IN THE KITCHEN

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

Colin says although hempcrete is more lightweight and less dense than concrete, it is more than su ciently 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 reproof, 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 ve 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 a ordable 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.

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 nd 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 di erence is the technique in how they are doing it. They do this thing where it’s form- tted 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 nished 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 o the truck and put them in place, so the wall is done” he says,

“I’M EXCITED IN THAT WHAT WE ARE DOING IS MORE OF A HUMANITARIAN PROJECT.”

—COLIN FARNUM

explaining that since the wall would already have been treated with stucco, the only thing people would have to do, for the most part, is paint it and layer the inside wall with a skin coat of plaster and drywall.

The good thing about hempcrete walls, is that they come nished,” Colin says.

Who benefits

“The purpose of this project is to get the cost of new home construction down, so whether you have an individual in need, a family, a single mother, or retirees on a xed income, we’ll just sell you the walls and you can do the rest of it on your own, or hire someone to do it for you,” Colin says. “We could move them into a completed house, including electrical, for somewhere around $600 a month.”

“This is going to save a fortune on heating and cooling because of the insulation factors and it’s going to be a lot healthier because all the chemicals and fumes you are breathing now, from conventional building, are all really bad for you, and they will be eliminated.”

For Colin, it is also going to bene t OrganicaWorld’s employees, because he has broken ground on 48 eco-homes made from hemp, that will be rented to them at an a ordable rate, and that will be available to look at by people interested in a hemp wall package.

In turn, Colin says the bene t to him is great too, because it will curb incidents of tardiness, absenteeism, car problems and more.

To complement the restaurant already operational at OrganicaWorld, a hemp restaurant will also be built to show potential buyers how sustainable and appealing a hemp structure can be.

“When you sit down in our hemp restaurant, people are going to say, ‘Wow, this is nice,” Colin says adding: “I’m excited in that what we are doing is more of a humanitarian project. Because even though we are for pro t, it’s really going to help a lot of people.”

On the horizon

Colin says the building of hemp homes is what can be seen as phase 1 of his planned projects. Phase 2, he says, would involve taking the chive they produce from the hemp plant to make particle board.

Colin says he’d work on forging partnerships with companies that dominate the furniture industry, and together make a di erence using hemp in that way.

He adds particle board, when building homes, is used to make roof and oor decking, but the biggest use for particle board overall, is making furniture, which would be his primary focus, and one that would save even more trees and sustain the environment.

For more information, visit organicaworld.com, or stop by OrganicaWorld, located at 3145 Austin Merritt Road, Groveland, to have a look for yourself.

healthy living MIND. BODY. SPIRIT.

Leo Ramirez’ heartfelt, rhythmic moves have people jumping for joy, and fitness.