Hemp Voices: Matt Marino, Homeland Hempcrete
Matt Marino, president of Homeland Hempcrete, based in Bismarck, ND.
We design and manufacture a prefabricated hempcrete panel system for residential use. The hemp crop offers one of the best solutions for developing local and self-reliant economies. This is a key area where we can compete with conventional building.
What was a win for your company this past year? We completed multiple prefab projects this year, one of which shipped over 1,000 miles successfully.
What is something about hemp building you didn’t know about a year ago: The fastest way to grow is to get really good at what you do first, then look for ways to improve the process. You cannot improve a process or procedure of which you do not yet fully understand.
What challenges does the hemp building industry face that it must overcome in the next fire years: Public perception. We will not get hempcrete into the mainstream until people believe that it is a superior product. The material being primarily composed of hemp hurd (by volume) does not need be a selling feature, in fact, customers don’t really even need to to know that its from the hemp plant. We need to be marketing that we have a superior building product that happens to be made with hemp, otherwise the general public just sees it as a bunch of hemp enthusiasts trying to find more ways to incorporate hemp into products.