Spray foam insulation in a cargo container

Containers are great for a lot of things—including exaggerating the weather outside.

Hot steamy summer? Heat up a little more inside a container. Freezing cold outside, aside from stepping out of the wind, containers are no warmer on the inside. So how do you work around this? There are several ways, but one of the great ways to do it is to frame the container, use spray foam insulation and finish it off.

Greenfire Farms bought a nice, one-trip 20' container. They made concrete pillars for the container and had a crane move the container onto the pillars. They insulated the flooring as well. Once they framed the container without putting any holes in the container, they installed their electric and wiring installed. They used Icynene spray foam, which has an R-20 factor when installed at 6" thick, which is what they did. I particularly loved their description of the foam. It is “one of those wonder chemical concoctions that save the environment, eliminates acne and turns to water when a flame is applied. (I’m not making this up.)”

The farm is located in Florida, but they are installing an AC unit, which they hope to run on solar power eventually. The insulation is to keep it nice and cool inside. They finished off the walls and floors and are installing a batch solar water heater for hot water for the sink.

Have you insulated a container? What worked? What didn't? Share your experiences!