High Times Beckon for Using Hemp to Build Houses

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/science/hemp-homes-cannabis.html

by IntronExon • 8 years ago

28 7 8 years ago

lalos• 8 years ago

A must watch for the impact of construction and infrastructure in the world is the documentary Sand Wars. They lightly mention alternatives such as hemp blocks at the end. Never thought sand was so problematic and important (just behind water and oil).

Kalium• 8 years ago

If memory serves, hempcrete's physical characteristics are such that it's only good for shorter buildings. We won't be building any dense housing out of the stuff.

So it's a very useful building material for rural areas.

andrewwharton• 8 years ago

Absolutely, its compressive strength (~1 MPa) is so low that it's better to think of it as rigid insulation that anything structural or load bearing.

dogma1138• 8 years ago

For reference that’s less than dry wall...

gkgicccj• 8 years ago

I feel bad posting this here but if you can wade through the terrible language there's a lot of good architecture comparative info on this page- https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/thread/140759957/

Warning- text unsafe for life.

spodek• 8 years ago

Another use of hemp is for clothing.

I searched for years to find a great winter coat minimizing animal products and fossil fuels. Finally, I found Hemp Hoodlamb's parka https://us.hoodlamb.com/collections/fw17-man/products/aw17-m... which fits the bill and keeps me warm.

The company has a couple videos showing their hemp production in China.

On another note, from the article:

Getting a mature plant in just a few months — with less fertilizer than needed for industrial crops like corn, and without chemical fertilizers or bug sprays — makes the potential for profit huge.

That's not how profit works. Fast growth may make the potential market size huge, but without barriers to entry, competition will bring profits down.

High Times Beckon for Using Hemp to Build Houses

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