Recommendation of the RILEM TC 236-BBM: characterisation testing of hemp shiv to determine the initial water content, water absorption, dry density, particle size distribution and thermal conductivity

This recommendation is the outcome of research conducted by a working group within the RILEM Technical Committee 236-BBM ‘Bio-aggregate-based building Materials’. The work of the group related to the study of construction materials made from plant particles. The major raw material utilised being renewable, recyclable and easily available plant particles. These particles are obtained from the processing of hemp, flax, miscanthus, pine, maize, sunflower, bamboo and other plants. In this report, the outcome of the Round Robin Testing is centred on hemp because hemp shiv is the bio-aggregate that is the most widely used in building materials and the most studied in the literature. The first round robin test of the TC-BBM published in the State of The Art Report of Technical Committee 236-BBM ‘Bio-aggregate-based building Materials’ was carried out to compare the protocols in use by the different laboratories (labs) to measure initial water content, bulk density, water absorption, particle grading and thermal conductivity. The aim was to define a standardised characterisation protocol developed from those used by the different labs. The different methodologies used by 7 labs constitute a set of statistically representative data which have been analysed to develop this recommendation for the characterisation of hemp shiv.