The Intersection

Building operating emissions account for 28% of global greenhouse gas emissions while building  components for 11%. To mitigate these effects, we must reduce the carbon footprints of construction activities, building materials, and sequestering carbon dioxide in forests and farmland. Industrial hemp is a solution to all these challenges. Hemp is a carbon-negative crop, absorbing more carbon dioxide than trees, and thus represents a unique sequestration opportunity. By using hemp as a construction material, we can improve the thermal efficiency of our buildings, consequently reducing operational carbon. By substituting hempbrick, a mixture of hemp and various binders, for more carbon-intensive materials, we can reduce the embodied carbon of the built environment. The Intersection correlates each of these criteria and will be integrated into an existing campus in Beltsville, Maryland, encompassing the National Agricultural Library, the USDA Agricultural Research Center, and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.

 

 


FOR AN ACCESSIBLE VERSION OF THE PDF BELOW, PLEASE CONTACT JELENA DAKOVIC AT JDAKOVIC@UMD.EDU.
Semester / Year
Spring 2023

Team Members

Yan Ferris Konan

Faculty Advisors

Jessica Jones

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