The Lake Dallas-based company, which launched in 2022, uses technology to optimize the construction of homes, Khan said, and homes made by the company are framed in recycled steel. Housing projects from the company are underway or have been completed in McKinney, Melissa, Denton and other North Texas cities, including both custom homes and neighborhoods.
The gist
Khan said the use of steel has multiple benefits, including that it is stronger than wood, which allows for the home plans to be modified to use less material while maintaining building standards. The material is also lighter than wood, and resistant to things like mold and damage from fires or weather events, something a wood-framed home may be more affected by, he said.
The recycled steel needed for one 2,500-square-foot home is sourced domestically from about 6 cars, while a traditional home could require 40 or more mature trees for the wood frame, Khan said. The steel used is more expensive per foot than wood, Khan said, but the process includes other measures to offset the cost including reducing material waste, construction time and labor costs.
Netze.Homes residences also feature elements that promote both wellness and energy-efficiency, Khan said. Multiple layers of interior and exterior installation as well as ventilated facade panels and built-in sun shades are used to reduce the heating and cooling needed. The homes also include smooth walls, minimal horizontal edges and other elements to reduce dust collection, Khan said.
“My goal is to make steel [frames] affordable for everybody, because wood is not the way to do it,” Khan said.
Diving in deeper
The company started with one home built in 2022, and increased to 10 built in 2023 and 34 built in 2024. Khan said he would like to see the company complete 100 home builds in 2025.
Despite the year-over-year growth, the company’s Lake Dallas factory is not running at full capacity, Khan said. By adding more shifts and running at full capacity, the company could print as many as 400 homes each year.
The steel elements are printed and shaped at the company’s factory, and include pre-cut holes for panel assembly with screws. A panel can be printed in as little as two minutes, and a home requires around 300 panels, Khan said, noting that his factory can print the steel elements needed for a home in one day.
The assembly process, both in the factory and on the site, is safer and simpler, Khan said. The process to assemble the home frame on site takes two weeks, which is about half of the time of a wood frame assembly, he said. The steel frame has a motherboard-style design that includes precut elements that reserve space for installation of heating and cooling equipment, plumbing, electrical elements, windows and more.
“Everything is perfectly aligned,” Khan said, equating the assembly to the process of building a LEGO kit.
A “digital twin” of the home is designed prior to printing it, which is a more advanced plan than a floorplan or elevation, Khan said. The blueprint accounts for every element of the home, including finishes and elements added by subcontractors.
“Any mistake at the site is too expensive, but at the drawing table, it’s much easier,” Khan said.
In the future, Khan wants to use technology to enable the frame to be built in a matter of hours.
“You are not planning, dimensioning, nothing. You just mark it and just put it here. That's a simple task, that is something a robotic arm can do,” Khan said, noting that he would like to implement the robotic technology next year.
Quote of note
“For homes, the most important part is the resilience and that's what I'm aiming for. ... My mission is to create a place where you feel safe,” Khan said.
Zooming in
The Row, a Netze.Homes housing project in McKinney, will include 66 steel-framed townhomes.
The project was announced May 2023, and the two-story townhomes feature contemporary home designs with open-concept floor plans, high ceilings and large windows, according to the company’s website. The 8.4-acre project site, located at 6492 McKinney Ranch Parkway, was rezoned in late 2022 in anticipation of the development, which is currently in development.
Khan said he considered the McKinney site to be an opportunity to develop a more affordable housing type using the company's steel construction and technology.
Looking ahead
The company is looking to continue production of homes while also finding other ways to implement the steel technology, Khan said.
Other building types including commercial and retail facilities can also utilize the technology, he said, and the company is pursuing ways to share the technology with other businesses.
“For the last 100 years, [we've been] building exactly the same way,” Khan said. “My ultimate aim is to give this technology to everybody.”
