WHO WE ARE
Relevant Buildings is an experienced home and ADU builder based in the Portland metro area. We build homes throughout Oregon and Washington. Our specialty is prefabricated container homes, which offer a sustainable, durable, and modern alternative to typical stick-built housing. We're your one-stop shop for all of your design, permitting, financing, and home building needs.
WHAT WE STAND FOR
Our mission is to offer relevant housing options for those who seek a modern way of living that is kind to the earth.
WHAT WE DO
We design, permit, and build sustainable housing.
We design and build sustainable homes for a climate changing world. By using upcycled shipping containers, our houses are durable, efficient, and unique. Our homes range in size from 320 to over 1,600 square feet. All of our models offer modern amenities, customization options, and high-quality finishes.
We specialize in building prefabricated container homes with high quality finishes. Our mission is to provide an alternative, climate conscious housing option. All of our models are built to meet the International Building Code (IBC) as well as Energy Trust standards for energy-efficient homes.
Because our homes are prefabricated in our shop, we are able to offer a variety of state approved models. Using our pre-approved designs is the quickest and most cost-effective way to purchase one of our homes.
We also provide ‘fee-based’ design and permitting services to modify our plans or create new custom buildings. We incorporate engineering intel into our designs to minimize cost and maximize utility. In short, we offer everything you’ll need to build your dream home or ADU, from financing help, design & permitting services, building, and project management.
CARL'S EPIPHANY
$45,000 and a month of hard work disintegrated to ash when an arsonist burned down his pole barn mid-construction. That act sparked a movement.
Carl, a developer, excavation contractor, and entrepreneur, has been on a mission to find smarter ways to build homes for much of his career. While restoring old commercial buildings throughout the last decade, he was paying close attention to the housing crisis.
In the shock of the arson aftermath, it dawned on Carl that a metal building would not have burned and would be far superior in a climate warming world.
The idea of converting shipping containers took hold when he learned that, since the U.S. is a consumer nation, millions of shipping containers are left sitting in U.S. ports and shipping yards every year, never to be returned overseas.
After much research, Carl has come to believe that this largely untapped resource provides the perfect solution for affordable and sustainable housing–an option our team believes society needs in its struggle to provide quality housing to more people.
Through Relevant Buildings, Carl is promoting a simpler lifestyle and a new culture of homebuying that offers people better options for living with a reduced impact on their wallet and our planet.
Special thanks to two projects that inspired Carl as he was germinating this shipping container movement: A southern U.S. home and studio designed by owner/artist Julio Garcia and the Keetwonen student housing project in Amsterdam.
