Hardy Island Shipping Container Beach House

woods more sustainable than steel, is that ur arguement???
well if ure living in a state that is out of this world, i mean one tornado swallows a whole bunch of wooden houses in a matter of seconds.. maybe wood was more functional, sustainable than steel ages ago.. but nowadays wooden houses dont last that much, or if its in a region where no natural disasters or big ass eating wood bugs appear!

Anyone have any idea how many of these containers make Exactly One (1) trip across the ocean? a sizeable percentage. From what we see in our yard I bet 25% are used once then sold off.

We love your video post. This is a great concept.

Isbu's are used as a structural framing module, plain and simple. They are quickly put in place and connected. In a few days you could easily erect 4-5,000 sq. ft. of structure.
Isbu's are made from Cor-Ten steel and epoxy painted.
Using a ceramic additive to paint the interior and exterior of the unit prevents heat from entering and heat from leaving. By insulating with closed cell insulation on the interior, minimal furring is required to obtain a far more energy efficient building shell.

I like the moveable walls and wall to ceiling windows. Beautiful house. Wow!

Ive built lots of houses and answer only as any builder would answer these issues. Just look on you tube this fellow doing tiny houses in one day 10 by 10 by 10, so as to stay under permit and code demands. Thats where the cost is, not the structure. The framing for my two story cost about 3K and I used to frame 2500SF custom homes, takes a couple weeks. As I say, this box and you still have to frame inside! do all the systems..its far more work.

Ever built a house, douglundy?

Using 2x4 partitioning vs. 2x6 structural framing reduces the wall framing by 33%... minimum (don't need multi-stud structural posting).

Shipping containers come with the equivalent of subflooring- knock 4,000 lbs. of wood and glue outa your project (and about $7,200) and a box or two of 10d ring-nails ($100-200).

Shearwall sheathing would be another 4,000 lbs. of wood and glue not required (and another $8,000), 2 50lb. boxes of 8d ring nails ($200), and ltp clips at every 16 inches of the perimeter- or equivalent). No A-35s. No straps.

Insulation is sprayed into 2x4 wall cavities and extrudes, filling the entire wall cavity (a must to control condensation)... needless to say- they're actually quieter than typical 2x6 with batt R-21.

Anyone in the industry (architect, engineer, or contractor) that has stopped and examined what using recycled shipping containers does to material costs, labor costs, and impact on the environment agrees it makes sense.

Long term, however, when the surplus containers get used up, the extraction and fabrication of these boxes for use in construction is a different matter- wood is a much more sustainable building material than metal.

As a general contractor with a huge interest in cargotecture, there impacts for each material used: CMU requires concrete (strip-mining), steel requires enormous amounts of energy (strip mining + CO2 emissions), tile and brick need clay (strip mining), and none of these grow back.

Wood, hemp, straw... are all renewable.

Containers, however, are RECYCLED when used for construction, so as things exist now, all their benefits in construction also help offset CO2 emissions retroactively.