[Cob] Hemp Lime

[Frank Hanlan]

Hi All,

I apologize if this has been posted before and with the knowledge that growing hemp in the U.S. is illegal although it grows wild and is considered a weed in several states.  I like the idea of using hemp especially due to its strength.

Hemp Could Be Key To Zero-Carbon Houses
			
			
				ScienceDaily (Apr. 13, 2009)
 — Hemp, a plant from the cannabis family, could be used to build 
carbon-neutral homes of the future to help combat climate change and 
boost the rural economy, say researchers at the University of Bath.
				
				
					A consortium, led by the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction 
Materials based at the University, has embarked on a unique housing 
project to develop the use of hemp-lime construction materials in the 
UK.
Hemp-lime is a lightweight composite building material made of fibres
 from the fast growing plant, bound together using a lime-based 
adhesive. The hemp plant stores carbon during its growth and this, 
combined with the low carbon footprint of lime and its very efficient 
insulating properties, gives the material a ‘better than zero carbon’ 
footprint.

Professor Pete Walker, Director of the BRE Centre for Innovative 
Construction Materials, explained: “We will be looking at the 
feasibility of using hemp-lime in place of traditional materials, so 
that they can be used widely in the building industry.

“We will be measuring the properties of lime-hemp materials, such as 
their strength and durability, as well as the energy efficiency of 
buildings made of these materials.

“Using renewable crops to make building materials makes real sense - 
it only takes an area the size of a rugby pitch four months to grow 
enough hemp to build a typical three bedroom house.

 “Growing crops such as hemp can also provide economic and social 
benefits to rural economies through new agricultural markets for farmers
 and associated industries.”

The three year project, worth almost £750,000, will collect vital 
scientific and engineering data about this new material so that it can 
be more widely used in the UK for building homes.

The project brings together a team of nine partners, comprising BRE 
Ltd, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studio architects, Hanson Cement, Hemcore, 
Lhoist UK, Lime Technology, National Non-Food Crops Centre, University 
of Bath and Wates Living Space. As part of the project the University of
 Bath received a research grant of £391,000 from the Renewable Materials
 LINK programme run by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural 
Affairs (DEFRA).

Sincerely yours,
Frank Hanlan

Edmonton, AB

If you have not demonstrated that you can hear the truth and still act then don't expect to be told the truth.  

If we have not ensured that global green house gas emissions have peaked and started down by the end of
2015 then it will be next to impossible to keep global average temperature rise under 2.4C which will mean
widespread flooding and the displacement of 400 to 500 million people.