Construction
Biomimetic structures
- Construction represents a large potential market for the use of fibre crops, carrying market appeal on the basis of low carbon footprint
- But existing building regulations are deeply locked to fossil derived materials and barriers to change are high
- Our value-add approach to hemp for construction, combines novelty in structure, integrated function, reflecting biomimetic design principles
- Biodiversity net gain aims to encourage development of natural ecosystems, by creating structures which support a symbiotic mix of micro-organisms, plants and vertebrates
- On the theme that disorder promotes biodiversity we are investigating low-carbon pleasing-to-look-at, super-hard structures which mimic natural ecosystems
- Such structures combine embedded and natural carbon, and as such are challenging to integrate into building structures to comply with fire regulations, but can provide practical and bankable tools to enable architects and developers to meet carbon footprint objectives and sustainable development goals
- Harmonising the urban environment with conservation and restoration of ecosystems making cities more desirable places to live in
- Mycelial bonded shiv yields low density (typically 60-80kg/m3) and induces remarkable mechanical strength
- Showing high surface bonded cane and compression moulded shiv composite structures
Low Carbon Cements
- This material can be used alone in thin (1mm) or thick section or as a fibre or shiv binder for biomimetic structures. Resulting structures have a lower carbon footprint compared to lime based binders or Portland cements.
- Showing “Mokume gane effect, cast structures
- Our Low carbon cements are 3D printable
Saving Energy
- Our building integrated carbon filled ceramics can store dumped electrical energy, releasing as infrared heat
- Showing direct cast carbon filled “dump load” ceramic
- Our novel atmospheric water absorbers – Sourced from Hemp – pull water out the atmosphere, passively cooling on evaporative release during the heat of the day
Low density structures
- We have developed binder-free “All Hemp” structures with densities in the range ~70-80kg/m3 which can be fabricated into any shape by simple compression moulding and forced air drying.
- Pushing boundaries, our ultralow density hemp based foam materials have densities as low as 15 kg/m3, are robust to handling and fully biodegradable
“All Hemp” structures
- Hurd³ developed new processing methodology to convert Shiv waste into a pumpable fibre rich pulp, which is “application ready” for moulding to form composites, blocks and grown media
- All hemp structures made by simple compression of “processes shiv” can be moulded to form robust interlocking stackable structures made entirely from hemp shiv carrying a low manufacturing overhead.
- Blocks can be made weatherproof, but over time will fully biodegrade
- New functionality will be added in the near term aimed at an automated windowsill grow system.
