Outside of the additive manufacturing (AM) industry, one will often see the concept of additive construction referred to as “house 3D printing” or “3D printed construction.” Just see the results of the Google keyword tool below. In part, this indicates the level of awareness that the general public has of this specific sector, as most mainstream news stories cover the increasing number of homes now being made with concrete 3D printing techniques. However, additive construction is now reaching a point where the sector is being valued for 3D printed housing and beyond.

This is signaled by a number of developments, primarily the number of extremely large players that have entered the space. Many of the headlines we see today are being generated by some small startups, including ICON and COBOD, who build construction 3D printing systems. However, their customers are some of the largest on the planet.

For instance, COBOD—backed by the $1.8 billion PERI Group—is the supplier for GE, which recently built the world’s biggest additive construction facility to 3D print concrete bases for wind turbines. Holcim, the roughly $28-billion cement giant in hot water for making deals with ISIS in Syria, is another COBOD customer. It uses COBOD machines to 3D print homes and schools in Africa through its non-profit group 14trees.

ICON’s customers are arguably even bigger. In addition to collaborating with smaller housing developers, ICON’s primary partners are NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense. For the U.S. Army, ICON has 3D printed vehicle shelters and massive barracks.

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