UK Hemp Insulation Firm Celebrates Ofgem Endorsement

The UK’s IndiNature recently announced one its hemp insulation products is now eligible for certain government home energy efficiency grants.

The UK’s ECO4 and GBIS are home energy efficiency grant schemes, with ECO4 primarily targeting low-income households and vulnerable groups and GBIS offering insulation grants to a broader range of households.

Recently, the UK’s first natural fibre insulation to receive an Ofgem Innovation Uplift for lofts was granted, making the product eligible for both ECO4 and GBIS schemes, providing 25% savings.

The product involved is Indinature’s IndiBreathe Flex, which the company says is not only safer for installers but also for building occupants.

“Grown and made in Britain, IndiNature’s insulations have the lowest embodied carbon on the market,” says the firm. “Installers tell us they love the soft natural hemp fibres because they don’t irritate skin!”

In addition to its thermal and moisture buffering attributes, soundproofing in internal partition walls and floors provides a better than 40db reduction. IndiBreathe Flex offers thermal conductivity of 0.039W/m.K (20-100mm) and 0.042W/m.K (120-140mm)

In other recent news from Indinature, the firm has announced its latest product – IndiBreathe Boards.

The boards are made with the entire woody stalk of the hemp plant (known as hurd), rather than just hemp fiber.

“That means these medium density semi-rigid boards are good for applications such as internal wall insulation retrofits or the lining of new timber framing where it can create a system with our low density flexi batt insulations inside,” states the company.

The IndiBreathe Boards also provide an insulation value of 0.039 W/m.K.

IndiNature was founded in 2016 and manufactures at its non-wovens mill in the Scottish Borders using natural fibres including UK grown industrial hemp, but also other types such as jute.

There’s a lot to like about hemp for insulation applications in addition to its thermal and acoustic attributes. Insects and rodents aren’t attracted to the materials, it’s rot resistant, and environmentally friendly treatments used make them fire resistant. And as hemp can grow to 2-3 meters tall in a season, between 8 to 15 tonnes CO2 per hectare are captured by the plant says IndiNature, making it a carbon negative building material.

Learn more about using hemp in building.