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Hemspan progresses with plans for hemp houses

Home » Hemspan progresses with plans for hemp houses

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Hemspan is rolling out plans to construct high-end, mid-end and affordable hemp homes in the UK.

Hemspan’s planning approved site may have its first house superstructure out within 20 weeks, says co-founder and CEO, Matthew Belcher. The company, which is utilising hemp instead of traditional building materials to create net zero carbon homes to promote climate positive living, is now raising funds to accelerate its plans.

According to Statista, the UK construction industry produced a huge 13.5 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2019 – with the industry’s CO2 emissions having risen by 45 per cent from 1990.

Following a consultation on the Future Homes Standard, in January 2021 the UK Government put forward its new plans for a “green building revolution” as the country moves towards net zero emissions. The plan sets out new energy efficiency standards to lower energy consumption of homes and household bills in a bid to protect the environment, aiming to see all new homes built producing 31 per cent lower carbon emissions.

Read more: Discover the UK company “growing the buildings of the future” with hemp

To meet the net zero goal the construction industry can play its part in reducing its emissions. The government set out its Net Zero Strategy that champions low-carbon materials, increased energy efficiency and enhanced product design for the construction sector in order to “supporting the sector to deliver the cleaner, greener buildings of tomorrow.”

Hemspan is set to be part of this green revolution. Its hemp-based homes are net-zero in the construction phase and will functionally be carbon negative.

The company currently has four projects in the pipeline. It has put forward pre applications for two high end residential projects, Mutford Wood and Bran End Dunmow, which will introduce the Hemspan system built from hemp-based materials, as well as solar technologies and water recycling.

Hemspan is collaborating with Pure Eco Homes Ltd to build 14 affordable homes in Burrough Green, Cambridgeshire. With planning permission received, the project is expected to be completed late next year. The company has also partnered with the local Community Land Trust to deliver affordable 16 units.

In line with the government’s objectives, the Hemspan homes use natural shading and ventilation as well as solar and active technologies. They also have hemp fibre insulation, greywater recycling, renewable timbres frames and a number of other carbon-friendly initiatives. 

Read more: Cannabis and climate change environmental impacts

Belcher said: “We are full steam ahead – it is very exciting. Pure Eco Homes want to build at least 20 houses a year with us, and is asking if we can accelerate.”

At the recent Future Builds exhibition, Hemspan was one of the busiest stalls – garnering massive interest for its innovative approach to construction using hemp.

“We have got lots of leads to follow up – architects, builders, developers – who want to use negative carbon materials in their construction,” Belcher commented. “We’re excited – we are not shying away from the fact that we’re majoring on hemp, or cannabis, and I think that people are ready for that. 

“Everybody is now worrying about the environment in a big way. If you think about the way that people’s attitude to meat is shifted towards plant-based diets, it is not difficult for people to see plant-based construction materials as better for the planet. I think that’s why we struck such a chord.”

The company is executing a demand-led strategy – bringing down the price of its materials and products in the process.

“People are asking how much demand there is for these products,” said Belcher. “There is lots of demand from the event, and we are going to use these materials and products for our own use as well. 

“We are going to build houses using as much hemp we can. We’ll create our own demand and as we do that, the price of those materials was will come down. Over time, we will create integrated manufacturing where we are potentially contracting with farmers to take the raw material to process it into stage one products, into stage two products, and then for sale.

“Because we are starting from the front end, we don’t need to wait for the demand to come. We can reverse engineer our supply chain.

Hemspan has just launched its seed round – raising a minimum of £500,000 up to £1m at its current share price

“Three of our early investors are farmers and significant landowners – they want to grow hemp. They have invested in Hemspan because they see an opportunity,” Belcher said. “We already have nearly 100,000 pledged, and we expect to close it within the next 90 days. We have a number of larger investor conversations running that would see our following funding rounds taken out by more institutional funds.

“I think now is the time for private individuals that are passionate about hemp and cannabis and industrial hemp to get involved.”

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