The use of 3D printing in homebuilding is set to drastically expand in 2023. Take a look at the new projects under construction.

Brittany ChangDec 30, 2022, 22:51 IST

Brittany Chang/Insider

Groundbreaking 3D-printed home construction projects are slated to finish in 2023.
Using printers to build the walls of a home could reduce the project's build time, cost, waste, and required physical labor.

Brick and wood framed homes are so 2022.

New US home sales dropped sharply in June, data showed on Tuesday.CHRIS DELMAS/Getty Images

Next year, homes built using 3D printers could be the hottest trend in the home construction industry.

CPH-3D

Throughout 2022, homes built using 3D printers have popped up across the world from a luxury house with printed walls in Austin, Texas …

Icon's over 2,000-square-foot House Zero in Austin.Brittany Chang/Insider

… to a fully printed 400-square-foot concrete tiny home in Denmark.

3DCP Group

And the momentum behind printed homes won't be slowing down in the new year.

3DCP Group

Several major 3D printing construction projects are slated to finish next year.

Azure Printed Homes

And by the end of 2023, we could see people living in 3D-printed homes made of recycled plastic …

Azure Printed Homes

… studying in printed schools …

BOTO Friddet

… and reserving units for a 100-home community built with the help of several printers.

Icon

The housing market has been in flux over the last few years amid COVID-19, inflation, supply chain restraints, fluctuating demand, and rising interest rates.

People walk by a sold sign in front of a house along the Erie Canal in Pittsford, New York, on Monday, Sept. 6, 2021.Ted Shaffrey/AP Photo

A 3D printer can't solve all of these problems.

Aiman Hussein

But proponents of the construction tech — like Zack Mannheimer, CEO of 3D printing construction startup Alquist — believe printing may alleviate some of the sore spots in the traditional home building process.

Alquist

But proponents of the construction tech — like Zack Mannheimer, CEO of 3D printing construction startup Alquist — believe printing may alleviate some of the sore spots in the traditional home building process.

Using 3D printers to build houses reduces the time, cost, waste, and physical labor needed to construct a home.

The 3D printer.Icon

In the future, these cuts will be more dramatic.

3DCP Group

But as of now, many companies have yet to achieve what they say will be the full potential of the nascent technology.

Hannah

And the majority of startups are only printing the layered walls, leaving the remainder of the home to be built "traditionally" …

The site of the 3D-printed home.Habitat for Humanity

… although this is already making the building process "radically faster and meaningfully cheaper," Jason Ballard, the cofounder and CEO of 3D printing construction startup Icon, told Insider in March.

Icon's over 2,000-square-foot House Zero in Austin.Brittany Chang/Insider

… although this is already making the building process "radically faster and meaningfully cheaper," Jason Ballard, the cofounder and CEO of 3D printing construction startup Icon, told Insider in March.

A traditional construction project that takes six to seven months to build can currently be completed in five to six months using a printer, Mannheimer told Insider in May, noting that the goal is a four-month timeline.

Alquist

A traditional construction project that takes six to seven months to build can currently be completed in five to six months using a printer, Mannheimer told Insider in May, noting that the goal is a four-month timeline.

And as of now, printed homes are only marginally more affordable than traditionally built homes.

Icon

But these prices could continue to drop as more construction companies scale the use of 3D printers, Mannheimer said.

3DCP Group

And if his projections are correct, we could see 3D printers at every construction site by 2025.

3DCP Group

As of now, the industry-wide integration of 3D printing construction tech may be hard to believe.

3DCP Group

But in 2023, we could begin to see the start of this rapid shift toward printed buildings.

Icon's over 2,000-square-foot House Zero in Austin.Brittany Chang/Insider

Alquist has plans to build 200 concrete homes in southwest Virginia within the next five years.

Alquist

And the company is working with Muscatine, Iowa, and the city's local organizations to print a collection of 10 homes next year, Marci Clark reported for KWQC.

Alquist

On the West Coast, Los Angeles-based Azure will begin delivering its accessory dwelling units (ADUs) printed using recycled plastic in 2023 …

Azure Printed Homes

… which will include 10 rental homes throughout California's Los Angeles and Orange County.

Azure Printed Homes

Similarly, Tampa, Florida startup CPH-3D (Click, Print, Home) and Alquist will begin construction on a home that's been listed at nearly $600,000.

CPH-3D

The project has yet to find a buyer. But Matt Gibson, the listing agent and founder of CPH-3D, says the home will be sold and completed in 2023.

CPH-3D

Home construction giant Lennar and Icon's 100-home community also isn't complete yet.

A rendering of the upcoming 100-home community.Icon, Lennar, BIG

But when it's done, the Texas community will be the largest of printed houses, according to its builders.

