Unique Container Cabin in the Catskills 

The container cabin in the Catskills combines three sustainable home strategies: 

1. It serves as a tiny house built from a shipping container—which saves resources and has a small footprint but does not sacrifice much in the area of comfort. The cabin, built from one, 20-foot shipping container, includes a small sofa bed, a complete kitchenette, a writing desk, a patio with a fire ring, a yoga platform, a fire-heated and stream-fed hot tub, and a hammock. 
2. It incorporates off-grid living strategies. A wood stove completely heats the small, highly insulated home. This allowed for a sustainable heating solution even in the harsh winter climate of northern New York. To maximize the home's energy efficiency, the container home incorporates high-efficiency insulated walls, low-energy windows, and sliding glass doors. Solar panels power the small cabin, while a gravity-fed water source means that there is no need for electricity to pump water. A composting toilet is also included in the cabin, thus getting rid of a black water stream from the cabin. 
3. The cabin incorporates biophilic design, including large windows that allow the homeowners and guests to experience the beauty of nature that surrounds the house site.  

How is the shipping container insulated? 

A key with container homes is to use spray foam insulation. Not only do you get an incredible sound reduction and insulation inside, but you eliminate the condensation problem that steel containers have. There is not a single square inch of exposed steel on the inside of our cabin. All it takes for our guests or us on a below-freezing day in February is about seven minutes to warm it up to room temperature.

How does the solar shower work?

We have two options. We have a classic solar shower that you can buy at any camping store, and we erected a post with a pulley so you can hoist it above the shower stall. We also have a Coleman hand pump shower that has a small burner under it for warming the water. It looks like a steel garden sprayer on a gas range.

Any other sustainability benefits that come with your container home that you could tell us about?

The "build" is so interesting. It is a process of reducing—cutting away parts of an incredibly stable structure to make it a livable space. We wanted as much light and transparency in the cabin as possible, so we positioned windows and doors opposite each other. The effect is the ability to see nature from any position in the cabin. You are also able to see directly through the cabin from the outside. With a charcoal metallic paint finish, you can barely see the cabin from the main driveway.