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uncontainedkc · 5 years ago

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UNCONTAINED LIVING! AFFORDABLE, SUSTAINABLE, AND STYLISH CONTAINER HOMES

INTRODUCTION

We all desire and work through life to be able to afford, buy, and own our dream homes. There are numerous financial and psychological benefits to us personally, our families, and the communities at large by having stable homes. This is what the American dream is all about. Although the real estate industry is packed with opportunities, millions of low and middle-class Americans are deprived of this experience.

Sustainable housing represents a unique opportunity for an equitable homeownership revolution led powerfully by UNCONTAINED LIVING. We view housing as a human right! We are introducing a new and dynamic style of affordable and sustainable houses designed with shipping containers. Guided by our mission to provide feasible options accessible to those left out in most housing markets today, these affordable homes are great for starters, growing families, and business owners.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs highlights safety, security, and shelter as key basic human needs. The basis of the theory argues that humans have a series of hierarchical needs. Meaning, a set of needs must first be met before they can turn their attention and efforts toward achieving higher goals. Over 33% of the homeless population is families. Solving the problem of home insecurity and unsheltered homelessness suffered by millions of families, children, veterans, millennials, gen z'ers and other low wage earners across the US- is essential to the mission of Uncontained Living.

WHAT IS THE UNCONTAINED LIVING SOLUTION?

Sustainable home building refers to the fast-growing concept of housing that involves the use of shipping containers as the main components of the building structure. If this sounds new to you, then prepare to be startled the minute you see some of the designs of these homes.

Hundreds and thousands of shipping containers travel across the ocean every day filled with designer bags, shoes, and clothes, children’s toys, potato chips, and all types of products and goods. A huge number of these containers end up being left to sit in shipyards for extended periods laying to waste. This wastefulness is a detriment to the environment and negatively impacts climate change. Uncontained Living has an alternative solution- making use of shipping containers as functional residential and commercial spaces. In the words of LJ Franklin, co-founder of Uncontained Living, “capturing a massive 8,600-pound resources and hijacking the waste cycle is the least we can do to make our planet more suitable for future generations”.

A standard shipping container size stands at 40ft in length, 8ft in width, and 8.5 ft in height. It is built to last 90 – 100 years under even the most onerous environmental conditions. A single container is a 320-living space; equivalent to a standard apartment in a large city. Amazingly, shipping containers are also hurricane/ tornado resistant, fire-resistant, and capable of resisting winds of up to 100 – 175mph, making them perfect building blocks for straight-forward home building and design in almost any climate.

The affordability they deliver in addition to the flexibility are just the beginning of the benefits. In modern home and commercial space design more people can afford their dream homes, entrepreneurs have a lower cost barrier of entry to establishing their business- all while keeping the planet cleaner.

The long and short: Upcycling is the BOMB!

ADVANTAGES OF CONTAINER HOUSING

1. Durable and Adaptable

The transport industry was revolutionized by the introduction of standardized freight containers. These containers were manufactured to be airtight, water sealed, and able to withstand transit via train, truck, and freight shipping boats. The containers are built to last and to protect the goods inside. They withstand water, wind, air intrusions while transporting goods of all sorts securely. Containers are built with steel construction and load-bearing walls. They are also made of slow rusting Cor-Ten steel. Ideal for building, yes but shipping containers can be given life beyond their transporting of goods. In fact, I’d argue they are meant to live on beyond the 5-7 year life cycle they are given to transport goods. They are built to last up to 100 years after all.

Adding to the ease of use for building are the specific and technical dimensions established for all containers shipped worldwide. These standards were established and enforced by the International Standards Organization (ISO). When building with containers you can have confidence that you will receive a container that meets longstanding prerequisites for durability, size standards, and load-bearing capabilities. Due to these standards and with a thorough inspection you can feel comfortable knowing you have received a container built to last. Shipping containers are ideal as building materials thanks to their durability, of course. However, their adaptability is unparalleled. They can be securely being stacked, welded, and arranged to meet residential or commercial needs.

2. Affordable

Simply stated, there is a housing crisis in the US. We see rising house prices, stagnant wages, increasing medical debt, and crippling student debt. This makes the prospect of homeownership nearly impossible for many tens of millions of Americans. This is unacceptable.

Shipping container homes offer a unique opportunity for those previously believing homeownership was out of their grasp. Building with shipping containers, on average, cost around 30% less than traditional building methods. This makes shipping container houses more affordable than a traditional build, and that’s good news for us all.

3.Easy to build and time-saving

Time is money; building with shipping containers saves you on both fronts. Container homes are extremely easy to move, stack, and build homes with. The ease of building with shipping containers is aided by the establishment of the standard technical industry details in terms of size, weight, and composition. This means you can arrange and stack the containers with predictability, confidence, and ease.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) dimensions are:

Due to the standard and predictable nature of the dimensions, this means the time used in designing and building shipping containers can be significantly shorter than with traditional building materials.

The containers can be prefabricated off-site and final assembly can take place on-site. It may take 3-6 weeks to prefabricate a custom home and an additional 2-3 days to assemble and set up on-site. Very few building options allow for such expeditious start to finish build-out of a structure.

