{"id":5504,"date":"2020-06-12T14:00:29","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T13:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=5504"},"modified":"2020-06-12T08:21:13","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T07:21:13","slug":"canadian-hempcrete-the-development-of-the-hemp-construction-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/canadian-hempcrete-the-development-of-the-hemp-construction-industry\/5504\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian hempcrete: the development of the hemp construction industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
ArtCan <\/a>and Gabriel Construction Chanvre<\/a> are pioneers and leaders in the development of hemp construction (hempcrete) and lime coating finitions in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, Canada. They have taught and managed over 200 craftsmen in the housing industry, as well as in public and private spaces. They have introduced hemp into working areas such as Yoga studio, offices, theatre rehearsal rooms, and classrooms, in addition to the restoration of churches and other old buildings. In some projects, the companies have been involved from conceptualisation right through to the realisation (a complete hemp house and renovations to others, for example), while in other projects they have been called on to utilise their expertise for the purposes of aesthetics and\/or health and safety or environmental aspects.<\/p>\n ArtCan has been an active company in the hemp construction industry for the last 20 years in Canada. The company\u2019s mission is to apply, share, and offer traditional knowledge and experience to help develop organic buildings<\/a> whose implementation techniques and radiance offer global beneficial qualities.<\/p>\n The ArtCan R&D Inc enterprise works in the research and development of ecological and alive construction materials made of hemp cellulose fibre<\/a> and other plant fibres rich in silicon oxide that are favourable to masonry. The enterprise also works in collaboration with partners on the biosource composites materials of the future, as well as in several projects concerned with extractible and green chemistry<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gabriel Gauthier, CEO and founder of ArtCan Group, began as an assistant to the master hemp builder Yves K\u00fchn, founder of Canosmose in France, where his company was the first to develop the hemp infill process. K\u00fchn developed this and went on to introduce untreated hemp into building industry.<\/p>\n The three years that Gauthier\u2019s spent with K\u00fchn was rich with experiences. K\u00fchn\u2019s company, founded in 1988, began properly undertaking construction and restoration work around a decade later, with great success. Gauthier worked on many of these projects with passion and quickly learned the best way to build things like hemp walls, hemp roofing, a hemp floor (slabs), hemp coatings, and others lime finitions. He went on to become K\u00fchn\u2019s assistant on formations, start up, R&D projects (high class finitions, the development of bricks and blocks from prototype to the production, and many new binder trials and research on #better process-dosage). In 1999-2000, he was employed as a foreman and teacher on hemp construction and formations for craftsmen and builders in France and Switzerland.<\/p>\n Gauthier studied at the ITAA (Institut de Technologies Agro-Alimentaire de St-Hyacinthe, Quebec) and discovered the potential of the agro-environmental economy during his studies in 1995. Alone, he visited many hemp farmers and processors in France and Canada. Since 2012, he has supported 30 farmers and researchers in the production of hemp varieties for grains and fibers on more of 540 acres in Quebec and other provinces. He has been involved in all areas, from the quantity of seeds needed to the co-ordination of the harvests, to treatment and storage. This experience has provided him with a global vision of the many important investments that are needed in the hemp industry\u2019s infrastructure in Quebec and Canada across the value chain.<\/p>\n Gauthier has also become active in hemp processing, as well as in areas such as canvassing, developing strategies, logistics, and actions plans as the hemp sector has continued to evolve. Moreover, he is very active in the development of hemp building products, which forms the core of his business, as well as the machinery to enhance efficiency.<\/p>\n Along with his partners, Gauthier has worked to elaborate and improve the applications, process, and technological transfer in the sector, with local considerations. For instance, a team of engineers are now working on a programme of experimental development. They are also harvesting data about the comportment of hempcrete, optimising the conception of composites materials and shell houses being built, and supervising trials in situ. Many internal projects also concern hemp building materials for insulation and finish, while there are also collaborations with researchers, universities and laboratories within the CRSNG programme to develop of fine tune hemp as a building material.<\/p>\n Gauthier has also been the Strategic Advisor for the Global Hemp since 2015 and, more recently, he invested in the Hempen Valley and LIVAC projects, which aim to start a non-woven factory to provide auto parts to a Japanese car builder and begin a research and development cluster with universities around the world to explore the future of hemp material, respectively.<\/p>\nArtCan<\/h3>\n
Hemp culture<\/h3>\n