Alternative housing concepts: the clear solution to

the global housing crisis.

1.6 Billion people are without adequate housing; these innovative ideas are trying

to change that.

We have a serious problem on our hands and it should bother all of us. According to
the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (also known as UN-Habitat), 1.6
Billion people do not have a secure, reliable shelter to call home (Habitat, 2017).
Meanwhile, for the most part the other 79% of the world continues about their day
while this global crisis grows exponentially.

Take a second to identify the seven closest people in your life right now. Now, imagine
if one of them lacked shelter or a safe place to sleep at night. No running water, no beds
or blankets, and no way to protect themselves from harm or the elements. This is where
we are: 1 in 7 people are without walls and a roof to protect them.

Michael, a homeless man in a Boston subway has a message for the world: be kind. Photo Credit: Matt Collamer
There are many contributing factors to the global homeless epidemic but the root causes
are natural disasters and a lack of affordable housing. In the United States alone, more
than half of all renters spend more than half of their income on housing (Covert, 2018).
That doesn't include all of the associated utilities that are required to sustain the home.

Affordability is just half the problem. Around the world, many of the homes are built
with scrap material and cannot withstand the natural disasters such as hurricanes and
earthquakes.

Throughout the Digital Revolution in the past 20 years, new technology and innovative
ideas have been developed that can revolutionize the way we approach this problem
(STFC, 2017). Two concepts that have been born in the construction industry are
shipping container structures and 3D printed buildings (additive manufacturing).

In America alone, over 2.5 million children experience homelessness each year;
roughly one in every thirty children (NCFH, 2014). With the top three culprits being
Los Angeles, New York City, and Seattle; it's almost ironic that they are our largest
shipping ports (HUD, 2017).

In 2006, the first home built primarily from shipping containers was constructed in the
US; it passed all of the strict requirements of the United Building Code. An estimated 17
million structurally sound shipping containers around the world are just waiting to be
reused (Islam, 2016). These containers are located in ports around the world as if they
were predestined to serve the purpose of meeting a global need. This provides a major
logistical advantage over traditional construction methods, the materials are already on
site waiting to be used.

There are three key components of a container home that make them a viable solution
for the global housing crisis. First of all, they are cheap to obtain and they are readily
available. Secondly, these structures can be easily prefabricated due to their design
allowing for a quick turnaround, further reducing costs. Lastly, they are extremely
resilient and can withstand natural disasters, reducing the rate of homelessness.

The average cost of homes in California is approximately $440,000 (Taylor, 2015). With
the average cost of a shipping container being anywhere from $1,500 to $5,000
depending on their condition, the material savings begin to add up quickly. There are
many companies dedicated to selling and delivering these used or even sometimes new
 containers right to your door (360 Office,
2018). Kasita, a micro-home developer out of
Austin, has already began initiatives for
building affordable homes that are fully
furnished and range from $80,000 to $120,000.
One of the main contributing factors to
homelessness is the lack of affordable
housing. Kasita is exploring working with
local governments in California to provide
affordable housing projects within their
communities (Stateman, 2018).
Kasita Communtity Layout. Photo Credit: Kasita Inc.

Not only are these houses much more affordable than many homes across the world,
they are also more sustainable. A hotel project in Uxbridge, London, claimed to have
reduced on site waste material by 70% and the construction phase timeline was reduced
by 40-60%. By basically eliminating the time of cutting 2x4's and hammering nails into
timber frames, a container project can be prefabricated and quickly assembled (Islam,
2016)

A container home project in California is

currently averaging a cost savings of 50% for “If you can reduce the cost
contractors and developers alike. Granted, this is of construction and the
California where costs are high so the savings amount of money it takes to
could dwindle as we move into more affordable bring housing to market,
markets. The majority of this savings is attributed you’ll see rents lower
to the drastically reducing the operational and because the cost of
logistical requirements of traditional construction
construction and the cost of
methods (Stateman, 2018).
time, which is very
Not only are these structures cheap and fairly expensive, gets passed on to
quick to build, they are also resilient to the the last person in the chain.
elements. Natural disasters can be attributed to That’s why rents are so
making 14 Million people homeless each year. high.”
Tsunamis, Earthquakes, and tropical cyclones
force approximately 2.3 Million people out of -Paul M. Galvin, Chief
their homes in India alone (Global Citizen, 2017).
Executive of SG Blocks
Considering that shipping containers can
withstand winds up to roughly 150 mph, they are clearly a solid choice for construction
in hurricane prone areas (Herr, 2014). With natural disasters being one of the main
reasons people end up being homeless, building a resilient structure only makes sense.
We have an opportunity to protect people from completely losing their homes before
the storm strikes.

