Several states in the U.S. have legalized marijuana use for some recreational and medical purposes. New reporting says that one of the biggest untapped markets for the plant could be using hemp as a building material.
“In many climates, a 12-foot hempcrete wall will facilitate approximately 60-degrees indoor temperatures year-around without heating or cooling systems,” Joy Beckerman, hemp law specialist and vice president of trade group Hemp Industries Association, explained to the New York Times, “The overall environmental footprint is dramatically lower than traditional construction.” Currently, there are no international standards for building with hemp, or regulatory codes. Technical standards organization ASTM International formed a committee in 2017 to address the topic.
The use of hempcrete is spreading. A Washington State company is retrofitting homes with it. Left Hand Hemp in Denver completed the first permitted structure in Colorado last year. New Zealanders turned 500 bales of Dutch hemp into a property that fetched around $650,000. In Britain, HAB Housing built five homes with hempcrete last year. Canada’s JustBioFiber recently completed a house on Vancouver Island with an interlocking internal framed hemp-block inspired by Legos.
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