The Renewable House

The house is part of the Building Research Establishment’s Insite 09 construction exhibition. The house has a timber frame structure, built using a mixture of the woody core of the hemp stalk with lime and forms a “hemp-crete” compound that has good structural properties, high levels of thermal efficiency with low embodied energy. The material can be recycled. It is carbon negative because the hemp plants absorb carbon dioxide while they grow.

One hectare of hemp can produce over 8 tonnes which is enough to build a three bedroom house could be built for less than £75,000. In theory, 1% of the arable land in Britain would be enough to build 180,000 homes per year. It demonstrates how sustainable housing can be low cost and have low carbon footprint.