3D printed homes popping up in Georgetown neighborhood

GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — 3D printed homes are popping up in Georgetown's Wolf Ranch Community.

Lennar and ICON have partnered up to build 100 homes, offering eight floor plans with three and four-bedroom layouts.

"The strength of these homes, the strength of these wall systems is like no other homes that we typically build," said Charlie Coleman, Austin Division President at Lennar.

While many of the homes are finished there are some that are still being worked on. The printer was working on one of the homes when KXAN arrived at the site.

"The Vulcan printer is what has printed all of the homes to date. We have done over 140," said Brooke Baugeuss, VP of Marketing & Communications at ICON.

ICON said each home takes about two weeks to complete the walls, then a few months later and the house will be ready to go.

"One of the benefits of 3D printing is you can design a row of homes and each one of them be entirely different, but you can print them in one sequence," said Bauguess.

According to Redfin, the Median Sale Price for a home in Austin is about $550,000, but how much will these homes cost you?

"Homes here [in Wolf Ranch] start in the high 300s and go up into the low 500s," Coleman said.

ICON has built several 3D homes around Austin and in Mexico.

Coleman said the build is less wasteful than most jobs because they don't need a lot of extra materials. He said there are other advantages to 3D printed homes as well.

"These concrete walls really keep the heat and the cold from moving in and out of the home," Coleman said. "So what we are finding with our customers that have moved in is that their electricity bill is the lowest that we have ever seen."

ICON unveiled new technology designed to build affordable housing during South by Southwest this year.

The company introduced its multi-story robotic construction system, Phoenix, which carries the capability to print an entire building.

Phoenix recently completed a 27-foot-tall architectural demonstration structure, which is now on display at ICON's headquarters in south Austin.