The Hempcrete Book: Designing and building with hemp-lime (Sustainable Building) - Softcover

Stanwix, William; Sparrow, Alex

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0857841203 ISBN 13: 9780857841209

Verlag: Green Books, 2014

Inhaltsangabe

A comprehensive practical manual for professionals and self-builders, this innovative book explains the many benefits to building with hempcrete.

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Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

William Stanwix is a qualified building surveyor and founder of a growing UK company which specialises in new build and restoration with hempcrete and other natural building materials. Along with ongoing construction projects, Will provides consultancy, technical design and training for people interested in building with hempcrete and other natural building materials.

Alex Sparrow works for one of only a handful of companies working with hempcrete in the UK and the only one to work with self-builders. Alex works on the strategic development of the company but still regularly takes the opportunity to get his hands dirty on the building sites. Beyond the day-job, he is also a freelance writer on natural building.

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The Hempcrete Book

Designing and Building with Hemp-Lime

By William Stanwix, Alex Sparrow

UIT Cambridge Ltd

Copyright © 2014 William Stanwix and Alex Sparrow
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-85784-120-9

Contents

Title Page, 
Dedication, 
Acknowledgements, 
Foreword by Professor Tom Woolley, 
Introduction, 
Part One: Principles of building with hempcrete, 
1 History and uses of hemp, 
2 Hemp in construction, 
3 An introduction to lime, 
4 Key concepts in sustainable building, 
5 Getting the basics right, 
6 Variations on the hemp–lime mix, 
7 Performance of hempcrete in a building, 
8 Tools and equipment, 
9 Health and safety, 
10 Planning the build, 
Focus on self-build 1: Agan Chy, 
Part Two: Hempcrete construction, 
11 The hempcrete wall: an overview, 
12 Foundations and plinth, 
13 The structural frame, 
14 Shuttering, 
15 Mixing hempcrete, 
16 Placing hempcrete, 
17 Floors, ceilings and roof insulation, 
18 Finishes for hempcrete, 
19 Practicalities on a hempcrete build, 
20 Restoration and retrofit, 
Focus on self-build 2: Hemp Lime House, 
Part Three: Designing a hempcrete building, 
21 Design fundamentals, 
22 Indicative detailing Focus on self-build 3: Bridge End Cottage, 
23 A look to the future, 
Notes, 
Glossary, 
Resources, 
Bibliography, 
Index, 
Also by Green Books, 
Copyright, 

CHAPTER 1

History and uses of hemp

The hemp plant, thanks to its many uses and in particular its most famous one, as a widely popular recreational drug, is one of the most instantly recognizable plants in the world. A great deal has been written about hemp's many uses throughout human history and about the politics of its prohibition during the twentieth century, and there is no need for us to reproduce it all here. In the interests of context, however, in this chapter we provide a brief description of the hemp plant, its history and the resurgence in its use today.

Hemp is the English name (from the old English haenep) for the cannabis plant. The words haenep and cannabis are both thought to derive from the Ancient Greek kánnabis, which in turn evolved from an older word in an ancient Iranian language from around 2,500 years ago.

Three varieties of the cannabis plant exist: Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica and Cannabis ruderalis. Cannabis sativa and C. indica are seen as the more closely related species. Cannabis ruderalis differs from them in that its flowering happens after a predetermined number of days, rather than being dependent on the seasons, and it contains very little tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive substance that gives the drug cannabis its active ingredient.

Hemp is a fast-growing erect annual plant which produces only a few branches, usually at the top of the plant, and grows to a height of between 1.5m and 4m. Its stem is thin and hollow, with a diameter of 4mm to 20mm, depending on the conditions and the specific variety grown. The 'bast' fibres of the hemp plant, which are contained in the bark of the woody stem, range from about 1.2m to 2.1m in length and are extremely strong. Their quality varies depending on the timing of harvesting, and the fibres are graded in terms of their fineness, length, colour, uniformity and strength.

The inner woody stem, the 'shiv' (or 'shive', or 'hurds'), historically has not been used intensively, but this is changing rapidly in the modern world, with new uses being developed all the time: packaging filler and animal bedding, for example. It is hemp shiv that is used in the production of hempcrete.

The seeds of the hemp plant are used as a food source, and ground to produce oils for a wide range of purposes, including technical and industrial applications. The hemp plant in its whole state can be used as a biofuel, and even the cell fluid of the hemp plant is now used in the manufacture of abrasive fluids.

A history of hemp

The common hemp plant, Cannabis sativa, is one of the earliest recorded domestically grown plants, with evidence of its cultivation by humans since Neolithic times. Hemp is found across the world, and has a long history of widespread use for a range of important products: hemp seeds for oils and resin, food, fuel, medicines and cosmetics; hemp fibre for hard-wearing clothing, rope and tough fabrics such as sailcloth (the word canvas derives from cannabis: literally – originally – 'a fabric made from hemp'), and as a pulp from which to make paper.

It is thought that the plant originated in China, and that its cultivation gradually spread westwards through India and into the Middle East, Africa and the Mediterranean, where it formed an essential part of the livelihood and culture of each people who grew it. Surviving writings from the Egyptian, Greek and Roman records show how important the hemp plant was to the lifestyle, trade and expansion of these great civilizations.

The cultivation of hemp in Europe continued throughout modern history, with evidence that its use in Britain, introduced by the Romans, continued thereafter, with the Saxons incorporating it into their medical treatments. Later kings of England promoted the cultivation of hemp, not only for its everyday uses for linen and rope but also for the vital part it played in the military supremacy of Britain as an island nation: Henry VIII passed a law making it compulsory for farmers to grow hemp, such was its importance to the defence of the realm through its use for sailcloth and rigging. Later still, the hemp plant played a not-insignificant part in Napoleon Bonaparte's downfall, since his ill-fated incursion into Russia had as its aim the destruction of Russian hemp plantations. Russia had been supplying the English with hemp, and thus equipping the navy of Napoleon's enemy.

The importance of hemp in British and Irish society throughout the ages is reflected in place names across the land – for example, Hemel Hempstead in the south of England (meaning literally 'place of hemp' or 'hemp pasture'), and Cwm Cywarch in Snowdonia (which translates as 'the steep-walled mountain basin in which hemp is grown'). Street names such as Hemp Mill Walk in Loggerheads in Staffordshire speak for themselves, and Hemp Street in Belfast is at the centre of the area which, until the beginning of the twentieth century, housed the thriving industry around the manufacture of hemp rope and sailcloth for the city's important shipbuilding trade.

The long tradition of hemp growing and processing in Britain can still be seen in the surviving architecture of the hemp and flax industries. Up until the arrival of cheap imported cotton, sisal and jute, towards the end of the nineteenth century, hemp and flax were still widely used for clothing, other textile products, rope and netting. In fact, these two plants are the only fibre crops that are commercially viable in our temperate maritime climate. Many towns in the UK have surviving buildings that were originally a part of these important and widespread industries. The most visible of these are often the 'rope walks' of Victorian, or earlier, times: long buildings where the hemp and flax fibres were stretched out and spun into twine and rope.

For those interested in the history of hemp cultivation in the UK, a good place to start is the quiet coastal towns of Bridport and West Bay in Dorset. The rolling hills...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Green Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2014
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0857841203
• ISBN 13: 9780857841209
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 368
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar