Concrete + 3D Printing =
How cool is this? (archived: 2012)
It can take anywhere from six weeks to six months to build a 2,800-square-foot, two-story house in the U.S., mostly because human beings do all the work. Within the next five years, chances are that 3D printing (also known by the less catchy but more inclusive term additive manufacturing) will have become so advanced that we will be able to upload design specifications to a massive robot, press print, and watch as it spits out a concrete house in less than a day. Plenty of humans will be there, but just to ogle.
Wow.
So I might want to invest in concrete stocks.
As noted earlier today, this technology may one day become “normal” or the “new normal” or simply “what we’re building with now.”
It might take less than a week to build a concrete house using this technology, but I’d wager it would take at least three to five years to get approval from Albemarle’s Architectural Review Board. 🙂
Interested in Learning More?
I have been been representing buyers and sellers in Charlottesville, Albemarle, and Central Virginia since 2001. Get local insight born of experience.
Dig Deeper
Always Read Covenants and Restrictions
You never know what you're going to find when you dig into Covenants and Restrictions. "1. No shop, store, trailer, temporary living structure, factory, hospital, asylum, institution, tourist home or business house of any kind, and no apartment house shall be erected or maintained on…
Revisiting the “0 to 5 Buyer is Gone” Post – 15 years later
Revisiting the “0-5 Buyer Is Gone” Theory We’re in a different market now. Some of the people who bought between 2021 and 2024 are trying to sell — and the ones who bought new construction, now competing against new construction, are having a hard time.…
A Charlottesville e-bike Success Story
I have an e-bike. I love my e-bike. I ride it to meetings all over the City of Charlottesville instead of driving my car. e-bikes are great. A friend got an e-bike. He loves his e-bike. He has a different perspective, and I asked him…
Flipping the Switch, Part 3: ADUs, Zoning, and the Practical Guide
Flipping the Switch, Part 3: ADUs, Zoning, and the Practical Guide Part 1 covered the data. Part 2 covered the design. This week: the regulatory landscape, the ADU reality check, and the practical checklist. The ADU Conversation Has Changed When I wrote about this in…