Bob is in St. Petersburg, Florida, to tour a finished affordable home after completing projects in other parts of the country. The St. Petersburg container-built homes are part of a pilot project involving the use of idle steel shipping containers converted for use as housing units. The goal of the program is to create structurally sound homes that can withstand hurricane conditions. St. Petersburg contains an amazing variety of home styles that developed as people settled from all over the country during the early 20th century. The streets are lined with modest to medium-sized bungalows, Mediterranean-style homes, prarie-style cottages, two-story Dutch Colonials, and some Federal revivals to go with the true Florida bungalows. Along North Shore Park and Coffee Pot Bayou there are grander versions of the same styles. Most of these developments were built out during the 50s and 60s and the character of the housing has been well preserved. Bartlett Park, just south of downtown, was built as a working class retirement neighborhood in the 1920s. It has had a period of decline and problems with crime and poverty until a few years ago when the city and St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services took action. With the Home Depot Foundation and the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, the houses were adopted as pilot homes to see if it is feasible to use this technology to build affordable and storm-ready housing. Bartlett Park was once a depressed neighborhood, but is now experiencing a dramatic revival. Affordable housing and support for first-time home buyers is creating the "pride of place" needed to keep a neighborhood healthy and sustainable. This house was trucked onto the site in four sections, or "intermodal steel building units." These ISBU's are modified to meet the needs of the plan. The ISBU's were craned onto the foundation and welded to steel plates installed in the concrete. The conventional truss roof system was bolted to the containers. Each truss is attached with special hardware to resist hurricane-force uplift. The space between the ISBU's has been filled in with conventional construction. Steel sheathing was put in place, windows were cut, and the edges of the steel were ground down. The exterior walls were primed before stucco with a super-insulating coating called SuperTherm. SuperTherm prevents the walls from conducting heat, keeping the building comfortable and energy-efficient. On the last visit here, Bob talked with the architect for the project to get a feel for the space.

Bob stresses the importance of careful planning, vision, creativity, and homeowners' pride of place in creating a sustainable neighborhood. St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services (SPNHS) is encouraging first-time home buyers in Bartlett Park to take charge of their neighborhood in a sustainable way. Bob talks with Todd Pittman of NeighborWorks and Kelly Cafarelli of the Home Depot Foundation about the innovative housing project in Bartlett Park. Kelly talks about the Home Depot Foundation and its goal of providing housing to people who would otherwise lack the means. The project in Bartlett Park will cost the foundation about $150,000, but the home will feature innovative storm-resistant technology, be energy and water efficient, and have great indoor air quality. Todd reviews the accomplishments of NeighborWorks, a housing agency that has invested over $10 billion over the past five years in low-income communities across the country. NeighborWorks is proud to be involved in the Bartlett Park project to provide housing that is not only affordable but also environmentally friendly and storm resistant.

Bob Vila recaps the construction done so far of a storm resistant home in St Petersburg, Florida, where abandoned shipping containers have been converted to modules for affordable housing. Bob stresses the importance of building storm ready homes in Florida, where hurricanes are an annual problem. Bob recounts how America has become a nation that imports more goods than it exports, leading to an oversupply of abandoned shipping containers. Technology has been used to convert these steel boxes into modules for building homes. Bob recounts how Bartlett Park in St Petersburg is undergoing a revitalization, leading to a need for affordable housing for first-time homebuyers. This project demonstrates how shipping containers can be converted for building affordable, storm-ready homes. This house uses four steel sections, called Intermodal Steel Building Units (ISBU's), that were trucked to the site. The units were specially modified at Tampa Armature Works, lowered into place, and welded onto plates installed in the concrete foundation. The conventional truss roof system was bolted to the containers. The roof is secured with special hardware recommended by FLASH (Federal Alliance for Safe Homes) to resist hurricane-force uplift.

Bob visits with John Druley of Quaker Homes in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Druley is developing a parcel of land in Falmouth that will have eight homes, two of them affordable for families earing a modest income. Bob and Druley discuss the reality of housing in Falmouth, where one-acre building lots are required for new housing. A lot, Druley explains, will sell for around $300,000 with no construction. For this development, Druley has invoked Massachusetts' Act 40B to gain relief from zoning restrictions such as the one-acre minimum lot size. In return, Druley must make 20 percent of the homes available as affordable homes, for those earning up to 80 percent of the area's median income. The lots are 10,000 sqaure feet with a 40-foot setback from the road, 10-foot sidelines, and a 45 to 50-foot backyard. The homes are 1,800-square-foot Capes with attached garages, clad in white cedar shingles, with skylights, architectural-style roof shingles, and no-maintenance, energy-efficient vinyl windows. Druley explains that the affordable and market-priced homes must be indistinguisable in design, materials, and layout. The state assigns a 40B auditor to monitor the project and assure that no corners are cut on the affordable homes, and that the developer earns no more than 20 percent profit from the development. Druley explains that the market-priced homes in the neighborhood will sell for between $375,000 and $400,000, which will help offset the $119,900 selling price for the affordable homes.

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