Hemp, Lime And Local Timber At Scots Eco-Village

Green Building Press, 31 Aug 2013

Two houses are nearing completion at a small newbuild eco village in the northwest of Scotland. Achabeag township has planning permission for 20 houses, which will be clustered together on sloping land overlooking the Sound of Mull. Of these 6 are designated as affordable housing, but with an average build cost of less than £100K none are likely to break the bank.

The first two dwellings are different in appearance but both are built to a very high standard – with exceptional levels of insulation, minimal heating requirements, met by a woodstove and off-peak electricity, heat storage in a thermal floor slab, and solar thermal panels for hot water. The full-height (single storey) internal living spaces have Douglas Fir structural frames and masses of natural light from roof glazing. Aluminium clad timber windows are virtually maintenance free.

The timber for both was sourced mostly from local forests in the Lochaber area, the insulation – using recycled newspaper, collected by local schoolchildren – processed by Warmcel. Novel sloping exterior walls are influenced by local vernacular building styles while pagoda-style roofs give individuality.

Developed by the Ardtornish Estate and Roderick James Architects LLP the Achabeag Township is intended to be a small sustainable community of highly energy efficient houses, within easy reach of the amenities of nearby Lochaline. The designs were born out of a Pattern Book created by the Roderick James practice that deliberately stipulates both a direction and coherent styles developed to ultimately create a township or village feel.

The first property takes on a crescent-shaped form that curves to create a sheltered outdoor space that looks down the Sound of Mull. Dissecting the curve is a feature-glazed shard that serves to emphasise the properties dramatic views that are enjoyed through a fully glazed façade, whilst drawing light into the centre of the plan. The main living area is open plan. This maximises the amount of both space and light, whilst minimising the amount of corridor space between rooms to deliver both ecological and environmental advantages.

In contrast to the crescent shaped form of its counterpart, the second property is aligned over a star shape layout, the form of which echoes the look of a traditional croft: a long and low, single storey building with white harled (rendered) walls, low eaves, dominant gable ends with chimney stacks, and small windows to the north and west. The properties two main ‘wings’ form a shallow V-shape and in doing so create a sheltered outdoor area that is accessible directly from the open plan living space.

Located within close proximity to each other and enjoying a coastal aspect, the single storey dwellings feature the hemp based prefabricated wall system that is particularly suitable for use in low-rise buildings, deployed around an oak frame in this case. Hemcrete Projects low-carbon prefabricated building system, Hembuild, has been used for the main walls of the houses, which also feature both a natural slate and sedum green roof, plus lime-based render supplied by Hemcrete Projects’ group company, Lime Technology, In order to ensure that the visual appearance of both properties sit comfortably within the landscape, the external walls have been subtly tapered, making them feel instantly integral to their surrounding environment.

Commenting on the decision to specify the Hembuild system, Peter Smith of Roderick James Architects said: “Hembuild ticks all of the boxes when it comes to delivering sustainable properties, and the system is ideally suitable for what are two totally different styled houses but which fulfil the requirements of a scheme where the use of natural materials and environmental sustainability are the order of the day.”

Developed to deliver highly sustainable and energy efficient buildings, the product is based around a bio-composite building material made from hemp shiv (the woody core of industrial hemp) mixed with a lime-based binder – Tradical Hemcrete. This product, when used in conjunction with equally efficient hemp fibre insulation quilt delivers a groundbreaking combination of insulation and thermal inertia.

Building using the system creates a substantial smoothing out of temperatures, thus reducing peak loads and the capital costs of an M&E system. The building fabric partially takes over the regulation of the internal conditions using the passive properties of Hemcrete, instead of using the active properties of the M&E system. This creates the potential for reducing capital and running costs.

In addition to exceeding expectations based on conventional steady state U-values and standard thermal modelling, the process also sequesters carbon. This arises due to hemp capturing carbon dioxide during its rapid growth, whilst releasing oxygen back into the atmosphere. The carbon is then locked up within the walls of the building to give a carbon negative solution.

