Small houses in Europe created with corrugated hemp panels

A non-profit social enterprise based in Ireland called Common Knowledge and an England-based hemp farm called Margent Farm are teaming up to build tiny houses out of hemp.

Each building, dubbed Tigín Tiny Homes, was built with three goals: “Sustainable, Affordable and Consciously Designed”. A single-family home is 20 square meters (about 215 square feet if you’re using US measurements) and features high ceilings to give the home a “lofty, bright feel.” The bedroom is large enough for a king-size bed and is on the mezzanine level, but the living area includes a pull-out guest bed. Other necessities such as an oven, gas cooktops, sink, shower and even a composting toilet fit into the modest homes. Under the house, the insulation is “breathable cork over a pine frame”.

The hemp comes into play as part of the exterior of the houses, which use Margent Farm’s corrugated hemp panels. “The fibers bind and trap carbon and prevent it from being released back into the atmosphere, resulting in a very low-carbon product. The plant’s high cellulose content (60-70%) makes it a very strong and durable material. The sheet is bound with a sugar-based resin made entirely from agricultural waste. Our hemp panels are a natural alternative to corrugated iron, PVC, bitumen and cement,” says Margent Farm on its website. “The panels can be used outside as a rain screen, or inside as ceiling or wall cladding, or for other acoustic treatments. The product is natural and like wood exposed to UV rays, the color will lighten over time,” continues Margent Farm.

Photo by Shantaru Starick

Margent Farm also reports that the production of these panels requires 5.7 times less energy than aluminum, 2.6 times less energy than bitumen plastic and 1.5 times less energy than galvanized steel.

Best of all, Common Knowledge will offer training to teach people how to build these homes for themselves or repair their homes to “empower people to take action on the housing and climate crisis.”

“Ultimately, the plan of our Tigín project is not just to build these tiny homes, but to teach more than 200 people the skills to build these or other projects themselves, while creating a free-to-use blueprint and publishing it by the end of this year ‘ said Common Knowledge founder Fionn Kidney.

Photo by Shantaru Starick

According to Åvontuura, the tiny homes are currently for sale and will cost between 55,000 and 60,000 euros (roughly the same in USD). Fifty percent of people who inquired about the homes said they are considering a tiny house as their primary residence, while about 10 percent say they would like to buy one “to help their kids escape the rental trap.” “.

“With many people currently facing a severe housing crisis, we believe a tiny home can offer an affordable solution that is both highly customizable and fully mobile,” said Common Knowledge. “We wanted to create something that is useful, both in terms of offering a housing solution for people who don’t have the time to build one themselves, and in terms of being able to enable others to do it themselves. “

As the world continues to explore green building opportunities, hemp is recognized as a prime material for green building. Hemp paper could very well be the future of printing, and it can also be used as cattle fodder. It was even experimented with in car and aircraft construction.