Tuesday, October 14, 2008

REALLY Affordable Modular Housing

I've been thinking about messing with containers for about five years now. For a long time I've wanted to make a Container Bar, a series of contiguous lounges and bars made from old shipping containers. This guy made something a whole lot cooler

Check this baby out:


This is a 320 square foot home made out of a shipping container. The company that makes it PFNC which stands for Por Fin Nuestra Casa (finally our own home) which will make houses for Juarez factory workers who are currently living in housing they've fashioned out of palletts and cardboard. While they're not exactly the most glamorous thing I've ever seen, they've got a full kitchen, bathroom, shower HVAC and at about eight grand a pop, they're pretty affordable.

Here, lets to a little side by side comparison to the other type of housing I hope never to live in: the FEMA Trailer.

Cost:
FEMA: $15,000
PFNC: $8,000

Square Footage:
FEMA: 240
PFNC: 320

Capacity:
FEMA: Two Adults, Two Children
PFNC: Two Adults, Four Children

I'm most definitely making some pretty apples to oranges comparisons since the site is vague on whether the cost includes estimated electrical, water and waste hookups and the fact that the PFNC residence doesn't have any insulation (it has to be horrifically loud in there).

In the end though, the PFNC model does a great job of repurposing the abundant world supply of shipping containers which are available one every corner of the globe and can fit on ships, trains and trucks. The real cool stuff will be to see how these will be customized by the end user.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

YES!

I pass places selling these on hwy 101 on my "commute" between SF and the HC, and I've been thinking about the possibilities here as well. I mean, talk about Red Dawn Ready...

Frank Robbins, LEED AP said...

The "Red Dawn Ready" option costs a little more since it's eighty feet below the earth's surface.

Dr. Robbins said...

My brother Ron has converted some shipping containers to usable living space (a meditation/flying hall) in Ventura, CA. He found this inspiring site: http://www.lwarc.com/bg.html
Jill