Another Use for Hemp: Home Construction

Tradical Hemcrete, a combination of hemp chips and lime-based binder, is the wall material of choice for a group of builders and designers in North Carolina

Devember 7, 2009 – Fabrics and rugs made with industrial hemp are often cited as acceptably green alternatives to floor coverings made from petrochemicals, or to woolen rugs treated heavily with insecticide. But hemp also has found its way into another domestic application.

And it is not the first alternative use that may come to mind.

Nauhaus Institute, a North Carolina-based coalition of designers, engineers, builders, developers, and others devoted to green construction, has been working with hemp as a wall-construction material. Called Tradical Hemcrete, the material is essentially a lime-based binder and industrial hemp chips (derived from the woody, pretty much unsmokable core of the hemp plant) that, when mixed with water, can be sprayed over a substrate on an exterior wall or poured into forms around timber or stick framing to create a thermally resistant but “breathable” barrier.

A wall-material bakeoff
As noted in a recent story in Asheville, North Carolina’s Citizen-Times, Nauhaus (pronounced “now house”) has two homes under construction that will feature Hemcrete walls. Nauhaus says on its website that, overall, hemp met sustainability, performance, cost, and aesthetic criteria better than competing materials.

“On the natural building side, we feel that earthen mixes don’t have adequate thermal performance in our climate while the vulnerability of straw bales to water damage concerns us,” the group’s partners say on the Nauhaus site. “On the high-performance commercial side, we are skeptical of the long-term durability of SIPS walls and feel that double-stick frame systems are too complex and prone to air infiltration weaknesses. These and other problems seem to be solved by what to us is a new material: Tradical Hemcrete.”

Hemcrete also is billed as insect- and fire-resistant. One issue the group couldn’t get around, however, is that, while industrial hemp products can be imported into the U.S., it is illegal to grow hemp here. Tradical Hemcrete is made in the U.K. by a division of Belgian firm Lhoist Group, a specialist in calcined-limestone products, and is distributed in the U.S. by Hemp Technologies, of Asheville.

A green quandary: shipping from the U.K.
The Citizen-Times story points out that shipping costs make Hemcrete considerably more expensive — the approximately 1,900 sq. ft. of Hemcrete required for one of the Nauhaus projects, with 3,100 sq. ft. of interior space and 12-inch-thick exterior walls, costs about $56,250. But Hemcrete walls also require less lumber, which reduces framing costs 30% to 40%, Greg Flavall, a co-founder of Hemp Technologies, told the paper. Another advantage to Hemcrete, says Nauhaus partner Chris Cashman, is that it serves as “your Sheetrock, insulation and Tyvek all rolled into one.”

Building-performance costs in both Nauhaus projects will be significantly lower than conventionally constructed homes of comparable size, although the smaller of the two structures, a 1,450-sq.-ft. four-bedroom that will serve as a Nauhaus prototype and test house, will have 16-inch-thick walls and solar panels on the roof to bring energy usage to net zero.

Not surprisingly, Nauhaus partners advocate legalizing industrial-hemp growing in the U.S. “Our feeling is, what a great crop this would be for North Carolina’s tobacco growers to get into,” Nauhaus partner Tim Callahan told the Citizen-Times. “Bringing this in from England is probably not the greatest idea (economically). If local farmers can benefit from this, it would be great for them and great for the economy.” Source.

 

Building with Hemp in America: The Forefront of a New Green Construction Technique

November 22, 2009 – Leave it to Asheville N.C. to be the first place in the country to build not just one, but two houses largely out of hemp.

Well-established as a green building center, Asheville has two homes under construction – one in West Asheville, another off Town Mountain Road – that use hemp as a building material. The builders and Greg Flavall, the co-founder of Hemp Technologies, the Asheville company supplying the building material, maintain that they’re the first permitted hemp homes in the country.

“This area is known to walk the talk of being green,” Flavall said, adding that the Asheville area has by far the largest percentage of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, builders of anywhere in the country. Hemp is derived from the same plant that marijuana comes from. Although it contains very little of the active ingredient that gets people high and is completely impractical to smoke, it’s still illegal to grow it domestically.

But builders can import industrial hemp products like Tradical Hemcrete, the material Hemp Technologies sells. When mixed with water and lime, it makes remarkably strong, resilient walls. Some builders generically refer to the walls as hempcrete.

