Planning the build - The Hempcrete Topic: Designing and Building with Hemp-lime - page 195

Warm in winter and cool in summer, despite the large
windows, due to hempcrete's unique thermal perform-
ance - insulation and thermal mass - together with the
passive solar design.
Bob designed the house with architect Roderick James, and the hempcrete details were
worked out by Bob together with Chris Brookman from Back to Earth, who supplied the
hempcrete. The build took eight months of full-time work, and another eight months part
time. A friend, Ollie, worked with Bob on the construction of the frame, and then Bob and
Tally finished the rest of the build by themselves. Bob says he found the hempcrete easy:
“It's great to work with - putting up the shuttering was the hardest bit.” He enjoyed the
low-tech nature of hempcrete as a material, and found it refreshing being a pioneer doing