Austin Man First In United States To Live In A 3D Printed House

almost 4 years ago

This is story I have followed for a number of years. Well, not this individual but the technology. It is something that I believe will change the face of construction.

We are starting to see 3D printing entering many industries and none with more potential impact than with construction. Already, there is a 3D printed home for sale in Riverhead, N.Y. At the same time, we are seeing a development planned to take place in California as well as a couple units in Austin, TX.

Tim Shea, a former homeless man, moved into his present house back in September. According to the firm that built his home, he is the first person to live in one in the United States.

This is part of a project called Community First! Village. It is part of a 51 acre development which now has 500 homes on it. The project is meant to help seniors who are affected by the raising cost of living in the area.

Shea is one of the seniors in the community, and the fist to occupy one of the handful of homes that were 3D printed.

Prior to this, he was living in a RV.

With the rising cost of real estate in certain areas, projects like these are taking on new meaning.

The nonprofit Community First! put $18 million into the tiny home village in Austin to help the chronically homeless get off the streets. The village initially had space for 180 residents, who pay about $300 in rent, and have job opportunities on-site.

The community was established in 2015, and created by real estate developer Alan Graham, who had spent the past two decades volunteering on the streets of Austin through a project called Mobile Loaves & Fishes. For Community First! Village, choosing to test the new technology was a natural extension of its willingness to experiment.

Shea's home is about 400 square feet and provides a lot of the comforts of larger dwellings.

Shea uses a wheelchair so he chose the open floor plan.

As we can see, the structures are made out of concrete enabling them to stand up to the elements. At the same time, while not large, they are ideal dwellings for people who are on a fixed income. Many cannot afford such accommodations for a few hundred dollars a month, especially in an area like Austin.

ICON is the company that provided the printer to construct these homes. It did a total of 6 in this project.

As stated in the past, the advantage of 3D printing is that there is a lot less waste, can be done faster, less expensive (due to reduced labor costs) and can create unique designs. Structures no longer need to be square.

The company already did a couple dozen structures in the United States and Mexico. It has a goal to provide affordable dwellings to people everywhere in the world.

Having raised $53 million so far in VC funding, the company is not stopping there. In fact, it is looking to leave the planet all together.

In another project, the company has partnered with NASA to develop space-based construction systems to build on the moon, including homes, infrastructure and more.

Here we see a vital step forward. When we start to discuss anything in space, the investment dollars start to pile up. The intention, right now, is for space colonization and building structures on different heavenly bodies is obviously a priority.

The benefit to this is there will be breakthroughs that will be applied here on Earth.

In other words, this is not likely to be a passing fad.

ICON is not the only company that is involved in this industry. There are a few other companies that made their own 3D printers to create homes. Over the next few years, as these first ventures become successful, it is likely we will see more entering.

For someone like Tim Shea (pictured above), this is life changing. He is no longer having to live on the streets or in some rundown RV.

In addition the the humanitarian aspect, these printers are poised to completely revolutionize construction. The cost savings we are seeing typical run about 50% of similar new construction using traditional methods. That, however, is using 2020 technology.

The big question is where things will be in 2030 or 2035? If we are printing structures on other planets, there is a great chance we will be doing it here, and for much less money than is required today.

3D printers fall under information technology. This means that we are looking at a serious reduction in cost, both for the unit and to operate. As the material sciences expand, we will see less costly yet better materials used to print.

All of this leads to the idea that we could see serious cost savings within the next 5 years.

All photos and quotes from this article along with a video interviewing Shea.

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