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.

We’d like to introduce you to three new hempcrete builds in Texas, Colorado and Michigan. All three projects began, or were completed, in 2022 and the builders/subcontractors are already starting new projects.

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

Belgian hemp block maker IsoHemp has opened a new factory which will increase the company’s production to 5 million blocks per year from 1 million, the company said. The new $5.9 million factory on 2 hectares is meeting a growing demand for hemp blocks for both renovation and new construction.

The cost of U.S. construction timber is skyrocketing, and a national concern is growing for the carbon emitted by the construction industry. As homebuilders look for solutions, the nation’s small-but-growing number of hemp builders wonder if building with hemp will finally break through into the mainstream construction consciousness.