Can You Really Get This Small 3D Printed House For $4,000?

By Mayukh Saha / Truth Theory

3D printed houses are the new wave in construction, but what you see on the internet is not completely true.

Do not get fooled by false or fake news that you find on the internet, as most of the things that you see, which are much better than what they usually are, are false or made up.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE TRUTH THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL, CLICK HERE

Is ICON Changing The Construction Industry For Good?

ICON is said to change the game of 3D printing houses by inculcating creativity and innovation. They have utilized a robot-based technology that lets them build 3D printed houses in a way that is cost-efficient.

The design of the building is such that it costs only $10,000 to build a 650-square-foot house, all with the help of a Vulcan printer in only 12-24 hours.

ICON built their model at SXSW which featured a bedroom, a living room, a curved porch, and a bathroom. The co-founders of the company wanted to use the model as an office to see how it performs.

The 3D printing tycoon has also partnered with New Story to carry its message to the whole world. They are aiming to build around 100 homes in El Salvador by the next year using this Vulcan printer.

The 3D printed house has an estimated value much lower than average homes and takes lesser time to build 100 homes, New Story stated that it took them 8 months to build 100 homes, each valued at around $6,000.

ICON believes that Vulcan, running at full capacity could build 600-800 sq feet houses in under 24 hours for less than $4,000.

Debunking The Myths Of 3D Printed Houses

Jarett Gross took up the initiative to bust the myths surrounding these 3D printed houses and tell people what everything actually is.

He had traveled to various parts of the world to see the houses himself and also had many of the founders of these companies on his podcasts.

Jarett took a shot at modern journalism and stated that journalism was all about being transparent, truthful, and presenting things objectively, but everything has changed now as the “new-gen” journalists are just copying what other people are writing.

READ: ECO-SUSTAINABLE 3D-PRINTED HOUSE PROJECT STARTED IN ITALY

We can see big websites like the New York Post and INSIDER, talking about these topics without any due diligence.

Jarett met with ICON founder, Alex Theroux, and asked him about the $4,000 3D printed house, he replied that it “was a complete mishap”.

Some people said that there was a “rounding error”, while others accused ICON of lying about the actual price. In reality, the PR team and the team of founders had never actually told the journalists about the $4,000 value. 

COBOD founder and CEO, Henrik LundNielsen, stated that when someone does something for the first time, it’s extremely difficult. He added that ABC News picked up the news and had one million downloads of their video. They received around 5000 emails that asked them to go and print houses for $10,000 for them in their backyards. This was not feasible to do, as everything that was reported was all but “b**shit”. They did not answer a single one of these emails. He added that the lack of response was also characteristic of the journalism industry.

There have been some horrible false claims about what 3D printing technology could do from a price point, from a deliverable standpoint, and even about its availability. There are many people who think that they can have a 3D printed house for $5,000 in the next week if they can just call the constructors up and get a printer sent over. 

3D printing can be considered to be a great step in the construction industry but people need to be mature and consider the pros and cons of doing so and should keep away from false expectations.

There has been a lot of click-baiting and hype around the 3D printing industry and this was what held the industry back.

READ: THE FIRST 3D-PRINTED HOUSE IN THE US WAS SO SUCCESSFUL, 50 MORE ARE BEING MADE

A couple of companies might have got funding raised for it but their investor might get choked when they find that the $6,000 3D printed house is actually valued at $ 60,000.

Hiding the truths has become quite a common feature in journalism and people throw in names just to get more clicks or views. People need to be educated about the truths surrounding this industry which then becomes a win-win for both parties as the excitement of the people catalyzes the movement forward.

This might have been good in terms of marketing or getting the news out, but it was all but a farce. 

Image credits: ICON

Leave Comment: