A Toxin-Free Super Efficient Straw BaleHaus

Written by Preston Koerner | Jetson Green

Modcell, a company in the UK that makes prefabricated panels from straw and hemp, this year completed a two-story straw bale home on the campus of the University of Bath. The home, referred to as Balehaus@Bath, was designed by White Design. Over a year, the Balehaus will be monitored in thirty-second increments with 12 sensors inside and 66 sensor in the walls, measuring such things as thermal performance, acoustics, air tightness, and relative humidity.

The panels made by Modcell were assembled with renewable, non-toxic straw from a local farm filled in a wooden structural frame. They're 3.0 x 2.9 m and the walls are 490 mm thick.

As a result, the BaleHaus is extremely low energy -- efficient enough to meet the PassivHaus standard, although it has not received the same certification.

According to Footprint, a blog of the Architects' Journal, the estimated build cost of an 86 m2 house is £130,000. By U.S. standards at today's exchange rate, that's about $214,000 for 926 square feet.

Researchers at the University of Bath determined to experiment with straw because it can be grown locally and absorbs carbon dioxide as it grows. Thus, buildings made from straw can have a smaller footprint than those built with other materials.

Photo credits: Modcell.

Unconventional crop – hemp – could sprout new industry

October 31, 2009

EDMONTON, AB, Oct. 31, 2009/ Troy Media/ — As combines mowed farmers’ fields across Canadian prairies this fall, there was a scene near Edmonton right out of a time warp: – a crew of workers actually using their hands to harvest plants.

The workers were taking down three-metre-tall hemp plants at a breeding nursery outside of Vegreville, AB. The plants, which dwarfed the workers, were being bundled, numbered, bagged and transported to researchers, who see a high-tech future for the ancient plant.

The Alberta Research Council (ARC) is working to help hemp find its way into everything from homes to cars to clothes. It’s part of a campaign to see our agriculture and forestry industries compete in the global push for sustainable products.

“ARC is evaluating hemp as a fibre crop for mature, large-scale industries looking for green products,” ARC crop and plant physiologist, Jan Slaski said. “Alberta’s soil and climate are perfectly suited for growing hemp crops.

“We analyze the seed and plant for biomass and fibre yield, as part of the breeding program for creating the perfect industrial hemp,” he added. ARC uses advanced breeding techniques to develop traits such as water- and nitrogen-use efficiency, with no useable trace of the psychoactive compound THC, which is found in marijuana. It is hoped the breeding program will ultimately lead to a stronger plant with a bigger yield.

In ARC’s Edmonton facility, advanced materials program leader John Wolodko picked up a boat part made from material pressed from hemp and plastic. “This is traditionally made from fiberglass,” he said. “Products made from biocomposites work as well as those made from conventional materials, with the advantages of being lighter and less expensive. The ability of environmentally friendly products to compete with non-renewable products like fiberglass makes for a competitive and promising future for the biocomposites industry.”

Slaski and Wolodko are part of ARC’s biofibre development team, the largest of its kind in Canada, offering solutions from “seed to final product.” Hemp is only one aspect of the biofibre program, but its unrivalled fibre and biomass yield make the fast-growing and versatile crop a potential biocomposite superstar. While wheat straw yields about three tonnes of fibre per hectare, hemp weighs in at 10 to 15 tonnes.

Slaski peeled a hemp stalk, held the outer fibre in both hands and yanked with force. The fibre is unrelenting. The peeled outer and inner layers each have different industry potential. Applications for the resilient, long outer (bast) fibre include car parts, textiles, reinforced cement and panel boards for construction. Hemp’s inner core (hurd) fibre, only a half-millimeter long, has recently seen an increase in demand. “It is appealing as an absorbent for the oil and gas industry or bedding for livestock operations, since it has no dust,” Slaski said.

Alberta’s new ally for the agriculture and forestry industries is the Alberta Biomaterials Development Centre (ABDC), a $15-million facility set up by the province to bring advanced products and sustainable solutions to market. “The hemp processing challenge is an example of where ABDC will fill technical gaps in processing biomaterials and business gaps to get products to market faster,” ARC business development manager Richard Gibson said.

ABDC offers access to expertise, test facilities, scale-up equipment, validation prototyping and customer-demonstration support. “Bio-industrial entrepreneurs will be able to test their business cases at ABDC,” Alberta Agriculture program leader and ABDC spokesperson Trevor Kloeck said. “Industry will have access to staff and specialized equipment, such as technology used to separate the different hemp fibres. Then the market applications are endless.”

ABDC’s resources work in tandem with those at ARC to form a bridge between the field and the final product. “We have a patent-pending decortication process. This technology produces 10 to 50 mm-length fibres, for biocomposite products and pulp and paper applications,” says ARC research engineer Laura McIlveen. “ABDC has slightly different technology: a long-line decorticator, which processes one-third-metre-length fibre at one tonne an hour.” Both technologies are available through ABDC for pilot scale market assessments.

