HempBuild Magazine: “Your GreenBuilt Revolution”

New 2024 US residential building codes for hemplime (“hempcrete”) will be explained by experts at a special low-cost in-person event for architects, builders and developers in San Marcos, TX in October.

New architectural plans for three hempcrete ADU designs were released this week by a Carolinas-based team who say their multi-year experience designing and building hemp-lime homes can boost success for those who want to build with hempcrete.

The US Environmental Protection Agency awarded almost $6.2M to a Nashville-based hemp-building nonprofit organization as part of a $160 million package of grants designed to reduce embodied greenhouse gas emissions in construction materials and projects.

Idaho-based Hempitecture, Inc. are the recipients of a $1.1 M grant from the state of New York to develop and manufacture innovative bio-based insulation products using regionally grown industrial hemp fibers, the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.

US Army-funded researchers in Pennsylvania achieved a one-hour fire resistance rating for a spray-applied hemplime (“hempcrete”) wall test panel in early July, moving hempcrete closer to acceptance as a US building material.

US Hemp Building Association members at the Members Online Event June 15 voted for the top Hemp House built in the past year.

Building with hemp-lime (“hempcrete”) is about to get a visibility boost in popular culture after international clothing giant Patagonia completed filming a new short film that shines the spotlight on the hempcrete home-building of the Lower Sioux in Morton, MN.

Commercial and residential architects will be able to more easily design for US buildings using hemp-lime (hempcrete) thanks to new technical resources released this week through the US Hemp Building Association.

Imagine one day having the possibility of building a home on Maui using locally grown hemp. As a construction product, hemp has extraordinary qualities. Mixed with lime, water and volcanic minerals to create hempcrete, this eco-friendly building material is not only fire, mold and termite resistant, it’s also a non-toxic, sound insulating, energy efficient product which absorbs carbon dioxide from the air.

The Trinidad, CA-based Indigenous Habitat Institute (IHI) will use grant awards of close to $630,000 to build the supply chain for hemp-lime tribal housing and start a workforce training program for a hemp-lime (“hempcrete”) panel factory, the organization announced.

Have you built a US hempcrete home in the past year? The US Hemp Building Association is seeking submissions for the Best New Hemp Building 2023-24 Contest.

Hemp building materials will return to the National Mall in Washington DC in June where US Hemp Building Association will be exhibiting in the 4th annual Innovative Housing Showcase 2024. 

From afar, there’s little to suggest this worksite is not your typical build, but actually a first-of-its-kind project in Austin ... until you come closer and see the 400-pound bags of hemp hurd, sacks of lime powder, and a specialized hempcrete mixer.

Last week, the White House’s Climate office held a 3-hour round table discussion on developing a a framework for “zero embodied carbon” buildings.

A Colorado-based company is now distributing an Italian-based block system that can shave almost 25% off the costs on a hempcrete build, the founders say.

After years of efforts from USHBA volunteers and consultants, the governing body for national building codes in the United States released a residential building code that included hemp-lime (hempcrete) for the first time.

Researchers at Troy, NY-based Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) received a $1.5 million 3-year grant from the US Department of Energy to develop a hemp-based low-cost insulation panel that can cut heating and cooling costs in home retrofits.

A small student-built hemp demonstration structure nicknamed the “Hemp Casita” has criss-crossed the state of Kansas educating about the potential of building materials made of industrial hemp. 

Now, some of the collaborators are working to bring that knowledge to New Jersey with an educational seminar in Manahawkin, NJ. May 10-12 that will cover industrial hemp from growing the plant to building with it. 

A pilot program to activate agricultural farmland and grow industrial hemp in the Southwest United States is looking for three “agricultural land stewards” to live in hemp tiny homes and spend the summer tending the land. 

Members of the US Hemp Building Association voted this week to elect two new board members, bringing the total number to nine. Ingrid Fay of Chicago and Cody Ley of Jones, MI were the top vote-getters in a 9-candidate race.

Two long-experienced natural building experts are bringing the Carolinas—North and South—together to revive the region’s hempcrete building scene. April Magill, of Root Down Designs, an architect from Charleston, SC has partnered with North Carolina’s Tim Callahan, a legendary hemp-building pioneer who designed and constructed 10 hemp structures around Asheville, NC between 2009-2016.

Idaho-based Hempitecture, Inc., manufacturer of US-grown hemp insulation batting HempWool, plans to open a second manufacturing facility in New York state and roll out several new products, founders say. 

At least three historic hempcrete homes are being built in the United States this year with the support of instructors and other students enrolled in an online hemp building class series.

The US Hemp Building Association announced the names of nine candidates running in the upcoming online election for two at-large members of the board of directors.

The US Army awarded a $1.9M grant to a Pennsylvania-based hemp-lime building company to partner with research institutions to study the fire resistance, thermal insulation value and carbon footprint of “hempcrete” in construction.

A second Vermont winter is in full swing as a New England couple awaits the completion of their hemp home on a former 235-acre dairy farm property outside of Bennington.