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William Ahern

wrote:
On Tue, 12 Sep 2017 09:17:48 -0500, dpb wrote:

On 12-Sep-17 6:23 AM, Puckdropper wrote:
...

Don't focus so tightly on the container as it is. Look at it as it could
be: Windows, doors, plumbing, electricity can ALL be installed. ...

And by the time you do that w/ a box not intended for the purpose might
as well just have a purpose-built prefab -- oh, FEMA already did that.

I think the idea is that these intermodal containers could be shipped
where they're needed using existing infrastructure and *stored* until
needed. The FEMA trailers made during Katrina weren't much good the
first time around.

There's an outfit around here using them as the basis for tornado
shelters and folks use them all over as storage and occasionally
repurpose for small barns, etc., and yes, rarely for dwelling space but
they're simply not particularly well-suited for the purpose at hand.

For permanent homes, no, I don't think anyone is proposing that
they're a good idea.

Many architects seem enamored of them. Here's an interesting point (among
many) made by an architect pushing back against the fad:

An empty 40' shipping container weighs 8380 pounds. A galvanized steel
stud weighs a pound per linear foot. These two containers, melted down and
rolled and formed, could have been upcycled into 2,095 8' long steel
studs. Framing the walls instead of using shipping containers would have
used about 144 of them. Using shipping containers as structural elements
for a one storey building is downcycling and wasting of a resource.

Later on he says

Don't get me wrong; I love shipping container architecture that moves,
plugs in, that takes advantage of the tremendous infrastructure. I agree
with Mark that it is terrific for temporary or emergency uses. But does it
make good housing? I don't think so. Perhaps after all these years I am
still missing something.

Source https://www.treehugger.com/sustainab...verything.html