The Canadian firm Ecopods makes sustainable, fully recycled short term container dwellings. Ecopods are an excellent choice as cabins, guesthouses or other accessory buildings, or showrooms. All ecopods houses are designed to function off the grid, and can easily be transported anywhere.
Early last month, Canada got its first recycled shipping container housing development. It is located in the Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver, at 502 Alexander St. The housing project was developed by Atira Women’s Resource Society, which wanted to create affordable and quality non-market housing units to be rented out to older women.
The housing development is comprised of 12 studio units, each with a net living area of 280 – 290 square feet. All of the units are entirely self-contained, complete with bathrooms, kitchens and an in-suite laundry. With its colorful navy blue and burnt orange exterior walls, the housing blends in perfectly with the other building in the neighborhood.
This Nederland, Colorado container home, designed by Studio H:T, performs at net-zero energy consumption by utilizing passive strategies of insulation and orientation, active solar photovoltaic and thermal systems, and the harvesting of on-site renewable fuel (timber is selectively and sustainably cleared to burn in the high-efficiency wood stove).
The Seattle-based home building company, ShelterKraft Werks, designs affordable homes that are configured around recycled shipping containers to provide solutions for global housing challenges with turn-key, low footprint structures that can be installed within any conceivable environment.
Wisconsin-based MODS International builds modular and temporary shelter solutions that incorporate the use of converted cargo shipping containers. Earlier this month, MODS announced that they are donating a MODS unit to a family that lost their home in the tornadoes that recently hit the El Reno area of Oklahoma.
A shortage of affordable housing in London has led to an increase in the number of homeless people on city streets, as young people who lose their supported accommodation benefits when securing full-time employment often can not afford deposits for affordable flat rentals.
