Green Meets Machine - Robotic Fabrication of Carbon-Negative Hempcrete

Hempcrete is touted as a carbon-negative building material and can reduce the constructionindustry’s vast share of global carbon emissions. However, conventional hempcrete constructionis underutilised due to its laborious, time-consuming construction process. In response to theseissues, Green Meets Machine uses design science research to explore how robotic fabricationcan increase architectural expression in hempcrete construction while maintaining net negativeembodied carbon in order to accelerate carbon-negative construction.

Direct extrusion and the design of an internal timber structure with parametric formwork aimed toto increase geometric variation in hempcrete construction. Evaluation of the designed artefactsrevealed that, while direct extrusion requires further research before it is deemed a viablehempcrete construction method, the plywood structure and formwork module successfullyincreases architectural expression through its hybrid workflow. Combining the efficiency andmass-customisation ability of robots with the adaptability and problem-solving skills of humanworkers led to a streamlined construction workflow where robots and humans work togetherto realise a geometrically expressive, carbon-conscious architecture greater than what eithercould achieve alone.