Green Is The New Black: Reshaping Construction With Hemp ft. IsoHemp

Charlotte: 0:02

The hemp blocks are an insulation building material. There is a lot of ton of waste in Belgium just from the construction sector, 20 million tons a year. Our mission is to decarbonize the sector. We have to insulate our house not only for the ecological way, but just also because today it's nearly unpayable. There is a future for hemp. It's sure.

Richard: 0:30

Hello Odooers. We are excited to have you back for another episode of Planet Odoo. Today we will take a closer look into sustainable construction with Isohemp, a manufacturer of construction blocks made entirely from, you guessed it, hemp. On a mission to decarbonize the sector and create a greener future, Iso hemp is revolutionizing the construction industry with Odoo as our trusted ally. From streamlining their production with Odoo MRP and producing thousands of blocks an hour to automating sales, procurement, CRM and accounting, they've embraced the full scope Odoo offers to achieve significant progress and make their vision a reality. But what is it really like to run a fully automated business and production? Iso Hemp invited us to their production site to find out for ourselves. Join us as we explore this innovative industry, the challenges behind it, and the future ahead with Isohemp. Today, we have Charlotte de Bellefoird with us from IsoHemp, who is head of marketing and communications, who will tell us more about Isohemp. How are you doing today?

Charlotte: 1:26

Fine. And you?

Richard: 1:27

I'm doing great. Thank you for joining us today.

Charlotte: 1:29

Happy to be here!

Richard: 1:30

I'm really excited about what your business does and so I'm happy to share it with everyone else. So let's just get started with kind of in a few words, what Isohemp?

Charlotte: 1:38

So, Isohemp is a manufacturer of hempcrete blocks. That's a true green bricks who's making the difference from now in the construction industry. Our mission is to decarbonize the sector. As you know, or maybe as you didn't know, the construction sector is responsible for 40% of the CO2 emissions. There is a huge way to achieve and to change the the habits of the of the people. And we need to offer more alternative way of building and renovating.

Richard: 2:18

With those kind of numbers, we absolutely have to. So are these just like they're bricks, right? So built for building houses and buildings, is that correct?

Charlotte: 2:25

So that's insulation material. Construction material. So the hemp blocks are an insulation. Building materials. They are good for the insulation of your house, mostly for the wall insulation, the envelope of the buildings.

Richard: 2:43

So how about the market or the industry itself? How has it evolved over the last couple of years? I imagine it's mostly over the last handful.

Charlotte: 2:52

We see for the moment that the market is evolving in the in the right direction. Okay, Regulations, law and stuff like this are more and more focus on the CO2 emissions of the circularity of the product circular buildings. But all these regulations are not yet in the habits of the people, of the architects, of the project owners. And it takes really a lot of time just to convince people that we have to adopt new way of buildings.

Richard: 3:28

I guess, where does your material come from exactly?

Charlotte: 3:30

Or raw materials come from maximum 300km from our factory. It's really important for us to work in short circuits. We have material with negative carbon footprints. And so, we really like to maintain that. And even to get lower if it could be possible. So, our hemp come from France. We use what we call the hemp sheaves. That's the woody part of the hemp, okay? And usually it's used for animal bedding or indoor agriculture. So it's a kind of side product for the hemp industry. You know, that hemp is just a fantastic plant, right?

We can do pretty much everything with hemp: 4:16

food, for example, for the textile industry, then we take the fibers and the hemp crop doesn't need any additional water, any additive. And so there is a future for hemp. It's sure.

Richard: 4:34

Uh, it is great to hear that it is quite sustainable and how it is decarbonizing this highly polluting industry. I would love to learn more about how it's made and how the business is actually running with a fully automated production.

Charlotte: 4:46

Yeah, sure. Would you like to come for a visit?

Richard: 4:48

I would love to come for a visit.

Charlotte: 4:49

And then let's go.

Richard: 4:50

Okay, We'll see you there. Here we are today on site at Isohemp Manufacturing Production. Thank you for having us today.

Charlotte: 4:59

Thank you for coming.

Richard: 5:00

I appreciate it. And so I see you on the left. We have the blocks that are drying, waiting for to be sold later. And then on the right, it looks like we have your raw material, is that correct?

Charlotte: 5:11

Yes. That's all hemp sheaves or star raw materials.

Richard: 5:15

So then it's just the raw hemp. And then on the left, it looks like there's a darker material.

