Earth Cooled Cargo Container Home

I found this awesome story of a Northern California resident who built an Earth cooled home out of two high cube 8x40 cargo containers.

In 104 degree heat the inside of the cargo container only hits about 80 degrees inside, and offers the owner an awesome solution for escaping the Norther California heat.

He installed solar tubes to provide lighting and the home has all the amenities that your traditional home would provide. They used an air exchange vent, styrofoam, gravel and tile around the outside of the container to help combat rust during the rainy season. To help further support the container they used reinforcing beams on the inside to account for areas where rooms were cut out. They also used a six inch slab on the top of the containers, reinforced with rebar, to distribute the weight of the soil resting on top to the corners of the container (which are one of the strongest parts of the container). They have even driven a tractor on top of the home and never had any issues with the home underneath.

They run the utilities from the top of the cargo container, and the county allowed them to install the cargo container home without a permit as the city at that time did not have any rules that pertained to a buried container dwelling. They built the home for less than 30k, which equates to about $50 a square foot. An additional savings that the homeowner benefits from is not having a utility bill.

This story is another excellent example of an efficient cargo container home. If you live in the scorching summer heat and are looking for a low cost alternative to a traditional home, this video might provide you with the inspiration you need to take the next step.

I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did. It was published by Kirsten Dirksen and the video runs about fourteen minutes.