Hemp Voices: Anthony Dente, PE, Verdant Structural Engineers
Principal at Berkeley, CA-based Verdant Structural Engineers. Coordinates and manages engineering permitting, code, and research projects as well as the business as a whole.
Any carbon storing, non-toxic, fire-safe material is worth fighting for in my book. I'm most interested in the engineering and permitted hurdles that VSE is able to offer real help the industry with.
What was a win for your company in the past year?
The volume of biogenic and natural material work in our office is growing a lot every year, which is a win in itself. Most of our pursuits of expanding ways to permit and build natural and low carbon systems effectively are multi year efforts. Our office designed different hemp buildings with at least five different wind and earthquake systems in 2023. The ability to quickly asses the right system for each job will be essential to the success of engineering and building hemp construction and we can only do that well when the community continues to bring us a diverse range of projects. So I am grateful for that and think of it as a win. Our company’s involvement in the formation of the TMS committee for the creation of a contemporary, strength-based adobe building code was also a big step forward in yet another long journey.
What is something about hemp building/construction/processing you didn’t know a year ago?
I probably knew a lot less about hemp block products including the grout filled options that are on the market, along with many other little pieces of the puzzle which we are learning all the time.
What challenges does the hemp building industry face that it must overcome in the next five years?
The question of what is the best cheap and low carbon earthquake resisting systems that are compatible with hemp construction in high seismic zones is not an easy nut to crack. Though through the project work that I mentioned above and some research opportunities were in discussion about, we’re looking forward to making progress on the topic. There is also the code hurdle for non-residential buildings applying to the IECC’s insulation requirements for a site sourced insulation when a hempcrete manufacturer is not involved.
(510) 528-5394
anthony@verdantstructural.com