Hemp Voices: Tai Olson, US Heritage Group
Tai Olson is director of operations at Franklin Park, IL-based US Heritage Group who oversees the development and production of lime based-construction products.
We are a solutions-based manufacturer, so we can assist with projects from initial design and planning to final inspections.
I have been working with hempcrete for over 10 years and I know pretty much all of the traditional performance and environmental benefits of the material, but this year I started to recognize a new driving force for hemp-based construction. With the many major natural disasters that have occurred over the past year, I am seeing a renewed desire for resilient and sustainable buildings that can both withstand these disasters and reduce their impact. Hempcrete fits the needs of post disaster recovery construction, and can help accelerate our move to a safer and healthier community.
What was a win for your company in the past year? This year we saw a major increase in our lime plaster production for finishing hempcrete walls. This has been a great source of sales, but also is encouraging for the industry as it shows a growth in hempcrete construction. We are seeing more and more projects reach completion both from first time builders and repeat customers.
What is something about hemp building/construction/processing you didn’t know a year ago? Working with the UHSBA and ASTM to establish hemp hurd sizing standards has shown me how complicated the measurement process truly is. Unlike most aggregates used in masonry materials which are approximately round, hurd can have vastly different lengths and widths from particle to particle. In addition, the hurd used in construction contains small amounts of dust and fiber that must be accounted for to make stable hempcrete mixes. This means that a proper measurement standard needs to cover four different variables instead of one or two like most other aggregates. We are close to establishing the needed measurement methods, but the next, and arguably more difficult, step will be determining the appropriate limits for use in construction and other applications.
What challenges does the hemp building industry face that it must overcome?
We are in the final stages of national acceptance, but there are a few final steps that we need to make as an industry. Standardization of materials and installation practices are needed to achieve scalable hempcrete use, which means that the industry needs to agree on the proper use of hempcrete. There are many experts in the hemp building world who each have their own preferred way of achieving success so establishing one consistent way of doing things will be difficult, but until this can happen hempcrete will have trouble achieving widespread use outside of dedicated builders.
Email: Olson@usheritage.com
(773) 286-2100