Clarke Snell, of the Nauhaus Group, a collaborative of local companies building the West Asheville home at 67 Talmadge St., describes the resulting structures as “forever” walls. Should you take a wall down, the hemp inside is also reusable.

“Basically, the only thing that can tear this wall down is water,” Snell said, adding that it would have to be a steady stream.

Flavall said the last study done in Europe puts the life span of hemp walls at 700-800 years.

“And even at the end of that, you can use it as fertilizer on a field,” he said.

How it works

The hempcrete mixture starts with 55-pound bales of Tradical Hemcrete brand hemp shiv, or ground-up hemp plant stalks. Workers mix it into a standard concrete mixer, four parts hemp, one part lime and one part water. They pour the resulting slurry into small containers and then pack it between plastic forms that raise a wall two feet at a time. The walls are built around standard stick-built framing.

It takes about a day for a wall to dry and about two weeks before it’s ready for exterior or interior coatings of lime stucco or plaster. Even with those coatings, the material still breathes.

“One of the main reasons I was drawn to the lime and hemp mixture is the breathability – there’s no mold, no mildew,” said Anthony Brenner, whose company, Push Interior/Architectural Design + BuildTechnologies, is building the Town Mountain home. “The lime is constantly taking in carbon, so it’s carbon-negative.”

Hempcrete is also a natural deterrent to insects, and it’s extremely fire-resistant, mainly because of the high lime content. It takes about 2 acres worth of hemp to do one house.

Cost calculations

Hempcrete is more expensive upfront than traditional building materials, mainly because of the shipping costs. Flavall says his company has to import it from Europe, which about doubles the cost.

For the Town Mountain home, he’ll use about 1,875 cubic feet of hempcrete, at a total cost of about $56,250.

That’s higher than typical construction, but Flavall says you’ll net a 30-40 percent reduction in framing costs because less lumber is needed. You also have the potential for a lighter foundation because the hempcrete walls are lighter. Also, homeowners may be eligible for a 10 percent reduction in insurance rates because the product is so flame-retardant.

Nauhaus partner Chris Cashman points out another major advantage: “With this, it’s your Sheetrock, insulation and Tyvek (moisture barrier) all rolled into one.”

Calculating the cost of a Hempcrete home gets complicated.

“We think we can build a house like our prototype for anywhere from parity for a high-end custom home – think Biltmore Village – to 5-15 percent more for a typical home,” Snell said. “However, that’s not the point because construction cost is not your monthly cost.”

He points out that a typical homeowner’s monthly home costs include the bank mortgage, utilities, maintenance, insurance and more. If you’re building a house that uses 15 percent of the energy of a conventional home, then you can take money saved on utilities and put it into construction and end up with the same monthly cost.

“Our mission is to provide carbon-neutral housing for the same monthly cost as a typical home,” Snell said.

Tim Callahan, another of the Nauhaus partners, puts it this way: “The reason it begins to be affordable is because we’ve reduced the energy loads so much.”

The costs over the long haul should appeal to the green-minded.

“The bottom line of this and a traditional house is it’s about cost-neutral,” Brenner said.

Labor-wise, it’s quicker to put up the hemp and plaster than all those other materials like Sheetrock and insulation. Brenner said it will take them about a week to get all the hemp walls up. The Nauhaus guys have put up a test wall and are waiting on the plastic forms from Brenner to do all their walls.

Model efficiency

The house Brenner is building will have 12-inch thick walls, while the house on Talmadge Street will boast 16-inch thick walls and will be 80 percent more efficient than code requirements – so efficient that Snell claims it could be heated solely by the body heat of 18 people.

Besides hemp walls, the 1,450-square-foot, four-bedroom house will have solar panels on the roof to generate enough electricity to power the home, with a surplus. It will have an earthen exterior made from the soil on site, rainwater gathered from the roof and a mostly edible landscape.

The home will be a prototype that the Nauhaus group will use for tours and education.

The house will be owned by the Nauhaus Group itself, although chief engineer Jeff Buscher and his family will live it for two years before it’s sold to allow for energy-efficiency analysis and other research.

