In the new green building consciousness of the world, shipping containers are taking on new life as green homes and offices. Many times you may have seen shipping bins or containers used for storage buildings. Did you ever consider using one to make an eco-friendly house or office? This innovative green building idea sprang to life a few years ago. Today, there are hundreds of homes that incorporate shipping containers into their design.
Affordable Abundant Supply For Green Building
Shipping containers that have outlived their usefulness for transport are often relegated to shipping yards and salvage yards to rust away. You can buy these shipping bins on places such as eBay. At last check, the prices on eBay ranged from $1,000 each and upwards. You might even be able to find a better bargain.
Think of it – a shipping container offers ready-made walls and floors. You will have to modify it, of course. You will need windows and doors. You can add several together to make rooms. You can stack them on top of each other– they were designed to be easily stackable in the shipping yard. Shipping containers are an eco-friendly and very sturdy resource for home construction.
The most common size of a shipping container is 8 feet wide by 8½ feet tall by 40 feet long. See the attached photo for one example of how a couple has modified two shipping containers into an innovative green home design. This is a green building and construction option because it uses material that would otherwise be thrown away. By re-purposing or reclaiming the shipping bins / containers as housing, it helps the environment. Fewer trees will be cut down.
Shipping Container Housing As a Solution To Homelessness
A company in the U.K. has created very chic apartment units with the shipping containers stacked on top of each other. These containers also make great portable offices for job sites, or temporary housing units for displaced citizens. Shipping container housing could help end homelessness if non-profit organizations would re-purpose the containers as small homes. Shipping container housing is already a growing industry. It's an idea whose time has obviously arrived. Entire communities are being built around the concept because this solution answers several needs at once:
- Environmentally-friendly housing
- Recycling used materials
- Affordable
- Sturdy and long-lasting
- Readily available
- A surplus of containers
- A fundamental need for quality, low-cost housing
- Re-purposing the containers keeps them out of storage and decay
ISO containers can be modified with plumbing, insulation, electricity and interior walls. They are built to resist oceans and all the rigors of transport with tough corrugated steel and tubular steel frames. They also feature one and a half inch thick marine-grade plywood floors, locking steel doors, water-resistant welded seams and all weather paint.
So if you're looking for an environmentally sustainable solution to affordable housing that is long-lasting, eco-friendly and relatively easy to construct, consider shipping containers.
Sally Odum - A Freelance Writer / Journalist / SEO Copywriter, I enjoy writing for business and pleasure. With more than 10 years of experience, I ...
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