‘Hempcrete’ — A revolutionary modern & sustainable bio-composite construction material that combats climate change by capturing carbon and delivering high performance airtight, insulating walls. Here’s how it works and the many health & environmental benefits that it can offer our communities.
What is Hempcrete?
Along with bamboo, industrial hemp is among the fastest growing plants on Earth and can be used to make a wide range of durable and economical products — including paper, rope, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, biofuel, food and animal feed.
Not only this, but hemp can also be used as a sustainable building material, called ‘hempcrete’.
‘Hempcrete’ is a bio-composite material, developed from a mixture of hemp stalks, a lime based binder, volcanic ash minerals and water (this mixture can vary). The overall process creates a mixture that develops into a solid, but light and durable building block for construction and insulation.
What are the benefits of Hempcrete?
‘Hempcrete’ is a non-toxic, environmentally friendly building material, which is carbon negative, fire, mold and pest resistant, self-insulating and durable.
Carbon Negative
Hemp can help combat climate change, as it naturally absorbs carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.
This CO2 is stored in the hempcrete building block after fabrication and for the duration of the block's life, making hempcrete a ‘carbon-negative’ building material with positive environmental benefits.
Non-toxic
Hemp is also an incredibly fast-growing plant, taking just four months to reach maturity and uses far fewer pesticides and herbicides than other grain or fiber crops, creating much less environmental damage due to the use of toxins on the fields.
This means that it it’s healthier for the inhabitants, with more ‘breath-ability’ than other building materials.
Fire Resistant
Out of a flamedex index score of 0 – 450, with 450 being the most flammable, hempcrete scored 0, making it the most fire resistant building material on the market. Hempcrete can withstand direct fire for over 2 hours without igniting at all.
Mold Resistant
Another amazing benefit of building with hempcrete is that it is mold resistant —which is especially beneficial to Maui residents living in rainier parts of the island. Because the hemp in hempcrete is mixed with a lime binder that makes it possible for the hempcrete to harden — the lime is what gives hempcrete its mold-resistant property.
Termite/Pest Resistant
While termites destroy approximately 600,000 homes in the U.S. each year, costing Americans over $5 billion annually to control and repair the damage — the good news is that hempcrete is also termite resistant.
Self-Insulating
The thermal properties of hempcrete are extraordinary as it allows for natural ventilation of the building, costing less money to heat or cool. Hemp insulates better than many other materials, such as cotton or wool.
Durable
Hempcrete is an incredibly strong and durable material, as the hemp cells hold lime and bind to themselves without a need for rebar or anything to hold them together.
The future of sustainable building.
Most building and insulation materials used globally have remained the same for decades, and can cause serious health and environmental issues from all of the toxic chemicals.
We need people to be more conscious of the environments that they are inhabiting and to move towards using building materials that work with nature, rather than against it — such as hempcrete — which means healthier, more sustainable communities.
