Architects, builders and hemp homeowner hopefuls gathered in Austin July 11 at a landmark event celebrating the city’s formal adoption of hemp-lime construction (commonly known as “hempcrete”) into its residential building codes.

Colorado-based hemp-building pioneer John Patterson of Tiny Hemp Houses returns to “Pine Tree State” of Maine for his third hemp building workshop at the Diggers Cooperative in Acton, ME.

On a chilly Pacific Redwoods morning in April, Joann Kerns, 68, was perched on her garage roof in Eureka, CA filming a crane installing the first 2,000 lb. wall panel for her new hempcrete ADU (accessory dwelling unit) when the operation took a surprising turn.

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.

German hempcrete builders will welcome international hempcrete designers, builders and suppliers at a free open house event in June in a cutting-edge tech startup hub.

Currently Colorado’s largest planned hempcrete project, the Kosmos Stargazing Resort, has welcomed its first guests in a 1,200 sq. ft. solar-powered off-grid hemp-lime (hempcrete) villa in the San Luis Valley.

A new book of architectural details for hemp-lime construction will be published in May, written by a pioneering US hempcrete builder who helped co-author the hemp-lime appendix published for the first time in the 2024 International Residential Codes.

The city of Austin, TX on April 10  officially adopted hempline (hempcrete) in the city’s Building Technical Codes as an innovative building material to be used in local construction. 

Australian researchers at University of Technology, Sydney are working with experienced hempcrete builders to develop a hemp-based structural panel with a geopolymer binder that they say is up to four times stronger than traditional hempcrete.

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.

Commercial and residential architects will be able to more easily design for US buildings using hemp-lime (hempcrete) thanks to new technical resources released this week through the US Hemp Building Association.

Imagine one day having the possibility of building a home on Maui using locally grown hemp. As a construction product, hemp has extraordinary qualities. Mixed with lime, water and volcanic minerals to create hempcrete, this eco-friendly building material is not only fire, mold and termite resistant, it’s also a non-toxic, sound insulating, energy efficient product which absorbs carbon dioxide from the air.

Hemp could become a key tool in the fight against climate change.

The US Army awarded a $1.9M grant to a Pennsylvania-based hemp-lime building company to partner with research institutions to study the fire resistance, thermal insulation value and carbon footprint of “hempcrete” in construction.

We are developing next-generation construction materials derived from renewable resources. One such very prominent resource is hemp. Hemp offers a great opportunity to develop new local economies around it that span the agriculture, processing, manufacturing, and construction sectors