Cozy Shipping Container Tiny Home

This shipping container tiny home was designed in a very unique way, which makes it both stand out from the crowd and quite spacious. It was built out of a single container, and designed by the firm Custom Container Living, which is based in Archie, Missouri.

This tiny home, which does not yet have a name, has a total floorspace of 312 sq ft (28 sq m) and they used a standard 40 ft (12 m) shipping container to build it. They left the container in pretty much the original condition, though they added about 30 inches (76.2 cm) to its height, so they could build two lofts. They also cut away one of the end sections of the container and created a front porch out of it. The only other modification to the container they made was cutting out sections to install the doors and windows.

The interior appears quite spacious and is comprised of a living area and a kitchenette. The latter is equipped with a fridge, a dishwasher, a washer/dryer combo unit, a sink, and a microwave, but there is no stove. The home also features a spacious bathroom, which is fitted with a tub, shower, toilet, and sink. The sleeping loft has an ample amount of headroom and is accessible via a staircase, which doubles as storage space. There is also another, smaller loft on the other side of the home, which is primarily intended as a storage area.

The interior walls are clad in pine tongue and groove, while the exterior is clad in in smart lap siding with cedar edging. They used closed-cell foam for insulation, while a Mitsubishi mini-split system takes care of the cooling and heating needs.

This home can be used both on and off the grid. The basic model comes with all the necessary hookups for water and electricity, and is also pre-wired for TV and appliances. Customers can also opt for an off-the-grid version. The basic version of this container tiny home costs $47,000.

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Off-The-Grid Bunker-Like Vacation Home

Since vacation homes are empty for most of the year, keeping them securely locked up is one of the main considerations. This was especially true for Casa Caldera, which is located only 15 miles (24 km) north of the US-Mexico border. Keeping this vacation home secure while unoccupied was one of the main concerns when designing it, and the architecture firm Dust of Tucson, Arizona did a great job on it, making it both secure and highly sustainable at the same time. In addition, only a single truck-full of waste was produced during construction.

From the outside, the home looks a lot like a bunker. It was made using “LavaCrete,” which is comprised of red scoria, lava rock, cement and water, and the color makes it blend in almost seamlessly with the wild grass and trees surrounding it. In fact, it's quite possible to walk right past it and never even notice it.

As for the interior layout, the home is arranged around a so-called zaguán, which is basically a large ventilating corridor that transverses the center of the house and can be used as a dining or sleeping area if needed. On one side of this corridor are the living area and kitchen, which are placed behind a large glass door. On the other side of the zaguán are the home's two bedrooms and a bathroom, which are located behind a wooden door.

At each end of the corridor, they placed bi-folding metal doors, which are designed in a way that allows them to be opened or closed at multiple angles, to let light and air into the home. There are only a few small windows, which have thick steel window frames and are fully operable. The designers balanced the air pressure of the home in a way that pulls air in naturally and works to cool the interior. The home also has 18 in (45 cm)-thick walls, which together with the great ventilation properties ensures that the home needs no air conditioning even in the summer. To heat the house in the cooler months, they installed a fireplace and a small wood-burning stove.

They also installed a solar power array, while water is drawn from a nearby well, meaning that the home can operate completely off-the-gird. They also installed LED lighting throughout, while the water heater, oven and fridge are powered by propane gas bottles.

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Sustainable Urban Farm

The food production methods currently in place are not very sustainable at all. However, we all need to eat fresh fruits and veggies, and effective alternatives, especially when it comes to urban food production, are few and far between. Sure you can grow a few things on your balcony, windowsill, or in a small aquaponics farm, and some skyscrapers even have rooftop urban farms now, but that hardly even begins to cover the demand. But the Danish group Space10 and architects Mads-Ulrik Husum & Sine Lindholm have come up with a clever solution to this conundrum. They propose the construction of food-producing pods in urban areas, which they are calling Growroom. They have already built the prototype of one, which they showcased at the CHART ART FAIR in Copenhagen.

Growroom is basically a spherical structure that features a metal framework, which supports wooden planter boxes that can be used to grow edible plants and herbs. Inside each Growroom there is enough space for a comfy lounge, so they would work great in a public space, such as a park. They could be used as temporary offices, or just places where you can get some shade in the hot summer months. In this way, several small-scale farms could exist in the heart of any city.

It's unclear what the annual yield of one Growroom would be, or how they would be managed for that matter. However, the main goal of this project was to bring locally grown food into the heart of cities, and enabling people living there to grow their own food. And if enough of them were to be built, they would certainly make a positive impact.

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Grain Silo Converted Into a Unique Home

“Home” is not the first thought that pops into most people's minds when they notice a grain silo, yet for a newlywed couple from Phoenix, Arizona that's pretty much what happened. Architect Christoph Kaiser and stylist Shauna Thibault originally bought the silo so taht Christoph could use it to store his tools, but once it arrived, they decided to make it their home instead. Quite a novel idea, but the result is striking and quite impressive.

