• Harvest yields no waste output as every by-product is used to create another valuable product.
• Hemp is the second fastest growing crop in the world after bamboo.
• Hemp grows well in a variety of climates and soil types.
• Sunshine, land, and water are all that is required for a healthy crop.
• Hemp is resistant to pests, droughts, and can handle freezing temperatures without sustaining damage.
• Hemp matures in under three months in optimal conditions.
• As many as two crop cycles can be harvested in one growing season, depending on climate.
• 2.5 acres of hemp is enough to supply one house.
• Hemp is easily processed when compared to harder materials like wood.
• Unique pore structure of hemp supports thermal performance and breathability
  Hemp is not effectively psychoactive as THC content is approximately 0.05%.

Source:
North American Industrial Hemp Council + Hemp Industry Association
Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_hemp

Oil, gas, and coal industries are not only major contributors to carbon gas emissions, but are also in limited and increasingly volatile supply. Businesses that do not change their approach towards energy may be challenged to keep up in a world where energy supplies are less reliable and more expensive. American Lime Technology is on the frontline of sustainable innovation, providing proven solutions shown to reduce energy consumption from material manufacturing, construction, and operation.

American Lime Technology products:

• Are made from renewable resources
• Have a low embodied energy
• Are bio-composite and biodegradable
• Have high R-value and thermal mass
• Decrease building energy consumption
• Are vapor permeable
• Support occupant health

American Lime Technology supports not just sustainable building envelope solutions, but sustainable business operations. Innovative products from American Lime Technology provide solutions for sustainable building to help solve energy problems, both present and future.

Matt Engelmann
Sales Manager-North America
americanlimetechnology
engelmann@americanlimetec.com
773-286-0566 X 306 office
312-848-1935 mobile
773-286-1852 fax

Environmental Benefits:

Tradical® Hemcrete® is a cost effective, mainstream green building product that can actually help to combat climate change. It does this in two ways:

1. The exceptional thermal performance and airtightness of walls constructed using Tradical Hemcrete mean that buildings do not require additional insulating layers. This means buildings can run with minimal heating and avoid the need for air conditioning. Tradical Hemcrete has a high thermal inertia, so buildings constructed using Hemcrete use less energy and are more comfortable than those built to the same U Value in lightweight building materials.

 

2. Since the primary component of Tradical Hemcrete is hemp – a renewable industrial crop that is grown and harvested in the UK – it captures and locks away CO2 within the fabric of the building. This means that while a typical brick house can be responsible for around 50 tonnes of CO2 emmissions in its construction, the same houe built using Tradical Hemcrete can be built for 30-40% less CO2 emissions.

Using Tradical Hemcrete, architects and developers can confidently create sustainable buildings. Additional environmental benefits include:

Tradical® Hemcrete® has been for specified the flagship development in the new Sustainable Industries Park at Dagenham Dock in the Thames Gateway. The proposed building is for the Institute for Sustainability. It will provide a facility that will enable high quality collaborative multi-disciplinary research between universities, their corporate research and technology organisations and sustainable industries located in the Gateway.

Designed by a team led by Edward Cullinan Architects, the scheme is exploring the use of around 700m3 of Tradical Hemcrete as the thermal insulation over the proposed cross laminated timber structure, with a coloured lime render finish. One elevation will have a perforated steel cladding to capture solar energy to augment heating for the building.

Launched earlier this year, Breathe™ is produced from UK grown hemp and flax and offers a renewable and low-carbon means of insulating lofts, walls and floors. The product has many desirable performance qualities – it has a thermal conductivity of 0.039 W/mK, which boosts thermal comfort by reducing overheating in summer and damping internal temperature fluctuations. It has immense breathability as its hemp fibres can absorb and release moisture without damage or the loss of all important thermal performance.

Suitable for lofts, walls and floors applications, Breathe’s™ semi-rigid batts are available in thicknesses of 50mm, 75mm or 100mm. It comes in standard sizes of 1,200mm x 575mm and 1,200mm x 375mm.

For more information visit www.breatheinsulation.com.

Over 3,000 acres of hemp has been cut, which had been planted earlier in the year, and the material is now being processed at its factory in Halesworth, Suffolk.

The material will be used as the key ingredient of Lime Technology’s thermal walling solution, Tradical® Hemcrete® and Hemp Technology’s natural fibre insulation, Breathe™.

Managing the hemp growing and processing has provided Lime Technology with greater control over its supply chain and allows it to offer a fully integrated supply from seed to final building to enable the company to provide the highest levels of service, quality and cost effectiveness to its clients.
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Developed in Europe by Lhoist and manufactured and distributed in the UK by Lime Technology, Tradical® Hemcrete® is produced from UK sourced hemp and a lime based binder (Tradical® HB). The product is carbon negative, as the hemp absorbs CO2 during its growth – and as such has 130kg less embodied CO2/m² than conventional brick and block in a normal wall section.

Alongside its environmentally beneficial production, Tradical® Hemcrete® offers superb insulation properties. The low U-value of walls built with the renewable system make it an ideal material for meeting the higher levels of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Homes built with Tradical® Hemcrete®, also have excellent thermal inertia, meaning that they buffer temperature variations efficiently. This ensures heating or cooling needs are lower than in lighter weight buildings of the same U-value.

