Frequently Asked Questions
General Information
How can I purchase an ICON home?

We have several communities of ICON homes available for purchase in our Available Homes section. Additional ICON homes and developments are coming soon in multiple locations. To stay updated on all new home availability, sign up for our Home Interest list.

I'm a developer and ready to build ICON Homes. Where do I start?

Great! We look forward to hearing from you. Simply fill out the information for developers located on our Contact Page and we will be in touch.

Where and when will you be 3D printing more homes?

We continue to expand and have numerous developments coming soon to deliver new home styles. Current projects are within the Southwest region, with further expansion planned for 2025 and beyond.To stay updated on all new home availability, sign up for our Homes Interest list.

What are the features and benefits of an ICON home?

Designed and engineered for precision, speed and resiliency, ICON homes are created using innovative robotics, software and advanced materials to deliver high-performance, beautiful homes. The durable walls of ICON homes are “3D printed” meaning a high-tech robot built the home layer by layer with cementitious-based material to ensure maximum comfort and efficiency. ICON homes provide better insulation compared to conventional construction and the wall construction decreases the home’s temperature fluctuations in the summer and winter and during extreme weather events.

Learn More


Are printed walls designed to be resistant to pests, mold, and mildew?

ICON homes are designed with wall systems that are built to resist water, mold, termites and fire. ICON homes with printed exterior and interior walls have no structural wood framing near the foundation, providing a more resilient structure to resist termites and other pests compared to CMU and stick frame construction. Mold and mildew thrive in damp, warm environments, and can be supported by the organic material contained in wood, drywall, and carpeting, deteriorating building materials over time. The wall structure of an ICON home contains similar materials to concrete and does not contain the organic material necessary to support mold by itself. Including printed interior walls helps further reduce organic material available to foster mold growth in the home.

Owning an ICON Home
How do I inquire about a home mortgage for an ICON home?

We’ve made it easy to receive a mortgage quote and/or approval through our partnership with Rocket Mortgage. Simply search for an available home in our Homes section, understand your potential mortgage payment with our mortgage calculator, and from there you can get in touch with a mortgage broker to get certified loan approval based on your personal assessment. You are also welcome to use any traditional mortgage broker for this process.

How do I hang art, photos or TVs inside an ICON home?

Great question. The same way you’d hang on CMU (concrete masonry units or “cinder blocks”). Just run to your local hardware store and grab anchor screws. Picture rails also look really nice!

How do I fill or patch a hole? Do I need anything special?

Filling holes and repairing natural wear and tear damage to the walls is easy! Simply patch the area with a matching grout or concrete patch compound found at your local hardware store. A comprehensive guide of how to do this is accessible for all ICON homeowners via their welcome kit and home manual.

How do I get in touch if I have a question about my ICON home?

All ICON homeowners become members of ICON’s Owners Association, which will launch a new portal in summer 2024. For any current homeowners with queries, please submit your information via our Contact Page for homeowners.

Home Performance: Energy efficiency, sustainability and durability
What are the EnergyStar ratings for ICON homes?

ICON homes typically achieve a HERS rating between 40 and 55 depending on the air conditioning system and window type selection. This HERS rating reflects a 60% to 45% reduction in energy costs compared to the reference home.

→ Learn more

What is the thermal performance of the wall system?

The standard ICON 12 inch wall used throughout ICON home designs featured in CODEX (unless otherwise noted with a speciality wall) achieves an overall thermal performance of R-22, which is equivalent to a traditionally-constructed home.

Learn more


What energy code requirements are there for an ICON home?

The ICON wall system is designed to exceed the energy code minimum thermal performance across all 8 climate zones throughout the United States.

Zero Energy Ready Home

The ICON home designs within CODEX in the AlphaBeta collection are rated as Zero Energy Ready Homes.

Achieving a Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) rating adds a few additional requirements on top of the EnergyStar certification program. The high thermal performance and air tightness of the ICON wall system, and the simplicity of the interior print as finishes, makes achieving the ZERH rating contributes to making it cost effective. Home Builders to achieve an EnergyStar rating may be eligible to receive a $5,000 tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Learn more

Can we add solar to an ICON home?

Each of the homes in ICON’s CODEX meet the requirements for solar energy ready as defined by the Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home program. This includes space for homeowners to install the necessary solar utility meters, wiring, and panels required for a solar installation.

What Smart Home features do ICON homes Include?

ICON homes generally come standard with a central smart home controller, smart thermostat for energy efficient operation, and a smart video doorbell, depending on the project. This expandable system allows homeowners to add other smart home devices to the central smart home controller to suit their needs. Homes are also frequently rewired for the installation of an electric vehicle charging station.

Why do most of ICON's homes have metal roofs?

All of the homes in ICON’s CODEX are designed with metal roofs for long life and durability. Metal roofs are recognized throughout the building industry as being long lasting with up to a 70 year lifespan compared to the traditional 20 to 30 years for an asphalt roofing system. Metal roofs have increased durability and are better able to withstand severe weather and fire.

Sustainability benefits include improved energy efficiency by reflecting the sun's UV and infrared rays that heat up a home in the summer, high recycled content, and are 100% recyclable after their end of life unlike asphalt roofing systems.

How are ICON homes sustainably built?

With precise robotic construction, the wall systems are delivered with extreme accuracy and reduced waste. Construction waste from building an average American home is equal to four tons. With robotic construction, we are able to build homes with near zero waste and print just what we need and then stop.

