OREGON CITY, Ore. — A Portland developer is fighting climate change one four-ton shipping container at a time.
Carl Coffman and his company Relevant Buildings are upcycling shipping containers into homes and multi-story condo complexes.
They started making the shipping container homes a little more than a year ago.
The company now has two show homes up along the Willamette River in Canby and is in the process of building more at its factory in Oregon City.
Every home is built out of recycled shipping containers which Coffman purchases for between $2,500 and $4,500.
As a result, very little new wood is used.
And much of what is inside the homes is either recycled, upcycled, or super-energy efficient.
Coffman's mission is to build not only smaller, more earth-friendly homes but also more affordable homes.
"We're inventing new product all the time so we got a new one coming out we call the First Step that will be ... for people who want to get that bed off the street," he said. "We think we have a solution for it that's probably cheaper than anything else out there and more durable."
Coffman estimated the price of the First Step home will likely be around $70,000.
But if container-condo-living is more your style, you're in luck.
Coffman's company is in the process of building a two-story, eight-unit condominium complex made entirely out of shipping containers.
Once it's constructed it will be moved to a permanent location in St. Helens.
Coffman expects the condo units will go on sale as early as this July.