Speaker
Description
The use of hemp-based eco-concrete is now a real option for any beneficiary to consider when choosing materials for new construction or energy retrofitting of existing buildings. Rising energy costs, climate change, pollution and comfort requirements have led to the introduction of legislation to reduce the environmental impact of the construction industry. The European Union's Sustainable Development Goals aim to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Hemp is valuable both as a plant from which seeds and oil can be obtained for food and as a raw material in the form of chopped stalks from which thermal insulating building materials with a negative impact on the CO2 balance can be made. This is why hemp, and in particular hemp concrete, plays an important role in reducing climate change and has been included in the European Commission's recommendations as an effective means of achieving the proposed targets.
The increasing demand for environmentally friendly materials has led to a wide range of options from which architects and designers can choose to meet the financial constraints of the client and the requirements of design and construction regulations for both residential and socio-cultural buildings. In this paper, the optimisation criteria are established and the calculation method for determining the compositions is presented in order to make the consumption of hemp raw material more efficient, to reduce the consumption of air and hydraulic binders, to reduce the consumption of water and additives for the production of hemp concrete. This is necessary because the raw material has a bulk density that varies between 87 and 139 kg/m3, depending on the diameter of the hemp stalks at the base of the soil. The morphological differences of the plants, as well as the soil and climatic conditions, determine the grain size characteristics, which can influence the thermo-mechanical properties of the reinforced material. The amount of binder required in the mix depends on the particle size distribution.
The optimisation of the compositions is carried out according to the criteria that determine the maximum limits of the quantities of binding agents used, so that the material obtained at the end has the properties specific to the construction element designed and the consumption of raw materials is ecologically and economically efficient. Although hemp is a renewable resource, it is important that it can be used rationally.