Additionally, standing seam metal roofs are designed to be durable, energy-efficient, fire-resistant, and last longer than traditional roofs.

A detailed MIT reviewed life cycle assessment demonstrated the embodied carbon of an ICON home is comparable to a stick framed home over a 100 year period. This is achieved through an efficient use of printed material, and the use of ICON’s CarbonX formulation. The operational carbon footprint is reduced through the improved energy efficiency achieved with the ICON printed wall system.

→ Learn more about ICON’s material science

How are ICON homes designed for hurricane resistance?

The Storm collection in ICON’s CODEX is designed to achieve Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s (IBHS) FORTIFIED Gold Standard. The IBHS FORTIFIED certification is recognized as the leading testing standard to prevent loss of life and property during a hurricane. The FORTIFIED standard helps protect homes against damage or loss in severe weather.

As part of meeting this standard, the ICON wall system is tested to ASTM E330, E1886, and E1996, and can withstand 250 mph hurricane force winds and impacts from debris. The wall system, which is pursuing Miami-Dade certification, forms the center of the overall Storm design collection’s system. All roofing, window, and door specifications meet the requirements of the rigorous Fortified Home Standard.

How are ICON homes designed for wildfire resistance?

The homes in the Fire collection are designed to prevent the home from catching fire when a wildfire is in close proximity to the home. Following the IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home and NFPA Firewise programs the home is designed to resist ignition during a wildfire from all of the three primary wildfire exposures of embers or firebrands, radiant heat, and/or direct flame contact.

The exterior walls of the home collection have a fire resistance rating of more than 2.5 hrs per ASTM E119 and interior walls have a fire resistance rating of 117 minutes. The roof has a Class-A fire-resistance rating per ASTM E108 or UL 790 and is designed to more easily shed debris that may catch fire.

How do ICON homes perform in extreme weather including high winds, hurricanes, and impacts?

Climate change poses new challenges to the way homes are built. The mass in ICON wall systems make homes more resilient to the shocks and stresses brought on by climate change by helping moderate, significant temperature swings during cold snaps and heat waves. This helps mitigate the impact of higher utility costs that tend to occur during these peak demand periods.

What type of home performance testing is performed?

ICON’s wall systems undergo rigorous testing programs and meet or exceed in all facets. ICON walls are tested to ASTM E330, E1886, and E1996 for hurricane high wind and impact resistance at hurricane speeds. The wall system is also completing Miami-Dade certification for hurricane performance. This testing demonstrates the capacity of the wall system to withstand 250 mph hurricane winds and impacts from debris.

In addition, our wall systems are tested and meet the requirements of ICC 500-200 for use in tornado shelters and can withstand wind pressures and impacts of tornado borne debris traveling at 100 mph.

How strong are 3D-printed walls?

In structural tests, ICON wall systems continue to exceed strength requirements. ICON’s design methodology has been validated and confirmed by third party structural testing through ICC-ES AC 509. The system can be designed to withstand site-specific loads, and easily surpasses the capacity needed for residential construction.

Have you done wind impact testing?

ICON's standard structural wall system has been tested to withstand wind speeds of 250 mph and is easily modified for increased capacity. ICON's wall systems are 3rd party tested to be used in tornado shelters demonstrating the ability to withstand tornado wind pressure and debris traveling at 100 mph.

Have you done seismic testing on your wall systems before?

The structural design of the ICON wall system has focused on those structures located within our current service areas. As ICON continues to expand its service area we will deploy wall systems that meet the requirements of the local and regional areas, this includes seismic, additional wind testing, and additional thermal performance testing of the wall system.

Is the wall system of an ICON home able to withstand freeze thaw cycles in colder climates?

Freeze-thaw testing is part of ICON’s ICC-ES AC 509 certification of the wall system. The material passed the testing required with AC 509 making it suitable for cold weather construction.

How long are ICON homes expected to last?

ICON homes are expected to last as long or longer than standard Concrete Masonry Unit (CMU) built homes. The homes are built to the International Building Code (IBC) structural code standard.

Is there a moisture barrier in the middle of the wall system?

The ICON wall system does not require the application of additional moisture retarders to meet building code requirements. Once printed and cured, our material has a permanence equivalent to a class 3 vapor retarder and doesn’t require an additional vapor retarder to be added to the building enclosure. A waterproofing system is also applied to the exterior of the printed walls to prevent rainwater penetration.

What makes an ICON home more comfortable?

The comfort of occupants in a building is not solely determined by air temperature, but also significantly influenced by radiant heat, which is often overlooked in the construction industry. Radiant heat, the heat that moves through invisible waves directly from a heat source to a body, can make a space feel hotter than the actual air temperature.

In framed homes during the summer, the interior surface of the wall reaches higher average radiant temperatures above comfortable levels, even if the thermostat is set to a cooler temperature. The thermostat in a home is only controlled by the air temperature and measures the average surface temperature in a space. This is why rooms with large amounts of glass typically need to be kept at lower temperatures in the summer in hot climates and higher temperatures in the winter in cold climates.

The mass of the ICON wall system keeps the internal surface temperatures lower than stick framed homes under similar outdoor conditions. Cooler surfaces in the summer and warmer temperatures in the winter contribute to a more comfortable environment and typically require less air conditioning to feel comfortable.