Their new home measures 366 sq ft (34 sq m) and they designed and built it by themselves. This took more than a year and a half, mostly since a lot of the cabinetry and furnishings were constructed by Christoph himself, because it had to be custom made in order to fit into the round silo.

They left the interior as open as possible, with only the bathroom separated off from the rest of the space by a cabinet door. The ground level features the living room, kitchen and dining area. The bedroom is located in a sleeping loft below the ceiling, which also gives some privacy. The bedroom is also the couple's cinema room, and they installed speakers under the bed to get truly amazing sound quality.

They also installed a custom made sliding door, which provides access to the backyard. When open, the door effectively extends the living area, making the home appear larger, as well as providing a nice link between the indoor and outdoor areas. The home also features an outdoor shower, which is a nice touch.

The home has subterranean air ducts, which work to passively offset noise from the air conditioning system. They also installed a skylight in the silo roof, which offers great ventilation, and works to cool the interior.

This silo home is essentially a tiny home, so the couple had to get rid of all their non-essential stuff before moving in. They enjoyed the process though, and Shauna also says that sleeping in a round room, as opposed to a square one, is actually more relaxing. There is also the added benefit of increased intimacy, which is the result of living in such a small and open space.

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New perovskite solar cell design could outperform existing commercial technologies

A new design for solar cells that uses inexpensive, commonly available materials could rival and even outperform conventional cells made of silicon. In a new article, researchers describe using tin and other abundant elements to create novel forms of perovskite -- a photovoltaic crystalline material that's thinner, more flexible and easier to manufacture than silicon crystals.

Eco-Friendly Modular Prefab Tiny Home

Prefab homebuilder GreenPod Development, based in Port Townsend, Washington, makes cozy tiny homes, which are factory made and can be constructed in just six weeks. One of these is their Waterhaus model, which would make a great vacation cabin, or even a full-time home.

The home measures 450 sq ft, and is made from structural insulated panels (SIPs). These are all pre-cut in the factory, and are then used to build the home on site in just a few days. SIPs are more expensive than wood framing, but they have the benefit of reducing thermal transmission, since they create smaller insulation gaps, are straighter and stronger.

Waterhaus also has transom and corner windows placed in a way that maximizes the amount of natural daylight entering the house, but they still offer the occupants privacy. Each home also comes with customized passive solar design and orientation, which depends on the site where the home will stand.

The interior of the home features minimalistic furnishings, yet still looks very cozy. To maximize the available space, they furnished it with multi purpose pieces that can also be stacked one on top of another.

The home is also equipped with low-flow fixtures. The paints and finishes used are also all chemical-free, such as clay wall finishes to avoid VOC-emitting paint, and fabrics made using organic and naturally antimicrobial plant fibers which resist mold and mildew.

They also cleverly increased energy efficiency by including so-called “kill switches” which are able to stop power from flowing to specific switches. This works to eliminate the so-called “phantom loads” and reduces “electrical smog”.

The DIY basic version of this home can be purchased for $65,000 and includes just the shell. The fully-equipped version costs $135,000. In addition to prefab homes, GreenPod also builds custom made homes.

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Garage Turned Into a Cozy Tiny Home

Who says all tiny homes need to be built from scratch? Bryan and Jen Danger from Portland, Oregon recently converted a garage into their new full time home. The garage is attached to their old house, which they plan to rent out. They did most of the renovation themselves, and it was quite an adventure. But the results are awesome!

The couple had spent the last year travelling through Central America, meaning they had already downsized quite a bit. When they returned home, they realized that they did not have enough stuff left to fill up their three-bedroom house. The high mortgage was also a consideration. Since the existing tenants also wanted to stay on, the couple decided to make the garage their new home.

The garage they renovated measures 480 sq ft (45 sq m). They installed transformer furniture to make the most of the available space, and added a sleeping loft. The kitchen is quite interesting, since it is fitted with a unique rolling dining table. It can either serve as just a kitchen island, or be extended to offer more room when they have friends or family over. The wine rack was handmade by Bryan and it's quite cool.

The loft is accessible via a set of stairs, which are designed to be hidden away in a wall of storage cabinets. They put the washer and dryer in the space beneath the loft. There is also enough space here for the TV and a built-in fireplace. The bathroom was placed behind the kitchen where the entrance into the main house was located before.

To make the space appear larger and open it up more to the outside world, they installed full-length glazed, folding doors along the front of the garage. They also used a lot of reclaimed materials in the renovation.

After successfully renovating their garage, they've now opened a small-space renovation and design business called Zenbox to help others do the same.

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