3D printing technology continues to make waves in the construction industry, offering a potential solution for both worker shortages and a national deficit of single-family homes. Lennar Corp. recently teamed up with construction technology startup Icon to build over 100 3D printed homes in Texas, the largest development of its kind.
3D printing is still largely in development, but adoption has surged in recent years and applications in the construction industry are wide ranging. As more companies buy into the potential of 3D printing, residential construction projects utilizing additive manufacturing processes should become more time efficient and cost effective.
Related ETFs: The 3D Printing ETF (PRNT), iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB)
3D Printed Homes Accelerate as Homebuilders Implement Technology
3D printed home construction has recently accelerated as major homebuilders adopt the technology to make the industry more efficient and cost effective.
Lennar Corp., the second largest US homebuilder by revenue, announced it will be teaming up with construction technology firm Icon to build 100 3D printed homes outside of Austin, Texas. According to The Wall Street Journal, this would be by far the largest development of this type of housing in the United States.
Icon has previously constructed over a dozen 3D printed homes, yet the new partnership is the first of its kind, aiming to test the technology’s ability to churn out homes and generate buyer demand on a much greater scale.
What’s more is if the project produces promising results, additional homebuilders are likely to follow, potentially cutting down the national deficit of single-family homes.
At the end of 2020, Freddie Mac estimated the national housing shortage was at 3.8 million units, up 52% from 2018. 3D printing technology can reduce the time it takes for some building projects from weeks or months down to mere days or hours.
Developers of 3D printed homes are confident the technology can tackle more than just the housing deficit. Axios writes that utilizing 3D printing could help alleviate the skilled labor shortage as well offset rising material costs.
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