Shipping Container Homes as emergency shelters

After the terrible floods disaster that engulfed the Balkans ( my neighborhood) these days , I can not stay indifferent over the human tragedies that are occurring. Those kind of human tragedies from natural catastrophes are happening almost every day around the world. These days I think a lot about it and as an engineer looking for way to help and how to find care for the future for all those families who lost their homes . So I want to remind you of Cargo Container Architecture or also known as Shipping Container Architecture.

It is about architecture using steel intermodal containers (shipping containers) as structural element. These containers are extremely strong, durable and above all modular structural elements, and are found in a number of millions. They are designed to carry heavy loads, to be stacked in high columns, to resist harsh environments, such as on ocean-going vessels or sprayed with road salt while transported on roads. Due to their high strength, containers are useful for secure storage. They are made to standard measurements, provide modular elements that can be combined into larger structures and can be stacked up to 12 high when empty. And most importantly many used containers are available at an amount that is low compared to a finished structure built by other labor-intensive means such as bricks and mortar - which also require larger more expensive foundations. Construction involves very little labor and used shipping containers requiring only simple modification can be purchased from major transport companies for as little as US $ 1,200 each. Even when purchased brand new they are seldom more than US $ 6000th (http :/ / en.wikipedia.org /)

For all of these characteristics Cargo Containers are particularly good as emergency shelters. There are countless numbers of empty, unused shipping containers around the world that just sitting on shipping docks taking up space because it's too expensive for a country to ship empty containers back to their origin. They just wait to become an emergency shelter. At the same time it is a green alternative and a smart choice for eco-consciousness.

Shipping Container Homes makes sense where resources are scarce, containers are in abundance, and where people are in need of immediate shelter such as, developing nations and disaster relief. Reusing containers seems to be a low energy alternative especially in cases when you need to re-design in large quantities as shelters and in that case re-design should make prefabricated, rapidly and in large quantities. The entire structure of the container needs to be sandblasted bare, floors need to be replaced and openings need to be cut, and at the end produces hazardous waste before it can be used as a structure which contribute significantly to its ecological footprint. 

And despite all Shipping Container Homes are great solutions. These containers would allow many people to reclaim their land.  People can get back into their land, even if there no longer have a habitable house to live in, the communities can be rebuilding together and made a stronger bond among the people who lived there, and who will live there again. 

Groups like Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (http://fema.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Intermodal-Shipping-Container-Temporary-Disaster-Housing/420551-14692 ) and similar emergency response agencies in other countries can coordinate the supply of shipping containers, so that they will be available when needed. The components you need in houses can be added to containers before they are shipped out. Then the container is ready to be transported to the area of need, and it's ready to be used as housing, without expensive on-site work. Most containers are utilized in similar ways as they are modified, and this construction process is very economical. In particular, they have been used with success in Haiti, where many people still do not have permanent structures to call home.

Many architects, scientists, institutes dealing with research in this area. For me, important information from the survey were in the research of Worcester Polytechnic Institute “Shipping Container Emergency Shelters” by Mark Brodaski, Ralph Campanelli and Kevin Zabinski  (http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-030310-115045/unrestricted/RP-0109_-_Final.pdf)


In the end all we have to do our best in some way to help and support the victims  and  to ensure that we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.