Minnesota appears to be the first US state on the path to adopting the newest official residential building codes featuring plant-based building materials after a July 15 hearing in St. Paul.

A hemp block and hemp-lime insulation workshop held in Tucson, AZ last week marks the beginning of a summer project renovating an environmental learning center for area students.

Hemp-lime construction expanded further into the national spotlight this week when a California film festival awarded first prize to a short documentary featuring the Morton, MN-based Lower Sioux hempcrete building team.

US Hemp Building Association members at the Members Online Event June 15 voted for the top Hemp House built in the past year.

Building with hemp-lime (“hempcrete”) is about to get a visibility boost in popular culture after international clothing giant Patagonia completed filming a new short film that shines the spotlight on the hempcrete home-building of the Lower Sioux in Morton, MN.

When construction is complete next April, the Lower Sioux — also known as part of the Mdewakanton Band of Dakota — will have a 20,000-square-foot manufacturing campus that will allow them to pioneer a green experiment, the first of its kind in the United States.