Students at Parsons New School Healthy Materials Lab got hands-on experience with hempcrete in 2020. Photo courtesy of Parsons Health Materials Lab

Alison Mears is a New York architect, Associate Professor of Architecture at Parsons School of design and CoDirector and CoFounder of Parsons Healthy Materials Lab.

By Alison Mears

The 21st century is marked by rapid and potentially catastrophic global climate change. We face the depletion of natural resources and the degradation of the earth’s unique and varied ecosystems.

Winona LaDuke is an Anishinaabe rural development economist and hemp farmer from the Makwa Dodaem (Bear Clan) Mississippi Band who advocates for Indigenous rights and environmental justice.

LaDuke describes the choice that confronts us today as a choice between two paths – one that is a well-worn but scorched path that will end up destroying us and the other is a green path that will ensure the long term viability of life on earth.

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Building material consumption rises in proportion to global development. Over the last few decades, with the world population exceeding 7.8 billion in early 2021, the rapid growth in infrastructure development worldwide has drastically increased the demand for all construction materials. As more countries develop their infrastructure, the need for construction materials continues to rise; competition for the remaining natural resources on the planet will only increase as populations and the global economy grow.

With the depletion of available resources and continued rise of Greenhouse Gases, a significant reduction in emissions and a proactive exploration of new ecological materials is crucial. Through the use of healthier and more sustainable resources to create new materials, we can do our part to minimize and mitigate future damage. Current commonly used building materials and products often contain unregulated industrial chemicals that can be toxic and harmful to human health. Access to better alternatives materials would also reduce exposure to harmful chemicals.

Some of the lowest income communities in the US are in rural and post industrial cities where there is a chronic shortage of affordable housing and too many degraded houses in need of renovation.

How can we help contribute to positive change to create affordable housing by creating a new system of viable materials production, sustainable alternatives to petrochemically based products?

The hemp industry has the potential to dramatically re-invigorate many rural economies and communities. Hemp has extraordinary ecological and practical properties and offers us the possibility of a new sustainable path forward. Because of the many beneficial characteristics, new hemp based systems could be decentralized to foster multiple regenerative outcomes and embed environmental and social values into the supply chain.

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Industrial hemp, lime, and water can be combined to create building products and wall systems with a range of valuable physical and natural chemical characteristics including fire resistance, lightness, and thermal performance.

Hemp and lime products have low environmental impact and absorb carbon dioxide, making them a compelling choice for both the renovation of existing housing and new construction.

What if profitable local agriculture was connected with healthier building? At HML we see the potential to create a new agriculturally based system for producing healthier affordable housing, creating new opportunities in agriculture for farmers, and providing training opportunities for workers. The production of this new building material and the array of products that could be produced would create new jobs in both production and construction. In New Castle, Pa., we are working with DON’s Services on the renovation of a wood frame house to demonstrate the construction potential of new hemplime building systems. Through this project we will be able to demonstrate that we can design and construct better, accessible, affordable houses, and create new value chains for rural communities.