"Chad Knutsen, along with a team he is leading, have recently proposed to MIT’s Climate CoLab crowdsourced design platform an idea for replacing cement with 3D printed ‘Hempcrete’ for construction projects with the aim of reducing worldwide CO2 emissions by 7-8%. "According to Knutsen, all of the structural and architectural elements will be constructed of either hemp fiberboard, hempcrete/hempstone, or hemp plastic or resin composites - all produced via additive manufacturing in ‘single-man-manageable-blocks’ that feature a low weight “skeleton” form - or in other words, a structurally-optimized design that only applies material where needed. The resulting blocks are able to be stacked similar to building blocks in any shape desired by the homeowner with the ability to incorporate special blocks for utilities and wiring into the final design.
"'We intend to produce a hempcrete mixture that I am calling "Hempstone", made of micronized lime, and specially milled refined hemp fibers with incredible strength using a (currently functioning and proven) proprietary technology that breaks down materials utilizing resonant frequency and negative air pressure rather than friction and heat to tease the materials apart long natural structural boundaries,” explains Knutsen in his proposal, which has already received 79 votes from the crowdsourced community.
'"As hempcrete "petrifies" after a few years in the elements, we are excited about the possibilities presented by constructing structures that will evolve from plant into stone, will actually absorb more co2 than they release during construction and during the petrification process, and can be made from a completely renewable material using minimal waste methods for construction."'
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