Brenner is building the 3,100-square-foot Town Mountain home for Russ Martin, a former Asheville mayor and retired stockbroker, and his wife, Karen Corp. “We’re not afraid of trying something new,” Martin said. “We’ve always been adventurous that way, and this looks like it’s going to work out really well.”

Snell stressed that getting the Nauhaus going has involved a massive, collaborative effort involving multiple local companies.

Based in Asheville, the project is led by Think Green Building, Eco Concepts Development, Eco Concepts Realty and Green Plan.

Both Brenner and the Nauhaus partners want to expand hemp building far and wide.

Brenner said he’s working on a commercial project in Maggie Valley and another home in the Leicester area.

And they’d love to see farmers have a chance to grow hemp legally.

“Our feeling is: What a great crop this would be for North Carolina’s tobacco growers to get into,” said Callahan, the Nauhaus partner. “Bringing this in from England is probably not the greatest idea (economically). If local farmers can benefit from this, it would be great for them and great for the economy.”

Still, as Snell puts it, right now “what you have is a product that you can’t grow but you can buy” in the United States.

Brenner thinks the technology will take off when potential homeowners and developers come to understand its advantages.

“We’ve been seeing interest from all over the country,” Brenner said.

“People are truly interested in green construction and green building, and I don’t know how much more green you can get than this.”

Flavall said another hemp house will start up next year in Franklin, and he’s receiving strong interest in other projects.

“I’m seriously of the belief that we’re making history here,” he said.

By John Boyle Source. On the Net:

 

House of Hemp & Straw Passes Fire Test

November 20th, 2009 – U.K. – A house built from straw-bales and panels of hemp has passed an industry standard fire safety test which exposed it to temperatures above 1,000C.

BaleHaus@Bath is part of a new research project at the University of Bath into how renewable building materials can be used for homes of the future.

The house is made from prefabricated cells of timber filled with straw or hemp, rendered with a lime-based coat.

During the fire resistance test for non-loadbearing elements, the panel had to withstand heat for more than 30 minutes. After more than two hours it had still not failed.

A panel had previously been put through structural tests for loadbearing elements and had passed.

Researchers Dr Katharine Beadle and Christopher Gross, from the University’s Building Research Establishment Centre in Innovative Construction Materials, will be monitoring the house for a year.

They will be checking its insulating properties, humidity levels, air tightness and sound insulation qualities to assess the performance of straw and hemp as building materials.

The technology was used last year to build an eco-friendly house in six days for the Grand Designs Live exhibition.

“I expect the results will show people that we can minimize the use of highly processed materials in building and genuinely make use of such sustainable building materials,” he said.

“It’s vital that we encourage people to recycle, insulate and minimize the use of fossil fuels to keep our buildings warm.”

The ModCell BaleHaus system has been created by White Design in Bristol and Integral Structural Design in Bath. Source.

 

Rapid Growth in Hemp-based Construction

November 18, 2009 – A visit to the Innovation Park at BRE in Watford has been arranged as part of the Natural Fibres 09 conference, which takes place at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in London from December 14-16.

The park showcases modern methods of construction and features over 200 different emerging technologies in a number of demonstration properties, including the Renewable Hemp House.

Speaking at the 60th annual congress of CELC – the European Confederation of Flax and Hemp – which took place in Strasbourg, France, from November 4-7, Claude Eichwald of French organisation Construire de Chanvre, said that the use of hemp in concrete was growing, with between 2-4,000 houses now constructed completely from hemp concrete, and many more employing it with mixtures of other building materials. The CELC conference also heard from Rémi Perrin of Strasbourg-based Soprema, which is now manufacturing flax roofing membranes, and Vincent de Sutter of Sutter Freres which has been making natural-fibre based door panels for almost 50 years.

In the latest copy of its journal, CELC outlines the components of a house entirely constructed from natural fibres, as show in the illustration above.

The unique energy efficient house made from hemp at the UK BRE Innovation Park meanwhile, showcases the future of low carbon and sustainable buildings.

The three bedroom Renewable House, which costs £75,000 to build (not including ground works or utilities), uses renewable materials to deliver a well designed, yet low cost, affordable home.

The external walls are constructed from Hemcrete, provided by manufacturer Lime Technology, made from hemp plants grown and harvested in the UK and lime based binder.

