Hempcrete key resources for Australian conditions

If you’ve been wondering about this awesome new material that has been taking the building, and natural building, world by storm, then here’s a guide to reliable information for Australians looking to build with hemp and understand its amazing properties!

The first place to look is on the Yourhome website which is a well-researched government backed resource devoted to giving independent information and guidance on all natural building, passive solar and other design options across Australia. Principal author of the Hemp Masonry listing at www.yourhome.gov.au Dick Clarke from Envirotecture has produced a fantastic entry level guide for the Australian government. See more at yourhome.gov.au | Hemp Masonry

Dick Clarke has also published an informative article on Hempcrete building in Australian conditions for Sanctuary Magazine from 2018.  More recently, Sanctuary devoted an entire edition to the versatile and popular building style.

The Australian Hemp Masonry Company is putting on a whole series of events this year devoted to practical and online learning. Coming up this week is the Hemp Construction Online Theory Class presented by Klara Marosseky, a pioneer in the industry in Australia. The workshop will cover the basics of help building including :

1. The history of Hemp construction and where we’re up to in Australia (including with hemp production and processing)
   2. Hemp construction and the Building Code of Australia
   3. Applications in new residential and commercial building, as well as in retrofitting
   4. The material’s performance characteristics
   5. Where you can and can’t use hempcrete
   6. Design detailing
   7. Tools, options for formwork and formwork set up
   8. WH & S
   9. Making mixes and installation guidelines
   10.Techniques for managing curing
   11. Optional external and internal finishes
   12. Repairs and making changes.

To find more opportunities and professionals, there’s also a rad new resource called the Hemp Building Directory! There you’ll find listings of workshops, engineers, designers, builders, suppliers, consultants, architects and more!  Thanks to the hard work of Kirstie Wulf of Shelter Building Design and Jeremy Thomas who has a rad Youtube site for all things hemp building, who put together the website and resources collective, there is a growing compendium of resources for the hemp industry.

For more rigorous scientific testing and research, check out these reports and documents listed below as there is a growing amount of research funded and backed by industry looking to help develop this novel, but valid, form of home building.

  Bevan R and Woolley T (2008). Hemp lime construction: a guide to building with hemp lime composites. EP 85, IHS BRE Press, Bracknell, Berkshire.

  Building Research Establishment (2003). Thermographic inspection of the masonry and hemp houses – Haverhill, Suffolk, Building Research Establishment, London.

  Evrard A, De Herde A and Minet J (2006). Dynamical interactions between heat and mass flows in lime-hemp concrete, 3rd International Building Physics Conference, Montreal, August 2006.

  Glé P, Gourdon E and Arnaud L (2011). Characterization and modelling of the acoustical properties of hemp shiv and hemp concrete, Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l’État, Membre de l’Université de Lyon.

  Gross C, Walker P and Pritchett I (2016). Structural performance of timber stud walls confined by hemp-lime, BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials University of Bath, United Kingdom.