This is our first experimental house designed and  self-built from timber  and hempcrete. In this project we tested  all possible solutions  such as:  prefabrication, raised hempcrete floor, hempcrete roof  and of course hempcrete walls.
The house was built in the south-eastern part of Poland.  Although it is not fully occupied in the winter, it keeps sufficient warmth inside using only small electric  radiators. The ventilation is provided by small  vents with heat recovery controlled by the system with humidity sensors.

This complex of simple single-storey houses located on the slope of a vineyard  in central Portugal was originally designed using perlite block technology. The system was chosen for its simplicity and accuracy in construction. The material itself is  100% natural,  made from volcanic rock that is expanded in the technological process to become an excellent  insulator against heat and cold. 

This house is going to be built utilising HBE/Glulam  (laminated timber) technology including walls, floor slab and the roof, additionally insulated with mineral wool. The façades will be finished with pre-weathered timber and the roof covered with traditional ceramic tiles. The house is located in southern Poland where there could be high snow fall and low temperatures in the winter.  Hence the monolithic timber structure, additional insulation and triple glass windows , all to protect the interior of the house from the heat loss. High performance heating and ventilation systems are going to be managed by fully automatic controllers.

This house in  the interior of Portugal is exposed to extremely high temperatures in the summer.  In this project we are going to use all possible natural technologies to cool it in the summer avoiding use of air-conditioning split units.  We are using the ground heat-exchanger as a hot/cold thermal energy storage. In the summer the ground heat- exchanger  with the support of a heat pomp will cool down the incoming air used in central ventilation system . In the winter it  will pre-warm the incoming air to minimise energy needed for heating.  The envelope of the building is well insulated.; the walls of the building will be filled with hempcrete and the roofs will be built from HBE /Glulam laminated timber panels with additional insulation.

Contact  agnieszka.krawczyk@4105.eu  to get more information about the projects.