Building With Shipping Containers-123

8/8/2019 Building With Shipping Containers-123

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Building with Shipping Containers

An idea whose time seems to have arrived is the use of stockpiled shipping containers asmodular units for building homes. Because of the balance of trade in the United States,

these hefty steel boxes are piling up in ports around the country and posing a storage problem. Several architects and builders are taking advantage of this surplus to recyclethe containers.

According to David Cross, "a container has 8000 lbs of steel which takes 8000 kwh of energy to melt down and make new beams etc... Our process of modifying that entire8000 lbs of steel into a "higher and better use" only takes 400 kwh of electrical energy (or 5%). Granted it takes a bit more "muscle" but we call this Value-Cycling which we feelis that next step up from Re-cycling."



Each container measures 8 feet wide by 40 feet long by 9 feet tall. SG Blocks sells thefinished structural systems (also called SG Blocks) for $9,000 to $11,000 per unit. Thefinished units have one or two walls removed and include the necessary support columnsand beam enhancements.



According to KPFF Consulting, a structural engineering firm in St. Louis with extensiveexperience working with shipping containers, the units are stronger than conventionalhouse framing because of their resistance to "lateral loads" -- those seen in hurricanes andearthquakes -- and because steel is basically welded to steel. The roof is strong enough tosupport the extra weight of a green roof — which has vegetation growing on it — if the

owner should want it.

As for their energy efficiency, they claim that when the appropriate coatings are installed,the envelope reflects about 95 percent of outside radiation, resists the loss of interior heat, provides an excellent air infiltration barrier and does not allow water to migrate in.

One idea that has occurred to me is that this system might benefit from the use of SIP's(Structural Insulated Panels) for the roofs, rather that standard truss framing. SIP's arevery well insulated, install quickly, and use much less wood than convention roofs.



Shipping containers are self-supporting with beams and stout, marine-grade plywoodflooring already in place, thereby eliminating time and labor during the home-building process. Cross said construction costs are comparable to those in conventional building.

Four to seven units are used in a typical home, he said.



Instead of nailing the siding they use "Super Therm", a ceramic paint made by Superior Products of Minnesota; it can be used as a paint, an adhesive, an insulator, a fireproofingmaterial and an acoustic barrier. With this ceramic paint, they claim the insulationcapacity is equal to a conventional house.

This finished house is virtually indistinguishable from conventional housing.

Adam Kalkin, has also become enamored with shipping containers as an architecturalsolution. The idea to do something with shipping containers came to Kalkin, a NewJersey resident, when driving to New York City, where he saw sky-high stacks of theunused cargo containers in the shipyards he passed.



"The cargo containers, with a life span of about 20 years when used for their original purpose, have an “infinite life span” when stationary and properly maintained," Kalkinsays. “To me they are like a treasured antique: they may not be inherently valuable, butthe history and the storytelling add value.”



Environmentalists have embraced the design, applauding the recycling inherent toKalkin's designs. And advocates for affordable-housing like the design, since accordingto Kalkin, "the total cost of a house—between $150,000 and $175,000 after the buyer settles upon the various options—works out to be between $73 and $90 per square foot,about half the cost of the conventional $200 per square foot for reasonable quality, newconstruction in the Northeast.”



Kalkin has recently opened a factory—“a hangar at a little airport in New Jersey”—tomanufacture Quik Houses. “There are a lot of elbows flying in this process, and this is the best way to protect the quality of the house, to keep the accounting transparent, and tomake sure I am not unwittingly responsible for heinous crimes to the built environment.”Once the factory is fully functional, Kalkin plans to export many of his products,commenting that “the possibilities of working on a world scale are exciting.”

Twenty-one thousand containers hit American shores every day of the year. Containerscan be shipped to the interior of the country via trains and trucks. Shipping containers arelike Lego toys and the modules can be assembled in thousands of ways.



In general it is a good thing to recycle materials that otherwise have no further use for their intended purpose, and this is true here. As for whether one can make a comfortablehouse out of these metal boxes, the biggest question is: insulation...it is essential, butthere are many ways to insulate these containers, so this is not a big concern. Another concern that many people would have is whether a metal box would have adverse healtheffects because of EMF (electro-magnetic frequencies) generation or propagation. Some people are sensitive to these while others are not.

According to the tags on the doors, the timber component (the floor) almost invariably istreated with serious pesticide. There are multiple purposes to the pesticide treatments - a)to prevent transplantation of harmful insects around the world, b) to protect the structureof the floor, and c) to protect the contents from infestation and damage. So care should betaken to either remove the flooring (if pesticide has been used) or protect it from affectingthe contents of the container.

There is no doubt that these containers can be used to fabricate very strong shells thatwould withstand substantial abuse from the ravages of nature.

Building With Shipping Containers-123

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