Icon

And reservations for these homes — which will start in the mid-$400,000s — will open in 2023 as well.

A rendering of the upcoming 100-home community.Icon, Lennar, BIG

But this printing application is slated to extend beyond homes in the new year.

Thinking Huts

Nonprofit Thinking Huts is using 3D printers to build schools in countries that need them the most.

Thinking Huts

In 2022, seven years after the nonprofit was founded, the team completed its first prototype school in Madagascar.

Thinking Huts

And next year it plans to use a "honeycomb" design to build a campus in Madagascar with multiple connected buildings.

Thinking Huts

Compared to traditional homebuilding, this construction technology is still relatively nascent.

3DCP Group

But with all these projects slated to enter the market in 2023, it seems like we're at the precipice of a 3D-printed home boom.

Alquist

And by 2027, Mannheimer believes more homes will be printed than built traditionally.

Icon

"I don't want to build a worse world faster and cheaper," Ballard said. "I want to build a better world faster and cheaper."

Icon

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The use of 3D printing in homebuilding is set to drastically expand in 2023. Take a look at the new projects under construction.

Brick and wood framed homes are so 2022.

Next year, homes built using 3D printers could be the hottest trend in the home construction industry.

Throughout 2022, homes built using 3D printers have popped up across the world from a luxury house with printed walls in Austin, Texas …

… to a fully printed 400-square-foot concrete tiny home in Denmark.

And the momentum behind printed homes won't be slowing down in the new year.

Several major 3D printing construction projects are slated to finish next year.

And by the end of 2023, we could see people living in 3D-printed homes made of recycled plastic …

… studying in printed schools …

… and reserving units for a 100-home community built with the help of several printers.

The housing market has been in flux over the last few years amid COVID-19, inflation, supply chain restraints, fluctuating demand, and rising interest rates.

A 3D printer can't solve all of these problems.

But proponents of the construction tech — like Zack Mannheimer, CEO of 3D printing construction startup Alquist — believe printing may alleviate some of the sore spots in the traditional home building process.

Using 3D printers to build houses reduces the time, cost, waste, and physical labor needed to construct a home.

In the future, these cuts will be more dramatic.

But as of now, many companies have yet to achieve what they say will be the full potential of the nascent technology.

And the majority of startups are only printing the layered walls, leaving the remainder of the home to be built "traditionally" …

… although this is already making the building process "radically faster and meaningfully cheaper," Jason Ballard, the cofounder and CEO of 3D printing construction startup Icon, told Insider in March.

A traditional construction project that takes six to seven months to build can currently be completed in five to six months using a printer, Mannheimer told Insider in May, noting that the goal is a four-month timeline.

And as of now, printed homes are only marginally more affordable than traditionally built homes.

But these prices could continue to drop as more construction companies scale the use of 3D printers, Mannheimer said.

And if his projections are correct, we could see 3D printers at every construction site by 2025.

As of now, the industry-wide integration of 3D printing construction tech may be hard to believe.

But in 2023, we could begin to see the start of this rapid shift toward printed buildings.

Alquist has plans to build 200 concrete homes in southwest Virginia within the next five years.

And the company is working with Muscatine, Iowa, and the city's local organizations to print a collection of 10 homes next year, Marci Clark reported for KWQC.

On the West Coast, Los Angeles-based Azure will begin delivering its accessory dwelling units (ADUs) printed using recycled plastic in 2023 …

… which will include 10 rental homes throughout California's Los Angeles and Orange County.

Similarly, Tampa, Florida startup CPH-3D (Click, Print, Home) and Alquist will begin construction on a home that's been listed at nearly $600,000.

The project has yet to find a buyer. But Matt Gibson, the listing agent and founder of CPH-3D, says the home will be sold and completed in 2023.

Home construction giant Lennar and Icon's 100-home community also isn't complete yet.

But when it's done, the Texas community will be the largest of printed houses, according to its builders.

And reservations for these homes — which will start in the mid-$400,000s — will open in 2023 as well.

But this printing application is slated to extend beyond homes in the new year.

Nonprofit Thinking Huts is using 3D printers to build schools in countries that need them the most.

In 2022, seven years after the nonprofit was founded, the team completed its first prototype school in Madagascar.

And next year it plans to use a "honeycomb" design to build a campus in Madagascar with multiple connected buildings.

Compared to traditional homebuilding, this construction technology is still relatively nascent.

But with all these projects slated to enter the market in 2023, it seems like we're at the precipice of a 3D-printed home boom.

And by 2027, Mannheimer believes more homes will be printed than built traditionally.

"I don't want to build a worse world faster and cheaper," Ballard said. "I want to build a better world faster and cheaper."