The Iowa Economic Development Authority approved $1.4 million for the Iowa State University College of Design to purchase a 3D printer capable of producing concrete houses. The college’s goal is to build a neighborhood of up to 34 3D-printed homes in a southwest Iowa town recovering from flood damage, according to the Des Moines Register. Debi Durham, the Iowa Economic Development Authority, said the college will also help develop a curriculum on training contractors on 3D printing and state building codes to allow for more widespread use of 3D-printing for homebuilding in Iowa.
“Obviously we have got to figure out how to bend the cost curve on affordable housing,” Durham told the board. “I am really excited for this. We have a long way to go for this to move the needle on affordable housing because we have a lot to learn.”
Pete Evans, assistant professor of industrial design at ISU, said 3D-printed homes offer significant cost savings because they can be finished in a week or two. It can take months to build a home using traditional methods.
The concrete used in the 3D-printed structures also offers more sustainability and resiliency than lumber-framed homes provide, Evans said.
Elsewhere in the country, some communities are adopting the new technology. In Austin, Texas, homebuilding company Lennar and ICON, a Texas-based construction firm specializing in 3D-printed structures, are building 100 single-story, 3D-printed homes in what’s believed to be the world’s largest development of its kind, according to CNN.
