AUGUST 27, 2009 ISSUE
DwellBox Matures
High Country Green Boxes Nears Completion on Three Major ISBU Home Projects
High Country Green Boxes’ Casey Pond and DwellBox owner Katy June Abrams stand proudly in front of the second residential DwellBox ever built. Abrams’ DwellBox, which is located off Niley Cook Road in Boone, is one of 10 current ISBU home projects in the nation and represents a giant leap in aesthetics in regards to building with ISBUs. Photo by Sam Calhoun
Last year, High Country Press introduced readers to High Country Green Boxes’ DwellBox, the first permanent inter-modal steel building unit (ISBU) residential home in North Carolina. The brainchild of local entrepreneurs and partners Casey Pond, Ethan Anderson and Jeffrey Scott—collectively known as High Country Green Boxes LLC—the DwellBox certainly struck a nerve in the national and international communities. In the last year, more than 750,000 interested people have clicked to the website, even though the partners have not conducted any marketing. The partners are now fielding inquiries in Oregon, California, Maui and even in Senegal. They are also completing work on three major projects that will elevate the idea and design of the sustainable and energy-efficient DwellBox, while creating higher visibility for its many uses.
Second Residential DwellBox Ready for Occupancy
This Saturday, Katy June Abrams will move into the second residential DwellBox ever built. Abrams’ DwellBox, which is located off Niley Cook Road in Boone, is one of 10 current ISBU home projects in the nation and represents a giant leap in aesthetics in regard to building with ISBUs.
Although built with five wind- and water-resistant ISBUs and a concrete foundation, the home provides a contemporary look and feel; when you look at the exterior or walk inside, it does not feel at all like you are walking into large metal boxes stacked on top of each other. Measuring in at 1,600 square feet, the home took about 90 days to complete at a cost of roughly $100 per square foot.
Abrams first became interested in the DwellBox idea after reading articles in construction magazines that theorized its implementation. After researching the idea for a few years, Abrams hooked up with Pond, Anderson and Scott and, with the partners, drew up plans for a custom DwellBox.
“I thought this was the neatest idea,” said Abrams. “I always wanted to do it. I like that it looks different and that it’s got a funky, environmental type of thing going for it. I already want to build another one.”
Abrams spent extra money on paint and finish work on the interior and exterior of the home to help achieve the contemporary look, which is also helped by uniquely placed windows, an open floor plan and IKEA kitchen features. The home features a combination of cell foam and bat insulation and includes three super-efficient mini-split air conditioning systems that require no ductwork. The three-bedroom home features recycled cork flooring, windows from the Habitat ReStore and locally cut three-inch oak slabs for the staircases.
“The DwellBox looks thousands of times better than I pictured in my head,” said Abrams. “I pictured it as great already, but it has far surpassed my expectations.”
FOREST Lab at Caldwell Community College
The FOREST (Finding Opportunities in Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies) Lab is a 40-foot ISBU container placed on a chassis and attached to a truck. A project of High Country Green Boxes LLC and CCC&TI’s Institute for Sustainable Business, the lab will contain multiple renewable technology stations where students can learn hands-on about how to install and de-install the technologies, training them to enter the green economy.
High Country Green Boxes LLC recently entered into a partnership with Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute (CCC&TI) to create the FOREST (Finding Opportunities in Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies) Lab. The lab is a 40-foot ISBU container placed on a chassis and attached to a truck. Inside the ISBU container will be multiple renewable technology stations where students can learn hands-on about how to install and de-install the technologies, training them to enter the green economy.
“What we have found is that there are not enough trades people available that know how to work on these containers,” said Pond, who added that the lab will train students who could be future employees of High Country Green Boxes LLC. “Possible employment opportunities could come out of this.”
The lab will educate students on green building, building science principles and practices, photovoltaics, solar water and space heating, small wind technologies, high performance HVAC, locally sourced products and services and healthy, recycled and sustainable materials.
“We start the official design process next week, so it will be done in November and integrated into the curriculum in January,” said Pond.
CCC&TI’s Institute for Sustainable Business and High Country Green Boxes LLC applied for and received a North Carolina Green Business Fund grant to fund the project. Once completed, the lab will move between community colleges in the state to communicate a message of sustainability and illustrate how to participate.
