produce hemp cotton or hemp cloth for clothing, or even shoes. But what if the chive could be made into a lighter, less expensive, and healthier building material for both humans and the environment, that could take the place of concrete for building houses? Colin says it can. “For every 33 pounds of hemp chive, we can build about one foot of a hempcrete wall. And one acre gives you a 2,600 square foot house,” he says.
Hempcrete vs Concrete
How walls are made In the United States, Colin says homes made using hempcrete are a relatively new concept, but in France, they are prevalent. “You’ll find that in France, a lot of builders are making hemp homes. In fact, I saw this in France about 15 years ago,” says Colin. “The only difference is the technique in how they are doing it. They do this thing where it’s form-fitted on site, so that means they build all the forms and make the hemp walls on site.” “Ours are made in a controlled environment and to exact dimensions, then we deliver finished walls to the site that just need to be erected, something we can do in less than a day,” he says. Colin says the production plant he’s constructing at OrganicaWorld, would be where they’d take the hemp plants and build prefab walls, including window and outlet cutouts, as predetermined. “When we deliver the walls to the construction site, all we would need to do is lift them off the truck and put them in place, so the wall is done” he says,
Construction photo provided by Colin Farnum.
Colin says although hempcrete is more lightweight and less dense than concrete, it is more than sufficiently strong for building the walls of a house. According to hempcretewalls.com, some of the reasons to build with hempcrete include that is has a high insulation value, rock-like wall strength, it is long-lasting and durable, it allows for fast construction times, it’s simple and economical, it is mold and pest resistant, it’s easy to change or repair, it’s recyclable, it’s non-toxic without
the concrete fumes, and has built-in humidity management properties. Colin reiterates those claims and says, “The advantages with a hemp wall is that it’s fireproof, it’s cockroach and insect proof, it’s mold proof, and it fossilizes, so over time, it gets harder.” Plus, he adds, hemp’s insulation factor of R4, exceeds building requirements. “To get this same kind of insulation value for your conventional building permit, concrete walls would have to be five inches. Our walls are 10 inches,” he says. Colin has been spreading the word about what he is doing and has interested parties, from builders, and contractors, to home buyers, especially, those in need of more affordable housing, like single mothers, veterans, or retired couples. Colin says a hempcrete home would cost 30 percent less to build, as compared to the cost of a conventional home, and the costs for electricity to heat and cool it would be substantially less. “We’re talking about a house we can build, and you own your mortgage, and your electricity cost is $600 a month,” he explains.
