Study of the transient behaviour of a hemp concrete building envelope

Hemp concrete is more and more recommended by eco-builders because hemp is a renewable plant, recyclable and does not degrade within time. To integrate this material into buildings, it is important to study its hygrothermal behaviour. In this paper, two models have been investigated: a heat transfer model (Th) and a hygrothermal model accounting for heat and moisture transport through building envelope (HAM). Both models were implemented into the simulation environment SPARK. Simulations were run for a room located in Nancy and for winter conditions. Our results suggest that hemp concrete has a good thermal performance. Its low conductivity reduces energy consumption. Besides its moisture buffering capacity dampens indoor relative humidity variation.