Would you live in a storage container?
At LIVE Urban, we’re fully on board the green train – launching a LIVE green-focused marketing strategy next month, along with an electronic version of our newsletter. We’re one of the few brokerages in town that uses e-contracts to reduce printing and paper use, and we have a ton of listings that are built completely green.
We do not, however, work in a storage container…yet.
This article in today’s USA Today spotlights a home building method that takes repurposing to a completely new level…
Mainly an “experiment” at this time, the homes have the potential to take off in the industry, said Bill Gati, a member of the American Institute of Architects Custom Residential Design Committee.
“It’s cutting-edge, and people that use it are considered mavericks and trail blazers,” he said.
Architect Peter DeMaria of DeMaria Design in Manhattan Beach, Calif., says the recycled containers, which cost between $2,000 and $3,000, are only “the tip of the iceberg” of the designs. The homes, which use anywhere from four to eight containers, can include add-ons such as solar panels, green roofs, radiant heating and other environmentally friendly or energy efficient features, DeMaria says.
David Cross, founder of SG Blocks, a company that modifies containers at 17 U.S. locations, says there are about 75 homes nationwide using shipping containers.
Low-cost modern housing
With high construction costs throughout California, Anna and Sven Pirkl turned to DeMaria for a lower-cost modern dwelling that used recycled materials for their Redondo Beach lot. DeMaria designed a 3,220-square-foot home on a 8,860-square-foot property for the couple, DeMaria said.
More than a year later, the Pirkls don’t mind that their home, completed in May 2007, stands out in the neighborhood because of its modern design, Sven Pirkl said.
On the outside, the Pirkls didn’t try to hide that their home is made from six shipping containers cut into eight, although the couple did use beige acrylic paint to cover the containers. On the inside, the Pirkl’s home has high ceilings, concrete floors, recycled cotton insulation and walls framed from formaldehyde-free plywood, Pirkl said.
As an added benefit, by retaining many of the features of the containers, the Pirkls won’t have to deal with costly upkeep, he added.
DeMaria is planning to offer the container houses starting at $150 per square foot, or $300,000 for 2,000 square feet, through Logical Homes, a website being launched this month to let customers purchase the homes that arrive on location quickly and need little on-site labor, he said. Costs for a traditional custom home in Manhattan Beach run around $225 to $250 per square foot, he added.
Skepticism at the start
It’s the shipping container’s strength that makes it valuable in building construction, Cross said.
“These are built to take a dynamic, moving life aboard ships, and then we take them and put them in a stable environment on a foundation,” he said. As with other buildings made from steel, required insulation keeps the homes from overheating, Cross said.
SG Blocks is slated to provide housing for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler, Canada, through a project that will construct 300 units in eight three-story buildings using less than 100 containers. The buildings, which will be completed by Nov. 1, will house staff until the games are over, after which they will be disassembled and moved to another location, Bruce Russell, SG Blocks managing partner, said.
Architect Adam Kalkin of Bernardsville, N.J., who first used shipping containers in home construction 10 years ago, recalls meeting a lot of skepticism at the start, but he says growing environmental interest and high construction and labor costs have led clients to look at containers as a solution.
“Ten years ago, they were like, ‘What are you talking about?’ ” he said. In Salt Lake City, Kalkin’s design is being turned into City Center Lofts, a seven-story condominium with eight residential and one commercial unit set for completion next spring, owner Adam Price said.
Costing less than condominiums built using traditional materials, City Center Lofts will be 50% to 70% recycled material by weight, Price said.
Kalkin’s company, Quik Build, is also working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide emergency housing, although the agency has yet to order a project, Kalkin said.
Because they are made of steel, container houses would hold up better than traditional homes in areas prone to natural disasters, said Kent Pipes, president of the Affordable Homes Group, a non-profit organization based in Mount Holly, N.J.
The containers also could be transported to areas after a disaster to provide temporary housing to affected residents.
Besides emergency housing, Pipes believes containers are an affordable housing solution, he said.
The group is looking to provide single-family container homes at less than $100 per square foot, Pipes said.
“We are utilizing a resource that right now is sitting unused and wasted,” he said. “We don’t just take something and recycle it, we recycle it up in the waste stream so that it becomes better than its alternative use.”
Hello , I agree with this article, just sometimes I read so fast everything and I miss things that after read them again, I can understand it better..
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Interesting post, when does DeMaria come to Denver to build these container projects???
I am always looking for good information and latest news about homes in colorado. I like reading posts related to it like you live in a storage container? | Denver Real Estate Blog and what people think. Thx
I would love to utilize some of the containers in a home design in the Denver area. I am a recent grad that moved to the Denver area and will be looking into the possibilities for this type of housing.
Does anyone see anything wrong with that, or is it just me?
I wanted to research this subject and write a paper. Your post what a thousand words would not. Nice job.
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i have a lakelot on an island and think this would be a great altenative to traditional building, am doing some research and need more ideas to sparkle up the box. don’t need much room and can get a coppter to fly it in. i would think that i would prefab everything at home then move it in finished.
the container would make a great electical gound and would have a hard time burning to the ground. no fire resonce on the island no bridge no emergency sevice. will think more on it
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That is a really cool idea I wonder how it looks in real life.
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Cheers! Sandra. R.
Great stuff here!
Containers,prefabracted steel, modular, prefab homes and buildings will offer solutions to the world’s building and housing shortage for the deprived, under-privileged and low income populations in society by providing a total system for basic, low-cost, quality built housing. The modular housing constructed with sandwich panels is the lowest in cost, most rapidly erected, simplest in design, and most structurally sound basic housing in existence today. Plus, you can ship 21 houses in a 40 foot container.
The information on this page pertains to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
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