Charlotte: 5:21

That's the recycled materials. So all the blocks were not good enough to be delivered on the on the workout, then we will mix it again and put them again in the production.

Richard: 5:35

Okay. Because I can see the, the rejected blocks right in front, so it looks like they haven't been ground yet. And so we see another machine to the left. Is that where you grind the defective ones?

Charlotte: 5:45

Yes, we have to because it has to look like the hem sheaves just to go perfect and to fit perfect in the in the mixing machine.

Richard: 5:53

Okay. And so and it looks darker because it has the lime in it. Is that correct?

Charlotte: 5:57

That's the lime. There are already some binders.

Richard: 6:00

Yes. Okay. That makes sense. And then I see some construction folks on the rooftop. What's going on?

Charlotte: 6:06

Yes. We are placing a solar panel for for the moment. And we like to go to 80% of self-consumption.

Richard: 6:15

So. Okay. So the solar panels are going to be installed in. Essentially you're gonna have 80% self sufficiency.

Charlotte: 6:21

Yes. Because we didn't heat anything here. We have a really low energy consumption and it's one of the goals we achieve self-efficiency and also to a more ecological way of producing.

Richard: 6:37

Right. It's in line with what you're producing anyway. Let's go check out your manufacturing process inside.

Charlotte: 6:41

Yes. Let's have a look.

Richard: 6:47

Okay. So now that we just saw the raw materials that were in your warehouse and I see to the left, it looks like a piloting machine. Is that correct?

Charlotte: 6:55

Yes, that's correct.

Richard: 6:56

All right. So then that's a little bit too late in the process. But if we look in the back corner, there's a big machine. What does that do? Exactly?

Charlotte: 7:02

So that's where we are doing the first mix of the product. So there there is some balance and we can take the three raw materials in the perfect dimension and weights, hemp, water and lime. And then we're going to mix it just for three minutes. After that, we've got hempcrete. That's that's all mixing. And then they will go for the press to be done on the form of blocks.

Richard: 7:34

Okay. And so the building here on the left are made out of your own material, that's where the pressing has happened. Is that correct? And so we can't go in there.

Charlotte: 7:41

No, we can't go in there. That's just the solution to decarbonize the constructions sector, which happens there. And that's our secrets that we developed ten years ago now.

Richard: 7:53

It makes sense. It's really cool that you're using your own material, though, inside. So then after through the black box, here we go, up the stairs into where it's sorted after the facts.

Charlotte: 8:06

So the blocks are pressed just there. And then we go for a first trek of the first quality control. Okay. Because the construction industry have high quality standards and we have to meet them. If you'd like to offer a really interesting product for them.

Richard: 8:25

We're looking overlooking the sorting center. But this is again, still a little bit after the fact, walking by the black box, pressing room from the sorting, it goes out to this conveyor belts that's outside of the box. And so I see some lights and some equipment. Exactly what is that?

Charlotte: 8:44

So here the machine will check the dimension of the blocks. If they not meet the requirements that are just ejected, go outside because we work with zero waste waste production process and so they are recycled and they are put again in the production process.

Richard: 9:06

Okay. So then the sensors will automatically read and it's going through the conveyor belt and the system will automatically push it up. This other conveyor belt outside will then be recycled into the first section we saw earlier. Yes. And you said it was about 10% of everything.

Charlotte: 9:19

Yes, we can go up to 10% of old material to make a new blocks. And in fact, it helps us. It's not only a zero waste production process, but it also helps us with the first dry out and and to get some more curing capacities of the blocks.

Richard: 9:40

That makes sense. Very nice. That's a good high percentage. And so after that, I see there's a door here that we're about to enter, and that's after all the good ones are okay to go forward, is that correct?

Charlotte: 9:51

Yes.

Richard: 9:52

So what is this room exactly?

Charlotte: 9:53

So that's where the blocks will made their first dry out. So everything is fully automatized. Also, the fresh blocks will be put in the racks by those robots that you can see. He never stops working when the productions process are on and just put the blocks in the racks and then take back the blocks who are already dry to go back out.

Richard: 10:26

So then I see that there's the, the rack on the right that goes all the way up to the roof. And then on the other side there's you have more racks going all the way towards the end. Right. And it looks like there's only one row of hemp per rack or well, I guess several racks. And then you have this big orange robot which you haven't named yet, I understand, to eventually grab it from the shelf and then put it into this other side, which will then go through the paletting process.

Charlotte: 10:54

We can produce 1000 blocks per hour, when we are at full capacity. And here what's really different or really amazing that we are not heating or.

