A Colorado engineering professor’s 2020 research has given builders and designers a new way to measure the way hemp-based biomaterials can store carbon in buildings. By comparing data from a life cycle assessment of hemp+lime insulation, or hempcrete, using digital tools, builders can easily see the benefits of hemp as compared to traditional construction materials.

One of the biggest motivations in using hemp and lime as a construction material was our interest in building “net zero” or “carbon-negative” or “climate-positive” or “carbon-neutral”– there are a lot of different terms being used, ultimately, it is about achieving a balance between the carbon emitted into the atmosphere, and the carbon removed from it.

Attendees at the U.S. Hemp Building Summit in Austin, Texas, last month got a sneak peek of some of the new products and services in the works in the hemp building and construction world for 2022.