GREELEY, Colo. — The winding tubes of dried concrete near the corner of 32nd St. & 29th Ave. in Greeley may not look like much right now, but to families like Rachel Borum and her son, they're everything.
"To be in front of this, and calling it my home, it's just, it's unreal," she said of the beginnings of her 3D printed home that's starting to take shape.
Her future home and the homes of more than 170 other families are beginning to be built in the Hope Springs Community, the largest Habitat for Humanity Project in the entire state. The multi-million dollar project was made possible from land donations, grants and investors including private companies like JBS USA and government support including the City of Greeley.
"I've been trying to build up to get the down payment, and I qualify. I think I have everything in line to get what I need to purchase a home, and then the housing market just keeps going," said Borum of her struggles of becoming a homeowner.
One of the several partners involved in the housing project is Greeley based company Alquist 3D, which is printing several of the homes.
"The design knows exactly where the windows are, where the doors are, where the sockets are," explained Zach Mannheimer, founder of Alquist 3D, "we use giant robots that lay down concrete that is pumped through a hose system into the nozzle. The rest of the home is still built the same way as any other home. We still need our plumbers, electricians, roofers, carpenters, etc."
It takes about 20 hours to 3D print a home. The benefits are expected to last a lifetime for the families who never thought they could call themselves homeowners.
"Now I can focus more on [her son's] education college and hopefully be able to save for him in his future and then look into retirement for me in the long future," said Borum.
The first 170 homes are expected to be complete in 2029, with the final phase of the project bringing the total up to 490 housing units.
