US Department of Energy is funding a study of the characteristics of hemp insulation

Taking into account the sentiments of the US state administration, environmental standards in relation to heaters may in the near future be significantly tightened in order to limit the production of mineral wool and fiberglass and "stimulate the use of environmentally friendly raw materials" for their production, including from technical hemp.

A two-year research project initiated by the US Department of Energy will focus on characterizing insulation felts made from hemp fiber.

The US Department of Energy has initiated extensive research into various types of hemp fiber insulation materials as part of a research and development program for entrepreneurs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. In particular, a two-year Innovation Crossroads scholarship was awarded to the Chief Operating Officer of Hempitecture, Inc. from the Advanced Manufacturing Division of the US Department of Energy for the implementation of the above tasks. Tommy Gibbons.

According to Mr. Gibson, “DOE is interested in the decarburization potential of insulation and other building materials made from hemp fibers. In particular, government officials are extremely interested in the insulating material for felt, made from hemp fiber, which he developed. ”

Hemp felt caught their attention, according to US Department of Energy officials because it is non-toxic, highly productive and does not create a significant carbon footprint during production. In addition, this material has the advantage that it can be produced in significant volumes from local raw materials, while simultaneously developing production facilities in depressed agricultural regions of the country. Mr. Gibson's primary goal is to "fully understand the carbon sequestration potential of commercially available hemp materials for further use as a means of significantly increasing the energy efficiency of buildings" over the course of the experiment. In particular, insulation in any form can save huge financial resources on energy costs and prevent heat loss in residential or industrial premises. However, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, mineral wool insulation is one of the most pollutants in modern home construction.

According to an official statement from the US Department of Energy, “rock wool and fiberglass are produced by heating basalt and other rocks to 1600 ° C and drawing long strands of molten fiber, releasing harmful volatiles and other toxic gases into the atmosphere. In fact, mineral wool and fiberglass contribute more than 30 percent of the destruction of stratospheric ozone - the main component involved in the restoration of the planet's ozone layer. "

Hemp-based insulation is in stark contrast to traditional methods of making insulation fibers. Derived from renewable plant materials, hemp fiber is a carbon dioxide scavenger in 90 days, capturing about 5 metric tons of CO2 per acre through photosynthesis during growth.

Formerly Hempitecture, Inc. imported off-the-shelf hemp insulation from Canada, but will now license and manufacture hemp insulation from US-grown industrial hemp at its new facility in Idaho, supported in part by state and local economic development subsidies.

The produced hemp insulation will be tested in the “Laboratory for the Study of Maximum Energy Efficiency in Buildings”, where the building envelope will be built and tested using hemp insulation. The materials will be exposed to a variety of environmental conditions using climate chambers that simulate weathering and aging over time, Gibbons said.

Commentary of the specialists of the Association "Ukrainian technical hemp"

Following the election of Mr. Biden as President of the United States, as early as January, the US Presidential Administration instructed the Department of Energy to rethink the country's policy, promoting innovation and introducing clean energy technologies and decarbonization to tackle climate change. Industrial hemp, a fast growing carbon sequestering plant, is now officially part of this campaign, at least in the construction, biocomposite and bioenergy sectors.

According to a number of consulting and analytical companies specializing in economic analysis, the market for insulation materials used in the insulation of homes and commercial buildings in the United States in 2019 was about $ 11.13 billion, and it is expected to grow by about 3 percent by 2027. Taking into account the sentiments of the US state administration, environmental standards in relation to heaters may in the near future be significantly tightened in order to limit the production of mineral wool and fiberglass and "stimulate the use of environmentally friendly raw materials" for their production, including from technical hemp.

Innovation Crossroads is a grant program that supports science startups to help advance revolutionary technologies from lab to market — bringing prototyped products to market and commercializing them.

Another R&D project is underway at the University of Idaho to study the properties of hemp insulation with a $ 200,000 grant from the Idaho Global Entrepreneurship Mission (IGEM). According to the company, a team of specialists participating in the project will test hemp insulation in terms of insulation, fire resistance and thermal conductivity.

Issues related to the features of hemp construction in our country have already been considered during the round table "Hemp raw materials - technologies for its use in construction, production of biocomposite materials and furniture", held within the framework of the Hemp University in November 2019. Considering the number of questions of interest to the listeners already registered for training within the 7th stream of training of the "Hemp University", negotiations are underway with the owners of several plants for the primary processing of hemp raw materials, as well as companies that specialize in construction / insulation using hemp components in participation in a specialized a round table on the use of hemp raw materials in various areas of the modern construction industry.