On the site of our new building project Tannat in Sint-Jans Molenbeek, we will grow no less than 500 000 hemp plants on a piece of land of about 2 000 m². Afterwards, they will be turned into insulation material that will later be integrated into the future flats of Tannat. In doing so, we achieve three sustainable goals: the material is C02-negative, the future buildings consume less energy and the soil is purified.
You can find more information about our Tannat project here!
Hemp: CO2-negative product
Hemp plants are a CO2-negative product because they absorb around 5 tonnes of CO2 during their growth process, which is up to five times more than trees. As it is also an insulating material, hemp will therefore minimise the energy consumption of buildings during its 'second life'. Remarkably, even when the hemp is incorporated into the insulation material, it continues to absorb CO2, albeit in much smaller quantities. The benefit to the climate is thus considerable!
"Insulation material based on natural hemp fibres is not new in itself, but never before was it produced on a building project of this scale. Moreover, the hemp has never been grown on a building site itself. We try to use as many local materials and products as possible in all our building projects. But this is of course on a whole other level: it doesn't get any more local than this." Alexandre Huyghe - CEO Revive
Purifying the soil
Another advantage of the hemp plant is that it also purifies the soil it grows on through 'phytoremediation'. In the case of the Tannat site, this is a land where a brewery and a wine distributor used to be located. There were two leaking fuel oil tanks in those buildings, so the soil had to be decontaminated before building on it. Purification using hemp plants is one of the necessary steps in the sanitation process.
"So-called phytoremediation uses plants, such as hemp, to remove, break down or capture pollutants from soils and groundwater. It is a very sustainable technique, with limited costs for energy, transport and maintenance. And the process also has a positive influence on biodiversity." Frederik Verstraete - Sustainability expert ReLife