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Cristina Miclea

May 17, 2015
01:42

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Thanks for creating this proposal. We look forward to you completing it!

Vishal Bhavsar

Jun 5, 2015
04:57

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Thanks for submitting the proposal. It is really detailed and well thought through proposal. There was clarity on the actions proposed. Things to be improved: 1. The proposal should clarify the adoption of this concept in urban context. 2. The buildings are also mix of commercial, residential, office etc. Clarity required on which category of the buildings is this really relevant 3. In the emissions part there is straight assumption of replacing 20% of concrete. It would be really helpful if more basis and details are covered on this assumption Regards, Vishal

Mark Everson

Jun 6, 2015
02:52

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Hallo Vishal Thank you for the feedback, I'm glad you find the concept of interest. I trust it's OK to respond in the form of comment. like this, since in all the key areas of the online form I'm out of space :) Considering the urban (and wider) context, hempcrete is an extremely versatile material; there's an excellent write-up on its properties and applications at http://ebooks.narotama.ac.id/files/Smart%20Building%20in%20a%20Changing%20Climate/Chapter%206%20%20Zero%20Carbon%20Building%20Methods;%20The%20Case%20of%20Hempcrete%20Projects.pdf As the author points out, load-bearing aspects have not been greatly explored as it is assumed that a framework construction would be employed. Given that the material is not then expected to have to be load-bearing, the material's application would seem to be to any steel- or timber-framed construction, from homes to skyscrapers; houses, office blocks, industrial and retail premises would all seem appropriate and in fact the UK retailer Marks & Spencer has recently commissioned a 42,000m² superstore clad entirely in hempcrete; see http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/buildings/green-as-grass-ms-cheshire-oaks-by-aukett-fitzroy-robinson/8654895.article. Interestingly the there hempcrete has also demonstrated exceptional thermal insulation characteristics; "the building’s energy consumption outstripped design predictions by 29 per cent", indicating that hempcrete will not only reduce carbon actively in replacing concrete, but will continue to deliver energy savings that exceed concrete's potential going forward. As a result I wouldn't propose advocating that use of hempcrete be limited to any one or other construction area, as doing so may unnecessarily constrain wider adoption of the material. To respond to the 20% assumption, this is I believe a pessimistic estimate of potential. I haven't been able to find information on how concrete usage breaks down across buildings, roads etc so I've tried to err on the cautious side. I hope this is satisfactory, but I'd welcome any pointers on better data. Thanks again for the comments and I hope I've addressed these adequately; please let me know of course if there's any more information I can provide. Best, Mark

Mark Everson

Jun 6, 2015
02:14

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BROKEN HYPERLINK Just noticed the Architects Journal link in above comment won't play, probably due to a log-in thing; I've copied the text to a Word file which I'm happy to forward to you, please let me know if that would be useful. Cheers Mark

Maryette Haggerty Perrault

Jun 9, 2015
11:34

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Thanks for your proposal gas2green! Could you elaborate on the specific source of CO2 used to "feed" the hemp plants? Would this limit the location of a hydroponic carbon capture site to directly next to fossil fuel burning power plants or industrial facilities? I'm also curious to learn why you chose to include this proposal in the Buildings space - not to imply that it does not belong but simply because your proposal focuses in detail on carbon sequestration through the growth of hemp rather than the building products to be made from the hemp. Once the hemp is grown and harvested, what sort of processing is required to to process it into the building material which will replace concrete in the construction of buildings?

Mark Everson

Jun 10, 2015
03:56

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Hallo Maryette! Thanks for the comment. Interestingly (to me anyway!) this proposal follows-on from my proposal of last year, "Hydroponic Carbon Capture at Source" (made Finalist) https://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/1300201/planId/1308911; that WAS intended to position the facility adjacent to fossil fuel plants and industrial facilities (in fact I had an additional proposal in the "Industry" sector which was aimed specifically at industrial facilities). Then I got to thinking, why limit location? CO2 is extremely portable, so can be shipped or piped to wherever it can most effectively be used. That's not to say that it doesn't make sense to co-locate with fossil-fuel or industrial facilities, but that it doesn't HAVE to be. So - for example - were CCS ever to become widespread, with an associated pipeline infrastructure, it would seem logical to build the facilities alongside the pipeline to tap-off it as required, delivering CO2 very effectively to the HCC facility and at the same time reducing the load on, and extending the life of, the CCS burial site. Equally, appropriately-scaled facilities could sit alongside almost any CO2 producer - for example a brewery generates significant CO2 which could be used directly from the plant with no separation of industrial pollutants. To respond to your second question, I got into this proposal looking at ways to lock-up CO2 long-term and building-it literally into a building is a good solution - hence inclusion in the Building category. Hempcrete is established, so the proposal is aimed at allowing the raw material production for hempcrete to be as efficient as possible to relieve the pressure that hemp production would place on agricultural land that is already stretched feeding our growing populations. You've probably already seen my sister proposal on Resilient Agriculture that extends the application into wider agriculture - https://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/1301416/planId/1316001 I hope that responds satisfactorily to your remarks - I'd of course be happy to discuss further! Thanks again for the interest! Cheers Mark

Mark Everson

Jun 10, 2015
01:06

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Hi again Maryette Forgot something... CO2 can also be provided to a site via tanker, so - for example - if a temporary Hempdroponics facility were required to service e.g. a new retail park construction, where no existing CO2 provision existed the CO2 could be delivered by road tanker; as it's in liquid form under pressure a large amount would be available from a single vehicle. Essentially then the concept is workable wherever it's needed. I hope this answers your question more fully and apologies for omitting earlier! Cheers Mark

Maryette Haggerty Perrault

Jun 11, 2015
07:32

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Thanks for addressing my comments Mark. I understand your desire to make the location of a HCC production facility as flexible as possible. For temporary construction sites I do think tanker transportation of CO2 is a viable option of course. I do imagine that there is a greater environmental benefit where larger scale HCC projects are co-located with the source of CO2. If there's no need to cut down trees and disturb the environment to build a pipeline for the CO2 the environmental impact can be mitigated. Obviously however there is still the transportation of the finished product to the place where it will ultimately used but that can be done using existing infrastructure (assuming hempcrete can be transported in a conventional cement truck that is). Would you agree?

Mark Everson

Jun 12, 2015
03:21

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Hi Maryette Spot-on. Bespoke facilities co-located with primary CO2 source can be designed to maximize cost-effectiveness for that location; the pluggable modular form by contrast (possibly but not necessarily ISO container format) would allow "pop-up" facilities to be established as and when needed and easily removed when no longer required. Location can be optimized to balance supply of inputs with removal of outputs, and the build allows location to be on sites unsuitable for conventional agriculture including - for example - old quarries, brownfield ex-industrial, or simply too infertile. Haven't had a chance to get into the detailed output logistics but from what I've seen mixing is generally at point of use, so shipping from the HCC would I think be of biomass (either prepped or crude) rather than as hempcrete. Exciting isn't it? :) Thanks again for the interest, hope we can move this forward! Cheers Mark