On Friday, July 11, Austinites will gather to celebrate a historic step toward sustainable construction with a special event marking the city’s adoption of hemp-lime—commonly known as “hempcrete”—into the local building code. The celebration, hosted at the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems (CMPBS) from 6:30–8:30 p.m., will also launch a landmark new book, Hempsteads: Architectural Details for Hemp-Lime Construction by hemp building pioneer Timothy Callahan of Asheville, NC.

In a combination of luck and excellent design, none of the Asheville, NC hemp houses Timothy Callahan built between 2009-2021 were damaged by Hurricane Helene. He now concludes that building with hemp is every bit as good in extreme rain and humidity as he suspected it would be.