NEW: Live in a Shipping Container, Say RISD, Brown

NEW: Live in a Shipping Container, Say RISD, Brown

It may not be a McMansion, but the Rhode Island School of Design, Brown’s Rhode Island Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship [RI-CIE], and two state -based architects have partnered in a first-time collaboration to design and potentially commercialize an off-the-grid, sustainable and energy-efficient home from shipping containers.  A class of RISD students this spring is researching and developing design plans for the sustainable home, and if the idea is judged viable, experts from RI-CIE will assist in finding the best avenues to take the homes to market.

Affordable Housing

“This collaboration between RISD and Brown has great potential to create jobs and provide affordable, sustainable housing.  The partnership will leverage investments by RISD, Brown, and the Rhode Island Economic Development Council to promote entrepreneurship and business development here in Rhode Island,” said U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The “Off The Grid,” project grew out of a proposal by Brown grad Peter Gill Case and RISD alum Joe Haskett, who were selected to lead the pilot effort from more than 50 proposals submitted.  The Partnership for Sustainable Development targeted proposals from early-stage small businesses or designers in order to jointly explore innovative concepts and new ventures in the sustainability sector in RI.  The project is designed to create an “off the grid” house that is affordable, sustainable and easy to install.

Federally Funded

Reed secured $150,000 in federal funding for the RISD and RI-CIE pilot project in the fiscal 2010 appropriations bill.  The project aims to enhance opportunities for early-stage small businesses and/or product designers and entrepreneurs working in areas of sustainable development and the emerging “green” economy.  

This spring, students in an advanced interdisciplinary design studio at RISD, called “Re-box," is exploring how to reuse the shipping containers to create practical, affordable, and sustainable building solutions, such as housing.

“This partnership is really exciting”, said Brendan McNally, RI-CIE’s director. “We are taking Peter and Joe’s idea for affordable, sustainable housing, researching and testing it in the RISD advanced studio, and then using the programs and networks at RI-CIE to find the right market and business model to succeed. We believe this collaborative approach – idea-to-lab-to-market – is ideal to capitalize on Rhode Island’s knowledge economy innovations to create jobs and advance sustainable building options.“

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