Current trends respond to being able to build more efficient structures with ecological methods responsible, allowing for what some call ecological architecture , which is responding to the necessary balance between man and the environment environment from the optimization of the constructive element. Here enter a multitude of techniques, from the oldest to the most modern, to project literally with "head", of reuse and of course the materials where innovation or the way of understanding and applying them plays a role essential.
This time we are going to enter the world of cannabis in architecture , well!... to be exact, from hemp or industrial hemp (It is the name given to the varieties of cannabis plants – marijuana and the name of the fiber) and that it has been used in many countries traditionally in the textile world or the automotive industry, going through the production of oils and seeds or ecological fuels and plastics, among others.
Now, two milestones begin to reveal the benefits of the hemp from the perspective of fiber in building ecological . First, the different innovation companies technology that are taking an interest in this material applied to ecological construction by the evidence of peculiar characteristics that other materials do not have.
And secondly, the international contest of Cannabis Bank architecture (Promoted by Bee Breeders and Beware!... The contest is not a joke, the 1st prize carries 10,000 Dollars) with the aim of opening the discourse around the world of cannabis and its integration into the built environment.
Actually, it was a subject we were unaware of complete until we were talking to an architect who changed the helmet and Autocad for something totally different and that entered the cannabis game from http://eurogrow.es/. The crisis in the sector Architecture affects us all, and each one opts for a way!
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Some experts already predict that the new homes of the future will be greener thanks to a new material called Hempcrete . What can become a construction material that revolutionizes the ecological architecture, already relatively widespread in many countries around the world. But, what is Hempcrete?
If we look at the Hempcrete material, which is actually a building brick hemp , is a combination of the words in English hemp (hemp) and concrete (concrete). It s the result of a unique blend of vegetable fibers from industrial hemp (That there is no to confuse with the «traditional plants of marijuana” or the uses of medical marijuana), natural hydraulic lime – in most cases – with a mixture of minerals and water .
When calcium carbonate is heated to 900 ºC, it get calcium oxide or quicklime, which has as result lime dust. Mixing it properly with water and hemp fibers will give rise to this unique material a once the water evaporates.
As a note, there are some zones that are combined with cement. The difference between using a Lime cluster or Cement:
Among many of its virtues and advantages of hemp bricks ; the material is very fire resistant, high thermal comfort (The reed as insulation is equivalent to rock or glass wool), acoustic, is breathable, flexible or practically impermeable to termites.
The hempcrete is considered as a negative carbon material. That is more carbon dioxide can be destroyed during its production from which it is generated. They are bricks that absorb the CO2 !
It's actually because the hemp plant It is one of the most CO2 capable of absorbing during its cultivation, which comes to compensate the one that is generated during the production, distribution, commissioning and possible recycled.
According to gossip – mainly manufacturers – it is said that it is so recyclable that once demolished, it can even be reused as fertilizer.
In the market it can already be found in format of brick intended for building ecological although it must be said that it has a inconvenience , the cost of the material is more higher than that of traditional construction but the energy savings are very important. In Spain there is a company called Cannabric that sells them.
We can also find it in “bulk” mode, cheaper, being a perfect element for the insulation of walls, floor, ceilings… etc.
From Belgium we can see an example of architecture with cannabis where we found a rehabilitation of housing where the new one has been used hemp concrete eco-friendly hempcrete by the architecture studio Ghent studio Martens Van Caimere Architecten.
We can see in the images of the house that it is offers an architecture that is not at all at odds with a good design.
Another example of green architecture with this material we found in a building from the outside of Cape Town in South Africa. A house detached house with spectacular views and also with a landscaped roof.
In this case, it is the first time that a construction house with hemp against all impediments laws of the country, but the reality is that blazed a trail that can lead a new industry sustainable that has a lot of potential.
Now, we have to go to the winner of the international contest of Cannabis Bank architecture. Remember that the goal is design proposals for stores that can be located anywhere part of the world.
This year's winner is the creative project called U-CAN. He proposes to build on the roofs of the buildings taiwan city a store with worship spaces, to relax or for a social meeting attending to the circumstances of a city overcrowded in population and the need for spaces for social communication.
