Under Construction: 3 US Hempcrete Homes Built This Summer

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Oct 5

Written By Jean Lotus

*Hempcrete workshop participants pose in Alma CO. Photo courtesy of HempBLOCK International*

By Jean Lotus

Three hempcrete homes went up in Colorado and Minnesota this summer, each with a different wall system: hempcrete cast in place on site, prefabricated hempcrete panels, and hemp blocks set in a steel frame.

Builders reported costs from about $260 to about $400 per square foot. The details below come from answers the builders submitted to HempBuild Magazine.

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Americhanvre

South Bend Industrial Hemp

Hillside Center for Sustainable Living

Sativa Building Systems

Silacote Mineral Paints

Earthaus Plaster

HempWood

Evolve Construction

Straus House, Littleton, CO

*The Straus House in Littleton, CO. Photo courtesy of Healthy Hemp Homes*

Root Down Designs

Crown Jade Design & Engineering

Magic Minerals

E3 Agriculture

The Straus House is a two-bedroom, 2.5-bath home with 12-inch cast-in-place hempcrete exterior walls and 4.75-inch hemp block interior walls. The GC on the build was Lakewood, CO-based Healthy Hemp Homes, with hempcrete installation by Lafayette, CO-based Hemp Building Company

The crew placed the exterior walls in two weeks, which builder Eric Milburn said was the fastest of any project they have worked on. Detail work and preparation for plaster took about two more weeks. The walls used about 200 bags of hemp hurd from Great Bend, KS-based South Bend Industrial Hemp, with lime binder from South Dakota.

The roof bays will be insulated with two layers of Idaho-based Hempitecture’s HempWool behind an Intello membrane, finished with interior plaster. The house is off-grid and powered by solar panels. It will have no gas service and will use a heat pump, a heat pump water heater, an induction stove and an EV charger.
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Healthy Hemp Homes

Riverdale Hemp Gin

Victura Hemp

Prairie Band Ag

Other features include a wraparound deck, a stained-glass window nook, a river-rock tile walkway set into the floor, and skylights. The builder estimated the cost at about $400 per square foot.

The crew included hired workers, along with workshop participants, the homeowners and their friends, and people from the hemp building field. Visitors included members of Colorado Governor Polis’s office and a Denver7 news crew.

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Aaron Grail Construction

IND HEMP

HempBLOCK USA

Next Genesis Design

Evo, Moorhead, MN

*Architect rendering of the Evo. Photo courtesy Grassroots Development*

Evo is a 1,049-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath rambler on a slab with a two-stall garage in Moorhead's Prairie Parkway Addition. Its walls are prefabricated hempcrete panels, called SHIPs, made and installed by Bismarck, ND-based Homeland Hempcrete. Grassroots Development, based in Fargo, ND, is the developer, and Echo Homes is the general contractor.

Assembling and bracing the panels took three days. Installer Matt Marino was assisted by three helpers, none of whom had worked with hempcrete or prefab before; several had no construction background.

The panels hold about 9,250 pounds of hemp hurd from Fargo’s Dakota Hurd Company and Prairie PROducers in Olivia, Minnesota. The build cost was $260 per square foot, not including land or utilities.

The developer expects to rent the home short-term so there is an occupiable example for the market and stakeholders. It may later be rented long term, or sold to a buyer willing to allow showings while the development builds out.

Boardwurks Biocomposites

Renewabuild

Hempitecture

East Coast Hemp Supply

Alma Hemp House, Alma, CO

The Alma Hemp House is the largest of the three at 3,900 square feet, with four bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a bunk room and a two-car garage. It uses a steel post-and-beam frame with walls of hemp blocks from HempBLOCK International. The builder reported that hemp blocks account for 80% of the home's square footage.

Part of the wall work was done during a three-day class attended by eight people. Owner-builder Stephen "Reddz" Dickenson, estimated the cost at about $330 per square foot, with the final figure depending on fixtures.

The house will serve as a demonstration home for HempBLOCK. People interested in building with the blocks, or having a block home built, will be able to book overnight stays.