Richard: 11:11

You're not heating it, you're not trading it with the heat system.

Charlotte: 11:13

It's just a natural dry out. Just only ventilated humidity control. And that's it for eight hours. And then the product is already ready for the first dry out and then have to go outside for a second round.

Richard: 11:29

Okay, so you're out of your own ventilation system that manages everything. And you mentioned the lime also kind of generates its own heat to dry a bit faster. And how many blocks can this room store for the 24 hours?

Charlotte: 11:40

I think we can go up to 20,000. And it's in this room alone. It's a big room.

Richard: 11:51

So then Mr. Orange Robot takes it, and we have the palleting process.

Charlotte: 11:55

Yes, it's true.

Richard: 12:07

So the pallets process is like a conveyor belt that goes to the machine that will do the sorting. And I see that there's a camera above that looks like a visual inspection of making sure everything looks okay.

Charlotte: 12:22

Yeah. So here they've a second quality control. If they have seen a block was not okay with the dimension, then just cut them out and put them again as a recycled product. And then everything is again fully automated. The robots would put the the blocks on pallets and then just with the little cover and they're ready to go outside.

Richard: 12:52

I see. So we have a conveyor belt that goes to a robot that spins kind of on a 180 degrees, maybe 360 to pick up the blocks onto a pallet. And it looks like you got a three by five piloting system and then the machine will wrap it with the paper that keeps track of the serial number information.

Charlotte: 13:13

Yes, we can track the blocks. So as you can see, there is a number on the blocks and also on the pallets themselves so we can know exactly when the blocks were produced. And in the future, we would like to know from which hemp crop it does come, for example, but it's not yet working.

Richard: 13:34

And this is just one particular size of block. You have other sizes that you're also producing every now and again.

Charlotte: 13:39

Yes, we have eight different sizes of block from seven centimeters to 36. And then it allows us to go in renovation projects as well in new builds.

Richard: 13:53

Okay, cool. And so then if there's an issue here, it's all manually removed. There's no automation to find the blocks.

Charlotte: 13:59

No, here it's it's manually removed. Okay. But the most of the blocks are just perfect size.

Richard: 14:08

Exactly. Look Great. So then from here, it goes out for storage, correct? Yes. But I did see another building as we were walking in. That was made by your own hemp blocks. Yes. Let's go check it out.

Charlotte: 14:18

That's our research and development area. Okay. So here they're making a lot of tests on our products because the construction sector have really high requirements. We have to prove for lambda value. So the insulation value of the product, also the strength of of the product to be sure that the dimension are well respected, everything is really strict. So they have to control it every day, every hours. And they're also making a lot of tests on new products just to change the mix and see how we can still improve the material.

Richard: 15:03

So this is your R&D section. And so you had mentioned that is your original machine that you started with about ten, 12 years ago.

Charlotte: 15:10

Yes. So that's the original machine. Everything was done hand by hand, just mixing, just mixing a few blocks. And then each blocks were pressed one by hand. So as you can see, it was a lot of work. Yes. You've come a.

Richard: 15:26

Yes. You've come a long way from the manual process, the small mixing to the big structure you have outside.

Charlotte: 15:31

Yes, that's where that everything began.

Richard: 15:34

When are you going to put this in a display?

Charlotte: 15:36

Maybe in the in the museum one day.

Richard: 15:39

That sounds good. Behind us we have looks like the R&D section with a window that, again, you're using your own material for your building, which is kind of very solid.

Charlotte: 15:47

Yes. And as you can maybe feel it, the blocks have a really good insulation, acoustic insulation as well. And that's also one of the reasons why we use this product just to offer a nice and comfortable workspace area to our department as well.

Richard: 16:10

So I guess we're going outside now and the first thing we see is your storage underneath the rain.

Charlotte: 16:19

This we have to put a roof on. Just on the blocks. Yes. And then they will dry like this for 8 to 12 weeks in function of the thicknesses of the blocks is just the lime. Right. Who's doing a job and taking the carbon from the atmosphere and just to make the blocks really heavy and just like a stone. Yes.

Richard: 16:49

And what I see is that all the different block sizes are here, organized in their own little section with some of the blocks being more brown, while the other ones being more gray. Can you explain that to me?

Charlotte: 17:00

Yes. The brown blocks are the fresh one. Okay. There there's still a lot of humidity in the blocks and then they become lighter and whiter just because of the lime with the dry out, it's really like stone after a few weeks and few years and it could last for generations, more than 100 years.

