Hemp Voices: Tai Olson, US Heritage Group
Tai Olson is director of operations at Franklin Park, IL-based US Heritage Group who oversees the development and production of lime based-construction products.
US Heritage Group’s main focus are products for the repair and restoration of historic masonry buildings, but we also carry a line of sustainable building materials for use in new construction and renovation, including hempcrete.
Hemp is amazingly suitable for many industrial applications. The cellular structure of the hemp stalk is uniquely appropriate for use as an aggregate in masonry mixes due to its porosity and high silica content. While hemp can accomplish amazing things in many industries, the construction market provides the opportunity to use most of the mass of the plant.
What was a win for your company in the past year?
Over the past year we have seen the emergence of more and more builders who are repeat customers. This trend is encouraging as it shows that hempcrete is reaching the point where contractors can build with hempcrete at a cost and speed that proves it as a viable and repeatable construction option instead of a one-off experiment.
What is something about hemp building/construction/processing you didn’t know a year ago?
Through work on the IRC Building Codes, I am starting to understand the “language” of building codes and how to interpret it in the context of non-traditional building materials. My hope is that with the proper supporting documentation, hempcrete construction can be approved through the lens of traditional building codes to gain better acceptance across all types of construction, not just residential construction.
What challenges does the hemp building industry face that it must overcome in the next five years?
The various hemp building suppliers and consumers need to work to create material standards across the entire industry. This will require willing participation and coordination between competitors, but without a shared set of measurements and definitions to create consistency in the material supply chain, the industry will never be able to scale to the level where it can have a real impact on the construction industry as a whole.
Contact: Olson@usheritage.com
(773) 286-2100