Skip to content
Mannheimersocial-email-banner

Available at:

February 10, 2022

The Impact of 3D Printing in the Construction Industry

According to research done by realtor.com the US is short 5.24 million homes, an increase from the 3.84 million in 2019. Builders are just unable to keep up with demand which in turn is drastically increasing home prices and making the American dream harder and harder to achieve.

But the situation isn’t hopeless and like most problems facing the world today, technology can be a big part of the solution. To explain how, Mike is joined by Zachary Mannheimer – CEO & Founder at Alquist 3D – a 3D home printer who printed the first inhabited home in the US for Habitat for Humanity and CEO at Atlas Community Studios – an organization that revitalized rural communities with the goal of attracting talent and businesses into the area. Zach explains how 3D printing is changing the construction industry, what it means for the residential market, the biggest hurdles facing 3D printing today and how contractors can start to take advantage of 3D printing today.

 

Key Takeaways

  1. 3D printed homes are already a reality. Habitat for Humanity Alquest printed the first occupied home in Virginia for in 2021. Habitat for Humanity is already printing homes across the United States with the second home printed in Tempe, Arizona in January 2022. 3D technology is here and is changing the residential landscape forever.
  2. 3D printing is bringing housing construction prices down. New homes printed by a 3d printer are 10-15% cheaper to build compared to the same stick-built home. On top of that homeowners should expect a 50% decrease in energy consumption in a 3D printed home. This is only the beginning, home building techniques are developing at a rate that the cost to build a 3D printed home will be 30% cheaper in the next 24 months.
  3. The biggest challenge for 3D printing is setup time. The magic of 3D printing is after the machine starts its process. At that point, everyone can sit back and watch a home be built right before their eyes. The biggest issue currently is the amount of effort and time it takes to set up and prepare a machine to work. This is the biggest focus for printers and is quickly being solved.