UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An upcoming Penn State Extension land-use webinar will focus on using cargo shipping containers to create housing.
Presenting the 75-minute webinar at noon July 19 will be Della Rucker, member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, a certified economic developer, and principal at the Wise Economy Workshop.
According to webinar organizers, conventional housing construction is too costly and inflexible to meet many urgent housing needs. By utilizing shipping containers for housing design and construction, communities can benefit from scalable production of housing units and components, among other advantages.
Rucker will discuss the benefits of “cargotecture” design and construction for residents, homeowners, planning and housing agencies, and communities. She also will address the key requirements for successfully implementing this approach on a larger scale. Attendees will learn how cargo containers can contribute to the creation of economical, disaster-resilient housing and promote community vitality, particularly for historically disadvantaged communities.
Opting to manufacture these housing units off-site, rather than constructing them on-site, offers significant advantages in terms of cost per unit, construction quality and code compliance, organizers said. This approach also allows for customization of the housing units with architectural treatments that suit the fabric of the community.
The webinar will explore how container-based construction addresses specific challenges faced by conventional construction and can lead to advantages in environmental resilience, cost efficiencies and flexibility in response to changing life circumstances.
Attendees also will learn about obstacles associated with container construction, including fabrication cost factors and misperceptions about zoning and building code impacts. The webinar will cover potential applications and strategies of container-based construction, as well as identify potential barriers to its implementation in a specific context.
“Using Cargo Shipping Containers to Create Housing” is the first webinar in Penn State Extension’s Summer/Fall 2023 Land-Use Webinar Series, which runs monthly until Nov. 15. The series is aimed at informing municipal elected and appointed officials, planners, landowners, farmers, and community organizations about land-use issues and decisions in their communities.
All webinars are recorded and available for future viewing. Other programs in the series will include:
— Aug. 16: “Pennsylvania WalkWorks: Pennsylvania Department of Health Funding for Walking, Biking and Accessibility?”
— Sept. 20: “Adaption-Innovation Theory and Community Planning.”
— Oct. 18: “Accessory Dwelling Units: Removing Barriers and Encouraging Construction From the Ground Up.”
— Nov. 15: “Planner’s Use of Social Media.”
The cost of the webinar series is $50 for all five sessions, or $95 for all five sessions for those who want to receive AICP certification-maintenance credits from the American Planning Association. The cost also is $95 for all five sessions for professional engineers needing PDH credits. In addition, registered landscape architects can receive continuing-education credits for a fee of $65.
For anyone interested in a particular topic from the series, individual session registration is available for a fee of $15 per session.
For more information, contact Peter Wulfhorst at 570-296-3400 or by email at ptw3@psu.edu. To register for the webinars, visit the Penn State Extension website.