The home building industry is becomes greener and greener, but it’s still overlooking an obvious source of reusable material — international shipping containers. `There are lots of them, and they’re widely available across the entire country. At any one time in the U.S., about 125,000 shipping containers are available for conversion to houses.

Shipping containers are strong. Built to hold 60,000 pounds when fully loaded, shipping containers can be stacked nine high below deck and five high above. They won’t pitch overboard in stormy, roiling seas, when the deck of a container freighter can tilt as much as 30 degrees. They can meet the standards of any residential building code, including those with hurricane or seismic requirements.