep. Besides, I bet in Africa it'd be cheaper to build one locally out of clay; more ecological and better life quality as well. Other options I've seen are dirt and thin weaved tree brunches covered with clay, It stays cool and dry inside when concrete is a hardship if without air-conditioning.

      --
      "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Saturday March 17 2018, @02:28PM

      by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Saturday March 17 2018, @02:28PM (#654071)

      Cement is expensive, $10K just for the cement, and thats marketing vapor prices... A similar sized singlewide can be made delivered and installed COTS tomorrow by expensive Americans for $25K or so. I live in a recreational state, sometimes I feel like I'm the only guy without some hunting land and a shack on it or a RV, so I've heard decades of small talk about this topic.

      Generally a 'cheap falls apart in one or two seasons' RV will be 50% less than a singlewide, or a airstream class RV that will be reliable will cost maybe twice what a singlewide costs WRT similar size and appliances.

      The advantage of a singlewide is there are no RVs in the quality class between $5 kids toy faucets and $500 Kohler gold plated kitchen faucets. I live in a house with a $75 kitchen faucet, there's nothing like that in RV marketplace. RVs are used Yugos or new Rolls Royce Phantoms and there is nothing in the market in between other than giving up on RVs and buying a single wide. The disadvantage is they're immobile and will get broken into and trashed when you're not there, and winterization is a pain.

      There's nothing unusual about the RV marketplace in that the rest of the market is similar for income inequality reasons; there's a walmart full of people buying $5 pants that will fall apart at first washing requiring another $5 pair of pants next week, or designer jeans at the mall retailing for $600. If you go to the suburbs where I live there's Target if you want to buy $50 pants, but theres not much of that left, and amazon will soon wipe out all legacy retail anyway.

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Friday March 16 2018, @09:58PM (1 child)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Friday March 16 2018, @09:58PM (#653824)

    There's a building tech called SIPS (structural insulated panel systems) that puts up the exterior cladding, insulation, and interior cladding as a single panel, typically 3' wide - so the whole building goes up incredibly fast, and small structures can get all their SIPS panels for $22 to 45 per square foot, depending... but, even though that includes roof and walls, it doesn't include the slab, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, windows, doors, etc. (one [innovaecobuildingsystem.com] of many SIPS companies.)

    We watched a big apartment building go up in the 1990s near work, the shell and even windows and doors were up incredibly fast, but it took nearly twice as long before the inside finish work was done. Cost of the structure is mostly captured in the labor (including labor of making the construction materials off-site), so all that time spent doing the finishing work equates to cost of the finished product.

    When your 3D printing process can also set pipe, run wires, install glazing, etc. then we can talk about real cost savings.

    In the meantime - I like this 3D printing process not for the cost, but for the strength and style of the walls.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Saturday March 17 2018, @02:39PM

      by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Saturday March 17 2018, @02:39PM (#654074)

      When your 3D printing process can also set pipe, run wires, install glazing, etc.

      I was on a cruise ship approx twenty years ago and the bathrooms were cassette design where they were whomped into place, a room inside a room, which is interesting as a concept.

      If you're hand sawing and hand nailing a completely custom hand made house on site using relatively expensive experienced carpenter labor, exotic routing of stuff in wall makes sense, but I wonder if the future is completely separating structural walls from residential services. So given a bare concrete windowless wall you'd slap a wall sized tele-screen up, or imagine a cassette-kitchen where a kitchen makeover amounts to disconnecting a handful of pipes and cables, then slide out the old kitchen and slide in the new.

      Perhaps the future of modular houses isn't the exterior at all, its the interior.

      I converted a dining room in my house into an office by moving things around and changing light fixtures and things; in a modular cassette era, might simply pull out the dining room cassette containing table and china cabinet and everything, sell it used, and slide in a home office cassette complete with desks and filing cabinets.

      Another novel idea, some regions take the family fridge and stove with them to new homes, others not. If your living spaces were cassettes and house walls did nothing but structural support, you could move from one house to another simply by moving all the cassettes to another house...

  • (Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Saturday March 17 2018, @01:13PM

    by bobthecimmerian (6834) on Saturday March 17 2018, @01:13PM (#654046)

    I've read other articles about this technology, and if I remember right they pause construction at various heights to allow plumbing to be run and at other heights for electrical conduit and wiring to be run. They also leave gaps in the wall for blown insulation. And the roof was separate large pieces that can be dropped into place and quickly nailed or welded together. So run the printer, pause for the plumbing team, run it again, pause for the electrical team, stop, blow in insulation, add windows, assemble roof.

    And remember they're targeting third world locations like shanty towns in El Salvador, not vacant lots in New York City. So they probably don't need permits or inspections, and the cost of labor for the parts that aren't 3D printed are a fraction of what they would be in the US. They'll never reach that $10,000 price - let alone the $4,000 price - here. Maybe they could reach it in Haiti.