It is estimated the carbon footprint of this house will be around 20 tonnes lower than a traditional brick and block house. The hemp absorbs around five tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during its rapid growth period, which then becomes locked into the fabric of the building, making the thermal Hemp-Line walling solution ‘carbon negative’.

 

Hemp: Africa’s Solution to Hunger and Poverty

November 17, 2009 – Investing adequately in agriculture can lead to permanent structural transformation and hunger alleviation in Africa. Not only is the food system a major employer of the poor, but it also generates the capital and demand for expansion in non-agricultural sectors.

Consider the large scale growing of Hemp. The US Hemp food sales are experiencing an annual growth rate of 50% according to the US industry research group SPINS. China whose trade GDP quadrupled in 20 years exports Hemp that is grown on its 800,000 acres. Think of how much more Africa could grow.

Hemp is a crop that is multi-beneficial, and a strong step to creating productive, healthy and even prosperous conditions in Africa. Hemp has up to 25 000 potential uses. It is a high plant protein source and can be pressed into nutritious oil essential for our immune system and clearing the arteries of cholesterol and plaque.The oil from hemp seed can be sprouted (Malted) or ground and baked into cake, bread, and casseroles.

Hemp is an environmentally sustainable, economically viable “ancient wonder crop”. Farmers around the world grow it without the use of pesticides or herbicides. Hemp is earth’s number-one biomass resource. Biomass can be converted to methane, methanol, or Gasoline at a cost comparable to petroleum. It can produce 10 times more methanol than corn. The use of hemp fuel does not contribute to global Warming.

One acre of hemp can produce as much usable fiber as four acres of trees or two acres of cotton. Trees may take several years to grow, while hemp can be cultivated in as little as 100 Days and can yield much more paper than tree.

Until 1883, from 75-90% of all paper in the world was made with cannabis hemp fiber. Hemp paper is longer lasting than wood pulp, stronger, acid-free, and chlorine free.

Hemp can as well be a textile solution for Africa as it is softer, warmer, more absorbent and has three times the tensile strength. About 70-90% of all rope, twine, and Cordage was made from hemp until 1937. Hemp withstands heat, mildew, insects, and is not damaged by light. Oil paintings on Hemp and/or flax canvas have stayed in fine condition. Hemp fiber has strong, rot resistant carpeting potential eliminating the allergic reactions associated with new synthetic carpeting.

An acre of full Grown hemp plants can sustainably provide from four to 50 or even 100 times the cellulose found in cornstalks, or sugar cane (the planet’s next highest annual cellulose plants). One acre of hemp produces as much cellulose fiber pulp as 4.1 acres of trees, making hemp a perfect material to replace trees, for pressed board, particle board, and concrete construction molds.

Heating and compressing plant fibers can create practical, inexpensive, fire-resistant construction materials with excellent thermal and sound insulating Qualities. These strong plant fiber materials could replace dry wall and wood paneling.

William B. Coned of Condi’s Redwood Lumber,Inc., in conjunction with Washington State University (1991-1993) demonstrated the superior strength, flexibility, and economy of hemp composite. Archeologists have found a bridge in the South of France from the Merovingian period (500-751 A.D.) built with this process.

Hemp is a wonder plant that Africa should consider growing as a strategy to create wealth for the continent.

Please also see:
Can Hemp Products Save the World?
Canada – Hemp Bringing Highs to Farmers’ Lows

 

Not Just for Macrame: Carbon-Negative Hemp Buildings

November 10, 2009 – The demand for more environmentally-friendly building materials and techniques is at an all-time high and will, in all likelihood, only continue to increase. Since buildings account for 38% of the total carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S., it’s obviously time for us to take a step back and rethink the way our buildings affect the environment. Among the new, greener building materials and techniques is a material that’s not so much new as it is rethought: hemp.

We have, of course, known about and used hemp for thousands of years. It’s one of the oldest known cultivated crops, and it can be used for everything from textiles to paper to food and beyond. It’s also extremely renewable, with crops maturing after just 14 weeks. And now, you can make buildings out of it. Tradical Hemcrete is a fascinating material designed by UK company Lhoist, made of hemp held together with a lime-based binder. It’s durable, strong, just as easy to use as conventional building materials, and actually good for the environment.

