{"id":3885,"date":"2022-01-31T03:49:29","date_gmt":"2022-01-31T08:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/havenearth.biz\/2022\/01\/31\/monika-brummer-building-hemp-innovation-brick-by-brick\/"},"modified":"2022-01-31T03:49:29","modified_gmt":"2022-01-31T08:49:29","slug":"monika-brummer-building-hemp-innovation-brick-by-brick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/havenearth.biz\/2022\/01\/31\/monika-brummer-building-hemp-innovation-brick-by-brick\/","title":{"rendered":"Monika Br\u00fcmmer: Building Hemp Innovation Brick by Brick"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

By Moriah Slade<\/em><\/p>\n

In a world that seems to value the next newer, bigger and faster idea, some dedicate their life to historically tried-and-true methods of living with our environment, instead of against it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of these pioneers is architect, CEO and designer Monika Br\u00fcmmer \u2013 a biomaterials designer and builder and founder of a hemp brick company based in Granada, Spain. I had the pleasure of interviewing Br\u00fcmmer via email in late 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Br\u00fcmmer holds a Ph.D in Architecture and is the CEO of Cannatektum Habitat and Material Science in Spain which focuses on architectural projects, production and distribution of Br\u00fcmmer\u2019s custom designed Cannabric<\/a>. Cannatektum also does deep research into various hempcretes and other hemp building materials.<\/p>\n

Br\u00fcmmer said she wanted to bridge the gap between research and practice in hemp building materials.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the course of my PhD and already before, I saw the need to get hemp out of the laboratory into practice and bring the practice of hemp building into the laboratory,\u201d she told HempBuild Mag.<\/p>\n

Subscribe for HempBuild Magazine\u2019s free newsletter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

In 2019, Br\u00fcmmer led a team that created the off-grid solar powered hemp \u201cSUNIMPLANT\u201d roundhouse home for the 2019 Solar Decathlon Africa (SDA) with local hemp building materials from a cooperative in Central Rif, Morocco.<\/p>\n

The project included hemp concrete on a vertical facade surrounded by a spherical skin of bio-composite hemp fibers, affixed with semi-flexible photovoltaic panels.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"

\n

SUNIMPLANT, a hemp-based off-grid home created for the 2019 Solar Decathlon Africa from raw materials sourced in Central Rif, Morocco. Photo courtesy of Solar Decathlon Africa<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But Br\u00fcmmer did not originally get her start in architecture. Her focus was clothing and fashion design.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth studies are similar, we are talking about our second and third skin, both very important for our wellbeing and health,\u201d she said. She went on to explain, \u201chemp can be a part of both and is highly responsible for hydrothermal comfort. Synthetic materials are airtight and do not allow for the same comfort.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Br\u00fcmmer is also the co-founder and president of Adrar Nouh<\/a> in Morocco. She explains, \u201cAdrar Nouh is a Moroccan cooperative focused on [exploring the economic value] of agricultural waste (hemp) for the purposes of rural socio economic development, as well as research projects using traditional hemp.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe geographic situation of (Granada-based) Cannatektum opened the opportunity to build a bridge of hemp architecture between two continents and cultures,\u201d she said. In addition, \u201cthere are historic links \u2026 including the entry of hemp technologies in Southern Europe over the silk route.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2013 she said she was asked, \u201cto collaborate in the development of Morocco\u2019s historic hemp farming region, to build with hemp in Nord Africa. We started with nothing in a very remote region of a complex historical context, and socio-economic issues,\u201d she said. The work was low-profile because \u201chemp culture was illicit there in the first seven years of my contribution.<\/p>\n

Her work in Spain and Morocco continues. \u201cAt present we are building a crowdfunded rural cottage in a remote hemp farming region in Nord Morocco,\u201d she said. \u201cMaterials are collected almost exclusively in the immediate surroundings of the construction site, basically hemp-stalks, cedar wood, quartz stones and clay, and almost all our processes are manual.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe produce hemp bricks directly on the fields with help of the local farmers,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"

\n

A crowdfunded rural cottage created with Cannabric hemp blocks is being built in rural Morocco. Photo courtesy of Cannabric.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite many agro-industrial applications, Monika said, stalks for decades have been considered an \u201cagricultural waste.\u201d Members of the organization are trying to change that perception.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wait for the day that the local Berbers and regional authorities discover the comfort of our hemp made building in an area known for extremely harsh winters with intense snow falls,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A new era is hopefully starting now, framed in the new cannabis law that passed this year in Morocco, she said, although with many barriers to eliminate yet.<\/p>\n

Click here to go to our FREE online community.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

With all the barriers still left to be toppled within the industry, I asked Br\u00fcmmer\u00a0 what inspired her to continue her work everyday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCultural curiosity and sensitivity, research and creativity; those things are driving my interest,\u201d she said. \u201cI started with hemp more than two and a half decades ago, when nobody jumped on the boat yet for economic interests, it was pure passion and entrepreneurship. No path was yet created. That\u2019s the kind of circumstances I parted from more than once, in different countries, taking into account local resources and needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you could wake up tomorrow,\u201d I asked her, \u201cand have one thing revolutionized in your industry, what would you want that to be?\u201d Her answer was crystal clear\u2026 \u201cStop environmental disasters created by the building industry and by the energy drain of unhealthy buildings and come back to plant-based and local materials and bioclimatic design strategies,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

As a German, she added, \u201cI like innovation and plant-based building materials derived from hemp. This gives me the chance to address contemporary needs of energy efficiency, biogenic carbon sequestration, life-cycle management and health preservation in building.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I can\u2019t better this world substantially, but I feel responsible because I\u2019m part of it and try to give people access to the best possible solutions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Moriah Slade holds a Masters in Public Health and is currently a student at the Institute of Functional Medicine Coaching Program.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Please Support Our Classified Advertisers\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

(To find out more about advertising CLICK HERE<\/a>).<\/p>\n