Abstract
The construction field is one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale, therefore, in response, innovative materials with low carbon footprint are being developed for construction. Biobased resources, such as crop straw, hemp shives or rice husks, can be mixed with a mineral binder to produce biobased concretes. They can be used as insulating materials at low density (150–500 kg/m3), or for thermal inertia contribution at intermediate density (500–1200 kg/m3) and high density (1200–1800 kg/m3). The fire performance of these materials deserves further investigations. In this chapter, three main aspects of the fire behavior of a biobased concrete are discussed: the fire reaction, the fire resistance, and the smoldering fire. Briefly, the first one explains how the material directly contributes to the fire development, the second one indicates the ability of a structure to protect people situated in an adjacent room during a given duration from being impacted by the fire (fire resistance) and the last one is the phenomenon of slow and flameless combustion, which is often observed in insulating materials. Finally, some recommendations for future research are proposed.