Prototyping a New Biobased, High-Performing, and Low Carbon Hemp-Fiber Continuous Insulation Product

Lead Performer: Argonne National Laboratory – Lemont, IL
Partners:
-- Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Oak Ridge, TN
-- Hempitecture – Ketchum, ID
DOE Total Funding: $300,000
FY22 DOE Funding: $150,000
Cost Share: $75,000
Project Term: October 2021 – September 2023
Funding Type: Cooperative Research and Development Agreement – 2021 Lab Call

Project Objective

Hemp-based thermal insulation has cradle-to-cradle embodied carbon and energy potentially lower than any other type of insulation currently on the market. This project will perform life-cycle analysis (LCA) of hemp-based thermal insulation products to determine the carbon emissions and energy cost of their production and use, as well as a technoeconomic analysis (TEA) to investigate the cost-effectiveness of these products. Researchers will also evaluate the thermal, resilience, and durability properties of hemp fiber products. With the support from the Building Technologies Office, this project aims to speed up the prototype development and commercialization of a hemp-based continuous insulation product and bring to market an energy-efficient, low embodied carbon building material manufactured in the United States at a competitive price and potentially best-in-class cradle-to-cradle embodied carbon and energy.

Project Impact

This project will help characterize the energy and economic performance of hemp-based thermal insulation, an alternative to traditional insulation that could provide American consumers with a cost-competitive, nontoxic, and carbon-efficient insulation product while supporting American farmers and tradespeople.

With exterior and continuous insulation capabilities becoming more common in passive- energy house and energy-efficient building designs, a hemp-fiberboard continuous insulation product that this project will develop, prototype, evaluate, and test can expect to gain part of the North American insulation market share as new low embodied carbon insulation product. The best prototype design will be identified with equal or better performance than incumbent rigid insulation boards to accelerate commercialization and deployment of an optimized product into the building envelope insulation market.

Contacts

DOE Technology Manager: Sven Mumme
Lead Performer: Hao Cai, Argonne National Laboratory