Richard: 17:21

Oh, wow. So it's really kind of can be passed on from generation to generation like an investment or a yes. Okay. And so then I see that the papers on the outside and they're kind of stapled together and are you're not concerned about the rain adding more moisture to the blocks themselves?

Charlotte: 17:38

No, actually, it's not it's not a problem just for the for the first dry out and after when you build your house, you have to to plaster and to finish it. Okay. But the time of the workout, it's not a problem if it rains.

Richard: 17:53

Okay. So this is going to be most of the interior with plaster on the outside and you're going to still have the normal construction material surrounding.

Charlotte: 18:00

Not in any case, not in every case. Okay. Because when we work with a much larger block, the block from 30 or 36cm, then we have a really an insulating envelope. For us, we just need a load bearing structure. And it could be made with a wood or with concrete, but we don't use that much concrete. Just place concrete where it's only necessary.

Richard: 18:29

And I can see that we're kind of enclosed by these pallets and it feels a little bit warmer and also quieter.

Charlotte: 18:34

Yes, the sound regulation and the acoustic of warehouse is really amazing. You can already feel the difference. It's like a small cocoon. It's very comfortable.

Richard: 18:47

Okay. So how do you organize all the stock that you have here?

Charlotte: 18:50

The block safe to dry for 8 to 12 weeks. So, yes, everything has to be well organized. We have to talk a lot with the commercial team as well to know what which project will go out or not, especially for the big and the huge project of new builds or public projects. We use a lot of blocks. Otherwise we have here a stock of 10,000 pallets and we try to optimize the different thicknesses in function of the demands.

Richard: 19:22

Okay. And so how do you know how much to produce and make sure you're always at the right optimal level?

Charlotte: 19:27

Now we've got like ten years of experiences. So we know that, for example, the blocks of 12cm are we have a high demand for those types of blocks because that's more for small renovation projects. There are sold via our distributor network. So we have to have enough blocks of of that kind and they are shipped by the reseller themselves.

Richard: 19:55

Okay, so the resellers come here, your customers come here to buy the product and ship it on their own trucks.

Charlotte: 20:00

Yes. So if you'd like to buy blocks like this, you have to go to a shops, to a material shop, construction material shop and then just buy the the product there. Otherwise for a huge project and just the the order here and we ship.

Richard: 20:17

Thank you for taking us on this nice tour of your facilities. It was very insightful. Now I'm a bit cold though, so maybe we can go back to the studio. Sure. Now we're back in the studio away from the cold. Thank you again for letting us see what's behind the curtain. Let's move forward and talk about the current challenges that Isohemp is facing today.

Charlotte: 20:38

Today, the huge challenges is to scale the business. As you maybe know, the adventure began ten years ago. It was two young students just passionate about the industry, about the construction sector as well. They met a researcher working with with hempcrete. Okay. And yes, they just realized that hempcrete has a lot of advantages to fight the climate change as well for the construction sector. And so they decided to put it under the form of blocks because for them it was the most easiest way to convince people to change their habits. Now, today we've got a huge factory with a production capacity of 1 million blocks a year, nearly 2 million blocks a year, and we can go up to five. So we have to challenge the market a bit more and try to accelerate the way people can adopt new materials.

Richard: 21:45

So, okay, you first have to encourage more people to adopt the material. You need to then of course, increase your production to meet that demand. Are you also then going to find new sources for hemp so you can meet that demand?

Charlotte: 21:57

Today we can go to 5 million blocks a year with all suppliers. And tomorrow, as soon as we like to work locally, we have to to have new factory at another place. So I'm sure there we can find a another ecosystem to afford all this raw materials.

Richard: 22:18

So is it also challenging to manage the inventory or production of this as well? How are you doing that at the moment?

Charlotte: 22:25

Yes, there is a huge challenge because on one side we have the sales team with just speaking all the time with the project owner, architects, distributors who have a project. And as you have seen, we have a long time to the block to be that they could be delivered on the side in early to three months. So it's quite long and that's a huge challenge. Logistical challenge that we have to to meet. So everything everyone has to work really close. And Odoo helped us to have a perfect overview on the different projects and the due date.

Richard: 23:10

Okay. So you have you're using Odoo for every part of the business from the sales side, communicating with customers, but also the the inventory and manufacturing.

Charlotte: 23:17

Yes, everything is interconnected and we have to have a global view on on everything.

