How to Achieve Affordable housing with 3D concrete printing
3D concrete printing can help you save costs in many ways. Instead of just considering the technology’s potential, let’s look at a case example with our partner Hive3D Builders in Texas. Using our CyBe RC, this housing construction company is able to build well below the region’s average square footage price. Find out more about Hive3D Builders’ case example of affordable building using 3D concrete printing here!
Case Example: Hive3D Builders
Our partner Hive3D Builders is shaking up the US housing market by delivering 3D concrete printed homes at disruptively low rates. Within their latest project, “Las Casitas”, they built five one-story homes ranging from 500 to 800 square feet each (45-75m²). The latest finished house in the project was an 800 square foot, two-bedroom, two-bathroom home delivered to the client for the remarkably low price of $85,000. At 800 square feet, this translates to a market-shaking square footage price of $106 (estimated €1030/m²). To put this in perspective: trusted data analytics and business intelligence company Statista, in their May 2023 study, found an average square footage price for housing in Texas to be $174. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, in their May 2024 study, this had increased to $191. With a square footage price of $106/sqft for the 3D printed home, this represents significant savings compared to the 2024 price point. Despite both studies reporting Texas housing prices to be below the US average, 3D concrete printing still proves its ability to deliver homes more affordably. Notably, even at this low price point, the home maintains high energy efficiency and is constructed with eco-friendly materials, making it both affordable and sustainable. Timothy Lankau, CEO of Hive3D Builders, is confident that they can continue to “build similar homes at well below market with our current setup”. Their setup includes the CyBe RC, which is used to print their own sustainable material developed in collaboration with Green Cement and Eco Materials. Currently, Hive3D Builders is expanding from one CyBe printer to multiple to increase their production capacity of affordable housing.
Saving Time & Costs with 3DCP
There are several ways 3D concrete printing can help you create affordable housing solutions. Most of these benefits stem from the technique’s ability to significantly speed up the construction process. Reduced building time translates to fewer labor hours, which is further improved by the minimal team required for 3D concrete printing. The efficiency provided by the technology also impacts your indirect costs, which are often directly tied to your construction timelines. Lastly, 3D concrete printing enables both time and cost savings by eliminating certain steps of the traditional construction process. Since these steps can be integrated into the printing process, the need for procedures like formwork, plastering, and utilities preparation often becomes unnecessary. Further details on saving costs during construction with 3D concrete printing technology are elaborated on in our mailing series on the topic. Would you like to learn more about cost-effective 3D concrete printing?