Possibility of Using the Technical Hemp as a Filling Component in External Thermal-Insulation Composite Systems

Abstract

Combining air or hydraulic binders with hemp shives, we can gain a set of new building materials. These products achieve excellent performance characteristics for durable, environmentally sustainable buildings. Being together, these products create natural composite building material that can be used to create insulating elements for walls, floors and roofs and also to create excellent thermal and acoustic properties of the buildings. Hemp insulation material is created by connection of technical hemp shives with a binder consisting of cement and calcium hydroxide. The production process may vary depending on whether the hemp is mineralized or not. It can be generally said that dry components should be mixed at first (binder and shives) and then water should be added. During the production, all components of insulating material must be perfectly mixed. The paper deals with the proposal and testing of new hemp insulation composites. Tests of the hemp insulation described in this paper are not typical representatives of the tests of insulation materials. Due to the doubts about the insulating properties of the proposed material, there was testing carried out in such the ways as if it was the filling material based on lightweight concretes.