TY - JOUR
T1 - A life-cycle energy and carbon analysis of hemp-lime bio-composite building materials
AU - Florentin, Y.
AU - Pearlmutter, D.
AU - Givoni, B.
AU - Gal, E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by the Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies of the J. Blaustein Institute for Desert Research , Ben-Gurion University of the Negev . We would especially like to acknowledge the valuable contribution of Wolfgang Motzafi-Haller, who was responsible for the experimental setup and data management.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017
PY - 2017/12/1
Y1 - 2017/12/1
N2 - Conventional, concrete-based building materials have a high level of embodied energy in their production – as do typical insulation materials, which are crucial for addressing operational energy demands for building climatization. Here, a life-cycle energy (LCEA) and carbon (LCCO2A) analysis is performed to evaluate the potential benefits of using an alternative, bio-composite building material made from hemp shives mixed with a lime binder, in the context of an arid environment. The physical properties and thermal performance of the hemp-lime building material are compared with conventional materials through lab tests, temperature measurements in test cells and thermal simulations. This study concludes that hemp-lime not only has a clear advantage over comparable conventional materials in terms of embodied energy, but also in terms of net CO2 emissions over the entire life cycle of a typical building. This is primarily due to the active carbon sequestration of the hemp plant during its growing phase, and the gradual sequestration of carbon emitted during the production of lime. The thermal properties and behaviour of a hemp-lime wall material were found experimentally to be virtually identical to those of a commonly-used lightweight concrete insulation material with a similar density.
AB - Conventional, concrete-based building materials have a high level of embodied energy in their production – as do typical insulation materials, which are crucial for addressing operational energy demands for building climatization. Here, a life-cycle energy (LCEA) and carbon (LCCO2A) analysis is performed to evaluate the potential benefits of using an alternative, bio-composite building material made from hemp shives mixed with a lime binder, in the context of an arid environment. The physical properties and thermal performance of the hemp-lime building material are compared with conventional materials through lab tests, temperature measurements in test cells and thermal simulations. This study concludes that hemp-lime not only has a clear advantage over comparable conventional materials in terms of embodied energy, but also in terms of net CO2 emissions over the entire life cycle of a typical building. This is primarily due to the active carbon sequestration of the hemp plant during its growing phase, and the gradual sequestration of carbon emitted during the production of lime. The thermal properties and behaviour of a hemp-lime wall material were found experimentally to be virtually identical to those of a commonly-used lightweight concrete insulation material with a similar density.
KW - Carbon footprint
KW - Embodied energy
KW - Hemp-lime
KW - Life-cycle assessment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85030782668&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.09.097
DO - 10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.09.097
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85030782668
SN - 0378-7788
VL - 156
SP - 293
EP - 305
JO - Energy and Buildings
JF - Energy and Buildings
ER -
