Fields of Hemp - another source of low carbon, low cost affordable houses for Lincolnshire
Hemp and lime could become key components in the quest to produce affordable housing with a low carbon footprint. Hemp is an ancient crop with key references to it in Britain from Roman times. It provided a wide range of essential materials for many aspects of daily life. The Magna Charter in Lincoln Cathedral was written on hemp paper! It fell from favour as modern petro chemical synthetic products replaced many of its uses and its cultivation was banned from 1928 until 1993 because of the narcotic properties of the varieties then available.
More recently new varieties with an unusable level of narcotic have been introduced and the Home office now licences the growing of industrial hemp. It can be a useful crop grown in a normal Lincolnshire farm rotation. One hectare can produce over 8 tonnes which is enough to build a small family house. In theory just 1% of the arable land in Britain could produce enough for all the annual house building that was being undertaken before the credit crunch struck.
When the woody core of the hemp stalk is mixed with lime it forms a “hemp-crete” compound that has good structural properties. The house, pictured to the left, is part of the Building Research Establishment’s Insite 09 construction exhibition. It has been built using hemp lime technology. The object is to demonstrate that a three bedroom house could be built for less than £75,000 (excluding building plot and utilities costs).
For more details visit www.insite09.com and click on ‘The Big Build/The Renewable House’
For detailed further information on Hemcrete® visit www.limetechnology.co.uk . There is also a new publication called Hemp Lime Construction by Tom Woolley and Rachel Bevan from the BRE Press (ISBN 978-1-84806-033-3) or as a download from www.nnfcc.co.uk
Low Carbon Business Network case studies showing member's projects and activities
Members of the Lincolnshire Low Carbon Business Network are invited to share information about successful projects and activities...
