Multiple US hemp-building companies will make a big splash for around 25,000 visitors at one of the largest US construction sustainability expos and conferences later this month in Philadelphia, thanks to collaboration and the generosity of a hemp processing company and a hemp-building non-profit.

The US Environmental Protection Agency awarded almost $6.2M to a Nashville-based hemp-building nonprofit organization as part of a $160 million package of grants designed to reduce embodied greenhouse gas emissions in construction materials and projects.

In October, I joined a swarm of fanatics, innovators and curious observers, as they descended on Kanteen 25 in the northern outskirts of Amsterdam, Netherlands. One thing was on everyones’ mind at the 11th International Hemp Building symposium -- INDUSTRIAL HEMP and most importantly, how is it altering the future of construction?

The Tennessee-based nonprofit that finalized hemp-lime’s inclusion in US residential building codes announced it was changing focus to bring natural building materials to affordable housing.

Hemp-lime insulation has passed US tests for thermal resistance (R-Value), performing the necessary testing required by the Federal Trade Commission to advertise the insulative value of a material.

A new hemp building organization launched its website this week with a familiar face in a central leadership role.

Hemp building materials were officially approved in the model US residential building code at a Louisville, KY public hearing overseen by the International Code Council (ICC) last week.

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.