James Walls
Campus News Editor
One of the greatest concepts of going green is to reduce, reuse and recycle, and for steel shipping containers, the ability to reuse them for living space is quite possible. Seeming almost like building blocks for home designers, these 8’ x 20’ or 8’ x 40’ shells can be customized into homes or businesses that can fit anyone’s needs.
Advantages of container homes
Photo obtained
Container cities 1 and 2 in Leamouth, London display how ISBU shipping containers can create contemporary living space.
ISBU shipping containers are one of the latest trends in home building, and for good reason. The cost of building with these receptacles is relatively lower than traditional construction and can be done more quickly, as well. Some places, such as Christchurch, New Zealand, used shipping containers to help rebuild after a major earthquake hit. To see how this helped the city to cut down costs and construction time, watch the short documentary on the project at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3NyfO4PRAg.
But that’s not the only advantage. Shipping containers feature such durability that they can be stacked in multiple columns without much fear of collapsing, which only add to the customization that can be achieved. Also, they are hurricane and fireproof, making them safer in some ways than most other home building materials.
Concerns of building with shipping containers
With a growing number of these old containers lining docks and shipping yards, a need to reuse them for some purpose is eminent. However, there is still a threat to the environment when converting them into living space.
According to an article on www.archdaily.com titled “The pros and cons of cargo container architecture,” by Brian Pagnotta, the process of making these containers safe from pests and water damage involve harmful chemicals and pesticides, such as chromate and arsenic, which need to be removed before the container can be livable. The entire process is estimated to leave almost a thousand pounds of hazardous waste before it is complete.
So whether this is a worthy project in the end is debatable. However, considering many of these containers are lying around without a purpose and are riddled with these chemicals already, then perhaps finding a new task for them is in some way worth that cost. After all, until industries stop contaminating their items with such hazardous materials, it will always be difficult to decipher the line between right and wrong. Either way, though, it is not too late to think green.
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