Highly vapour permeable and used in conjunction with lime based renders and plasters, it ensures a healthy internal environment. Tradical® Hemcrete® also has high fire resistance, making it a safe choice for any construction.

The accreditation comes as part of Lime Technology’s commitment to provide designers with the ability to specify a lime based, BBA approved, building solution for the construction industry that they can have complete confidence in.

“With BBA accreditation, our clients are now fully assured that Tradical® Hemcrete® has been rigorously and independently assessed for its performance as a walling system for use in all building types,” said Mike Eberlin, Managing Director of Lime Technology. He added, “It’s another step towards ensuring Tradical® Hemcrete® is seen as a commercially viable material for the mainstream construction market.”

The developer of Tradical® Hemcrete®, Lhoist, is the world’s leading industrial lime manufacturer. First formulated in France, Lhoist brought the technology to the UK in conjunction with Lime Technology with a view to providing this sustainable technology to the mainstream construction market. BBA accreditation was seen as an essential part of the process and Lhoist UK has worked with Lime Technology to provide the required assessment information to BBA that has resulted in the successful awarding of the Agrément Certificate.

BBA accreditation is highly trusted by construction professionals as providing a rigorous, independent assessment of construction materials and systems. This initial certification is the first of its kind awarded to a hemp lime construction system anywhere in the world.

Francois Bardout, Vice President &amp; General Manager Lhoist UK, commented. “We are delighted by the award of this BBA accreditation because this paves the way for this highly sustainable construction system to be adopted more readily by designers and clients as part of their environmental strategy to help tackle climate change.”

The presentation of the BBA certificate was made at Ecobuild, the world’s largest eco-construction exhibition event, on 2nd March 2010, by Greg Cooper the Chief Executive of BBA.

Although new to the American market, Tradical® Hemcrete® has been used  successfully in the United Kingdom and Europe for over ten years.  This  proprietary system, which relies on sustainably produced hemp shiv and  lime binder, is being used to construct seamless walls and to insulate  floors and roofs. The resulting buildings are thermally efficient,  attractive, pest-resistant, fire-resistant, and durable, and these  nontoxic, all-natural materials contain no harmful chemical.  Unlike  typical new construction materials, hemp and lime are breathable, which  discourages harmful mold growth while providing better air quality for  the building’s occupants.

Construction on the two buildings is underway. The project is being  organized by Jeremy Briggs, co-founder of the South Dakota Industrial  Hemp Council and organizer of the Lakota Hemp 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. AMT is the exclusive North American distributor of  Hemcrete® construction materials, a highly sustainable hemp-lime product  that can be used to create insulating walls in new structures or to  retrofit existing floors, roofs, and walls with thermally efficient,  breathable insulating layers. www.americanlimetec.com

In addition to his role on the South Dakota Hemp Council and organizer  of the Lakota Hemp Project, Jeremy Briggs is the editor of  Hemphasis.net, the online hemp information magazine, and he is president  of the Montana Hemp Council. He actively promotes the use of industrial  hemp through his business, Keefe Green Productions, and he sells  industrial hemp products at Authentic Creations, the store that he  co-owns in Missoula, Montana.

Although new to the American market, Tradical® Hemcrete® has been used  successfully in the United Kingdom and Europe for over ten years.  This  proprietary system, which relies on sustainably produced hemp shiv and  lime binder, is being used to construct seamless walls and to insulate  floors and roofs. The resulting buildings are thermally efficient,  attractive, pest-resistant, fire-resistant, and durable, and these  nontoxic, all-natural materials contain no harmful chemical.  Unlike  typical new construction materials, hemp and lime are breathable, which  discourages harmful mold growth while providing better air quality for  the building’s occupants.

Construction on the two buildings is underway. The general contractor  for the project is Don Mapston of Mapston Contracting, Conroe, Texas.   The Hemcrete® contractor is Monaco Restorations, Inc. of Southbridge,  Massachussetts. Construction site tours will be available to all  interested parties. To arrange a tour, please contact Bruce Petersen at  773-414-5486.

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. AMT is the exclusive North American distributor of  Hemcrete® construction materials, a highly sustainable hemp-lime product  that can be used to create insulating walls in new structures or to  retrofit existing floors, roofs, and walls with thermally efficient,  breathable insulating layers. www.americanlimetec.com

Caribe Properties is a general construction/commercial develop company  based in Woodlands, Texas that is meeting the local market need for  smaller (5000 – 15,000 S.F.) office and warehouse buildings.

Don Mapston of Mapston Contracting (Conroe, Texas). Don has been in the  commercial and residential construction industry for more than 30 years.  Donald Mapston founded his company on the philosophy of providing  quality workmanship, performance, economy and integrity.

Monaco Restorations, Inc. was established in 1989 with the single goal  of providing the highest quality craftsmanship to the historic  community. The combination of “old-world workmanship” and today’s modern  technology allow them to achieve the highest standards in structural  preservation. www.monacorestorations.com