Steve Allin

Steve Allin is an author, teacher and consultant on ecological building especially with a focus on using hemp materials. Having designed and built several hemp houses and worked on many renovation projects, he has enthusiastically pioneered the use of hemp in construction internationally and is the author of the first book on the subject “Building with Hemp,’ which was published in 2005. He also in 2009 was the founding director of the International Hemp Building Association IHBA. In this role he has organised Symposiums on the subject in Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, Wales, Germany, Italy, Canada and Belgium attracting leading experts to give presentations to bring the delegates to see fascinating projects they have been involved in.

He has also promoted the technology worldwide as a hemp building consultant advising on projects in Belgium, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK and the United States and introduced hemp building for the first time into Haiti and Nepal. since 2001 he has run many successful hemp building courses in Australia, Canada, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Sweden and the United States.

He has also contributed articles to a variety of publications from the Green Building Bible to Irish Tech News and HempToday. Recently he has written a new book ‘Hemp Buildings: 50 International Case Studies’ which focuses on a wide variety of projects with diverse economic, cultural, climactic and geographical backdrops, all of which include the use of hempcrete, the mixture of hemp core particles and a lime based binder together with hemp fibre insulation. This comprehensive overview of 50 projects draws on architectural examples of every kind to showcase the vast range of possibilities available when using hemp-based materials for construction. Since the 1980’s, this unique material together with the systems that have developed from it has provided vital pointers to how buildings can become more energy efficient. Through lowering carbon emissions and promoting a healthier environment, hemp has a clear role to play in providing innovative solutions that lead us forward into a cleaner and more sustainable future.

He has lived for many years with his family in the Kerry mountains of the South-West of Ireland.