DOE Awards $1.5M to Rensselaer Polytechnic for Hemp Retrofit Insulation

Insulated structural panels filled with fiber hemp insulation will reduce energy use by 15-25% and have an insulation value of R5, researchers say. Courtesy of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Center for Architecture, Science and Ecology (CASE)

By Jean Lotus

Researchers at Troy, NY-based Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) received a $1.5 million 3-year grant from the US Department of Energy to develop a hemp-based low-cost insulation panel that can cut heating and cooling costs in home retrofits.

The the Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontier and Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) grant will support the RPI faculty to create a Hemp Retrofit Structural Insulated Panel (HeRS) siding system. The panels — which resemble a “Hot Pocket” — have an outer shell of recycled resin and a fluffy HempWool center, featuring batt insulation provided by Idaho-based Hempitecture, Inc. The panels work like common cladding structural insulated panels, or SIPs, so they will be familiar to contractors, researchers said.

Co-investigators Alexandros Tsamis and Daniel Walczyk told HempBuild Mag that panels fit the DOE requirements for a low-cost retrofit material that will save between 15-25% in energy use in a home while being easy for professionals to install. The hemp and resin cladding is fire-resistant and replaces the usual vinyl cladding with “a more environmentally friendly alternative.” The panels will have an R-value of 5, researchers said.

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*Researchers Daniel Walczyk (l) and Alexandros Tsamis (r). Photos courtesy of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Center for Architecture, Science and Ecology (CASE)*

The natural materials are also more sustainable at their end-of-life Walcyzk said in a press release.

“By funding our proposal, the DOE recognizes the unsustainability of manufacturing and disposing of building materials,” he said. The hemp cladding will, “eventually decompose in years instead of thousands of years with synthetics.”

Researchers said the Department of Energy is interested in insulation retrofit options because residential buildings account for 60% of the total built surface area, with over two-thirds of the structures being single-family homes.

The project is part of PSI’s Center for Architecture, Science and Ecology (CASE) ‘s Seed to City initiative to develop sustainable building materials with hemp with the state of New York. In 2022, Tsamis and Walczyk announced that CASE was working on a hemp-based rebar that could replace steel in construction.

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*A diagram shows how the sealed resin panels are made. Courtesy of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Center for Architecture, Science and Ecology (CASE)*

“The industry has yet to fully realize the potential of natural materials,” Tsamis told HempBuildMag in an interview. That new frontier represents both a challenge and opportunity, he said.

“Producing high-quality, high-volume materials using renewable resources is still a great challenge when compared to the established practices or the known chemistry of synthetics. Our mission is to develop technology and gain a comprehensive understanding of processes that bridge the gap between the supply and demand of renewable construction materials,” he said.

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“Hemp is rapidly renewable, carbon-sequestering, and has the potential to regenerate farmland,” said Matthew Mead, founder and CEO of Hempitecture, manufacturer of the HempWool hemp-based insulation materials. “We are honored to be a part of researching ways to utilize hemp fiber building materials for retrofits, because it presents the opportunity to lower the embodied carbon of a building, while improving its operational performance, ultimately lowering the energy bills for the occupants.”