3D printed home by ICON
What if you could download and print a home in 24 hours at half the cost? ICON, an Austin, Texas based 3-D printer construction startup company is doing just that! Mentioned briefly in our previous blog post, ICON has partnered with New Story and People Helping People of El Salvador, two charitable organizations focused on helping some of the world’s poorest people in replacing the sprawling slums with 3D printed homes. ICON has successfully printed its first home and is poised to built an entire community at $4,000 per home with an estimated 12-24 hours to print each home. Executive Director for People Helping People, Lisselot Tronconis, says, “the appeal of 3D printing isn’t aesthetics, but that it can cut the cost, time and labor required to build homes.”
ICON unveiled the home in March 2018 in Austin, TX and it was built using a prototype of the mobile printer they are creating for New Story and the developing world. The production version of the printer will have the ability to print a single story, 600-800 square foot home in under 24 hours for less than $4,000. As a part of this effort, ICON has developed cutting-edge materials tested to the most recognized standards of safety, comfort and resiliency and is designed to function with nearly zero waste production methods and work under unpredictable constraints (limited water, power, and labor infrastructure) to tackle housing shortages.