DwellBox Portable Studio
High Country Green Boxes LLC just completed an 8-by-20-foot ISBU container that is a DwellBox portable studio. The studio will act as a green room for this weekend’s Music on the Mountaintop music festival at the Boone Fairgrounds. With about a $7,000 price tag, the structure features 16 power outlets, a basic wall system that can be customized with sheetrock or interior siding, windows, a sliding glass door, a collapsible metal awning and solar lighting. Photo by Sam Calhoun
High Country Green Boxes LLC just completed an 8-by-20-foot ISBU container that is a DwellBox portable studio. The studio will act as a green room for this weekend’s Music on the Mountaintop music festival at the Boone Fairgrounds. Plans are also in the works for the studio to make an appearance at September 5’s Daniel Boone Days Music & Culture Festival at Horn in the West as the volunteer headquarters.
The studio represents most of what is possible in an ISBU container structure. With about a $7,000 price tag, the structure features 16 power outlets, a basic wall system that can be customized with sheetrock or interior siding, windows, a sliding glass door, a collapsible metal awning and solar lighting.
“We made it a handyman opportunity,” said Pond.
The structure was outfitted inside Clemens Welding & Machine Shop, located off Niley Cook Road in Boone.
“The purpose of this DwellBox was to develop a production process inside a shop and incorporate different aspects, such as windows, doors, power and framing,” said Pond. “We’ve collaborated with Clemens to test various methods of production.”
After the studio is used at the music festivals, it will be sold.
On the Horizon
High Country Green Boxes LLC is doing its best to keep up with the popularity of its ISBU home line. Aside from fielding multiple emails daily from interested investors from around the world, High Country Green Boxes LLC was recently approached by an equity investment group and was a player in a few architectural design studios, one of which was held in Atlanta.
“We’re still in the first round of decisions of what to do next, but we’re submitting bids all the time,” said Pond.
One of those bids is for a transitional homeless housing project in Denver, Colo. A group of Denver investors asked High Country Green Boxes LLC to design a 40-foot ISBU housing unit to use in a transitional homeless housing development. Once that development is complete, the investors hope to expand the project to benefit service industry professionals in Vail, Colo. and Aspen, Colo., where the workers have difficulty finding affordable housing among the affluent population.
“They want something affordable and efficient, and that’s what we can provide,” said Pond.
High Country Green Boxes LLC is also in talks with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide ISBU structures for disaster relief situations. According to Pond, FEMA is interested in the DwellBox line because the structures can be customized, feature renewable technologies and can be shipped all over the country.
Pond and his partners are concerned that there are not enough economic incentives offered in Watauga County for projects such as the DwellBox. That, coupled with Boone’s distance from ISBU shipping lanes and the expense associated with transporting an ISBU up the mountain, is making it hard for High Country Green Boxes LLC to capitalize on its hyper-popularity across the country, said Pond. In addition, Pond said, the company has yet to have a “true” sale of a DwellBox—so far, the projects have been custom and financed through personal loans, meaning a comparable value for a DwellBox has not been established. The good news is that Highland Union Bank recently agreed to provide lending for the ISBU residential homes, and Pond and his partners will begin building the third DwellBox off Highway 105 Extension this fall.
For more information, click to www.dwellbox.com or www.dwellbox.com/dwellblog.
Background on ISBUs
ISBU housing is new to the residential world, but the idea of using shipping containers as public and commercial structures has been in practice for many years. In Africa, ISBU structures are used for schools, universities and medical facilities. The United States military uses ISBUs for temporary structures at Fort Bragg, and European travel lodges are starting to use ISBUs for framework.
According to an article on InvestorGeeks.com, entrepreneurs across the country are beginning to build affordable homes with inter-modal steel building units because of a surplus of the units in America. China exported $243 billion worth of goods to America in 2005, but the United States only exported $41.5 billion worth of goods to China, leaving a trade deficit of $201.5 billion. As a result of this disproportionate balance, tens of millions of empty cargo containers are collecting in America, and it is cheaper to stockpile the containers than return them empty to the Far East. The surplus is leading many communities in California, for instance, to look at building with ISBUs.
“Architects, designers, planners and homeowners are finding renewed interest in these inter-modal steel building units as they look for affordable, sustainable housing options for the 21st century,” said American home improvement guru Bob Vila in the article.
“You see a lot of these [ISBU housing units] on the Internet, but it is mainly an academic exercise—just drawings,” said Casey Pond of DwellBox. “But when we found out that no one could find a real example in North Carolina, we jumped on it.”
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