Not only is Hemcrete carbon neutral; it’s actually carbon negative. CO2 from the atmosphere is trapped in the hemp plants as they grow, and remains there after the plants are harvested. During their grow cycle, the plants also release oxygen into the atmosphere. Even when combined with the lime binder, the overall product takes more CO2 out of the atmosphere than it puts into it.

As if that weren’t enough to make the construction industry take notice, Hemcrete is also recyclable. When a Hemcrete building is torn down, the remnants can amazingly be used as fertilizer. And this isn’t one of those great ideas that’s completely impractical to use, either – the material is fireproof, waterproof, a great insulator, and resistant to rotting (as long as it’s above ground), making it a viable choice for any number of construction applications.

Unfortunately, because the species of hemp used in Hemcrete is illegal to grow in the U.S., it’s not yet widely used here. The construction industry is feeling increasing pressure to green up their practices, though, and Hemcrete is finally available in the U.S., though not without a significant cost. Hopefully this will change as the government seeks to open up new avenues to climate change.

 

Restrictive Laws Wall Off Hemp Bricks

November 7, 2009 – Assess for us, if you would, the qualities of this sustainable construction material:

* Bio-negative manufacturing (more carbon dioxide is locked up in the process of growing and harvesting the component materials than is released during the production of the binding ingredient)
* 100% recyclable (can be used as fertilizer after being demolished)
* Waterproof
* Fireproof
* Insulates well
* Does not rot when used above ground

What is this mysterious construction material, and why isn’t it in your home? The material is hemp, and it’s not used in the United States because of laws prohibiting growing of so-called industrial hemp. Hemcrete bricks, made from hemp, lime and water, have been used in Europe for years now. Growing hemp—even low-THC varieties specifically raised for food, fiber and industrial use—is illegal in all but a handful of states in America, making construction with sustainable hemp bricks prohibitively expensive. Figures from the Hemp Industries Association show that virtually 100 percent of the hemp used in American hemp products last year—products worth approximately $360 million in retail value—were imported.

Progress toward legalizing industrial hemp farming in the United States is crawling. Oregon recently became the ninth state to remove legal barriers to industrial hemp farming. Reports StoptheDrugWar.org:

Hemp is a member of the cannabis family, but is distinguished from smokeable marijuana by its low THC content and its lanky, fibrous appearance. The Oregon law specifies that industrial hemp must contain less than 0.3% THC. So does pending federal legislation, HR 1866, sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), which would remove low-THC hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and thus the DEA’s domain. The eight other states that have removed barriers to hemp production or research are Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia. Oregon joins North Dakota as the only states that do not require farmers to obtain federal permits from the DEA to grow hemp. By Lisa Poisso. Source.

 

Can Hemp Products Save the World?

October 8, 2009 – If Hemp was discovered today it would be hailed a miracle for mankind as there are so many environmentally friendly products the plant and its byproducts can provide. If consumers want to contribute to a better planet, they need look no further than to choose products made with hemp. This post explores the huge potential impact of hemp – if only it were legal for farmers to grow and process in the United States.

Hunger and Starvation

The world is going through great suffering at present, with millions of people starving and millions more struggling to cope with the high cost of living. Most of these problems can be traced back to agriculture and oil. Current unnatural farming methods require large amounts of money to be spent on pesticides and herbicides, making farming practices economically and environmentally unsustainable.

At the same time, the world’s population is increasing and the global community is desperate for a solution to meet the food requirements of all countries. Fortunately, there is a solution available – Hemp. Growing the hemp plant and using it to create thousands of products ranging from food, textiles, building materials, plastics etc. is a highly sustainable way to address hunger and a myriad of economic and social issues our world currently faces. (A more comprehensive discussion of this potential can be found here: Hemp: Africa’s Solution to Hunger and Poverty )

70 Years of Propaganda

The media portrayal of marijuana and drugs is largely responsible for the negative perception of hemp, but most people fail to realize that commercial hemp is actually unfit for use as an intoxicant. THC, the active ingredient of regular cannabis responsible for producing the ‘high’ effect in drug users, is typically found in quantities of up to 20% or more. Industrial hemp on the other hand, generally contains less than 0.3% THC content, which is not enough to cause any physical or psychological effects. Smoking industrial hemp to get high is akin to trying to get drunk from non-alcoholic beer.

