Interview with
Joshua Carel of Plural Office
What is Hempcrete?
I like to reduce the definition of hempcrete to exactly what it is- a combination of a plant and a rock. Not all plant/rock combinations are suitable for building, but in the case of hemp and lime, the result is an amazing product that exhibits beneficial qualities of each: the carbon-sequestering and hygrothermal properties of the hemp hurd; and the fire and mold resistance benefits of the lime.
Why Hempcrete?
The list of benefits of hempcrete are almost too good to be true: its carbon-negative, rapidly-renewable, non-toxic, fireproof and pestproof, vapor-permeable, and provides substantial sound attenuation and thermal resistance. Hempcrete can help simplify how we construct sustainable, affordable structures: Its ability to be installed as a monolithic assembly, in a pre-cast or block form, reduces the amount of trades and potential liabilities as compared to our current composite systems (8+ layers to make a wall). I like to think about hempcrete as a return to a more traditional way of building, but one that can produce sophisticated results.