Ecologically Friendly Container home construction

In this age of global warming, brought on in part by deforestation and indiscriminant reduction of plant life that can absorb greenhouse gases, we at Shipping container homes have adopted the policy of constructing new homes using as much recycled and recyclable materials whenever possible. We have been developing relationships with some of the bigger recycled plastic “wood” beam companies. This material is great and lasts forever. It is more expensive, but you will never need to replace it.

So why are Shipping container homes an “ecologically friendly’ choice?

The containers we use, which are commonly called ISBU’s, are produced in great quantities and are used, primarily, by those countries/regions that have a high export to import ratio.   For many years the United States, as an example, has had a high trade deficit.  At last count, there were over 700,000 ISBU’s that were no longer in use.  These containers can take up a lot of space, become an eyesore, and if not maintained, eventually become an ecological burden.   By using these ISBU’s for home construction, and properly preparing the homes against introducing ecologically unfriendly materials, it affords us the opportunity to reduce the overall negative impact on the environment.

In those cases where we find it necessary to use non-recycled materials (such as wood), we do not make use of “old growth forest” materials.  We use only those materials that are fast growing and are re-introduced at the same, or greater, rate than they are harvested.

Part of our mission statement for our shipping container homes,  is to offer “rainwater-harvesting” roofs. This is very easy to build and can be used throughout the rainy season in Costa Rica. Also, we are exploring a solar power system that can be used for outside lights and most inside lights. Then a step up would be to have the entire home fueled by solar power. This will raise the cost but certainly will pay for itself in the short term.