Hemp has a lengthy history of being a productive crop, even in the USA. Early presidents Washington and Jefferson used to grow the crop personally, and during a few different periods Americans were actually legally bound to grow hemp. The US government even produced a short movie in 1942 entitled Hemp for Victory to help encourage farmers to grow hemp.

Big Business Bans Hemp

Hemp was effectively banned with the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, but a chronic oil and material shortage during the Second World War meant the government desperately needed hemp again. It was re-legalized in 1942 and promoted with the Hemp for Victory movie. The original ban was at the request of big industry and after the shortages subsided it didn’t take long before they once again made sure that hemp wasn’t able to compete with their business interests.

The problem is that hemp is a naturally occurring solution to many of the world’s problems, and therefore can’t be patented and controlled by individuals. DuPont was one of the main companies behind the ban of hemp, which they pushed for shortly after patenting a nylon rope made from synthetic petrochemicals. In addition to the petrochemical industries, it also threatened the cotton, oil and timber industries, who formed an alliance to make sure hemp was outlawed.

Simply the Best

As well as being one of the earliest known domesticated plants, hemp is one of the fastest growing bio-masses known. The bark of the stalk contains possibly the longest natural soft fibers in the world. These two properties provide tremendous advantages over other crops in terms of practicality and uses.

Hemp is also very environmentally friendly. It grows well in a number of different soil types and climates, and is naturally resilient to weeds and pests. Some farmers even use it as a natural weed suppressor. The use of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and pesticides and are widely unnecessary, with the plant rarely being attacked and strong enough to ward off the few pests which are attracted to it. They don’t call it ‘Weed’ without a reason, as it is able to grow strong like a weed without any assistance.

Wide Variety of Uses

The practical uses for hemp never seem to end, ranging from replacements for many of our current energy, clothing and building material sources to more simple uses such as fishing bait, cooking products and paints.

Food

Hemp seeds are possibly the most easily digestible source of complete proteins; contain high levels of dietary fiber and B-vitamins, as well as containing all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids in the most appropriate ratios for human consumption. Their profile is so complete that if a human was to eat one thing for the rest of their life, they would live the longest on hemp seeds. Since they can be eaten raw, ground, sprouted or made into milk; hemp seeds can be used as a replacement for flour, butter, protein powder, milk and ice-cream. By the way, the seed is not psychoactive and will not act as a drug.

Fuel and Plastics

Biofuels such as biodiesel can be produced from the oil in hemp seeds and stalks. The fermentation of the whole plant can also produce alcohol fuel. Hemp can produce ten times more methanol than is possible from corn and seems an ideal substitute for the massive amounts corn crops around the world planted to provide fuel for vehicles. The hemp fibers are perfect for producing plastic moulded products, rather than relying on oil for their production. They are also well suited for the creation of biodegradable plastic products.

Construction

Similar to the way ancient cultures added straw to clay to reinforce bricks, hemp fibers added to concrete increase tensile strength, as well as reducing shrinkage and cracking. It can also be mixed with gypsum to produce light panels, or lime to make plaster. A combination mixture can be used for foundations, walls and ceilings, which is lighter than cement and has better sound and heat insulating properties. There has even been a ceramic tile equivalent produced. The quality of building materials is such that whole houses have been made based on hemp fiber.

Insulation

The actual building structure is not the only thing that can benefit from hemp’s insulating properties. The production of thermal insulation products is one of the most important sectors of the hemp industry. Hemp hurds are perfect to use due to their high silica content, and can be mixed with lime to produce a material which can be blown into areas requiring insulation. Since it is naturally renewable, it is better for the environment and can help to reduce heating costs for existing households.

Textiles

Hemp is a major competitor to the cotton industry. It produces 250% more fibers than cotton and doesn’t require the same cocktail of chemicals cotton needs to grow successfully. It is said that around half of the world’s pesticides are used on cotton crops. Hemp is also far stronger, durable, absorbent, insulative and resistant to UV light and mold than cotton. Although it is generally coarse, advancements in processing have enabled a softening of hemp fibers to a comfortable level. Apart from shoes and clothing, hemp can also be used to produce coarse textiles such as upholstery and carpets.

