Why hemp blocks?
Eco Friendly Blocks
From The Hemp Block Company
The blocks are made of hemp shiv and hydrated lime. Hemp shiv is the chopped up woody stalk of the industrial hemp plant and is the waste from the hemp fibre industry. It is packed full of the carbon that the plant has taken out of the atmosphere during its growth.
When you build with the blocks you capture that carbon and fix it in the fabric of the building making our blocks carbon negative, as they have captured more carbon than it takes to produce and transport them. The advantage is doubled when you take in to account the carbon that would have been used to make the current insulation alternatives, making it a win, win.
The hemp shiv is mixed with hydrated lime, hydrated lime is made from burning and crushing limestone. Although this is an energy intense process the benefit of using hydrated lime is that it re-absorbs a lot of the carbon dioxide released during burning as it carbonates or sets, giving our blocks a further environmental advantage over other hempcretes.
This makes it more environmentally friendly than using hydraulic limes, or of course cement, which is burnt at a much higher temperature than lime and does not reabsorb carbon as it sets.
Both ingredients of our blocks are 100% natural and waste blocks or waste at the end of the building’s life poses no harm to humans or the environment.
Why Build with Hemp Blocks?
- Eco friendly
- High insulative properties
- Sound absorbing
- Non-Flammable
- Thermal mass
- Carbon negative
- Energy saving
- Durable
- Easy to use
- 100% natural
Performance Advantages.
Hempcrete is a unique material. It provides insulation and thermal mass whilst acting as a backing for renders and plasters and as if that were not enough it regulates internal humidity keeping your homes air healthy.
Thermal Properties - Thermal conductivity W/mk (LAMDA) 0.07 UNI EN ISO 1378
Acoustic Properties - Sound absorption 1 – Class A UNI EN ISO 354 / Sound reduction UNI EN ISO 10140
Humidity Control - 2.8 ≤ µ ≥ 3.5
Fire Resisant - B – s1, d0 UNI EN 13501-1
Other - Insect and pest resistant
Handling/buildability advantages - Simple to use / No specialist equipment / Non-hazardous and non-toxic to work with
Are hempcrete blocks for you?
- Are lower running costs more important to you than low cost up-front?
- Is living in a healthy home with no chemical off-gassing important to you?
- Are you concerned about the environmental cost of your material choices?
- Would you like your home to clean up the atmosphere by capturing and locking up carbon?
- Are you willing to adapt your design in pursuit of the above aims?
- Do you see new materials and an altered design as an inconvenience you could do without?
- Is cost more important to you than the cost to the environment?
- Is low up front build cost more important to you than low running cost?
- Are you happy with using materials that produce huge amounts of Carbon in their manufacture that pollute the planet?
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above, then unfortunately hempcrete blocks are not for you.