Hemp is currently grown in Alberta for the high-quality oil niche market. But the case for using a new and improved strain of hemp for a broad range of products is becoming stronger by the day. “It also makes sense to include hemp in rotation with wheat and canola,” Slaski said, “since it can reduce the spread of disease and increase the life of the fertility of the soil.”

That could mean that scene out of the time warp will vanish, as hemp becomes a lucrative industrial crop, harvested with high-tech machinery to provide solutions for green products.

Channels: Engineering Canada, October 31, 2009

Living Buildings Challenge Presentation at Bioneers

Nauhaus Group Breaks Ground on Historic Prototype Home

Billy Schweig

Asheville, NC–The Nauhaus Group has officially broken ground on its historic prototype home. The Nauhaus Prototype, or NHP, is set to be one of the most radically sustainable homes ever constructed in the US. The design for the NHP boasts a unique combination of energy efficiency, traditional (or “natural”) building materials and aesthetic appeal.

Members of the Nauhaus Group believe that the NHP is on track to be one of the first ten Passive House certified homes in the US, garner the most LEED points of any residential building on record, and be the first house in the US to utilize Tradical®Hemcrete® (a recycled hemp shiv insulation) as its wall system.

Organizers of the project decided not to hold a groundbreaking ceremony as most high-profile building projects do and, instead, opted to hold a “Carbon Capture Ceremony” later in the process of building.

“We thought it would be more appropriate because our building’s paradigm is constructive, not destructive. Considering the unique features of the home we decided to hold a public event at a time in the construction process when participants could view and experience some of the more exciting features of the prototype,” said Michael Figura, one of the organizers of the event.

Whereas a normal groundbreaking ceremony might involve a commemorative shoveling of soil, organizers at the Nauhaus Group hope to time their November 6th Carbon Capture Ceremony to coincide with the actual installation of the hemp wall system so attendees can participate.

After years of planning, the NHP is slated to mark a prominent shift in the way people think about homes and building in general. “The strength of our approach,” says managing director Clarke Snell, “is that we draw from a variety of methodologies and perspectives. We’ve got high-tech systems working with low-tech materials. Art in league with science.”

It’s no secret that the Nauhaus Group is out to save the world.

“The Nauhaus prototype is only part of a growing movement in the US to act responsibly when it comes to our carbon footprint,” said Snell. “The result of our approach is not only the most efficient, low-impact, durable, healthy, beautiful and affordable housing system we can muster, but a system that will continue to change, improve and grow.”

The house is owned by the Nauhaus Group itself and will be open for regular tours, workshops and other visits upon completion. It will, in the meantime, be occupied by chief engineer Jeff Buscher to do energy efficiency analysis, systems testing and other research before it is sold.

The Nauhaus Group is a newly formed organization composed of designers, engineers, and builders at the top of their respective fields in Asheville and beyond. The group engages in for-profit activities ranging from design to sales but is also in the process of founding the non-profit Nauhaus Institute to house research and education activities such as the NHP. For more information on attending or sponsoring the Carbon Capture Ceremony or for information on volunteering for community workdays at the NHP, contact Billy Schweig (billy@thenauhaus.com).

Living Buildings Challenge - Pursuing True Sustainability in the Built Environment

Shayne Korithoski

A paradigm shift is now underway in the how buildings and developments are designed and constructed. Unfortunately many projects pursuing Built Green, LEED and other forms of green certification fall short of what is truly needed at this time. Currently, buildings contribute the largest single source of emissions to our environment. Approximately 40 percent of all carbon emissions. Buildings also represent a top priority health concern in regards to indoor air quality, according to the U.S. EPA. Indoor air is in fact over 2 to 5 times more polluted than the air outside. A recent recall of toxic imported drywall contaminated with hydrogen sulfide, sheds a light on just how toxic materials used in our indoor environment can be. Experts are calling this case worse than the urea-formaldehyde crisis of the 1970s, houses built with this dry-wall have to be demolished. "We think this could literally turn out to be the worst case of sick houses in U.S. history," says Thomas Martin, president of America's Watchdog. Sick building syndrome is just as the name implies, people getting sick from their indoor environments. Yet despite the urea-formaldehyde insulation material crisis in the 70s, formaldehyde is still used in a majority of indoor building materials; particle board, MDF, (medium density fibreboard) fabrics, glues and paints, and most fiberglass insulation contain it. Formaldehyde is a suspected human carcinogen and new studies link it to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease. Many new green houses are now being built with rigid Styrofoam boards or closed cell polyurethane spray insulation products. According to the Green Science Policy Institute, all polystyrene foam insulation used in building is treated with hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) a persistent, bioaccumulating, and toxic flame retardant. This chemical is likely to be banned in Europe. It has been found in household dust, sewage sludge, breast milk and body fluids and well as wildlife and the global environment. Polyurethane contains TCPP (tris 1-chloro-2-propyl phosphate). Long term exposure to this chemical is unknown but it is known to be toxic in aquatic environments. Polyurethane can also contain up to five percent blowing agents which are usually volatile and/or halogenated hydrocarbons. This is just the tip of the iceberg of toxins that go into everyday building materials, including products used in green construction. This is because green is an umbrella term that is unregulated so you really have to do your research to know exactly what they mean by being “green”. According to Bob Berkebile of BNIM Architects and consultant to the Cascadia Green Building Council “We can no longer rely solely on the industrialized materials and building systems now in use given the enormity of their lifecycle impacts, embodied energy, and damage to the global climate. It is now critical that we invest in creating high performance, low-impact alternatives, including many traditional lower-tech building materials and systems. The utilization of local and minimally processed materials will be increasingly important as we develop a restoration economy for the 21st century.” We agree 110%.

