Shipping container takes long shore leave
Energy efficiency is a major theme as a company creates office space in Midtown using a big steel box
ONE of those 40foot steel boxes integral to international trade is finding new life as a net-zero energy, zerowaste office space in Midtown.
Eight solar panels provide electricity. An atmospheric water generator pulls humidity from the air to make drinking water. The carpet tiles are made from recycled nylon fishing net, and the building comes equipped with compost and recycling bins.
“So we’re addressing energy, water and waste all at the same time in this building,” said Mike Dieterich, president of the 1½-year-old RISE Industries.
Turning shipping containers into homes, restaurants, bars or offices has grown in popularity over the past few years. The new office space at Wi+CoWork in Midtown is the first from RISE, which was incorporated in Houston in May 2016.
The shipping container is nestled beside an old Midtown house that Wi+CoWork transformed into a co-working office. Co-founder Juan Carlos Maldonado, who promotes Houston’s entrepreneurial activity through JCWired, had been eyeing shipping containers to provide some additional square feet. He liked that the office space is selfsustaining and doesn’t create waste.
“I fell in love with the concept,” Maldonado said, adding that the price was competitive.
The containers come from suppliers at the Port of Houston, Dieterich said, and they cost about $2,000 apiece. The RISE office buildings are then sold for $50 per square foot to $160 per square foot based on how a customer wants to customize them. One 40-foot con-
tainer is 320 square feet.
Dieterich knew hitting the right price point would be essential for his business. So he equipped his container with energy-efficient designs and technologies that don’t break the bank. A big focus is reducing the amount of energy needed to cool or heat the building.
The insulation, for instance, is along the four walls, roof and floor. If the building runs east to west, a 3-foot-long awning shades the south-facing windows and doors from the summer sun but allows the winter sun to come in and provide heat.
He wanted to develop a smart building priced comparably to a conventional building.
“That way it makes it affordable for everyone,” he said.
Dieterich has worked in energy-efficient construction since graduating from State University of New York Plattsburgh in 2004 with a degree in environmental science.
He began designing the Midtown office space in February 2016, and then went on to incorporate his office with the initials for Resilient, Innovative, Sustainable and Efficient. He completed the RISE office space in January.
Office space is just the start. Dieterich envisions shipping containers becoming affordable homes, trendy restaurants and bars, and controlled environments for vertical agriculture, among other things.
But there are some hurdles these container buildings need to overcome, said Trent Draper, a Houston real estate agent with NB Elite Realty, who recently had a container house listing. He had to find a cash buyer because he couldn’t get the building appraised, meaning lenders wouldn’t write a mortgage. Finding insurance was also difficult as insurers didn’t know the cost of replacing the container.
It took 285 days to sell the house, which closed May 8. Still, he does think there’s a future for these container homes — especially if they’re energy efficient and modern.
“I think it is a trend that’s going to catch on,” he said. “I think you’ll have communities.”
Dieterich said an entire community built with shipping containers could be more resilient to storms like Hurricane Harvey. The solar panels could provide electricity, connecting to other homes in the community to create a microgrid. An agriculture shipping container could grow 1.8 acres worth of crops, and the atmospheric water generator could provide clean drinking water.
Dieterich acknowledged that appraisal issues need to be worked out. But he said commercial uses of shipping containers have been able to find insurance and means for financing the projects. He thinks any issues will be overcome as containers become more popular in the real estate market.
“The industry is already working through a lot of these, and we’ve found progress,” he said.
Moving forward, Dieterich is exploring such opportunities as a partnership with the nonprofit Medical Bridges to create a medical building in Guatemala. The 40-foot-long shipping container would have two exam areas, a surgical room, bathroom, 30 solar panels with battery backup and an atmospheric water generator capable of producing 80 gallons a day.
The building could also be useful when responding to international medical crises.
“If we could plop down a building that’s producing all of its own energy and all of its own water in a safe manner, you don’t have to worry about the logistics of supply,” he said. “… We’re literally providing our own infrastructure to assist people’s medical needs.”
They’re trying to raise $120,000 to make this selfsustaining medical building a reality.
Dieterich also does speaking engagements and consulting work. Many of the shipping containers’ environmentally friendly technologies could be used on traditional buildings, too, enabling them to create their own energy, reduce their waste and use less water.
“The shipping container buildings are great, but there’s other technologies, building technologies, that are super energy efficient,” Dieterich said. “And it’s really about building smart buildings. It doesn’t have to be a shipping container. This is just an example of how to build a smart building.”