Housing the Next Generation with Old Shipping Containers

sgblockhouse.png

If the predictions are accurate, America will have to house some 100 million more people by 2040 to mid-century than is now the case. Despite the current round of foreclosures and rising apartment vacancy, over the long term the demand for humane, affordable, sustainable housing is going to escalate dramatically in the coming years.

In this recessionary time, it may be tempting to ignore the coming boost in housing demand. Yet eventually growth will pick up and the housing market will become re-invigorated. Nonetheless, the problem of meeting the demand for affordable housing will remain. For now, the federal government is trying to help state and local governments acquire, renovate and sell foreclosed properties, and individual homeowners to reduce their mortgage payments to 31 percent of their income. Federal efforts are also being aimed at increasing funds to redevelop public housing and at giving first-time homebuyers an $8,000 tax credit.

But these are short-term measures. Others, with more lasting impact, may be more effective. One will be the size of houses. Although some may still choose to build large lot homes and McMansions, the longer-term trend will be for somewhat more compact houses. Contrary to the visions of some urban boosters, Americans will continue to favor single family homes over apartments. But these houses seem likely to trend back to the more traditional, modest scale. Between 2006 and 2007, after years of expanding, the size of a median single-family house actually decreased slightly.

Another critical element of a housing solution lies in building workforce housing close to the workplace. For years, many moderate income Americans have been forced to “drive ‘til they qualify.” Throughout the nation’s metropolitan areas, teachers, police officers, firefighters, salesclerks, municipal workers, and young people, among others, are being elbowed out of the local housing market. In a recent survey conducted by the Urban Land Institute in cooperation with Harris interactive, of the 110 larger firms (over 100 employees) surveyed, fifty-five percent reported a lack of affordable housing nearby, sixty-seven percent of the workers interviewed (who earned less than $50,000 per year) said they would move closer to work if more housing in their price range were available, and fifty-eight percent of the companies reported having lost employees due in part to long commute times.

For most Americans, particularly between ages 30 and 70, the demand for affordable homes near workplaces will be paramount. In some areas, there may also be greater demand for apartments, even though these too are suffering due to the recession.

Many zoning and building codes are obsolete and need to be updated, because as written they restrict the construction of low and moderate income housing and segregate residential, retail, and industrial/commercial land uses. Changing zoning to permit and provide incentives for mixed use development, more intense land uses, and higher density development would make workforce housing more affordable.

The steps above do not apply only to city living. Through good design, suburban living can be made slightly more compact without sacrificing quality of life. Accessory buildings can often be added on a lot, “granny flats” can be built, large old single family homes can be converted into duplexes, empty spaces could be filled in, and other steps can be taken to meet the need for more housing when that need materializes.

But perhaps the biggest gains can come by using innovative approaches to expanding housing. One novel idea that has begun to emerge is to use old shipping containers that have been transformed into building blocks for home-building materials. Actually, one can hardly call the idea novel, because shipping crates have been used in construction for thousands of years. But today, the old practice is being revived with entrepreneurial, innovative, outside-the-box thinking.

These reconfigured containers have the advantages of being more economical and durable than conventional materials, speedier to construct, highly customizable, fire-, termite-, water-, and earthquake/hurricane-resistant, strong, safe and green, with a lower carbon footprint. Hence the name of one of the companies working in this field, one with which I am associated, SG Blocks LLC (SG stands for “safe and green”). As the company puts it, “We are in the business of converting instruments of trade into instruments of construction.”

Shipping containers are big: each weighs 9,000 pounds and measures 8 feet wide by 40 feet long by 9 feet tall. Hundreds and thousands of them are sitting empty in ports around the country. What possible use could they be, one may wonder, in building a new residential or office complex?

Consider, therefore, that these steel-on-steel containers, when used as re-fabricated “blocks,” are stronger than conventional house framing. They can be cut, fabricated, re-modeled, and turned into a basic home structure for approximately $25-$27 a square foot. Stevan Armstrong, COO of SG Blocks, has pointed out that multi-family mid-rise units built with containers cost 10 to 15 percent less than typical “stick frame” houses. When appropriate coatings are installed, says Dan Rosenthal, a principal with the Lawrence Group, “we have an envelope that 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. Because of the superior roof structure, it is easier to incorporate ‘green’ roof systems.”

Using shipping containers also saves energy on the front end. It takes 6,481 kilowatt-hours to make a ton of steel from virgin materials, 9,000 kilowatt hours of energy to melt down a container, but only 400 kilowatt-hours of energy to convert shipping containers into SG Blocks.

