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.

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

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.

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