Hemp is primarily known to some as the source of CBD oil. After all, any approved CBD products sold in brick-and-mortar stores or online, including HOH CBD products, are all made from premium-grade industrial hemp.
However, hemp has a lot more to offer the world than just CBD.
Hemp has been a domesticated plant for centuries and is used for medicine, food, beauty products, clothing, paper, and much more. Recently, there has been increased interest in hemp as an alternative sustainable construction material.
Hempcrete or hemp-lime is a bio-composite material. It is made from a lime-based mix and hemp shives or hurds — the dried woody cores of the hemp stalks created as a waste product when processing hemp fiber.
The lime and hemp shive mixture can be cast just like concrete, allowing it to be formed into blocks and panels. Compared to conventional lime mixes, hempcrete offers multiple advantages when used in construction. These include:
Moreover, since hemp plants can absorb carbon more effectively than trees, the hempcrete created from it becomes carbon-negative. Using carbon-retaining hempcrete instead of other building materials means we help release fewer greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
Aside from hempcrete, industrial hemp plants can also be used to create hemp wood. This type of wood can be used as a sustainable alternative to hardwoods and other flooring materials.
Hemp wood is an engineered wood but has the same or even better quality than conventional wood. Findings show that hemp wood is 20% harder than oak wood, has a similar stability as Brazilian cherry wood, ranks over 2,000 on the Janka hardness scale, and has a density of up to 55 pounds per cubic foot.
The insulating properties hemp displays when in the form of hempcrete and engineered hemp wood is also present in hemp fiber, which means hemp fiber can also be used as a high-performing insulation material.
Hemp fiber can be processed and bound into sheets, resembling rolls of traditional blanket insulation. There are already some construction projects that use hemp wool as semi-rigid fiber batt insulation, installing it between structural frames rather than using fiberglass or other insulators.
If you have heard of CBD oil, you may have also heard of hemp seed oil. Not to be confused with CBD oil which is made from the stalks and leaves, hemp oil is produced using hemp seeds and contains little to no CBD.
While hemp oil has its own set of potential health benefits, it can also be highly useful in the construction industry as a wood coating or finish. Product reviews show that hemp oil is on par with or even better than commercially available wood coatings, especially concerning weather resistance.
The many benefits of hemp are supported by one important characteristic of the plant: its fast growth rate.
Industrial hemp plants can grow to heights of four meters or 13 feet in just 100 days. Aside from growing faster than an oak tree, hemp plants can be harvested more frequently — making it a more renewable and sustainable building material.
Additionally, since hempcrete and other forms of hemp used in construction can be made from the by-products of producing CBD, supporting CBD manufacturers may also help improve the use of hemp in sustainable construction.
HOH CBD is a root-to-retail CBD provider that specializes in a variety of products. Visit HOH CBD today to browse our premium CBD products.
Disclaimer
The products on this site are not for use by or sale to persons under the age of 21. Furthermore, they should be used only as directed on the label, and should not be used if you are pregnant or nursing. Always consult with a physician before use if you have a serious medical condition or use prescription medications. In general, a doctor’s advice should be sought before using this and any supplemental dietary product. Finally, all the statements on this site have not been evaluated by the FDA, nor are they intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
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