Gong green is often as much about saving money as it is about saving the earth. Building designers in Providence, R.I., have managed to do both by creating an office space from used shipping containers. The building not only reuses, it was also done for half the cost of the conventional building plans.

The giant office building, a three-story work of art, was made from used shipping containers that were purchased for $2,000 each. The containers were welded together, creating a Lego-like look, that certainly catches the eye of anyone who happens by. The builders did not attempt to hide what the containers were, letting them retain their boxy look for an unusual shape and design.

Peter Case, the owner of the building, helped design it and piece it together from used cargo shipping containers found on trains and trucks. Case and his team spent six months designing and planning how to arrange the containers, as well as working on how to install windows and doors. Electric and plumbing also had to be figured out, as traditional methods would not work.

From the inside, Case says the offices look like any other building. It is only on the outside that you can get a feel for the unique style.

Building with recycled or reused materials is certainly becoming more and more popular. Though this office building is considered the first permanent, multistory office building in the United States made entirely from shipping containers, there have been others using the same technique elsewhere. The organization Containers to Clinics, for example, reuses shipping containers to build health clinics in rural and poor areas. On a smaller scale, some people have used shipping pallets to build personal homes.

Joshua Brandt, one of the builders of the shipping container office, says that despite the benefits, building this way still has some drawbacks.

“If building with containers was like a fundamentally superior way to build things, people would build out of containers all the time. And the reason why they don’t is because it is very challenging,” he says.

Over all, the building cost $1.8 million to build. As costly as that seems, Case says it is half the cost of his original plans for a conventional building. Now that is is completed it has been opened for business to those who want to rent office space. Already the first office has been taken, and likely more will be rented soon.