"I’m sick of “megabuck ISBU projects” that violate the very premise of recycling and sustainable living..."

This is one of the intro lines to Alex Klein's new book "Introduction to Container Homes and Buildings"  And I couldn't agree more. Obviously I do A LOT of reading on container projects, and the whole point is cheap and green.  There are a surprising number of projects using prefab and containers coming in at well over $150/sqft which is ridiculous!

Having been in the container industry for years and a huge proponent of using them for building I'm a little past the "Intro" stage although I still did glean some useful info from it.  He is working on another book, a more comprehensive look at building with ISBU's which I'm eagerly awaiting.

His philosophy is affordable housing for families. So if you're interested in building with containers, or just have a mild curiousity - I highly recommend this book as a starting point as well as his Renaissance Ronin blog.

Over the last several years using shipping containers as a building material has become more popular.  Several projects have even made it into the news such as Magoline Hazelton's container home.  There is one crazy project that is a little closer to home that i will discuss in a later post.

Why would someone use a container to build a house?

Strength & durability
The heavy gauge corten steel walls can resist corrosion as well as tornado's, hail, and even small arms fire! (ok maybe a low velocity .22)


Modular & Transport
Due to the international standards organization. All containers are very consistent in size which makes building with them very easy reducing labour costs.  Also all the transporting infrastructure is in place due to the intermodal system.  They can be easily transported by rail, boat or truck.


Cost
This is probably on one of the biggest factors fueling their use.  Low cost and availability.  You can buy containers at a cost of as little as ~$8 per square foot.

Enviro Friendly

I've noticed a huge green shift in society.  People are becoming a lot more environmentally aware.  You can notice this just walking thru your local supermarket you'll find a lot of "Organic" and "Sustainable" products which just weren't available 2 years ago. This trend also carries over into building as well, people are looking at energy efficient, recycled, enviromentally friendly green products now more then ever.  

It's not exactly a secret that shipping containers make excellent offices, typically they are used for construction sites, mine sites, O&G etc.  There is a company called Marketing via Postal Group in Santa Ana, CA who has put a trendy twist  on the use, and is using them as offices inside a large warehouse.  Instead of paying big bucks to renovate and retrofit the building they had these little beauties made for a fraction of the price.

All the offices have individual climate control - which has netted huge savings on the utilities due to the smaller size as opposed to heating/cooling the entire warehouse.  Another byproduct of the smaller carbon footprint is an end to the temperature battles between coworkers. Another bonus feature is very little downtime if they need to relocate to a new facility.

If you look at the photo's below you will notice theres even a kitchenette/lunchroom, courtyard, and a few small meeting areas...

Corten Coolness pt.2

Enter composites.

Will we see these soon?