Larry Haines, founder of Austin-based Sunconomy, said his company has partnered with San Francisco residential building company, Forge New, to develop a system called We Print Houses. It will allow them to create bigger homes. They use a unique mobile platform to which they attach a print head.
[...] They also use a specific building method, placing geo-polymer concrete on the inside and outside of a steel beam with insulation in the middle.
"That's how we're meeting code is by being able to insulate and get the structural strength and integrity from slab to wall from wall-to-the-roof system all in one," said Haines.
Ultimately, Haines wants to print a whole house, including the roofs and floors, and sell it, something he says has never been done in the country. He's already obtained the permit to build the first model home in Lago Vista, about 30 miles outside of Austin. Construction would take two months, and safety inspections would be performed similarly to those done with a traditionally built house.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday February 03 2019, @02:40PM
You're partly right at least: land is a huge variable. If I could move my 15 acres to downtown Manhattan, I'd be instantly rich!
But, the foundation? Not so much. Many homes today are built without a real foundation. I've watched contractors scrape away a little topsoil, add some sand, level that out, and pour a slab - with the sand on the exposed side still visible after the forms are removed. Unless, of course, you are referring to that concrete floor as a "foundation". But, even a real foundation doesn't cost a lot. A backhoe operator can dig a proper foundation in an afternoon, for a typical home. They crew who pours the slab just naturally fill in the footers when they pour.
The addition of a basement adds significant cost to a home, but you only stipulated the foundation, so we'll leave basements out of this discussion.