More creative projects and flexible options with ISBU shipping containers.

Certainly an economic recession can hurt virtually every type business in every economic sector but some types of business will do much better in a recession than others.

Today Reuters news agency reports that 20 of the worlds most stable countries are officially in a recession, however the sun is shining even brighter for many ISBU Association members such as TempoHousing. They are only one of many ISBA Members who remain creative in this cloudy economy with more valid construction projects in progress than ever before.

Certainly TempoHousing is a very well run machine, but also they are not alone in their success. The ISBU Association itself also continues upward in Memberships and Architectural Drawing orders week after week and many of our other Members are having a similar success.

Every week see many positive thinking architects and building contractors that are transitioning to ISBU technology and gearing up to be part of this flexible and dependable Green revolution.

Sure, in the U.S. and every other country money is tight and conventional housing construction is down. But when you’re in the ISBU construction business not all projects need to be new housing. Right now many of our members are surging with orders for solid storage units, work shops and other creative projects. Distributors Container-IT and Flex-Box both report their dealers are seeing even a greater future in both mobile and permanent storage units, while Nitrocision, another creative ISBA member, is using ISBU shipping containers to house a new line of their high tech nitrogen cleaning systems.

In an economic recession statistics continue to show that new home construction is down but home remodeling is significantly up. With ISBU modules our dealers and building contractors have even more options by promoting safer and stronger business and residential storage units, garages, workshops, offices, and BizPods.

A 2-in-1 Flex-Box you can cut in half.

The new Flex-Box DuoCon was unveiled last week and Managing Director Henrik Neilsen gave us a personal tour of this most innovative 2-in-1 ISBU shipping container module.

Flex-Box is an ISBU Association member who actually designs and manufactures their own line of ISBU shipping containers. They are not new to the shipping container industry in fact Flex-Box is one of the most popular container manufacturers serving the U.S./Canada storage unit manufacturers and distributors for the past 5 years.

They are a Danish owned company based in Hong Kong with factories in China. Their products are the highest quality and priced to meet any competition.  Once we were inside one of their ISBU modules we could quickly see the difference in every detail from end to end and ceiling to floor.

This new DuoCon is actually a 20′ ISO shipping container but it can be cut in the center to easily become 2- 10′ separate storage units or any multiple combination for ISBU construction projects either by stacking or side by side. The center is easily cut with the Plasma torch then ends or even more doors can be added to make the 10′ individual units.  This could become a very hot and versatile ISBU for storage unit distributors and also extremely flexible for home and office building contractors.  …ship it, cut it, modify it.

Flex-Box has many other high quality, economical designs including their reefers.  They have dealers throughout North America and other countries or you may contact them directly for information.  If you are an ISBA Corporate member you may easily become a Flex-Box dealer by giving them your Corporate ISBA ID number.

Our ISBU Association members continue to prove that ISBU shipping container based housing can be as beautiful and trendy as any conventional housing but with greater strength and easier construction.

Shipping container strength but with a trendy home exterior.

Luxury interior with no prefab look.

Envision Prefab based in Boca Raton Florida promises to be one of the finest examples of quality design and construction. They prove what we’ve been saying, “shipping container homes can have the ISBU strength and still look normal and beautiful”. 

Envision Prefab is not just a concept housing design company but an experienced manufacturer in both the Southeastern U.S. and Central America. The are certainly the premier example of proper research and design of sustainable green construction while using strong recyclable ISBU shipping containers as their housing base. Besides being members of the ISBU Association they are certified members and affiliates of LEEDS, U.S. Green Building Council, the Carbon Fund, Urban Land Institute, Congress For New Urbanism, and the Florida Green Building Coalition.

As you check out their website and blog you will see that Envision Prefab guided by CEO Aaron Newman are a quality group and we appreciate their example as responsible ISBU designers, contractors and manufacturers. Not every ISBA Member joins our organization to learn, but many join to give us their support as we promote ISBU technology. We appreciate their example and support and expect they will soon become one of the leaders in the ISBU construction industry.

Something Is Up: Interest in ISBU Construction

We’ve been holding our breath every week as the economic roller coaster continues downward, but by the end of each week, again new ISBU Association Memberships and sales of Architectural Drawings continue to climb.  …possibly it’s the only U.S. construction technology that is stable and growing in 2008 and shows great promise to be one of the biggest trends again in 2009.

Leading economists have been stating that in an economic recession new home construction stalls but home remodeling projects surge forward. Either way, ISBU construction and storage technologies remain stable and our weekly new Memberships have not declined during all the U.S. and global turmoil, in fact they continue to grow steadily every week.

