A group of natural building code experts and building pros submitted updates this summer to the US residential model codes that will make it cheaper and simpler to build with hemp-lime (“hempcrete”). An online fundraiser seeks to raise $12,000 to fund the updates to the 2027 International Residential Code (IRC) that will include ASTM tested 1-hour fire-resistance rated walls.

We’re sticking out our neck at HempBuild Mag and trying to predict what will happen in the wonderful and confusing hemp building industry  in the new year.

Multiple US hemp-building companies will make a big splash for around 25,000 visitors at one of the largest US construction sustainability expos and conferences later this month in Philadelphia, thanks to collaboration and the generosity of a hemp processing company and a hemp-building non-profit.

In October, I joined a swarm of fanatics, innovators and curious observers, as they descended on Kanteen 25 in the northern outskirts of Amsterdam, Netherlands. One thing was on everyones’ mind at the 11th International Hemp Building symposium -- INDUSTRIAL HEMP and most importantly, how is it altering the future of construction?

The Hemp Building Institute, in partnership with the US Hemp Building Association, completed the final steps to include hemp-lime in the US residential building codes this summer.

The US chief of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said she was already familiar with hemp building materials when she encountered them on the National Mall at an exhibit of housing innovations in June.

The Tennessee-based nonprofit that finalized hemp-lime’s inclusion in US residential building codes announced it was changing focus to bring natural building materials to affordable housing.

Hemp-lime insulation has passed US tests for thermal resistance (R-Value), performing the necessary testing required by the Federal Trade Commission to advertise the insulative value of a material.

A new hemp building organization launched its website this week with a familiar face in a central leadership role.