Reasons Why Hemp Houses Will Be The Best Eco Housing in The World

The Strength and Benefits of Hempcrete

Hempcrete is a building material used in home designs that is ten times stronger than concrete, and just one-sixth the weight. The all-natural building material is made of hemp pulp, lime binder and water. Just like the building material cob, Hemcrete is non-toxic, termite-resistant, super insulating, fire-resistant, rot-resistant, breathable and mold-resistant, and will last for more than a hundred years. Unlike cob, Hempcrete has the added benefit of sequestering large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere.

The Historical Significance and Functionality of Hempcrete

Hempcrete may seem like a new phenomenon to most who are alive today; archaeologists believe that similar building technology was used as far back as ancient Egypt. One of the hempcrete home designs best features is in its breathability. The building material is breathable not in the sense that air gets inside, rather it's airtight, breathable for water. An example is that you have a cavity that you seal tightly and fill with home design insulation. Usually, no matter how hard you try to keep water out, it gets inside, simply because that's what water does. So hempcrete welcomes water but doesn't rot when the water gets in. When it becomes humid outside, the hempcrete absorbs the extra humidity and holds it until the humidity drops, and then the hempcrete will let it back out, regulating and balancing the humidity inside the home design. Hempcrete has a high pH lime that is wrapped around the cellulose so that it won't rot.

Environmental Impact and Carbon Sequestration

This eco-friendly building material creates the ideal indoor environment, but it also helps with the outdoor environment too, by sequestering massive amounts of carbon. Any cellulose building material, such as wood or hemp, takes in carbon during its life and then lets it back into the atmosphere when it decays. So if you take that plant and put it into a wall of home design or eco building, the carbon is trapped inside and not released into the atmosphere.

Energy Efficiency and Sustainability of Hemp

Also, with walls being from 12 to 18 inches thick, homeowners of a hempcrete home design can expect to cut their energy costs and their carbon emissions by at least half. Another benefit of hemp is that it can be grown from seed to harvest in only four short months, on bad soil, over and over again, unlike trees. That makes hemp abundantly productive and is a building material that can grow forever on the same spot.

The Expediency and Safety of Building with Hempcrete

You'll be hard pressed to find a building material that matches hemp. Hempcrete is an incredibly expedient building method. Instead of pouring out wet, heavy, caustic and toxic concrete, hempcrete in the mixer is fluffy and lightweight just like sawdust. Building with hempcrete doesn't require any power tools, which means there are no electrical cords lying around everywhere. This, combined with the lack of toxins in standard building materials, makes hempcrete a healthy and safe addition to the building site. Hempcrete is an eco-friendly building material that is sure to become more popular as people discover it's benefits.