The US chief of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said she was already familiar with hemp building materials when she encountered them on the National Mall at an exhibit of housing innovations in June.

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. 

Hemp fiber batt insulation will be made in Idaho with US-grown hemp thanks to a partnership inked in March between Hempitecture, Inc. and Benton, Montana-based IND Hemp, a decortication and processing company.