{"id":5916,"date":"2020-07-01T10:15:21","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T09:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=5916"},"modified":"2021-01-19T12:11:43","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T12:11:43","slug":"hempblock-a-better-material-for-energy-efficient-buildings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/hempblock-a-better-material-for-energy-efficient-buildings\/5916\/","title":{"rendered":"HempBlock: a better material for energy efficient buildings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dave Burkey from iHemp USA LLC explains how the HempBlock can provide a better material for energy efficient buildings.<\/h2>\n

There is a problem with buildings in the United States and, indeed, other countries around the world. For centuries in the USA (and, it should be noted, this method of building is not limited to the USA, but is the preferred method in many other countries, too), builders have been creating \u2018stick buildings\u2019. These inefficient structures are built on a concrete slab using 2×4 or 2×6 timber to create the frame. This frame is then filled with fiberglass insulation in an attempt to create more energy efficient buildings. Structures built in this way are very inefficient, are expensive to heat and cool, and the materials used to build them \u2018off-gas\u20191 <\/sup>(that is, they can give off a chemical, especially a harmful one, in the form of a gas) and are therefore bad for the environment and can also pose health problems.<\/p>\n

In many mid-eastern countries, the majority of structures are made from concrete because these areas lack the natural resources (forests) required to provide the materials (timber) necessary to build \u2018stick buildings\u2019. However, the use of concrete also causes off-gassing<\/a>, which pollutes the air and causes many health problems.<\/p>\n

Of course, everyone wants to be healthy and feel safe in the building they are in, whether this be their home, school, place of work, and so on. And yet, these buildings, as a result of the way they have been constructed, could be making them sick. The solution: go back to natural building.<\/p>\n

How can Hempcrete and the HempBlock play a role?<\/h3>\n

The HempBlock is a load-bearing block made of a Hempcrete-type mixture<\/a>. Hempcrete is a bio-composite building material made of the inner woody core (shiv or hurd) of the hemp plant, which has been mixed with a lime-based binder and water. When it is cured, it becomes as hard as a rock, and yet it also remains porous.<\/p>\n

Using the HempBlock in the construction industry would provide a green, renewable, sustainable way of building. Indeed, we believe that the HempBlock could come to replace concrete, wood, cinderblock, brick, steel, and other methods of building in the future. This is crucial because the current way of building, particularly with regard to the \u2018stick buildings\u2019 which are so popular in the USA and other parts of the world, is simply not sustainable. Millions of trees are used to create these buildings and, of course, trees can take a long time to grow, meaning that there just aren\u2019t enough trees for this particular building method to continue indefinitely (and, of course, this is not even mentioning the environmental impacts of logging and deforestation that result from the sheer amount of timber required by the building industry in its current form).<\/p>\n

Hemp, however, offers a more sustainable alternative. Hemp can grow to maturity in just three-to-five months and, what is more, hemp does not off-gas like other building materials such as concrete (lime is a natural binder that has been used for thousands of years to create buildings).<\/p>\n

\"energy<\/a><\/p>\n

What are some of the advantages of Hempcrete?<\/h3>\n

Some of the other advantages of using Hempcrete include:<\/p>\n