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Thinking "green"
>How to design "green" with shipping containers. Follow the link below for a collection of images that show shipping containers being re-purposed in new and inventive ways.
www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/shipping-container-homes-460309
Why is re-purposing a shipping container a good idea for the environment? How is this a sustainable idea?
Although using shipping containers to build housing structures is an interesting idea, I think that the shipping containers would be better off used as shipping containers. Since it would be environmentally friendly to use shipping containers multiple times instead of throwing them away, I'm guessing that this is more focused on housing materials, rather than uses for old shipping containers. It would be good for the environment to use shipping containers for housing because they're already made, and one could simply put them together and take away parts of the containers (e.g. sides to make more room) instead of having to construct a structure from scratch. A potential issue with this could be that when shipping containers are used to construct housing, or any other buildings, people would have to make more shipping containers for shipping stuff. I guess an important aspect of how “green” this would be is how and from where the shipping containers are obtained. If they're obtained from a shipping company who's getting rid of them because they can't be used for shipping, then it's a great idea. If the shipping containers are still in good enough shape to be used for their intended purpose, then using them as housing material would be taking them away from the job that they're doing, and causing the need for more to be made to fill the slots left free. Now we have to take into consideration how to move them. Would the fuel needed to transport these containers to their destination negate the amount of money saved? If they're in good enough shape, a shipping company would still want to use them, and using them for housing would cause them to have to make more, but if they're in really bad shape, they wouldn't be good to use for housing. What is the threshold in which these containers are usable for housing material? Houses don't need to be made out of iron or steel, so would it be better to melt them down to keep the amount of mining down? Would it be better to use a different material for housing, such as recycled PVC plastics? If it was, would it still have the aesthetic of the shipping containers? Would the functionality be as great if they didn't lock together? There are many points that make shipping containers useful housing material, but some of them also create issues. How would these be insulated with such little space in the walls? Where would electric/plumbing lines go?
ReplyDeleteHome is an extremely individualistic concept- in order to be comfortable and at peace, each person requires and desires different amenities. In common though between all individuals is the need for necessities like food, safety, etc. This though is the concept of house and not home. One can be living in an environment that fulfills each and every basic need and than some, but never feels like home. For example one could be living in a very well off manner, but the environment never feels connected to that individual or allows him the comfort to be truthful to who he is or the comfort grow. To summarize, home is emotional wellbeing while house is physical wellbeing.
ReplyDeleteThe Suburbs are a great example of home versus house. As far as a person’s physical welfare goes, the suburbs deliver. They are normally areas of middle to upper class occupancy, which means sufficiently built housing in good areas. The suburbs are also extremely safe outside the house- children can run around freely and an adult can walk his dog at an extremely late hour and not worry. So if an environment is providing ample amounts of food, shelter, safety, etc., what possibly makes it so unattractive to so many individuals? Why are the suburbs talked about with such distain?
The suburbs are isolating and cultureless. You are either in your house or in your car, which means there is rarely a true sense of community or neighborhood. Also this translates into some serious damage on the environment. Thanks to the layout of a suburb and the fact it is far from everything (it is quite simply a clump of secluded houses), everyone must drive everywhere (to add onto this absurdity most all suburban residents choose to use SUV’s). Some suburbs do not even have sidewalks. In a place like this there is no culture, no personality, no energy. It is purely artificial and fake, taking away any trace of the real world and allowing children to be overly sheltered. The suburbs are in a sense dead. One should feed off their environment, but sadly the suburbs provide no substance to grow from. And how can one feel comfortable enough to be an individual when even all the houses look exactly alike? The suburbs are in all honestly suffocating and stunting especially to the children who reside within them as they are still growing and developing. Besides the promise of physical wellbeing, I see no reason for the suburbs.