In less than four hours, a construction team managed to build a two-story house out of six 45-foot-long shipping containers.
The building, located in New Haven, Conn., was designed by Christian Salvati and Edsel Ramirez of Marengo Structures. The apartments cost $360,000 to build, and Salvati purchased the lot for $22,500 from Hill Development Corporation.
Jetson Green reports that Salvati hopes that he will see a large decrease in cost as he builds more shipping container homes, once the economy of scale becomes applicable.
The builders moved the containers to the construction site on flatbed trucks, then used a crane to put them in place. Holes for doors and windows and some of the interior walls to make rooms were cut out prior to construction.
Here's a photo recap of the project:
A concrete foundation, approximately 45 times stronger than the foundation used in the construction of standard houses, was laid prior to construction as well.
While the front of the house is fitted with a wooden facade that matches other houses in the neighborhood, the gray exterior sidewalls are still visible. Salvati left the container's original doors in place, and they now swing out to create the sides of the rear back porch.
The home has two separate apartments. Students are currently renting out the downstairs apartment, and Salvati uses the upstairs apartment when he vists New Haven. Inside, the apartments don't look like they're built from shipping containers.
The interiors have sheetrock walls and ceiling; the floors are made of poured and polished concrete. While heated by baseboard hot water heaters, the home also has radiant floors. Air conditioners, ventilators and ceiling fans have been installed for cooling. Finally, the walls are insulated with six inches of soy-based sprayed cellulose.
Related Stories
| Nov 2, 2010
Energy Analysis No Longer a Luxury
Back in the halcyon days of 2006, energy analysis of building design and performance was a luxury. Sure, many forward-thinking AEC firms ran their designs through services such as Autodesk’s Green Building Studio and IES’s Virtual Environment, and some facility managers used Honeywell’s Energy Manager and other monitoring software. Today, however, knowing exactly how much energy your building will produce and use is survival of the fittest as energy costs and green design requirements demand precision.
| Nov 2, 2010
Yudelson: ‘If It Doesn’t Perform, It Can’t Be Green’
Jerry Yudelson, prolific author and veteran green building expert, challenges Building Teams to think big when it comes to controlling energy use and reducing carbon emissions in buildings.
| Nov 2, 2010
Historic changes to commercial building energy codes drive energy efficiency, emissions reductions
Revisions to the commercial section of the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) represent the largest single-step efficiency increase in the history of the national, model energy. The changes mean that new and renovated buildings constructed in jurisdictions that follow the 2012 IECC will use 30% less energy than those built to current standards.
| Nov 1, 2010
Sustainable, mixed-income housing to revitalize community
The $41 million Arlington Grove mixed-use development in St. Louis is viewed as a major step in revitalizing the community. Developed by McCormack Baron Salazar with KAI Design & Build (architect, MEP, GC), the project will add 112 new and renovated mixed-income rental units (market rate, low-income, and public housing) totaling 162,000 sf, plus 5,000 sf of commercial/retail space.
| Nov 1, 2010
John Pearce: First thing I tell designers: Do your homework!
John Pearce, FAIA, University Architect at Duke University, Durham, N.C., tells BD+C’s Robert Cassidy about the school’s construction plans and sustainability efforts, how to land work at Duke, and why he’s proceeding with caution when it comes to BIM.
| Nov 1, 2010
Vancouver’s former Olympic Village shoots for Gold
The first tenants of the Millennium Water development in Vancouver, B.C., were Olympic athletes competing in the 2010 Winter Games. Now the former Olympic Village, located on a 17-acre brownfield site, is being transformed into a residential neighborhood targeting LEED ND Gold. The buildings are expected to consume 30-70% less energy than comparable structures.
| Oct 27, 2010
Grid-neutral education complex to serve students, community
MVE Institutional designed the Downtown Educational Complex in Oakland, Calif., to serve as an educational facility, community center, and grid-neutral green building. The 123,000-sf complex, now under construction on a 5.5-acre site in the city’s Lake Merritt neighborhood, will be built in two phases, the first expected to be completed in spring 2012 and the second in fall 2014.
| Oct 21, 2010
GSA confirms new LEED Gold requirement
The General Services Administration has increased its sustainability requirements and now mandates LEED Gold for its projects.
| Oct 18, 2010
World’s first zero-carbon city on track in Abu Dhabi
Masdar City, the world’s only zero-carbon city, is on track to be built in Abu Dhabi, with completion expected as early as 2020. Foster + Partners developed the $22 billion city’s master plan, with Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Aedas, and Lava Architects designing buildings for the project’s first phase, which is on track to be ready for occupancy by 2015.