Saving time and saving money, all while saving the environment with Uncontained Living is a winning proposition.

4. Versatility

The versatility of shipping containers is “on one mill”! Translation: the possibilities are endless!

There are so many container variants like refrigerated, expandable, aluminum, non-load bearing wood wall fillings made of plywood. These can be used for a variety of purposes.

Uncontained Living uses the standard cor-ten steel versions for the purpose of structured building spaces. They are the strongest, most durable containers and lend themselves to being configured to meet nearly any conjecture. A few examples of the uses for containers can range widely:

- Personal residences

- Tiny homes

- Fully customized homes

- Off the grid

- Social housing

- Low budget housing

- ADU’s accessory dwelling units

- Backyard offices

- Backyard schoolhouse

- She sheds

- Artistic studios

- Multi-family living

- Apartments

- Hostels

- Emergency housing

- Shelters

- Businesses

- Shared office space

- Sit down restaurants

- Food parks

- Art gallery

- Event and exhibition spaces

- Stand-alone bars

- Drive-thru restaurants

- Coffee bars

- Beauty salons

- Spas

5. Sustainable

Earth Day every day! It has been stated before but it bears repeating; upcycling is the bomb! Steel shipping containers are incredibly strong and safe but long outlive their functionality as cargo carriers within 5-7 years. Instead of leaving the containers to rust for decades in shipping yards, we can make better choices for our earth. Upcycle!

Containers are great building materials suitable for all North American climates. Reusing or upcycling them from abandonment on shipyards is fantastic and promotes environmental friendliness and “Go Green" sustainable living. Building a shipping container structure helps everyday people live nearer a net zero-waste lifestyle. Reducing one's carbon footprint all while living comfortably, affordably, stylishly, and sustainably is something we should all be able to get behind.

6. Stylish

Fabulous, functional freight containers! Uncontained Living structures are extraordinarily customizable. The container configurations can range from simple and functional living spaces, off the grid cabins, “glamping” pods, commercial spaces, or even structural art exhibits. After determining the specific size and needs of your business or family. Then comes the fun part; customizing your space.

The awesomeness of shipping containers extends beyond their mere functionality and cost-effectiveness. Expressing your style and creating a unique structure is available with a full range of options. One can employ various types of cladding, windows, varying stacking patterns to get the desired style façade and unique end look. The fact that the construction costs are generally lower that saves money in the construction budget for customizing the exterior and amazing interiors. We see beautiful container home concepts executed throughout Europe, Africa, South America, Asia and the Pacific Islands in spectacular ways.

Container homes allow the opportunity to have a home consistent with ecological values and lower maintenance lifestyle all the while not compromising on stylishness and individuality. In short, these homes are promising for the future of residential housing. Very promising for the future generation of homeowners.

#blog affordable sustainable stylish housingisahumanright containerhomes Uncontainedliving UncontainedlivingKC affordablehousing

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uncontainedkc · 5 years ago

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Necessary Disruption: Housing Reimagined

“There’s no place like home!”, is more than a popular line from the classic movie - The Wizard of Oz. Home is a safe place, a place to grow and create a lifetime of memories with your loved ones. Home is an ideal. It is the American Dream. Sadly, home has been an unfathomable circumstance for millions of humans that lived and died through various tragedies on American soil throughout our troubling history with racism, slavery and discrimination. Home continues to be a mere illusion of a reality that is completely unknowable and out of reach for some. Specifically, more than 500,000 Americans are unsheltered today. Millions more are housing insecure, including 2.5 million children. Despite the fact that housing is a basic physiological need for human survival- “home” evades millions of people in the wealthiest nation on earth, America.

The long-standing traditions of limiting generational wealth and status by prohibiting land ownership coupled with rampant housing discrimination are ever-present even today. Housing in this country is treated as a luxury and not as a human right. That is a problem.

A disruption is necessary.

LIMITING WEALTH BY RESTRICTING ACCESS TO OWNERSHIP OF LAND AND REAL PROPERTY IN THE UNITED STATES.

Understanding the shift we must make requires we understand the roots of our current land ownership and housing system. Historically, housing in the United States has long been an area of explicit, strategic discrimination and oppressive practices. These practices were implemented and maintained as a way to control mobility, status, and life opportunities of populations that were deemed inferior or less desirable. It was also the most effective way to concentrate power and wealth in a select group of people- white men and by extension white women.

From the time Europeans landed in the Americas, there has been a race for land acquisition. Once the Native Americans and the Mexican states were forcibly removed from their lands and homes via murder, enslavement, or cultural genocide, that made way for what has become The United States of America. The stolen parcels, stained with fresh blood of the rightful inhabitants that gave their lives defending their homes, were divided up for the new owners. When it came time to distribute the stolen land parcels the privilege of ownership was available almost exclusively to a select class- white male immigrants.

In this country, at least fifteen generations of land ownership was the currency by which one built and maintained their family wealth and passed down such wealth to future generations. The institution of slavery ensured that ownership was a privilege specifically denied to most Black, Native and Mexican people, and their children for fifteen plus generations. For centuries, they built wealth for landowners while themselves owning nothing and having nothing to pass down to future generations.

