Josh Atencio plans to be living in recycled shipping containers by year-end. Atencio isn’t down on his luck. Rather, he’s embracing a trend toward modular, portable, lower-cost housing.

An empty 40' shipping container weighs 8380 pounds. A galvanized steel stud weighs a pound per linear foot. These two containers, melted down and rolled and formed, could have been upcycled into ...