CHOMGENIUS AS AN EXAMPLE OF SMART SHIPPING CONTAINER BUILDING, BETWEEN CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND INNOVATION

Abstract

The project “cHOMgenius. PrototipeSystem and SharedProject. Soluzioni straordinarie per l'abitare intelligente”, proposes a modular constructional system and experiments design solutions, construction techniques, structural and plant engineering for OFFGRID dwellings featuring home automation control, managed by digital tools with relevant verification and monitoring instruments, in a logic of complete disassembly, reuse and recycling according to the most recent European directives.

The project, which includes as partners two Lombard companies with ABC Department of Politecnico di Milano, avails itself of the support of twenty national and international companies and UNI – Ente Italiano di Normazione, and the resultant is the a prototipe of a system of solutions for OFFGRID dwelling, with the realized of a  living space at the end of 2020, in which to experiment the use of the container HC 40 'as a structural element of transfer, with implementation of structural and anti-seismic checks, characterized by maximum flexibility and customization in typological solutions, in housing cuts and in facade and finishing solutions, also thanks to a design for industrialization (reduction of design costs and guarantee of the result) based on technologies and recycling of primary / secondary resources (maintainability, disassembly, selective disposal ...) with a high degree of customization (response to multiple user targets), for a reduction in construction times (installation in situ with predefined rules of the game) and management control in use.

 cHOMgenius fits into the Shipping Container Buildings: placing itself fully within the circular economy, with the reuse of HC containers 20 'and 40' in corten steel, used as the supporting structure of the dwelling system.

It also represents a product that offers an energy management of the property with attention to the quality and the ability to regenerate the natural resources of the context and a control of the ecological impact. The approach to the theme of the circular economy pursued is intrinsically linked to the concept of the 3Rs, namely: i) reduction of material in terms of quantity, gray energy, time, with a better use of products, giving them a multifunctional character; ii) recycling of products and materials, through the use of dry technology, with the choice of decoupled materials to avoid not only separation costs, often uneconomical, but to avoid polluting industrial cycles for their recycling; iii) reuse / reuse, here understood as the most evident plus of the circular supply chain, because it is considered synonymous with multiplying products’ life.