Entering the hemp building industry has never been easier than in 2021. Photo courtesy of Hemptecture.

Tommy Gibbons is co-founder and COO of Hempitecture

By Tommy Gibbons

The hemp building industry is rapidly developing in the United States. I often receive messages from either young people at the beginning of their career or senior professionals looking to make a change that are interested in joining this promising industry. The good news is in 2021, working in hemp building in the United States is more a possibility than at any point in the past.

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Before I joined my high school friend Mattie Mead at Hempitecture, I knew very little about building or sustainability. I attended a tiny home workshop in 2017 in Ashland, Oregon that briefly mentioned hempcrete as a sustainable building strategy but the lecturer had no answers to the audience’s many questions. Hempcrete was the only building term familiar to me since I had supported Mattie’s kickstarter for a hempcrete community building project at Idaho Basecamp in 2013. I reconnected with Mattie to first discuss building a hempcrete tiny home in California but soon realized there would be many more people interested in homes made from these natural materials that we could support by working together to grow Hempitecture. My story is unique and going to high school with a pioneer like Mattie was a special opportunity, but now that the industry has matured these past four years I would like to list six actionable suggestions that hemp building enthusiasts can take to move their careers and this industry forward.

Attend the Hemp Building Summit - the Hemp Building Summit is an annual conference that brings together the leading professionals and companies in our industry from the United States and across the world. It was in Idaho in 2019, virtual in 2020, and hopes to return to an in-person format for 2021 to allow for maximum networking and sharing of the industry’s latest progress.
Apply to Hempitecture’s Contractor Training - Hempitecture offers comprehensive 4-day hemp building training programs that cover all of the questions an aspiring hemp builder could have before starting their first project. This course is tailored to builders who are looking to offer these materials as part of their own building practice and we’ve successfully trained nearly 50 builders so far. Scholarships are available!
Join the USHBA - The US Hemp Building Association is the designated trade association for hemp builders in the United States that immediately provides a network and resource for its members.
Get your hands on materials - Hempitecture offers samples of our HempWool® insulation as well as DIY materials for mixing hempcrete blocks. Seeing these materials in person can answer many of the questions that might come from hours of online research.
Find the online communities - Facebook has wonderful hemp building groups where people freely share knowledge and experiences. It may also be the best way to hear about a project in your area that is seeking volunteer labor. Instagram is also the forum many builders choose to show off their projects.

6. Work with Hempitecture - Hempitecture is expanding our team with full and part-time positions to grow our business and better serve our customers. These roles have less to do with physical building and more closely resemble an early stage company position, but they serve an important role in expanding access to these materials.

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There are other important companies in the industry that may also be expanding their teams that are worth following. These include HempWood in Kentucky, HempStone in Massachusetts, Americhanvre in Pennsylvania, and Hemp EcoSystems in California.

Hopefully these action items inspire you to jump into this rewarding industry and we will get a chance to work together soon.