Chicago union carpenters and bricklayers got an exposure to hemp-lime materials in a four-day certification workshop led by a Canadian hemp block maker this week.

If hemp building products can shave off just a sliver of the annual $2.7 trillion U.S. building industry revenue, the industry can be brought to profitability and prices can lower to match those of conventional construction materials, advocates believe. 

Pre-fabricated hemp building solutions will get special attention at this year’s 10th edition of the International Hemp Building Symposium, set for Lacapelle Marival, France, Oct. 11-12, 2022.

New hemp block companies starting up this year in North America show that hemp is creating the building blocks of a new industry.