An investigation of the thermal properties of hemp and clay monolithic walls

The monolithic walls of hemp-lime construction enclose and protect a structural timber frame to provide a healthy, breathable building fabric that meets current UK building regulations. It has been proposed that by using hemp as a building material it is possible to actually remove carbon from the atmosphere. Whether or not ‗hemp-crete‘can be considered carbon sequestering, or even neutral, depends largely on the binder. All the lime based binders have high embodied energy, meaning they limit this possibility. Earth construction uses clay as the binder. Could clay substitute for lime in hemp-crete? This experimental research focuses mainly on the thermal properties of stabilised and unstabilised hemp-clay blocks which are tested using a transient heat-transfer probe to measure thermal conductivity, volumetric heat capacity, and derive thermal diffusivity and effusivity. Results are compared with industry-published data for hemp-lime (eg Lhoist, 2009) and found to be similar. The results of the experiments and the literature review indicate that the use of clay as an alternative binder has potential to reduce the environmental impact of the hemp-binder method and facilitate the move towards developing a building material that can used for new build or renovation works, that removes carbon from the atmosphere at this time of need

The Kyoto School and Confucianism: a Confucian reading of the philosophy of history and political thought of Masaaki Kosaka

This dissertation examines the philosophy of Masaaki Kōsaka (1900-1969) from the East Asian perspective of Confucianism, which I believe is the most appropriate moral paradigm for comprehending his political speculations. Although largely neglected in post-war scholarship, Kōsaka was a prominent member of the Kyoto School during the 1930s and 40s. This was a group of Japanese thinkers strongly associated with the philosophies of Kitarō Nishida and Hajime Tanabe. Kōsaka is now best known for his participation in the three Chūō Kōron symposia held in 1941 and 1942. These meetings have been routinely denounced by liberal historians due to the participants’ support for the Pacific War and the Co-Prosperity Sphere. However, many of these liberal portrayals have failed to take into account the full extent of the group’s resistance to the military junta of Hideki Tōjō. Adopting the methods and techniques of the empirical disciplines of academic history and Orientalism, I develop an interpretative framework that is more receptive to the political values that mattered to Kōsaka as a Confucian inspired intellectual. This has necessitated the rejection of moral history, which typically prioritises modern liberal values brought a priori to the historical record of wartime Japan, as well as recognition of the different ontological foundations that inform the unique political theories of the East Asian intellectual tradition. Reinforced by the prior research of Michel Dalissier and Graham Parkes, as well as my own reading of the Confucian canon, I adopt David Williams’s thesis of ‘Confucian Revolution’ as my principle schema of interpretation. This, I believe, is better able to reconcile Kōsaka’s support for the war with his strong condemnation of the imperialist practices of the Japanese military. Moreover, acknowledging the importance of Confucianism allows us to fully appreciate Kōsaka’s strong affinity for Kant’s practical metaphysics, Hegel’s political philosophy and Ranke’s historiography

An initial report into thermal performance of hemp and lime wall sections in the wise building at CAT

Hemp and binder (e.g. Lime) is an insulating wall matrix formed around a timber frame. It has multiple environmental benefits including sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into a building‟s walls and is thus of interest in the current climate situation. However the thermal performance of the matrix when evaluated using the steady state thermal conductivity (i.e. rate of heat transfer) is not as effective for the same thickness as other insulations. The world however is dynamic and in the Haverhill Housing Project monitored by the Building Research Establishment (UK) two hemp and lime houses, despite having a worse steady state thermal performance on paper, significantly outperformed comparative standard houses (BRE 2002, 2003). The reasons for this unexpected performance are not clarified although the heat storage capacity and the moisture handling ability of the matrix are possibilit ies. Hemp and binder matrix has been shown to have considerable moisture handling and heat storage capabilities but how or whether these improve thermal performance is not clear. All the tests reported so far have been on the same binder yet there are many potential binders and each will change the properties of the matrix and each has a different environmental legacy. To further clarify the in-building performance and to compare a range of binders, 5 different binder test wall sections in the Welsh Institute of Sustainable Education building at the Centre of Alternative Technology are being extensively monitored for heat flux, temperature and moisture movements. This paper is an initial report of this experiment

Thermal conductivity of building materials: an overview of its determination

A range of instruments are available to measure thermal conductivity of building materials. Some of these tools are heat-flow meter, hot plate, hot box and heat transfer analyzer. Thermal conductivity data derived by using different instruments can be different from each other. Implication of these variations in thermal conductivity is significant in terms of commercial profile of the insulations and also in terms of calculating energy saving in large scale use of that specific insulation. Thus it is important to know which of the measuring instrument for thermal conductivity can produce relatively accurate and representative result. This paper firstly looks at the methods and instrument for measuring thermal conductivity of building materials and secondly compares and analyses the results of testing thermal conductivity of fibrous insulations using a heat analyzer and a hot plate

A105 Structure, Thought and Reality - Gender and science

A lecture given by Mari Rhydwen for the course "A105 Structure, Thought and Reality" in ECL Lecture Theatre 1 (ECL1) at Murdoch University. Course description from the 1998 Murdoch University Handbook:- This unit is designed to get you thinking in new and powerful ways, about forces influencing everyday life. Definitions of concepts like 'the individual' and 'society' and our assumptions about what kinds of knowledge and experience count as 'truth' and 'reality' are not the same for everyone. Rather, people construct the world in different ways. This unit aims to explore the dominant definitions of the individual, society, truth, fiction, reality etc., and encourages students to think beyond these, by examining the social structures and contests which produce differing, and often oppressive, definitions of reality. This sound recording is part of the History of Murdoch University Collection

A105 Structure, Thought and Reality - The politics of Aboriginal representation

A lecture given by Mari Rhydwen for the course "A105 Structure, Thought and Reality" in ECL Lecture Theatre 1 (ECL1) at Murdoch University. Course description from the 1998 Murdoch University Handbook:- This unit is designed to get you thinking in new and powerful ways, about forces influencing everyday life. Definitions of concepts like 'the individual' and 'society' and our assumptions about what kinds of knowledge and experience count as 'truth' and 'reality' are not the same for everyone. Rather, people construct the world in different ways. This unit aims to explore the dominant definitions of the individual, society, truth, fiction, reality etc., and encourages students to think beyond these, by examining the social structures and contests which produce differing, and often oppressive, definitions of reality. This sound recording is part of the History of Murdoch University Collection