Hemp for building: ecology and low cost

The environmental potential of hemp as a building material has never really been in doubt: it absorbs carbon as it grows and can be grown almost anywhere, cutting down on the need for energy-intensive transportation. It only takes an area the size of a football pitch four months to grow enough hemp to build a typical three bedroom house. “Growing crops such as hemp can also provide economic and social benefits to rural economies through new agricultural markets for farmers and associated industries“, said Pete Walker, director of the Bre centre for innovative construction materials at the university of Bath, Uk.