Forget hammer and nails \u2014 the latest trend in homebuilding involves pressing \u201cprint.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Florida city southwest of Tampa has broken ground on its first-ever 3D-printed home, as part of its affordable housing program, according to local Fox 13 News<\/a>.<\/p>\n St. Petersburg city officials said the technology will cut construction time in half.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re talking [about] something that might be a two \u2014 or two and a half week process \u2014 can be squeezed down into a day and a half, maybe two days,\u201d Nick Bradford, owner of Structures Group, an engineering consultancy firm, told WFLA News Channel 8<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bright Community Trust is constructing a 3D-printed home in St. Petersburg, Florida, by using a robotic arm to layer liquid cement in repeated passes. City of St. Petersburg \/ Facebook<\/p>\n Developer Bright Community Trust is building the exterior walls using a robotic arm that continuously pours liquid cement layer by layer along the home\u2019s perimeter.<\/p>\n The city leases its vacant lots to developers for a small cost, and they in turn sell the home to a buyer earning up to 120% of the area median income \u2014 roughly $96,300 for a single person. The 3D-printed homes still require the typical permitting process and need to satisfy state building codes the same as any standard home.<\/p>\n St. Petersburg\u2019s goal is to eventually erect 150 single-family homes on city-owned land, Fox reported.<\/p>\n Despite the hype framing 3D printing as the \u201cnext big thing\u201d for housing, industry skeptics caution that the technology isn\u2019t the magic bullet it\u2019s made out to be.<\/p>\n