While container homes repurpose materials to build safe, resilient homes, their also
quite costly to build considering the square footage. In addition, their rigid structure
does limit some of the designs that you can create as you're stuck manipulating 20' x 40'
blocks. Where container homes lack, 3D Printing in construction addresses. This
technology, also known as additive manufacturing, has limitless design opportunities
and is quite cheap in comparison.

This new technology alone can transform how we approach the global housing crisis.
Similar to container homes, these structures are not only cheap but extremely quick to
build. In addition, the design concepts can be adapted to fit practically any scenario.

3d printing was developed in 1986 but has drastically transformed over the past 30
years adapting to applications like construction. Essentially, a digital design is saved as
a file and then loaded onto the printer that rests up on a set of frames. The printer
traverses 2d planes depositing a series of layers of material to build a 3d structure.

The main reason this technology can fix our global housing problem is that 3d printed
structures are cheap and quick to build. There are two excellent examples that
demonstrate how cheap a 3d printed home can be, the WinSun Home in Shanghai and
the Apis-Cor house in Russia.

The WinSun Decoration Design Engineering

Apis-Cor House, Photo Credit: Apis Cor
Co. out of Shanghai completely transformed
the construction industry in 2014 when it
unveiled a 3d printed home that cost under
$5,000 and was printed in under 24 hours.
Did I mention that they printed ten of them at
the same time? Not only were the homes
cheap, they are strong and predominantly
built from recycled materials such as glass
and steel mixed with concrete (Nguyen,
2015).

In Russia, the Apis-Cor Company printed one of the most widely known 3d printed
homes in the world. The 400 square-foot Apis-Cor house was printed in 2016 and total
costs (after paint) came to just under $10,000. This is quite a bit cheaper than the familiar
Habitat for Humanity homes that can cost around $50,000 (Zaleski, 2017). Like the
WinSun house, the project's on-site construction time was under 24 hours (Sakin, 2017).
The great thing about 3D printing is the set up can be moved around to build even
larger structures. Essentially, you can consider every 400 square-feet could costs
roughly $10,000.

According to Uppala, the Center for Rapid Automated Fabrication Technologies

designed a 3D printer that quickly builds a 2,500-square foot home in 24 hours,
including all necessary building systems components (Upalla, 2017). WinSun's "Office
of the Future Project" in Dubai reduced labor costs by approximately 50-80%. Aside
from reducing the materials necessary for a project, the transportation costs can also be
drastically reduced through additive manufacturing.

Due to the limited number of laborers needed throughout the process, the cost of
construction can be drastically reduced. This also has its drawbacks because many
current construction laborers could potentially lose their jobs. The additive
manufacturing industry needs to figure out how to adapt and retain the current
workforce. Similar to shipping containers, parts of the homes can be prefabricated off-
site and then delivered when needed. This may prove as an opportunity for labor
retention since many of the building systems contractors such as plumbers and
electricians can now work in a cool, controlled environment.

Not only can 3d printing deliver homes in a day, it is extremely adaptive to many
applications. Shipping containers are able to be configured in many different ways;
however, many designers are still left rearranging 20' and 40' blocks. With 3d-printing,
the only thing limiting the designs are the designers themselves.

The previously mentioned WinSun

company has gone through great
efforts to publicize the possibilities
that exist with 3d printing in
construction. Their portfolio ranges
from quickly printed bus stops all the
way to office buildings. In 2015, the
WinSun team unveiled an apartment
complex that stood 6 stories tall. A
structure like this can provide a 6-story WinSun Apartment Building. Photo Credit: WinSun Design
suitable home for tens of families
(Stevensen, 2015).

While the technology is still relatively new, 3d printed homes seem to be a solution of
the future while container homes can be implemented as we speak. Over the course of
time, I foresee additive manufacturing leading the way in solving the global housing
crisis.
The container home solution is a viable option in large cities around the world where
there are millions of containers waiting to be used. The 3D printing set up can be
placed in many remote areas where containers may not be available. While these both
seem to be clear solutions, there are a few drawbacks including workforce retention. In
addition, many of the current building codes only support traditional construction
techniques. Many local and federal governments have not adapted to the rapidly
changing construction industry. The majority of the codes that govern construction of
housing were implemented over 50 years ago. This has to change. If companies like
Kasita and WinSun can continue to demonstrate safety and success, their processes
should be accepted worldwide.

This may come as bad news to the traditional homebuilders, but who cares? 1.6 Billion
people's lives are at stake, what are we waiting for?

References

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https://stfc.ukri.org/files/digital-revolution-infographic/

Islam, H. (2016). Life cycle assessment of shipping container home: A sustainable

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NCFH, National Center for Family Homelessness. (2014). America's Youngest Outcasts: A
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Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress. Washington, D.C.: Henry, M.

360 Mobile Office. (2018). What are my Options When it Comes to Shipping Container
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