Green Material From the UK : Hemcrete®

American Lime Technology is pleased to announce its inaugural project, The Hopewell Project, which represents the first use of the highly sustainable Hemcrete® building system in the United States. This “green” project will be comprised of a chapel and a pottery studio that are being commissioned by Caribe Properties in Montgomery, Texas. An open house is scheduled for May 18-20.

Hemcrete® is a blend of a special lime based binder (Tradical® HB) and specially prepared hemp shiv (Tradical® HF). Together these form a sustainable bio-composite construction material that combats climate change by capturing carbon and delivering high performance airtight, insulating walls. The carbon capture environmental benefits of Tradical® Hemcrete offer an immediate way to combat climate change.

Hemcrete® is being used in several high profile projects in the United Kingdom, including the recently completed, award-winning Adnams Brewery Distribution Center in Southwold, Suffolk, UK and the Haverhill Houses, a public housing project. American Lime Technology (AMT) is a joint venture of UK-based Lime Technology Limited and U.S. Heritage Group, Inc., which is located in Chicago, Illinois.

Also see the TreeHugger article Hemp Houses for Australia. They note that this technology is not new but is gaining steam, especially in areas where growing hemp isn't a crime.

The Hopewell Project

A Floating World

"A set of zero-carbon floating buildings has been chosen by RIBA as the winning design for the visitor center at the new Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Nature Reserve in Preston, northern England. Nicknamed ‘A Floating World’ and chosen over five other shortlisted entries, this design from Adam Khan Architects uses buildings made of low embodied energy materials such as thatch, willow and timber, drawing on the heritage of wetland dwellings and embodying a sustainable agenda."

via Inhabitat

Tallest Tower of Timber to be Built

London architects Waugh Thistleton have designed a timber residential tower they say will be the tallest wooden housing block in the world at nine stories, and will save 125 tonnes of carbon emissions compared to a concrete structure. It will be built of prefabrcated panels made by KLH of Austria and and it's surface will be made up of 70% waste timber panels by Marley Eternit.

via Treehugger and dezeen

OFFSITE2007

At OFFSITE 2007 the Big Build progressed over 5 days last week. What do they have to show for it? 7 homes built as close to the highest levels of the new sustainability code in the UK. See the pictures of the buildings some impressive examples and combination of techonolgies going on here. The Code, launched in April 2007, has been developed by Communities and Local Government (CLG) based on BRE's EcoHomes method to enable a step change in sustainable building practice for new homes. It provides a means of assessing the sustainablity credentials of new homes for energy, water, materials, waste, pollution and other issues.