Thermal and acoustic insulation made from hemp fibre and Kenaf.
Hemp fibre has been used for thousands of years for its numerous properties, both in the medical field and for the fibres that make up its stem. Today, it is increasingly being used in the building industry and especially in green building. Modern processing techniques in the production process make it possible to produce excellent insulating materials with performance and costs comparable to those of common synthetic and mineral insulating fibres, but with enormous advantages for health and the environment. For keeping rooms cool in summer, hemp fibre performs twice as well as mineral fibres.
Kenaf (Hibiscus Cannabinus) is a lesser-known hemp relative, but its cultivation and use in production processes is increasing rapidly. Kenaf has even better characteristics than hemp. First of all, it is completely THC-free, so no special permits are required for its cultivation. Its yield per hectare is almost double that of hemp, its cultivation does not require much water consumption, it does not require chemical treatments or fertilisation, and it even cleans the soil from heavy metals, fixing them forever in its fibres. The Italian Po Valley climate has proved ideal for its cultivation. This makes it possible to minimise the length of the supply chain, from sowing to construction, significantly reducing the environmental impact (carbon footprint) of the process. You can have a well-insulated, healthy and affordable home without the materials having travelled halfway around the globe.
Hemp and Kenaf fibre panels are made without the use of resins, glue or polyester, thanks to an innovative fibre thermo-binding process. This makes it 100% natural and insensitive to moisture. It is therefore possible to install hemp panels for thermal insulation, without a vapour barrier, allowing the panel to act as a hygrometric regulator for the environment.
USES OF PANELS IN GREEN BUILDING
For thermal insulation
Hemp and kenaf fibre panels are used for External Thermal Insulation Composite System, and thermal insulation in lofts, attics, roofs, wall cavities, interior insulation and exterior insulation.
They are also excellent for protecting against summer heat coming from the roof and external walls, especially those exposed to the sun. Hemp insulation panels have twice the thermal capacity of mineral fibres. This means that although in winter hemp and kenaf fibre provides the same protection from the cold as rock wool, in summer there is a huge difference in heat protection. While stone wool does not offer much shelter, hemp fibre, due to its double thermal capacity, allows thermal lag and slows down the penetration of heat. When heat starts to penetrate the panel, the heat of the day is gone and it cools down again at night. This type of panel is highly recommended for lightweight roofs, such as wooden and tiled roofs.
For acoustic insulation
Because of their excellent sound absorbing properties, they are used for acoustic treatment of rooms, eliminating rumble and reverberation, and for sound insulation of walls and ceilings.
For example, an 8 cm wall of perforated bricks, plastered on both sides, has a sound reduction of about 40 dB. This is well below the standard and certainly unacceptable in a home. Adding a 10 cm thick hemp and kenaf panel and a normal plasterboard finish gives a reduction of 63 dB.
To improve room acoustics, the high absorption coefficient makes it possible to reduce reverberation and interior noise by 10 dB with only 4 cm thickness.
CHARACTERISTICS OF HEMP FIBRE PANELS
1 - Ecological and natural
2 - Excellent thermal insulation
3 - Excellent acoustic insulation
4 - No need for a mask during installation
5 - Insensitive to humidity and does not rot
6 - Transpiring - no need for vapour barriers
7 - Inert to insects, rodents and birds
WELL-BEING FOR THE HOME, THE ENVIRONMENT, THE WALLET
Hemp and kenaf are excellent for storing CO2, actively contributing to the reduction of the greenhouse effect.
Our panels are 100% recyclable, leaving future generations with a cleaner world and fewer problems to solve.
They are also produced without polluting chemical adhesives, and with raw materials of 100% natural origin. Hemp panels price: cultivation is in Italy, so they do not need to be transported thousands of kilometres before being laid. It therefore favours our country's economy and, by reducing logistics and transport costs, costs less than synthetic and mineral insulators. Compared to wood, given the characteristics similar to hemp, the usable material can be regenerated in a year, considering the rapid life cycle of the plant, which is always rapidly regenerable, does not require particular quantities of water and no herbicides or pesticides, it certainly appears to be a decidedly interesting raw material. In addition, the characteristic that distinguishes hemp wood from other naturally occurring woods is its particular conformation: on the inside it consists of a series of cavities that allow the passage of nutrients while alive and that, once dry, leave the stem extremely light and also highly transpiring. Dwellings with breathable thermal insulation and natural raw materials such as hemp insulation panels, as well as providing a sense of well-being for those living in these rooms, have considerable economic advantages: energy savings for heating and air conditioning, and the economic revaluation of the property on the market, especially in a future where environmental criteria will be increasingly strict and the cost of disposing of non-recyclable waste will become much more burdensome. Because of these characteristics, the hemp and kenaf fibre panel is a HEALTHY, SUSTAINABLE and ECONOMICAL product throughout its entire life cycle.
