20 Jan 2006 @ 10:04, by Raymond Powers
Another great Hemp story from John Roulac of Nutiva Hemp Foods.
Experimental hemp house created in north Bohemia
Prague Daily Monitor
January 15, 2006
PRAGUE, Jan 13 (CTK) - Petr Zacek is trying to fulfill his dream - to build a house of technical hemp that he has grown himself, though authorities mar his efforts, the daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) writes in its latest weekend supplement.
Zacek, 38, a gardener by profession, has been working on the construction of a two-storey house completely made of natural material in Trnovany, north Bohemia, for five years.
He recalls in the paper that after he divorced a couple of years ago, he bought a garden with a little wooden cabin as his provisional dwelling. Then he started to dream about his own house. As traditional materials such as concrete, brick or stone were too expensive for him, it crossed his mind that he could use technical hemp.
"I wanted to prove that alternative houses can be built for low costs," he told the HD supplement.
Zacek then bought seeds of the legally permitted hemp (cannabis) containing up to 0.2 percent of the narcotic substance THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and planted it in his small garden. He used his first hemp harvest to build first a doghouse the walls of which were reinforced with a mixture of lime and clay.
Next year, he leased a small field from the local authority where he succeeded in growing 6-metre tall hemp plants. Instead of crushing the dried plants and then manufacturing hemp bricks, he invented an easy construction method - he tied hemp sheaves which he lined up closely side by side as surrounding walls.
Zacek said he considers his construction "an experimental work of art" as he needs no documentation or budget outline, but he only follows up his imagination. If he succeeded, he plans to offer his project to young families with children, he added.
However, local authorities have not expressed understanding for his experiment. The building office in Litomerice, north Bohemia, refused to issue a permit for the construction of hemp and demanded project documentation, which Zacek refused to submit.
He insisted on his right to creative work and experimental research, referring to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. Despite the obstacles, he threw himself into the work on his house without the official consent.
First he dag out elliptical foundations where he laid small and bigger stones like cubes of child's construction kit without any binding material such as concrete. He raised a wooden structure above it, made of old piles for hops growing. Then he started to insert hemp sheaves into the wooden structure and covered them with a mixture of lime and clay instead of common sand-based plaster.
His house's shape resembles a pyramid or Eskimo igloo. The whole ground floor is a 35-square-metre large multifunctional room with heating in the middle, while the second floor offers two bedrooms and a studio, the paper writes.
It says that experts have appreciated Zacek's project.
"To build a house of renewable sources is a brilliantly simple idea," said Marie Siroka, head of the Czech Hemp Association, adding that hemp can also be used as fuel the quality of which is comparable to brown coal.
"Moreover, a house made of natural material radiates a positive energy," she stressed.
Architect Oldrich Hozman, renowned expert in experimental structures, has highly praised Zacek's "pioneer project."
"This is an example worth consideration how to build both simply and efficiently and at the same time without burdening the environment," Hozman told the paper.
However, Zacek's neighbours do not share experts' enthusiasm. They filed a complaint against the illegal building. Zacek again defended himself, pointing to his right to free creation and the highly environment-friendly character of his house, but in vain.
The local authorities strictly demanded a project documentation that would cost some 30,000 crowns which Zacek with a 8,000-crown monthly wage could not afford. If he does not meet the legal conditions, his experimental house will be threatened with demolition.
"The system is wrong as instead of supporting the creation of an environment-friendly house, it puts obstacles in its way," the paper quotes Zacek as saying.
Moreover, his growing of technical hemp was complicated by occasional thieves and by policemen who from time to time checked his field. Once criminal police arrived and took samples of his hemp plants. The laboratory analysis then found out that their THC content exceeded the permitted level by 0.05 percent.
Zacek was charged with the production and possession of narcotic substances and in the end given a one-year suspended sentence with a two-year probation, the paper writes.
Nevertheless, this experience did dot discourage him from his intention to complete the hemp house. He has already made the rough structure and he must yet lay wooden floors inside, cover the roof with thick hemp-made canvas and then connect the house to the water and sewage system. So far, he has consumed ten tonnes of hemp he has grown alone in a small field.
The paper recalls that hemp is now applied as construction material in many EU countries and its popularity has been rising. The highest number of hemp-made house is in France, followed by Austria, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries.
In the Czech Republic, the ban on technical hemp was lifted in 1999. Now hemp fields cover some 160 hectares only, but according to the Czech Hemp Association, hemp growing and processing will expand in the future as home-made hemp fibres will be also less expensive than the imported ones.
Apart from Zacek's house, hemp has been used in the construction of three modern houses in the Czech Republic.
Zacek told the paper he plans to fully complete his house this autumn. If the project proves viable, he would like to set up a company building similar low-budget hemp houses for young people who are short of money.
"Isn't it marvellous that material for the construction of a family house can grow in your field in a year?" Zacek concluded in HN supplement.
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