{"id":3805,"date":"2021-12-22T21:53:29","date_gmt":"2021-12-23T02:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/havenearth.biz\/2021\/12\/22\/urban-sequoia-proposed-hemp-high-rise-is-carbon-negative\/"},"modified":"2021-12-22T21:53:29","modified_gmt":"2021-12-23T02:53:29","slug":"urban-sequoia-proposed-hemp-high-rise-is-carbon-negative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/havenearth.biz\/2021\/12\/22\/urban-sequoia-proposed-hemp-high-rise-is-carbon-negative\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban Sequoia: Proposed Hemp High-Rise is Carbon Negative"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The proposed \u201cUrban Sequoia\u201d high rise is built with materials, including hempcrete, that absorb more carbon than it generates. Photo courtesy of SOM.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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By Jean Lotus<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the world\u2019s most influential architecture firms is proposing using carbon-sequestering hemp as a vital part of the international built environment of the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM) announced the design of a hempcrete high-rise, the Urban Sequoia<\/span><\/a>, a sleek, modern building that captures and sequesters as much carbon as it generates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The firm rolled out the design for Urban Sequoia at the COP26 Climate Summit<\/span><\/a> in Glasgow last month. The prototype design was generated by the international firm\u2019s London studio, with partnerships worldwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The proposed high rise (not yet in production) can sequester as much as 1,000 tons of CO2 per year, equivalent to 48,500 trees.\u00a0The company says they are seeking a locale and investors to build the first prototype. <\/p>\n

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\u201cThe central proposition of Urban Sequoia is that the built environment can absorb carbon. SOM\u2019s proposal transforms buildings into solutions\u2014radically rethinking how buildings and cities are designed and constructed,\u201d the company said in their press release.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur proposal for Urban Sequoia\u2014and ultimately entire \u2018forests\u2019 of Sequoias\u2014makes buildings, and therefore our cities, part of the solution by designing them to sequester carbon, effectively changing the course of climate change,\u201d said Chris Cooper, design partner, in a statement.<\/p>\n

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Hempcrete, an insulation formed with hemp stalk and lime, is only one of the carbon-capturing features of the building. SOM also included bio-bricks, algae, timber and biocrete to replace concrete and steel\u2014resulting in a construction impact of 50% less carbon, the company said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The proposed high rise would also use air currents moving inside the building through its \u201cstack effect\u201d to capture CO2 with direct air capture devices, which turn CO2 into rock, similar to those rolled out in Iceland<\/span><\/a> this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Architects worldwide are using hemp and hempcrete blocks in large, ambitious projects. For example, a 15-unit hempcrete apartment building<\/span><\/a> was constructed in Paris this year, designed by Barrault Pressacco<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

British hempcrete builder and designer Alex Sparrow of UK Hempcrete told HempBuild Magazine he finds the Urban Sequoia premise \u201creally exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Scaling hemp building materials from a craftsman level to use on a broad scale will take a \u201cmodular prefabricated elements to be assembled quickly on site,\u201d he said in an email.<\/p>\n

Already, several European companies are pumping out hempcrete blocks such as Belgium\u2019s IsoHemp, which expanded<\/span><\/a> the company\u2019s factory to generate 5 million blocks per year. French cement company Groupe Vicat<\/span><\/a> also manufactures hempcrete blocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moving forward, as international urban populations continue to grow in the coming decades, studies predict another 230 billion square meters of new building stock will be needed by 2060, SOM said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Urban Sequoia proposal would incorporate bio materials such as hempcrete in low-rise buildings too, to potentially remove up to 1.6 billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere every year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cOn the face of it, this looks like a solution which would allow us to continue with scale construction, whilst breaking the pattern of very high embodied carbon emissions associated with the construction industry,\u201d Sparrow added. \u201cThis could be the future!\u201d<\/p>\n

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