Related Article:

5 Ways Hemp Will Change Our World

Nothing wrong with Dutch hemp bread

RNW, 19 May 2012

There is nothing wrong with bread containing hemp sold by a baker in the Dutch village of Oegstgeest, the Dutch Forensic Institute (NFI) has concluded.

A local police officer in the village near the town of Leiden recently seized a number of loaves on the suspicion that they contained cannabis. The NFI has refused to comment on the case and is referring calls to the police, who have so far declined to make an official statement.

Leonard Marks, manager of the bakery in question, says the police officer informed him the NFI had found his bread was alright. The baker says he sells dozens of such breads every day. The breas is made with hemp which is grown in Switzerland. Mr Marks says he uses the hemp because it’s good for the immune and muscular systems. The breads, the baker emphasises, contain just small quantities of hemp. “Maybe if you ate lots of them one after the other, you might just notice something,” he says.

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Hemp produces viable biodiesel, study finds

(PhysOrg.com) -- Industrial hemp, which grows in infertile soils, is attractive as a potential source of sustainable diesel fuel.

Physorg.com, October 6, 2010 By Christine Buckley

Of all the various uses for Cannabis plants, add another, “green” one to the mix.

Hemp plant (Enlarge)

Researchers at UConn have found that the fiber crop Cannabis sativa, known as industrial hemp, has properties that make it viable and even attractive as a raw material, or feedstock, for producing biodiesel – sustainable diesel fuel made from renewable plant sources.

The plant’s ability to grow in infertile soils also reduces the need to grow it on primary croplands, which can then be reserved for growing food, says Richard Parnas, a professor of chemical, materials, and biomolecular engineering who led the study.

“For sustainable fuels, often it comes down to a question of food versus fuel,” says Parnas, noting that major current biodiesel plants include food crops such as soybeans, olives, peanuts, and rapeseed. “It’s equally important to make fuel from plants that are not food, but also won’t need the high-quality land.”

Industrial hemp is grown across the world, in many parts of Europe and Asia. Fiber from the plant’s stalk is strong, and until the development of synthetic fibers in the 1950s, it was a premier product used worldwide in making rope and clothing.

Today, there are still parts of the world that rely on Cannabis stalks as a primary fiber, mainly because of its ability to grow “like a weed,” without requiring lots of water, fertilizers, or high-grade inputs to flourish. But the seeds, which house the plant’s natural oils, are often discarded. Parnas points out that this apparent waste product could be put to good use by turning it into fuel.

“If someone is already growing hemp,” he says, “they might be able to produce enough fuel to power their whole farm with the oil from the seeds they produce.” The fact that a hemp industry already exists, he continues, means that a hemp biodiesel industry would need little additional investment.

With his graduate student Si-Yu Li and colleagues James Stuart of the Department of Chemistry and Yi Li of the Department of Plant Sciences, Parnas used virgin hemp seed oil to create biodiesel using a standardized process called transesterification. The group then tested the fuel for a suite of characteristics in the Biofuels Testing Laboratory at UConn’s Center for Environmental Science and Engineering.

The hemp biodiesel showed a high efficiency of conversion – 97 percent of the hemp oil was converted to biodiesel – and it passed all the laboratory’s tests, even showing properties that suggest it could be used at lower temperatures than any biodiesel currently on the market.

Although growing hemp is not legal in the U.S., Parnas hopes that the team’s results will help to spur hemp biodiesel production in other parts of the world. UConn holds a patent on a biodiesel reactor system that could be customized to make biodiesel from a range of sustainable inputs, hemp included.

“Our research data could make buying a reactor system with our technology more attractive,” says Parnas. “If we have data for the production of many different feedstocks, we can tailor the system to meet the company’s needs.”

Parnas, Yi Li, and colleagues Steven Suib of the Department of Chemistry, Fred Carstensen of the Department of Economics, and Harrison Yang of the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment are preparing to build a pilot biodiesel production facility using a two-year, $1.8 million grant from the Department of Energy.

