We've been stick framing homes for hundreds or even a thousand years and it's not like we're gonna discover some secret breakthrough in stick framing homes that’s gonna allow us to solve homelessness.
If we keep doing what we've been doing, then we're gonna get what we've got, and what we got ain't working. I think it will be the tools of an advanced civilization that lets us solve some of these difficult and thorny problems.
— Jason Ballard, Founder and CEO of Icon
Peter Thiel argues in his book Zero to One that there’s been a stagnation in the world of atoms. There’s been a lot of innovation in computers, information technology, the internet, mobile – in the world of bits. Not so much in the world of atoms – supersonic travel, space travel, new forms of energy, new forms of medicine, new medical devices, etc.
There are a lot of reasons for this. If you want to dive deeper, check out WTF happened in 1971 and
’s Techno-Industrial Revolution.But recently, I’ve been tracking a resurgence of innovation in the world of atoms.
From the “Gundo bros” building hard tech in El Segundo, CA, to Katherine Boyle’s American Dynamism portfolio, we are so back.
The Housing Crisis
Housing remains one of the stickiest “atom” problems we face.
In 2023, the estimated number of homeless individuals in the US reached a record high of 653,104 people.
This marked a 12% increase from the previous year and was the largest number of homeless individuals documented in the 18-year history of the survey.
Various factors such as rising housing costs, immigration surges, and the end of COVID relief programs have contributed to this trend.
Homelessness has been on the rise since 2017, with an overall increase of 6% from that. Men make up a significant portion of the homeless population, with 68% being male.
Additionally, saving for a house just feels so out of reach for members of the millennial and Gen Z cohorts.
The age of the average homeowner is 56 years old.
The age of the average homeowner increased by 10 years or 21.3% between 2001 and 2019 for an average annual increase of 1.18%.
In 2011, the median age was 54 years, increasing to 55 by 2013 and 56 by 2015.
The median age of homeowners is on an upward tend. Basically this means that older people with more wealth are buying second homes, and the ages of first time home owners continues to skew older, as it takes longer and longer to be able to afford a house.
We Need a Better Way
When it comes to new housing, part of the problem is zoning, but the other part is the cost to build a house, especially with inflation.
But imagine if we could cut those costs by two thirds? And you could still build a great, high quality, energy efficient home.
This is exactly what Jason Ballard set out to do a few years ago. He started a company called ICON and the idea was to use 3D printing technology to build houses.
Fast forward to today, the company has built dozens of these homes in Texas and Mexico, with hundreds more in the planning stages.
Before he launched ICON, Jason ran an eco-friendly building supply store called Treehouse. But as Treehouse became successful, it wasn't long before Jason started to think about ways to make an even bigger impact. And that’s where 3D printing homes came in.
Here’s how it works
ICON developed the Vulcan II as its first commercially available large-scale printer tailored for the 3D printing of single-story buildings.
M3 Design collaborated with ICON to bring the Vulcan II to life, ensuring performance, usability, and aesthetic appeal.
Once the foundation is prepared, the Vulcan II is set up on-site.
The printer extrudes concrete layer by layer based on a digital model.
The machine can be operated remotely via a mobile app developed by ICON.
The printed homes are expected to last as long or longer than standard Concrete Masonry Unit (CMU) built homes and are built to meet International Building Code (IBC) structural standards
Speed and efficiency in construction processes (generally 7 - 14 days).
Reduced manual labor requirements.
Utilization of concrete as an affordable and resilient material.
Enhanced thermal properties for energy efficiency and comfort.
Minimal waste generation during construction.
Greater design flexibility without added costs
The Wolf Ranch Community in Texas
ICON is currently building the world's largest community of 3D-printed homes at Wolf Ranch near Austin, Texas.
This community comprises 100 homes, with the first completed house already unveiled as part of its groundbreaking project. The homes in this community are single-story structures with walls made from a concrete mix called Lavacrete, and printed using 46-foot-wide robotic printers.
The properties are being sold at prices ranging from $475,000 to $599,000. The homes range in size from 1,500 to 2,100 square feet and feature three to four bedrooms.
East Austin Development:
These two to four bedroom homes had their first floors 3D-printed by ICON's Vulcan printer, with the upper floors constructed using conventional methods. Each house took between five and seven days of printing time and range from 1,000 to 2,000 square feet in size.
We Choose to Go to the Moon
Yeah. We got a contract to develop a construction system as part of the Moon to Mars program. So it's a construction system that's supposed to be for the Moon, but should also be easily repurposed for Mars.
That's the actual contract, you know, the new Artemis program, which is kind of like the successor, at least the spiritual successor to the Apollo program from the from the sixties, wants to return to the Moon. But this time it's like we want to return to the Moon to stay. And when you want to go and stay, you need things like power and life support systems. But you also need like lots of infrastructure: landing pads, roads, habitats, shelters.
So we've actually got to be able to build on other worlds. And this has actually been on ICONS's radar from the very beginning, but it was always a belief that this is a tool that needs to be in humanity's toolkit. And these advanced tools make all kinds of things possible.
They will help us solve big problems on earth. They will help us pursue really cool opportunities here like domes and arches and vaults and all these kind of incredible ways of building and designing that we don't think are on the menu right now. But one of the cool things that makes this possible is building in space and on other worlds. And my belief is that these things all go together.
—Jason Ballard
In November 2022, ICON received a contract awarded under Phase III of NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to continue its research and development of lunar-based construction systems.
The nearly $60 million contract builds on previous NASA and Department of Defense funding for ICON’s Project Olympus to research and develop space-based construction systems to support planned exploration of the Moon and beyond.
ICON’s Olympus system is intended to be a multi-purpose construction system primarily using local Lunar and Martian resources as building materials to further the efforts of NASA as well as commercial organizations to establish a sustained lunar presence.
So What’s Next for Icon?
One of ICON's upcoming projects is what they’ve dubbed “Sunday Homes at El Cosmico”. Located in Marfa, Texas, these homes represent a fusion of nature, arts, and culture. They offer a unique living experience at the intersection of creativity and sustainability.
Because right now there's like a billion unsheltered people or under-sheltered people in the world. That's like, my god, that's like, one outta seven or eight people. If you could get to where you're building a million homes a year, it would still take you a thousand years to build a billion shelters. And that's 950 years too long.
So we've really got to change the paradigm here. We've got to like curve jump to a different way of doing things. And you know what can work round the clock tirelessly and is very, very scalable? ICON printers.
The joke at ICON is like, we're gonna solve the global housing crisis and then Jason can die.
The final deliverable of this contract will be humanity’s first construction on another world, and that is going to be a pretty special achievement.
—Jason Ballard
The price point of these homes kinda bug me. While yes, I love the idea of experimenting with new methods of constructing homes to make them more affordable, this price point seems to illustrate either 1) 3D printing is not actually cheaper or 2) the real source of high housing costs does not lie in construction cost.
As you point out, zoning is a big part of the problem (and I agree). But I also think we best tax land values to bring the cost of land down and incentivize more optimal land use: https://www.lianeon.org/p/just-tax-the-land
Together, these should bring housing costs into an ideal range (3x times local median income).
Building on the moon. Very interesting. Good going. Our photons will fix our atoms.