Paper

The United States Constitution was drafted on hemp paper. Hemp can produce more than four times the dry weight of fiber in comparison to the average forest on the same size land. Additionally, trees will take approximately twenty years to regrow, where hemp can reach maturity in around four months. Apart from being far more practical to produce paper in terms of growth times and production levels, hemp paper is of a far superior quality to tree paper. Wood pulp paper may be lucky to last 50 years, whereas hemp pulp paper has been known to last centuries or even millennia. It can also be recycled many more times than traditional paper.

Personal Care Products

Hempseed oil has a wide variety of uses, especially in the personal care product range. It is widely used in creams as a moisturizing agent and is excellent for skin care. It is also present in a number of leading brand’s lotions, moisturizers, lip balms and perfumes. Bathroom products containing hemp are also popular, with soaps, shampoos and bubble baths being sold having a hemp component.

Motor vehicles

Today, many car parts are manufactured using hemp products. Their history dates back to 1941, where Henry Ford produced a car with a plastic body which was made from approximately 70% hemp fibers. Although the idea came about partly due to a steel shortage, tremendous benefits were revealed. The car could withstand blows ten times greater than steel without denting. It was so powerful that Ford used to swing an axe at the vehicle to show it would not be damaged. Unfortunately, the Marijuana Tax Act made production unviable and although some car parts are produced today, the full potential of hemp cars has never been realized.

THE PERFECT SOLUTION

Never has a more perfect solution been available to solve so many of the world’s problems. But the sad fact is that unless we rise up as a people and demand a change, we are unlikely to ever see the full benefits of hemp around the globe. This is because there are so many well established interest groups in the many sectors of the economy where hemp can provide benefit – interest groups who do not want to see it succeed. The potential benefits to mankind though are just too large to ignore – and we must work together to see that hemp is once again returned to a revered status in our economy.

Source.<

Please also see:
Hemp: Africa’s Solution to Hunger and Poverty
Canada – Hemp Bringing Highs to Farmers’ Lows

 

What’s all the Hype with Hemp?

October 3, 2009 – by Hana Haatainen Caye – Do you know what happens when you smoke hemp? Not a whole lot. You may end up with a cough or a headache, but you certainly won’t end up with a high. Surprised? Most people are because they mistakenly think hemp is the same thing as marijuana. It’s not; even though they are both members of the plant species cannabis sativa and bear an uncanny resemblance. Actually, the psychoactive properties in marijuana come from the THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) found in the flower of the plant. While the THC values in marijuana are about 15% – 20%, they’re only standardized at about 0.3% in industrial hemp.

So what’s all the hype with hemp? It’s actually an eco-friendly renewable resource that is once again warranting attention in the United States (although it’s not legal to commercially grow here). Hemp is an excellent alternative to cotton when it comes to clothing, as hemp is more resilient and water-resistant, offers better breathe-ability, and is, quite simply, softer and warmer. With the look of linen and the feel of flannel, it’s no wonder clothing made of hemp is gaining in popularity.

But clothing isn’t the only thing hemp is used for. Consider these facts:

* When used for building material, hemp is known to be better than wood in terms of quality and strength, as well as being less expensive
* Paper made from hemp can be recycled up to 7 times, versus only 4 times for paper made from wood pulp
* Hemp has 10 times less toxicity than salt and is as biodegradable as sugar
* When used to make bio-diesel fuel, it emits 80% less carbon dioxide and close to 100% less sulfur dioxide
* It boasts a production rate of up to 10 tons per acre every 4 months
* It matures in about 100 days versus the 50 – 100 years for a tree to mature
* Hemp crops are heat, cold, mildew, pest, light, drought and rot resistant
* There are far less chemicals used to produce fabric made of hemp than of cotton and other fibers
* The woody stalks, or hurds, of the hemp plant are used for a variety of products, including: paper, plastics, animal bedding and more efficient and cleaner burning fuels, such as ethanol and methane
* The plant fibers are perfect for clothing, canvas, paper, textiles and rope, as well as replacements for heavier toxic fibers and building materials generally made with recycled plastic and fiber

One of the most beneficial parts of the hemp plant comes from the seed which contains many nutrients for both human and animal consumption. The hemp seed consists of

* Calcium
* Magnesium
* Phosphorus
* Potassium
* Vitamin A
* Protein (25%)
* Insoluble fiber (15%)
* Carbohydrates (30%)

It also is the absolute best vegetable source of essential fatty acids, with 55% Omega 3 linoleic acid and 25% Omega 6 linoleic acid, as well as gama linoleic acid.

