Everything You Need To Know About Hempcrete
The Cannabis-Based Home-Building Material Is a Total Game Changer
Nothing excites the cannabis community more than seeing cool hemp-based products hit the market. From nutrition (hemp seeds and oil) to fashion (hemp jeans and shoes) to office supplies (really! Hemp pens and and even chairs) – hemp is making a splash in every industry.
It’s next landing strip? Construction.
You may have heard of a material called hempcrete. It’s exactly what it sounds like – similar to concrete, but made with hemp and a few other materials.
Read below to learn why homebuilders in North America are falling in love with hempcrete.
Wait – What’s Hempcrete?
Hempcrete is a fairly new cannabis-based material used for building. It’s made with cannabis, lime, and water, and it’s known for its stability and sustainability. Hempcrete has been around since the 1980s, but it has grown in popularity in recent years – some call it a trend in the building industry.
How is Hempcrete made?
Get ready for a science lesson. Hempcrete is made from a composite – essentially a combination – of two important ingredients: First, you’ll need lime. Lime acts a mineral binder, which is a powdered substance needed for the process of viscoplasticity. This is a process where solids deform over time with the help of a mineral binder and water.
You’ll also need a bio-fibre, which would be the wood-like hemp core known as hurd or shiv.
What happens next? These materials are mixed with water and hardened. Typically, there should be a lot of void space in the final mixture.
What’s So Special About Hempcrete?
Obviously, hempcrete has won the hearts of hash-lovers – we’ll never grow tired of finding innovative ways to use cannabis. But did you know that there are a ton of benefits from using the hemp-based material?
According to Hemp Technologies, a Canadian hempcrete producer, the material has great environmental benefits. It’s an energy-saver, as it can save 50-70% of the energy costs families typically pay, according to data from chilly Alaska. It leaves a negative carbon footprint, and it offers no gas emissions, unlike other materials.
Are There Any Drawbacks?
via GIPHY
Not really! Though there is one barrier in the production of hempcrete: there are domestic restrictions on hempcrete, so it must be imported by American builders. According to Smithsonian magazine, this makes it “an expensive preposition compared to other materials.”
But don’t worry – hempcrete isn’t going to fade away anytime soon. The cannabis industry is continuously growing, and Smithsonian reports that states with legalized marijuana, like Colorado, are starting to see more pot-based products like hempcrete take over.