Richard: 23:24

Okay. And when did you implement Odoo originally and how is that like propelled your growth ?

Charlotte: 23:29

Already at the beginning of the adventure, and it was a way for us just to have a tool we can evaluate with us with our needs and that we can really quickly adapt to where we'd like to go.

Richard: 23:43

Okay. So essentially, Odoo just grew alongside your business path.

Charlotte: 23:48

Yes.

Richard: 23:48

That's fantastic. So then about the market itself, it's been booming in a lot of different sectors such as textile and pharmaceutical. Is this a challenge for you? Does this pose any risk?

Charlotte: 23:58

No, it's positive challenge for us because we are sure that hemp is part of the answer to the climate crisis. To grow hemp, you don't need any additional water. So that's really important today. And it's also a crop with no pesticides, nothing else. It's just like go quick like this, grow up. And this also capturing a lot of CO2. If you compare with other vegetables, with wood and stuff like this. So crop was going quick because in five months the plant is an adult, ready to be cut and d the sme next year.

Richard: 24:48

Okay. So the future really is in hemp.

Charlotte: 24:50

Yes, part of the future will be with hemp.

Richard: 24:53

Well, now that we continue on about the future, what are the challenges that the hemp industry will face?

Charlotte: 24:58

Today, one of the big challenges is the habits of the people working in the construction sector. Just change the way people are building is the most challenging thing. We also have to convince that everything is possible. In fact, we are not working with a new material. It does exist since 40 years, but not under the form of blocks. So we have to made a lot of certification just to can prove to everyone that we meet the high quality standards of the construction sector. Right now, everything has been done. But for example, for the fire resistance, we offer a fire resistance of four hours, four hours with no additive, nothing. So when we prove that we can do better than other conventional ways of building, it's not a problem. We can do it.

Richard: 25:54

Right. So then do you also offer services to educate people?

Charlotte: 25:58

Yes, we have to. We have a training center here in Belgium where we can educate people or to implement the blocks on the workout. We also have a team of people who are going on the workplace just to make the masonry with the people and to show them that, in fact, it doesn't change that much their habits and that they can go further for other projects afterwards.

Richard: 26:28

Does bode to some good news then. And then how about other product lines? I mean, you do mostly blocks. You mentioned some blocks. You also mentioned the mortar. Is there other other product lines you're looking into?

Charlotte: 26:40

We also have, uh, lintels and side products, for example, to put the glue or the lime mortar on the blocks. Otherwise we offer as well clay plaster just to have a complete healthy house and natural house, you can replace a lot of materials that we are used to place in our house with natural products.

Richard: 27:09

Great. Well, it sounds like there's a bright future for hemp. Belgium is going to be your primary market for the time being, and you're going to be everywhere. Yes.

Charlotte: 27:17

Today, Belgium is the primary market. We're doing 60% of our figures in Belgium, 40 abroad, and for the most in France for the moment.

Richard: 27:31

Amazing. Uh, well, is there anything else that you would like our audience to know about Isohemp or the hemp industry?

Charlotte: 27:38

I think that's we really have to focus on the material we use today in our houses. Belgium is a really small country. There is a lot of ton of waste in Belgium just from the construction sector, 20 million ton a year. Wow. So just let's imagine, uh, the number of waste truck it is in the street. 13% of the CO2 emissions are caused by residential heating. So we have to insulate our house not only for the ecological way, but just also because today it's nearly unpayable for people. So if we if to go further that way, we have to do more and more retrofitting new building as well. But retrofitting will be one of the the point in the future.

Richard: 28:33

I mean, that's also a good opportunity for a lot of jobs for people to retrofit. Yes. Good. Well, you've heard it here, folks. Check out Isohemp for all their building material needs. Thank you again for joining us today, Charlotte.

Charlotte: 28:44

Thank you for your invitation.

Richard: 28:46

Always and everyone. Have a good day. Stay awesome. Thank you.

Charlotte: 28:49

You too.

Richard: 28:49

Well, that wraps up our episode with Isohemp. We hope you enjoyed learning more about this budding industry and their innovative use of hemp in construction and the potential it has for the future of this sector. If you're interested in learning more about other industries, be sure to check out our other episodes, including our conversation with Clio Goldbrenner on the retail industry. We always appreciate your feedback and suggestions for future topics, so please leave us a comment or review and don't forget to subscribe to Planet Odoo for more exciting content. Thank you again for listening and as always, hashtag stay awesome.