The possibilities for utilizing this type of construction – infill housing in urban and suburban communities, new construction for residential, commercial, industrial and retail buildings, single- and multi-family homes – are practically limitless. From a design perspective, SG Blocks claims that their modified containers “can be used to build virtually any style of construction, from traditional to modern and all in between...from traditional Main Street to ultra-contemporary.” In short, they can provide people with an opportunity for ownership and economic mobility in a decent community environment.

To cite a few examples:

  • A continuing care community for seniors on the historic Mission San Luis Rey grounds in Oceanside, CA, 340,000 square feet with 450 SG Blocks, is going up.
  • In Salt Lake City, the first mid-rise container building is being planned for downtown; it will be called City Center Lofts, with eight units and a ground level art gallery.
  • In Ft. Collins, CO, discussions are being held about creating “block” homes for 500 families as part of the city’s Homeless Shelter Program.
  • John Knott, the guiding light in the Noisette Community in North Charleston, SC, wants to build a six- to eight-story “container” building, retail on the first floor with residential units above, topped with a green roof. He proposes using ninety prison re-entry men to do the construction.
  • Work is in process on a three- to four-story student housing and recreational mixed use facility at Lubbock Christian University in Texas.
  • In Panama, “blocks” are being used to build four buildings that will house community and education centers for the U.S. Southern Command.
  • Attached to the top of this article is a photo of a house built with SGBlocks in St. Petersburg, FL.

Demography is destiny, as has been said so many times. With 100 million more people in the pipeline, we have to find humane, innovative, affordable ways to house them and provide them with opportunity for advancement. Salvaging empty shipping containers to address this problem is only one step, but a most interesting one that is well worth the trying.

William H. Hudnut III, former Member of Congress and sixteen-year Mayor of Indianapolis, is the principal in his firm, Bill Hudnut Consultants LLC, and an associate of SG Blocks LLC. His email address is: bhudnut3@gmail.com.



















Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

While people and traders, we need

While people and traders, we need to recognize exactly where we have been inside of these kinds of industry fertility cycles, so you can become around the correct facet in the development to further improve the achievements. http://www.elasticroi.com/marketing-solutions/

The idea is not only about

The idea is not only about reusing and recycling.. I guess this is also the solutions of getting family into a proper shelter and also a solutions for every port congestion because of the unused, abandoned shipping container. Many country is doing this already but I guess a proper bill should be imposed in order for the project to be done as fast as many home builders can. Home building materials like windows and doors maybe a secondhand or overstock will do,,sample is from the Liquidation doors store like at http://caldwells.com/.

It has been a regular

It has been a regular shelter for some Americans. Some have spent money to have a beautiful interior.
http://swmobilestorage.com/

Shipping to Australia

This is a nice shipping house and perfect for a family. shipping boxes to australia

container

Perfect home for the family like me, when i was a kid our house is like this one it is retored container wherein you can easily adapt to a perfect home. Now a day this home is expensive. www.azteccontainer.com

Mobile Refrigeration

I agree with the writer. it is becoming difficult to construct a building day by day. Home construction has become one of the biggest home and office construction trends globally. And shipping container construction has become popular for not only homes, but for offices, hotels, student housing, safe rooms, and emergency shelters.

Mobile Refrigeration

Old Shipping Containers

The surplus of shipping containers unable to make the return trip is a failing of capitalism. It is not an industrial strength. It may in the hands of politically motivated individuals like Hudnut car transporters become a commercially lucrative but inhumane opportunity.

Moving with Shipping Containers

Shipping Container Home construction has become one of the biggest home and office construction trends globally. Since 2005 shipping containers began to appear in many news stories in the U.S., Canada, UK, Netherlands, China, Australia, New Zealand, and much of Europe. Shipping container construction has become popular for not only homes, but for offices, hotels, student housing, safe rooms, and emergency shelters.
movers san francisco.

Old Shipping Containers

For most Americans, particularly between ages 30 and 70, the demand for affordable homes near workplaces will be paramount. In some areas, there may also be greater demand for apartments, even though these too are suffering due to the recession. shipping a car

Shipping Car

Home construction has become one of the biggest home and office construction trends globally. Shipping container construction has become popular for not only homes, but for offices, hotels, student housing, safe rooms, and emergency shelters.THanks for sharing this shipping car information.