Planning the build - The Hempcrete Topic: Designing and Building with Hemp-lime - page 196

something that not many others had attempted at the time, and so being able to “make it up
as I went along” - a pleasant change from conventional construction.
At the time, Bob worked out what it would have cost to build the house out of brick-and-
block, and “it was pretty much the same - and that includes the 'cost' of my own labour,
but if you think of the advantages from the thermal performance of hempcrete there's no
comparison”. Bob and Tally found that using hempcrete brought no disadvantages in terms
of getting a mortgage, and there were no issues with planning either. For building control
they used an Approved Inspector, and would recommend this to others: “Because he was
directly employed by us, he took the time to listen and understand the material and what
we were doing, and instead of being suspicious of something out of the ordinary he was
interested and really got behind the project.”
Reactions from friends and family have been interesting: “In the early stages, lots of people
were curious, if not openly amused,” Bob says, “but once they have experienced what it
feels like to be in the house, they all get it. Everyone is blown away by it.” Bob's musi-
cian friends particularly enjoy the acoustics created by the solid hempcrete. “Not being a
musician, it's an aspect of the material I'd never really thought about,” says Bob, “but they
rave about it.” Anyone wishing they could experience the feel of a hempcrete house for
themselves can do so, if they fancy a summer holiday in Cornwall, as Bob and Tally rent
their house out for eight weeks of the year.
Following completion of the build, Bob was surprised to get a personal call from the en-
ergy assessor who had visited their house. “He said that he never rang people up, but he
was calling to advise me to get an airtightness test done, because ours was one of the most
thermally efficient houses he had ever assessed, and with favourable airtightness results it
might put our rating up from A+ to something even higher - the very highest rating, which
only a very few buildings in Europe ever achieve.” Bob has not in fact had an airtight-
ness test carried out, as “I didn't feel it was worth spending the money, and because we
wanted to use passive ventilation we've got trickle vents. I'm not really interested in super-
airtightness if it means using powered mechanical heat-recovery ventilation systems; any-
way, we're happy with how it performs - it's warm in winter and cool in summer, and it
achieves my criterion of feeling like a solid house - something that's built to last!”