There are approximately 250 million shipping containers world wide. At any one time, up to 5% of that figure are actually not being used, sitting idle at docks. What if those empty containers could be converted into temporary housing for disaster victims, or even for people in transition? A non-profit organization called Instant-Built House® is proposing such an idea.
Shipping containers can be rapidly deployed and can withhold just about any natural disaster Mother Nature can throw at them. The planned container homes are ‘green’ and are made of 85% recycled/re-manufactured materials. They can be shipped in a variety of ways, including railroad, 18-wheelers, air cargo transports, ships and even airlifted by helicopter. Each 40′ long container costs about 3K and another 15K to make liveable. For more information about the project, visit the Instant-Build House® website.
