Walloon hemp, a building biomaterial (Wallonia)

[Christophe]

Hemp wallon asbl opens its website: www.chanvrewallon.be

It provides information on hemp cultivation, the presence of omega 3, 6 and 9 in its seed, its absorption of CO2 and its multiple applications, particularly in the construction and composites sectors.

Hemp: a plant symbol of sustainable development and a chance for Wallonia.

Establishment of an economic structure for development

of industrial hemp in Wallonia - GIE WALCHANVRE

Hemp is once again attracting increasing interest thanks to its qualities: strength, resistance, insulation and environmental preservation. More particularly, the hemp hemp (inner part of the stem) mixed with a binder based hydrated air lime is a sustainable building material whose performance provides a significant improvement in comfort and sanitary quality in homes.

Already present in France and Great Britain, this industrial sector of hemp is now emerging in Wallonia thanks to the establishment of an economic dome grouping different actors of the sector. Called WALCHANVRE and formed as a Group of Economic Interest (GIE), this sector is supported by the Walloon Minister for the Economy Jean-Claude MARCOURT, which intends to bring together the entire fabric of the agro-socio-economic Walloon to position hemp as an innovative raw material for development
sustainable.

Among the perspectives of realization of the action GIE WALCHANVRE, an eco-passive construction project concerning the municipal house of Villers-le-Bouillet.

Build with hemp concrete: natural, renewable and insulating

The future town hall of Villers-le-Bouillet will be "passive", zero carbon emission, equipped with solar photovoltaic collectors and insulated with hemp-lime.

The lime-hemp materials have many qualities: low energy gray, storage of CO2, recyclable, suitable for both new construction and renovation of existing buildings, low impact on health. A thesis on the transient hygrothermal behavior of lime-hemp materials was presented in May 2008 by Arnaud EVRARD, engineer
civil architect of the UCL.

Source: www.valbiom.be

ps: obviously it does not confuse walloon hemp and hemp Dutch

[Christophe]

The French also (re) discover the hemp:

The Chanvrière de l'Aube is looking for new surfaces

Chanvrerière de l'Aube (France), a specialist in the processing of hemp, is looking for new producers of hemp to supply growing markets such as insulating wool, lime-hemp concrete and composite materials.

It is also planning the construction of a new hemp processing unit in view of the near saturation of the Bar-sur-Aube site.

In 2008, La Chanvrière de l'Aube transformed 5000 hectares of hemp, 20% more than 2007; In 2009, she had to transform 6000 hectares to meet the demand. Depending on the year, the average yield of La Chanvrière members is between 7 and 8 tonnes per hectare.