The Challenges of Building with Hemp
While building with hemp has powerful and paradigm shifting properties, there are also challenges that go along with it. Hemp building is a very nascent industry, and the US is still working towards creating infrastructure and standardization to properly support this.
The first challenge, and one that HempStone is very closely associated with, is the need to standardize education and application of hempcrete. The USHBA is working alongside HempStone with the trainings that we offer to create this standard. Also, most hempcrete trainings revolve around cast-in place hempcrete installation as it is the easiest entry point. It is our responsibility to educate about the pros and cons of each installation method. If we are only teaching and talking about 1 style of installation, we are putting the cart before the horse.
From our Labor Day Weekend Hempcrete Training Extravaganza Weekend!
Another challenge in building with hemp is that because it is still a novel material in the US, there is a double pathway to educate and inform alongside building up manufacturing and processing. Many different places are trying to come online, and we need to talk about hemp as a robust and diverse bio composite that can be used in a lot of different contexts. However behind the curve the US is, we still have years of international information to support this development process.
Hemp hurd can be selected based off of many different reasons. This hurd is darker than others and while it will perform the same, some builders prefer a brighter white variety.
One of the most exciting parts of working at a hempcrete company is trying out new processors. It is a collaborative process working from their initial set and adapting their processing to meet more of what we are really looking for. This sometimes means being really experimental and seeing how different particle sizes work and knit together and what this means for the R-value.
While working in a nascent industry has its challenges, it is also incredibly powerful because how often do we get to introduce a new building material that is able to address the most critical issue in our lifetime (climate change) and transcend the logistical challenges. It can fundamentally change the building paradigms and the promotion and teaching impacts are beyond our comprehension. This product will compel us to overcome challenges in both the building industry and with climate change.