The reactor will be capable of producing up to 200,000 gallons of biodiesel per year, and while this production rate is small in comparison to commercial biodiesel reactors, the main use of the facility will be to test new ways to produce biodiesel, including catalysts and feedstocks. Ultimately, the team will perform economic analyses on commercializing their methods.

As for other industries that utilize Cannabis plants, Parnas makes a clear distinction between industrial hemp, which contains less than 1 percent psychoactive chemicals in its flowers, and some of its cousins, which contain up to 22 percent. “This stuff,” he points out, “won’t get you high.”

Provided by University of Connecticut (news : web)

Related Article:

The Hemp Revolution (video)

The Hemp Revolution (video)

Niburu, 28-07-2010

The Hemp Revolution tells the amazing and little known story of the Hemp plant.

Hemp, probably the first plant ever to be cultivated, was among the worlds largest agricultural crops until the 1800s. This feature documentary explores the plants facinating history, its thousands of uses, the economic and cultural forces behind its prohibition, and its modern potential to solve major environmental problems.

Hemp, together with bio-technologies presented in this film, offer a visionary yet practical solutions that could help solve many of our current environmental problems including energy, medicine, food and clothing, etc.

Featuring top scientists, academics and professionals from around the world.

Hemp facts are Courtesy of The Kentucky Hemp Museum & Library, Versailles, KY

1. One acre of hemp produces twice as much oil as one acre of peanuts.
   Agriculture, Papermakers have high hopes for Industrial Hemp.
   Agri-View. " Wisconsin's largest farm newspaper" April 27, 1995.
   
2. America's first hemp law was enacted in 1619 at Jamestown Colony, Virginia ordering all farmers to grow Indian hemp seed.
   Clark. V.S., History of Manufacture in the United States, Mcgraw Hill. NY 1929. pg 34.
   
3. Cannabis hemp was legal tender in most of the Americas from 1631 until the early 1800's. you could even pay your taxes with cannabis hemp.
   
   Clark. V.S., History of Manufacture in the United States. Mcgraw Hill. NY 1929. pg. 34.
   
4. "The earliest known woven fabric was apparently of hemp which began to be worked in the eighth millennium (8,000-7,000) BC).
   "The Columbia History of the World. 1981. pg. 54.
   
5. The original. Heavy-duty, famous Levi jeans were made for the California '49ers out of hemp sailcloth and rivets so that the pockets would not rip when filled with gold.
   
   Hemp and the Marijuana Conspiracy: The Emperor Wears No Clothes, Jack Herer, Revised and expanded 1995 edition: copyright March, 1995, HEMP Publishing. 5632 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys. CA 91401. pg. 6.
   
6. One acre of hemp produces as much cellulose fiber pulp as 4.1 acres of trees.
   Dewey & Merrill. Bulletin #404. U.S. Dept. of Age. 1916.
   
7. Hemp paper is stronger and has greater folding endurance than wood pulp paper.
   Dewey & Merrill. Bulletin #404, US Dept. of Ag., 1916.
   
8. Cannabis hemp seeds contain all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids, which are vital to the immune system necessary to maintain a healthy life.
   
   Hempseed Nutrition. Osburn, Lynn, Access unlimited, P.O. Box 1900. Frazier Park. CA 93225.
   
9. Hemp seeds contain up to 24% protein. A handful of seed provides the minimum daily requirement of protein for adults.
   
   Rosenthal. Ed. Hemp Today, pg. 101.
   
   14. August 13, 1941, Henry Ford first displayed his plastic car at Dearborn Days in Michigan. The car ran on fuels derived from hemp and other agricultural based sources, and the fenders were made of hemp, wheat, straw, and synthetic plastics. Ford said his vision was "to grow automobiles from the soil."
   The Kentucky Hemp Museum and Library. 1998 Historical Hemp Calendar, February. Roulac, John. Industrial Hemp Practical Products - Paper to fabric to Cosmetics, pg. 11. Hemptech