US Army-funded researchers in Pennsylvania achieved a one-hour fire resistance rating for a spray-applied hemplime (“hempcrete”) wall test panel in early July, moving hempcrete closer to acceptance as a US building material.

US Hemp Building Association members at the Members Online Event June 15 voted for the top Hemp House built in the past year.

Building with hemp-lime (“hempcrete”) is about to get a visibility boost in popular culture after international clothing giant Patagonia completed filming a new short film that shines the spotlight on the hempcrete home-building of the Lower Sioux in Morton, MN.

Commercial and residential architects will be able to more easily design for US buildings using hemp-lime (hempcrete) thanks to new technical resources released this week through the US Hemp Building Association.

Imagine one day having the possibility of building a home on Maui using locally grown hemp. As a construction product, hemp has extraordinary qualities. Mixed with lime, water and volcanic minerals to create hempcrete, this eco-friendly building material is not only fire, mold and termite resistant, it’s also a non-toxic, sound insulating, energy efficient product which absorbs carbon dioxide from the air.

Hemp could become a key tool in the fight against climate change.

“Beyond my wildest dreams,” is how Cameron McIntosh described the fruits of his decision with his wife three years ago to license and distribute the French EREASY spray-applied hemp-lime application system. 

The Trinidad, CA-based Indigenous Habitat Institute (IHI) will use grant awards of close to $630,000 to build the supply chain for hemp-lime tribal housing and start a workforce training program for a hemp-lime (“hempcrete”) panel factory, the organization announced.

Have you built a US hempcrete home in the past year? The US Hemp Building Association is seeking submissions for the Best New Hemp Building 2023-24 Contest.

Hemp building materials will return to the National Mall in Washington DC in June where US Hemp Building Association will be exhibiting in the 4th annual Innovative Housing Showcase 2024. 

Hemp Build School Mastermind founder, Ray Kaderli takes a project tour with owner/builder Keith Bien. Keith, an owner-builder has been incubating this HempBLOCK USA project for several years and his dreams are now becoming a reality. Learn from him as he enthusiastically shares from his experience from design, to finance, the actual build.

From afar, there’s little to suggest this worksite is not your typical build, but actually a first-of-its-kind project in Austin ... until you come closer and see the 400-pound bags of hemp hurd, sacks of lime powder, and a specialized hempcrete mixer.

Last week, the White House’s Climate office held a 3-hour round table discussion on developing a a framework for “zero embodied carbon” buildings.

A Colorado-based company is now distributing an Italian-based block system that can shave almost 25% off the costs on a hempcrete build, the founders say.

After years of efforts from USHBA volunteers and consultants, the governing body for national building codes in the United States released a residential building code that included hemp-lime (hempcrete) for the first time.

Researchers at Troy, NY-based Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) received a $1.5 million 3-year grant from the US Department of Energy to develop a hemp-based low-cost insulation panel that can cut heating and cooling costs in home retrofits.

A small student-built hemp demonstration structure nicknamed the “Hemp Casita” has criss-crossed the state of Kansas educating about the potential of building materials made of industrial hemp. 

Now, some of the collaborators are working to bring that knowledge to New Jersey with an educational seminar in Manahawkin, NJ. May 10-12 that will cover industrial hemp from growing the plant to building with it. 

A pilot program to activate agricultural farmland and grow industrial hemp in the Southwest United States is looking for three “agricultural land stewards” to live in hemp tiny homes and spend the summer tending the land. 

Members of the US Hemp Building Association voted this week to elect two new board members, bringing the total number to nine. Ingrid Fay of Chicago and Cody Ley of Jones, MI were the top vote-getters in a 9-candidate race.

Two long-experienced natural building experts are bringing the Carolinas—North and South—together to revive the region’s hempcrete building scene. April Magill, of Root Down Designs, an architect from Charleston, SC has partnered with North Carolina’s Tim Callahan, a legendary hemp-building pioneer who designed and constructed 10 hemp structures around Asheville, NC between 2009-2016.