The key to this stability may be in the flexibility of the ISBU modules. Either way it continues to be a business and contstruction trend that continues to show promise.

The ISBU Association is the only recognized organization to the ISBU and Shipping Container home industries. Their purpose is to organize, educate, and promote the use and awareness of shipping container construction and the related Eco-green technologies. All our research and information is Member supported.

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We are in the process of changing our website format and adding all our stories and photo archives from the past 2 years. Thanks for your patience…

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August Featured Photos

Boone, NC and ISBU home owner Ethan Anderson (right)

DwellBox Project, Karl Pond President

The DwellBox Project in Boone, North Carolina is a prime example of ‘What’s Right With America’, or what should be.  The CNN program of What’s Right With America always comes to mind when we see the unusual, which should actually be common.

ISBU shipping container housing is growing fast and successful all over the world; Amsterdam, the UK, Europe, South Africa, Australia and many other places, but very slow to be accepted in the United States.  The ISBU housing concept is on everyone’s lips because it’s strong, flexible and sustainable housing.  Everyone says wow, let’s do it, however very few are ever constructed in the U.S. compared to other countries.

The reason is sometimes inexperienced architects and building contractors, but most of the projects that are sitting are due to antiquated thinking by the Cities and Counties in America and nothing else. The countries that are leading the U.S. by leaps and bounds all have one thing in common, …”visionary governments”.

Today we salute the success of a team. Real success, not just concepts, drawings and media hype. This is a real shipping container based project that has become a reality because of the City, not just a visionary home owner, or a visionary building contractor pushing a brick wall.

Congratulations to the home owner, Ethan Anderson who trusted Karl Pond at DwellBox, and the Boone City who were willing to have an open mind to an important growing new technology.

The DwellBox Project can be seen on the DwellBox website and will be a featured home in the Green Building and Solar Tour on October 11 sponsored by the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association.  The DwellBox Project is the first residential ISBU project to be approved in the State of North Carolina.  This was a team of three visionary groups, the owner, the builder and the city. Thanks for the example.

TempoHousing Is Newest ISBU Association Member

Quinten de Gooijer, the President of TempoHousing enRoute from projects in Australia and Philippines meets in China with ISBU Association Director Barry Naef to discuss the new growth and marketing plans of Netherlands based TempoHousing company.

Although most of us know TempoHousing for their famous 1000 unit Keetwonen project in Amsterdam, however TempoHousing is also the fastest growing manufacturer and developer of ISBU shipping container housing globally.  Now they have distribution in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Europe, South America, the Mid-East, Asia and South Africa. Their new marketing program is setting up manufacturing facilities globally, not just in China. The new facilities will allow local building contractors in every country and every city to be a partner with TempoHousing’s quality products and engineering services.

This is certainly a development company with many years of credibility and experience in the container architecture, design, and construction of quality sustainable housing.

Good News for SG Blocks in the U.S., but Bad News for Canada's 2010 Olympics

September 2008 was the best month or the worst month, depending on where you live.

An Eco-Green show was a rave for SG Blocks and shipping container building contractors in the U.S. while Canada and other countries have put them on their “Black List” as the SG Blocks Olympic Village has failed last minute. Olympic Village housing was to open Novemeber 2008. Now it will never happen.

2010 Olympics housing project is cancelled.

Once happy, but now their smiles have faded….

For the past 6 weeks the ISBU Association has been getting emails and comments from all over, especially Vancouver Canada and specifically the City of Whistler where the SG Blocks project was to be constructed.  Because we are the ISBU Association everyone expected us to have some pull or know what was happening. “Little do people realize, SG Blocks is not a member of the ISBU Association so we have no answers regarding this either”, says John Sanders, GM of the organization. 

The Whistler Chamber of Commerce says the SG Blocks 308 unit worker housing project was officially cancelled September 25 because SG Blocks and their partners, ConGlobal and the Lawrence Group did not have the financial ability to meet their commitment. Numerous warnings were printed by the local news media, Pique News Magazine and Whistler Question but many thought for sure it could be saved. Apparently when the Olympic organizers learned SG Blocks was in trouble there was simply not enough time for other building contractors to take over the project.

“We were actually forced to print this story”, said ISBA editor Carlos Navarro. “This is not only giving a negative image to other very responsible ISBU shipping container contractors, most of whom are ISBA Members, but we were being accused of covering up for SG Blocks.  …we simply would have no reason to do that”.

