Designs envision a greener future
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E-mail CNTV, May 12, 2015
Hemp homes, dome domains and smart sheds are just some of the latest designs that eco-architects hope average home owners will choose in the future. At the 'Grand Designs Live' event in London, experts are sharing their visions of a greener future.
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'Grand Designs Live' exhibition |
A host of natural building buffs are trying to make the earth a better home by building structures using only low carbon techniques.
One that is certainly catching the eye is 'hemp-crete', a natural insulation material made by combining wet-mixed hemp shiv and a lime binder.
As hemp plants transform CO2 into oxygen while they grow, carbon is locked away in a building by using the material in construction.
"Even accounting for the production of the lime and for the transport and the energy used onsite, there's 160 kilograms net of atmospheric CO2 locked away in every cubic-meter of 'hemp crete' wall. So as a country we're looking for ways to build zero carbon homes, this is better than zero carbon," said Alex Sparrow, author & director of Hemp-Limeconstruct.
Sparrow claims, because it is mixed in a lime binder, 'hemp crete' generally has an impressive fire-resistance rating.
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'Grand Designs Live' exhibition |
Wooden dome constructions are also attracting attention. Manufactured in factories as key-ready products, they can be quickly assembled on site. It is claimed it could take around two hours for three or four men to build the dome. Aluminum is used in some places to prevent rain from entering the structure.
It is claimed the domes, which are solely built from sustainable and natural materials, can benefit areas of the world facing a housing crisis.
"The big advantage with this construction is that it's very easy to mount and with mass production, for example in China, in a big factory in China. The production price can be very, very low, which means this house can solve a lot of problems for housing solutions, hurricane disasters, earthquakes and so on, it can also withstand," said Kari Thomsen, Easy Domes Ltd architect.
They may not be strangely-shaped, but smart sheds are also catching the eye at 'Grand Designs Live'.
Amazing Sheds are pre-fabricated, then flat pack delivered and erected in a few days' time. Built to be adapted into areas such as an office, game room, play room, studio and reading room, they are aiming to blur the lines between indoor and outdoor living.
"Yes you have your garden shed, but this is a garden studio or just another space, another part of the house. We're just taking the way you live indoors out into the garden and just making that blur between indoor and outdoor living, that's what we're trying to attempt to do," said Hamish Boden, director of Amazing Sheds.
Grand Designs Live 2015 concluded Sunday, but the eco-architects will continue to focus on designs that ensure a greener, healthier mother earth.
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