The National Association of Realtors has noted a rise in this year’s median household income for home buyers, climbing to $107,000 from the previous year’s $88,000. Concurrently, the inventory of homes for sale in the United States has hit a historic low and exhibits no indications of increasing.
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The rising costs and corresponding decline in the availability of homes are beneficial developments since they may encourage families to choose more sustainable and eco-friendly options. Studies reveal that while they discourage the development of new, reasonably priced housing, single-family suburbs play a significant role in greenhouse gas emissions.
However, firms like BotBuilt argue that by utilizing technology to reduce the cost and lessen the drawbacks of homebuilding, potential homeowners may have their cake and eat it, too.
Barrett Ames, a robotics engineer, Brent Wadas, and Colin Devine are the creators of BotBuilt. The company was established in 2020 to develop a robotic system that can receive a building plan, convert it into machine commands, and then transmit those orders to the previously described system.
Now, the technology that BotBuilt has in mind doesn’t build houses from the ground up. Instead, it concentrates on one particular step in the “flow” of homebuilding: building the framing.
Robots from BotBuilt construct panels for roof trusses, floor trusses, and walls—some of the main structural elements of houses. Ames claims that the company’s system costs only $1 per hour and can be swiftly reprogrammed to create “entirely” alternative frame designs for residences.
According to Ames’ theory, homebuilding can be significantly expedited while reducing expenses by automating the framing stage.
The average cost of framing a house is $7 to $16 per square foot, including labor costs of $4 to $10. In the best-case situation, framing takes roughly a month, but labor shortages and inclement weather can cause delays. According to the National Association of Home Builders, over 55% of single-family homebuilders reported a lack of competent labor in 2021 across all homebuilding trades, including framers.
Homebuilders are the primary clientele of BotBuilt. Instead of selling the frame-building equipment, it runs factories using robots to make framing for homebuilding clients.
Ames concedes that companies like Randek, Weinmann, and House of Design are competitors of BotBuilt in the robotics homebuilding market. Mighty Homes and Diamond Age have developed methods capable of printing and assembling parts such as roof frameworks and interiors for homes.
BotBuilt has only constructed nine homes thus far, bringing in roughly $75,000 in income. However, according to Ames, things will pick up speed in 2024. The company intends to start selling trusses produced by its robotics while expanding BotBuilt’s overall operations.
To support the company’s growth, BotBuilt has secured $12.4 million in early capital; prior backers include Owens Corning, Ambassador Supply, Y Combinator, and Shadow Ventures. According to Ames, a portion of the funding round, which places BotBuilt’s post-money valuation at $35 million, will go toward expanding the staff at the Durham, North Carolina-based startup from 13 to roughly 20 employees.
(Information Source: Techcrunch.com)
