The Use of Industrial Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) in the Building Sector: an Overview

Abstract. The increasing demand and exploitation of natural resources and their inevitable exhaustion make urgent and needed the search of sustainable solutions. The building sector, due to the high-energy consumption and the utilisation of products mainly obtained from non-renewable sources and virgin materials, has a significant impact on the environment. For these reasons, for several years the building construction industry has been looking for: innovative solutions to reduce energy consumption; eco-friendly materials derived from plant or animal sources and recycling; and healthier and safer buildings. In the group of natural materials, currently hemp appears the most appreciated and used in the green building and it is easily available in the market. Hemp presents features that well satisfy the energy, technological and environmental requirements. Therefore, the aforementioned intrinsic advantages make hemp a good candidate to become the leading natural building material in the following years. In this context, the aim of this paper is to analyse, albeit briefly, the applications of hemp and its derivatives in the building sector, in particular as insulation and bio-composites.