Already the Canadians and even many U.S. readers are wondering why the U.S. news media are so quick to promote SG Blocks but haven’t said a word regarding their terrific damage to the 2010 Olympic project. The SG Blocks failure actually happened the last week of August only days after the big news article posted in USA Today when SG BLocks announced the project. Obviously the project was already in jeopardy when the USA Today story was published praising the SG Blocks success.

“I have no answers”, stated Barry Naef, Director of ISBA, “I have the greatest respect for Dave Cross the founder of SG Blocks and I’m sorry this is happening to his dream. I really don’t think he’s the person to be taking the blame because he’s mostly in marketing now and not in the management”.  Naef went on to say, “Dave was one of the greatest inspirations for the development of ISBU shipping container construction in the U.S. and he doesn’t deserve this”.

We will echo the comments of many Canadian businesses and residents, “how can such big companies as SG Blocks and their ConGlobal-Lawrence Group investors not have the ability to arrange funding”? In business construction terms, the project cost was really not that big.

“We are hopeful the public in Canada, the U.S. and globally will realize this has nothing to do with ISBU housing projects or ISBU technology, but with business mangement of a specific construction company. Other similar companies such as Verbus, Buro Happold, TempoHousing, Urban Space Management, and hundreds of smaller companies are having no problems with ISBU construction projects in today’s economy”, says Barry Naef, “and all of these companies now have U.S. offices.

PFNC Shipping Container Home

These ISBU shipping container homes will soon reside in Mexico according to the PFNC Company based in Corrales, New Mexico.  As most readers quickly realize, these units are not U.S. or even European standard but they are very acceptable for housing in Mexico near the factories.

To build an ISBU home in the U.S. or other country the Building Codes are much stronger and also seldom allow shipping containers of this vintage. These are similar to the units that have been benefiting the South African communities for more than a decade.

Brian McCarthy, the owner of PFNC was moved by the conditions he saw in Mexico, then in 2007 used the same concepts and example of Professor Martin at Global Peace Containers; SAF Marine in South Africa; and even the trendier TempoHousing in Amsterdam. He applied their pioneering of shipping container housing and of course ceramic insulation paints as the thermal coating, to establish his project in Mexico.

In South Africa the containers are donated free of charge by SAF Marine, the VAS partner of Maersk to the local communities and contractors so they can be used for housing, schools and community centers.  Although the PFNC containers are not being donated, they are giving the workers and factories a much needed housing option at a very low price.

You can read more about the PFNC construction company at their website. Our best wishes for their success with this in Mexico. We sincerely hope the factories in Mexico will take it upon themselves to provide this housing free for their workers as is done in China and many other countries.

Closer To Home: Melamine Milk Victim

On Friday, September 25, physicians in China confirmed that Jie Naef, the 2 year old son of Barry Naef and his wife Yanhua was another victim of China’s wide spread Melamine Milk scandal.  The head of the World Health Organization said yesterday this was the largest global health safety event in recent years.

For months they knew something was seriously wrong but China physicians passed it off as “common for Children”.  Barry said to us, “maybe in China, but this is not normal in the rest of the world”. 

Having learned of the Melamine and formaldehyde in China’s finest milk 10 days ago,  Barry and his wife could see all the symptoms in retrospect.  

Jie is a true fan of shipping containers and gets excited when he visits the ports and factories with his father. Barry has commented many times that when Jie sees an ISBU plan or design on the PC he gets very excited and says, “my home”? Jie has actually been in several ISBU shipping container homes since he was 1 1/2 years old as he traveled with Barry.  “…they are in his blood” says his dad.

As you may know, Barry returned to the ISBU Association as Director again on September 8, and began to hear rumors of the contaminated milk on the news about 7 days later.  It’s taken this long to get Jie into a hospital for diagnosis.  The emergency waiting lists in China were running into mid-November and Barry and his wife were frantic.  Finally they received the finest personal assistance from the ACS Consul General, Kathryn Gilner at the U.S. Embassy in Guangzhou China who located a very credible clinic to see them immediately.

We will all be jumping in to assist even more this week to get projects caught up that Barry has been supervising and editing. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Naef’s and all the other millions of innocent victims in China. They will continue the next week seeking information on any treatments that are available.

You can read more of the details at the Jie’s World website which was ironically started a year ago by Barry and his family due to their extreme concerns of the food products being produced in China and exported to the United States.

Our sincere best. 

- ISBA Staff & Members