Hemp seeds can be used in baking or cooking, crushed or whole. Hempseed oil is the principle product derived from the seed and has many uses from nutrition to cosmetics to paints and varnishes.

The multiple uses of the hemp plant, coupled with its eco-friendly properties, makes it the perfect crop choice for farmers across America. So why are we not seeing this invaluable plant being harvested from coast to coast?

Well, not to sound cynical, but you’d have to ask a politician about this. After all, it’s the powers-that-be that enforce the law that makes industrial hemp production in the U.S. illegal. But it wasn’t always this way.

Up until 1883, nearly 90% of all paper in this country was made with hemp rather than wood pulp. Four million pounds of hemp seed was sold in the States in 1937, and up until that year, almost 90% of all rope and twine was manufactured from the hemp plant. Then there’s the car Henry Ford built in 1941, made from a hemp and wheat straw plastic. However, the popularity of hemp and its abundance seemed to be cutting into the potential profits of men like William Randolph Hearst and Pierre DuPont, who collaborated and succeeded in making hemp an illegal crop in the U.S. in 1937. What did they have to gain? Well, Hearst held interests in multiple lumber mills and personally owned huge forests. DuPont used petroleum to manufacture synthetic fuels and fibers, such as rayon, nylon and a variety of plastics. The versatility of hemp wasn’t welcome in their world.

Seventy-plus years later, what have we learned? Well, we’ve experienced an energy crisis, polluted our air and waterways, found that chemicals in synthetics can be a danger to our health, endangered our wildlife species with the destruction of the forests, created holes in our ozone layer, etc., etc.

Could this have been avoided? Possibly. Researchers estimate the if just 6% of the continental United States would be planted with hemp crops, this would provide for ALL our national energy needs. Is this factual? I don’t know. But it certainly should be worth investigating. So why is our government sitting on its hands on this one? Is it that there are too many Hearsts and DuPonts out there blocking the way for real change?

I don’t know about you, but this makes me angry. When I think about the possibility that we could have fuel with far less toxic emissions, affordable clothing that wouldn’t be chemically treated, healthy alternative sources of essential fatty acids, etc. I just want to schedule a meeting with the higher ups and ask them why it isn’t happening. They talk the talk of independence from foreign oil, but when given a sensible alternative, they turn a deaf ear. Angry…you bet I am. And frustrated with the stupidity and ignorance of people who continue to think it should be illegal, because they refuse to differentiate between hemp and marijuana. Source.

 

Carbon Negative Hemp Walls are 7x Stronger than Concrete

August 24, 2009 – Buildings account for thirty-eight percent of the CO2 emissions in the U.S., according to the U.S. Green Building Council, and demand for carbon neutral and/or zero footprint buildings is at an all-time high. Now there is a new building material that is not just carbon neutral, but is actually carbon negative.

Developed by U.K.-based Lhoist Group, Tradical® Hemcrete® is a concrete substitute made from hemp, lime and water. What makes it carbon negative? There is more CO2 locked-up in the process of growing and harvesting of the hemp than is released in the production of the lime binder. Of course the equation is more complicated than that, but Hemcrete® is still an amazing new technology that could change the building industry.

Good looking, environmentally friendly and 100% recyclable, Hemcrete® is as versatile as it is sustainable. It can be used in a mind-boggling array of applications from roof insulation to wall construction to flooring. It is seven times stronger than concrete, weighs half as much, and is less prone to cracking. Hemcrete® is also waterproof, fireproof, insulates well, does not rot and is completely recyclable. In fact, the manufacturers say that demolished Hemcrete® walls can actually be used as fertilizer!

Available for years in the U.K., Hemcrete® is only now finding its way into North America. The species of hemp used to manufacture Hemcrete® is illegal to grow in the U.S., making Hemcrete® an expensive option for U.S. builders for now. As pressure for more sustainable building materials grows, lawmakers are certain to revisit this and other similarly restrictive statutes, particularly if there is money to be made. And judging from the success of Hemcrete® in Europe and elsewhere, there is plenty to be made; it is so profitable overseas that Hemp Technologies, one of the biggest manufacturers of hemp products in the UK, is actively recruiting as many new growers as it can. by Daniel Flahiff. Source.