There are some significant legislative landmarks that had lasting impacts on current day US housing:

40 Acres and a Mule

When blacks legally gained citizenship via the Civil Rights Act of 1866 which was ratified by the 14th Amendment in 1868 and after the Civil War, Congress passed the Southern Homestead Act. The stated purpose of the act was to allow for land in southern states to be acquired by formerly enslaved people. Hence, the expectation of 40 acres and a mule as recompense for generations of depravity and abject poverty imposed. This was also seen as a way to stabilize black families and allow for a basic opportunity to build a life after the horrors they endured. However, specifically excluded from being beneficiaries of the act were people holding two specific occupations: domestic servants and agricultural workers. As coincidence would have it (insert sarcasm and a major eye roll), formerly enslaved people, Native Americans, and Mexicans just so happened to occupy those roles in society. So white males were again, legally allowed to say “Sorry, no land for ‘you people’- still ”. The inability to own anything in addition to meager wages did not allow for wealth transfer in the form of land or money to be passed down to the children of Black, Native and Mexican families for another 5-8 generations.

Creating the Ghettos- Redlining

The National Housing Act of 1934 was passed by Congress which introduced the concept of redlining. Security maps for residential neighborhoods were created across the country. The security maps designated areas of high risk- which were majority black and minority communities. These maps were created by the Home Owners’ Loan Cooperation as a way to outline the neighborhoods in red (hence the term redlining) so that banks would know exactly the areas to deny mortgages or improvement loans. The lack of loans prevented home ownership, community improvement or updating which lead to crumbling infrastructure and devaluing of those neighborhoods. The domino effect of crumbling infrastructure, no maintenance or upkeep by landlords and more crowded environments led to devaluing of the property. Since the properties were in disrepair the property taxes collected based on their value were insufficient to fund schools at a reasonable level. Resulting in a collapse of the school system. By design, the infrastructure of these redlined areas imploded- making it easy to shove minorities in but nearly impossible to get out.

Public Housing- Redlining 2.0 the new Ghettos

Low-income housing and further segregation was the end effect of The Housing Act of 1937. The intent was to provide relief from the Great Depression for standard low and middle-income families. Over time the housing units were only provided to low income, mostly minority families. The units were built intentionally in segregated parts of town. This further resulted in segregated housing for Blacks, Hispanic and Asian populations.

Black WWII soldiers denied GI Bill benefits

The GI Bill was signed by FDR in 1944 to provide soldiers returning from WWII with education, training, loans for farms, businesses, employment assistance and houses. The low-cost mortgages lead to the rise of the suburbs. The problem, blacks couldn’t live in the suburbs although blacks were technically included in the benefits of the bill. The discrimination was upheld because whites did not want minorities moving to their neighborhoods. They believed that minorities drive down property values. It was also considered unethical to sell a home to a black person in a predominantly white neighborhood. There were covenants and clauses to ensure homes in most suburbs could only be sold to white families.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Enduring 250 years of chattel slavery then 99 years of slavery in a different form brings us to 1964 when the Civil Rights Act was passed. (Of course, we are not detailing many of the tragic and important details during this time frame. It is worth noting that these years were hell for non-white people in nearly every way shape and form!) The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 and it prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. So, finally, after dozens of generations of racist and discriminatory practices, we will get some housing justice and equity, right? Nope.

Even since civil rights were passed, discriminatory practices have continually affected who owns property as well as land.

Racial home ownership gaps were at the highest levels in 50 years in 2017. Statistics of home ownership:

79.1% of white Americans

41.8% of black Americans

This gap is even larger today than it was when deliberately racist and discriminatory redlining practices were rampant. Redlining was an effective systemic method to maintain social hierarchy and we still feel the effects today. This has kept blacks in certain neighborhoods and prevented them from owning land or real property. This practice resulted in another three to five generations of limiting opportunities, quality of life, and generational wealth for non-white Americans. This isn’t ancient history. A person that is 56-57 years old has lived this reality.

First Generation of Legally Free and Fully Equal Human Beings

In 2020, we are now living with the first generation of African Americans deemed to be legally, fully free, equal human beings in this country. I am one such African American born to parents that lived through segregation with no basis of wealth and systemically limited opportunities. The lack of generational ownership or wealth is critical to understanding wealth disparity in the black middle class today. The lack of generational wealth also contributes to the lack of mobility of lower-class black Americans. This reality makes it harder- if not impossible- to accrue and pass along wealth to any future generations.

Land ownership has been held as the mechanism by which wealth and status are transferred. The deliberately exclusionary nature of land and real property ownership over the past 400 years has led us to our modern-day housing crisis. Our current housing circumstance in the US is precarious but we are here by design.

A disruption is necessary.

https://www.uncontainedlivingkc.com/post/necessary-disruption-housing-reimagined

#containerhomes Uncontainedliving UncontainedlivingKC affordablehousing containersolutions housingcrisis housingjustice housingdevelopment

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