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.

Hemp could become a key tool in the fight against climate change.

“Beyond my wildest dreams,” is how Cameron McIntosh described the fruits of his decision with his wife three years ago to license and distribute the French EREASY spray-applied hemp-lime application system. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

The new year, Sergiy Kovalenkov posted on LinkedIn, is starting with “a new chapter” for Hempire UA, as the building that houses their office near downtown Kyiv, Ukraine was hit by a Russian rocket on January 2.

We are developing next-generation construction materials derived from renewable resources. One such very prominent resource is hemp. Hemp offers a great opportunity to develop new local economies around it that span the agriculture, processing, manufacturing, and construction sectors

A group of Tasmanian women hemp farmers ran a crowdfunding campaign this August raising over 1.5 million Australian dollars (about $1 M USD) from 900 investors.

A proverb says a lie can travel half way around the world before the Truth gets its trousers on. This is certainly more true in the internet age, especially with aggregated news gathering.

When construction is complete next April, the Lower Sioux — also known as part of the Mdewakanton Band of Dakota — will have a 20,000-square-foot manufacturing campus that will allow them to pioneer a green experiment, the first of its kind in the United States.