The 1st International Hemp Building Symposium is a ‘call to action’ for natural building professionals from all over the world. We believe this method of building is only going to be bigger as people become more aware of the overall footprint of the building industry.

The Building Symposium is hosted by renowned Irish hemp construction expert, author of "Building With Hemp", Steve Allin and Jayeson Hendyrsan Canadian hemp building specialist.

The conference takes place Sept. 16-18 in Keamare, Ireland. We will be learning all that we can to bring back and get the ball moving to create some truly amazing organic sustainable living buildings. Stay tuned!!

Field day turns up the heat on hemp

It seems some people in 100 Mile House are having a field day with hemp — literally.

BC’s Industrial Hemp Field Day is happening here on Aug. 18, sponsored by the 100 Mile House Industrial Hemp Steering Committee as a means to showcase their accomplishments thus far.

It’s also a great chance to check out a local hemp operation, see how these fibre crops are growing in popularity and take part in interactive discussions on how to possibly position the community as a major player in BC’s hemp industry.

The field day will begin with a welcome and introduction by district Mayor Mitch Campsall and Donna Barnett, MLA for Cariboo-Chilcotin and chairperson for the steering committee.

After orientation, the group will hit the road for a field

trip to local hemp fields currently in production and get a feel for the agricultural elements of production — from crop rotation to recycling and managing of nutrient to where the product ends up in the market.

After returning to the district office for lunch, the field day will continue with presenters on topics of fibre processing, food processing, fibre applications and BC marketing potential.

The field day will be rich with information on the agri-nomic aspects for financial viability, says Erik Eising, project manager of the 100 Mile House Industrial Hemp Steering Committee, with plenty of opportunity for questions.

So who should attend? Eising says the material presented targets a wide variety of interests including crop production; alternative building methods; non-wood green construction materials; alternative bedding materials; community processing potential/rural development; horticulture and soil-less gardening; alternative fuels; and, last but not least, harvesting hemp for healthy oils and other food products.

“For this industrial hemp project, we are focusing on crop production, local processing and provincial marketing,” says Eising, who brings to the committee his own extensive experience on a global level in all these aspects of hemp production. “We encourage all producers and interested people to join in the field day activities on Tuesday.”

Eising added that it can be a low-tech, low-investment method of building a viable local industry the community can grow on.

The project is supported by Western Economic Diversification (WED), Northern Develop-ment Initiative Trust and the District of 100 Mile House in collaboration with local producers, Canim Lake Band and the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.

Admission is free, but anyone planning on attending should call ahead and book their spot with Jenette Wallace at the district office, 250-395-2434 or e-mail her at jwallace@dist 100milehouse.bc.ca.

Carole Rooney - 100 Mile House Free Press

The Real Green Building Challenge: Creating Policy That Works

Sarah Kuck/Worldchanging

Green buildings are great, but the time for heralding each one as a symbol of sweeping change is over. To get our greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption under control, it's time to make green building the norm.

One way to fast-track this change is to create compelling policy. Governments across the globe are working to craft policy solutions that will rein in greenhouse gas emissions from the housing sector. One of the most well known is the United Kingdom's 10 year plan to take new buildings from non-regulated to carbon neutral. "Toward Carbon Neutral Development" provides for a gradual tightening of energy efficiency building regulations -- lowering acceptable carbon emissions by 25 percent in 2010, by 44 percent in 2013, and down to the zero carbon target by 2016.

It's important to pair standards, which raise the baseline, with policies that act as incentives, motivating people to strive for continuous improvement. One example that helps bring existing buildings up to speed, is a new rule in England and Wales that mandates that all properties sold or rented are required to have an energy efficiency check up. A qualified Domestic Energy Assessor tests the efficiency of the building based on size, age, layout and insulation. Afterward, each building owner receives an energy performance certificate, which must be shown to prospective buyers or tenants.

Other countries are now looking to follow suit. This spring, the European Union announced that it hopes to pass rules similar to the UK's, by the end of 2009 to make carbon-neutral buildings the norm by 2019. And across the pond, leaders in Ontario, Canada, recently passed the Green Energy Act, which places into law rules that will slowly ratchet up the energy performance requirements for basic Code Compliant buildings, effectively helping to lower the province's total emissions.

Policy is a powerful thing. Using it to put today's best building practices into place can help cut total emissions of carbon dioxide quickly, create new jobs and save home owners money that otherwise seeps through the cracks. Treating each green building as a special flower is getting us nowhere. Let's stop creating one-offs and start creating massive change through policy that's meaningful.

Image: UK Government Poster Campaign, October 2008.