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[00:00.96] A huge 3D printer is working to create what is believed to be the first two-story home built with the technology in the United States.

[00:14.51] The home is currently taking shape in Houston, Texas.

[00:20.09] The 3D printing machine working on the project weighs more than 12 tons.

[00:28.06] The 3D printer is using concrete to produce the home, which will be about 371 square meters.

[00:40.01] Some parts of the home will also have wood elements.

[00:46.38] Leaders of the project said the process is expected to take about 330 hours of printing.

[00:57.54] Leslie Lok is the architect who designed the three-bedroom home and who leads the design studio HANNAH.

[01:09.49] Lok told Reuters news agency that in the design process, the team had to think about more than the design of the house and how it would be used.

[01:23.57] “We also design the actual print path, like how the printer will print, where it starts and where it stops,” Lok said.

[01:35.26] The project is a two-year cooperative effort by HANNAH, building company PERI 3D and CIVE, which provided engineering support.

[01:48.54] Lok said since the printer does most of the work, fewer workers are needed at the building site.

[01:56.77] She said the effort only requires four to five people to oversee the 3D printing process.

[02:06.34] Lok said: “One of the benefits is also, it takes a lot of the heavy lifting, the labor” from human workers.

[02:17.49] Concrete is a very strong material to use in home building and can survive hurricanes, heavy storms and other severe weather.

[02:29.71] Roberto Montemayor is the project leader for PERI 3D Construction.

[02:38.21] He told Reuters the large 3D printer operates in much the same way as the small printers used in homes and offices.

[02:49.90] But there are two main differences.

[02:54.95] The first is that the home-building 3D printer can be expanded and changed to fit the needs of any size project, Montemayor said.

[03:06.90] The other difference is the material it uses. “We are printing here with concrete, which is a completely different material than plastic.”

[03:19.38] The home is expected to be completed in the second half of 2023.

[03:27.35] The builders say they hope the modern method can be used in the future to build even larger housing structures.

[03:37.98] They said the technology can also build homes faster and for a lot less money.

[03:46.48] A growing number of American companies have begun offering homes built with 3D printing technology in recent years.

[03:57.63] But so far, the homes being offered are much smaller.

[04:03.74] The startup company Icon, based in Austin, Texas, made news in 2018 by completing the first permitted 3D printed home in the U.S.

[04:19.95] At the time, it said the home had been built in just one day.