Carson: 3D printed houses cheaper, faster, more resilient than average buildings
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, during an exclusive interview on FOX Business, on Thursday said there’s an opportunity to make a “real dent” in the affordable housing crisis. One Austin-based construction technology company is using 3D printers to build homes in less than 48 hours for as little as $10,000.
“A lot of times when people think of manufactured homes, they think about trailers — we’ve gone far beyond that,” he said on “Mornings with Maria.” “And now manufactured housing looks better than on-site built housing and is much more resilient.”
Just this weekend, strong tornadoes churned through Alabama, mangling many homes in its path. It was the deadliest outbreak in the U.S. in nearly six years. Carson said, technology like this can be a “tremendous advantage” after the disaster.
“What we have to do is update what we do and start thinking out of the box,” he said, adding that these “appear to be very nice homes.”
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Carson said manufacturing a 3D-printed home is also more affordable than the average home. Aside from just printing the foundation, the addition of plumbing and electric and other basic essential utilities would cost no more than $160,000 to manufacture.
Carson will tour the company on Thursday to catch a glimpse of what the technology is all about.