Hemp homes set the trend
By Jo Deeks on Thursday, 14th September 2000.
HAVERHLLL has become the first town in the country to have houses built from hemp.
Steve Cook, director of housing for St Edmundsbury Borough Council, told Haverhill Partnership Group on Monday that work was starting that day on the development.
The hemp does not share the mindaltering qualities of its notorious cousin, marijuana. It is extremely strong and similar to materials used in building the pyramids. More than 300 homes have already been built using hemp in France.
Suffolk Housing Society is building 18 homes on a 1.2 acre site at Park Road, Haverhill, with grants from St Edmundsbury Borough Council and the Housing Corporation. Among the new homes will be a terrace of four identical two-bedroomed homes, two built using hemp and two with conventional brick and block.
Mr Cook said the homes are part of a £50,000 research project by the Housing Corporation and they were looking for tenants to live in them.
“They will have to be people who don’t mind playing at being on Big Brother. We will want to crawl all over the house before and after it is built.
“We will be looking at all sorts of things, including health effects. You won’t be able to tell the difference from the outside, but we believe it will have some very good enviromnental benefits,” Mr Cook said.
Monitoring will compare the four homes for insulation, sound proofing, stability, resistance to moisture and condensation.
Hemp has been used in partition walls before, but this is the first time entire houses have been built with hemp in Britain. Although initially more expensive to build, the hemp homes could prove cheaper longterm because of energy efficiency.
Steve Cook, director of housing for St Edmundsbury Borough Council, told Haverhill Partnership Group on Monday that work was starting that day on the development.
The hemp does not share the mindaltering qualities of its notorious cousin, marijuana. It is extremely strong and similar to materials used in building the pyramids. More than 300 homes have already been built using hemp in France.
Suffolk Housing Society is building 18 homes on a 1.2 acre site at Park Road, Haverhill, with grants from St Edmundsbury Borough Council and the Housing Corporation. Among the new homes will be a terrace of four identical two-bedroomed homes, two built using hemp and two with conventional brick and block.
Mr Cook said the homes are part of a £50,000 research project by the Housing Corporation and they were looking for tenants to live in them.
“They will have to be people who don’t mind playing at being on Big Brother. We will want to crawl all over the house before and after it is built.
“We will be looking at all sorts of things, including health effects. You won’t be able to tell the difference from the outside, but we believe it will have some very good enviromnental benefits,” Mr Cook said.
Monitoring will compare the four homes for insulation, sound proofing, stability, resistance to moisture and condensation.
Hemp has been used in partition walls before, but this is the first time entire houses have been built with hemp in Britain. Although initially more expensive to build, the hemp homes could prove cheaper longterm because of energy efficiency.
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