Hemp and Green Building with Jacob Waddell
April 6, 2023
“We just need to figure out how to work better with the world around us. I think these hemp materials, natural building in general, is a way to move towards that so we can both have our great comforts that we’ve become accustomed to and work in harmony with our environment.”
–Jacob Waddell, President of the Hemp Building Institute
Construction is a stubborn field, as most people know. Despite this, hundreds, if not thousands, of attempts have been made to introduce new and innovative materials, processes, and solutions. Some of these ideas find their footing and find varying levels of success with customers and contractors. Jacob Waddell and the Hemp Building Institute believe that hemp can be one of those successes.
Hemp, and the most popular form hempcrete, offer unique advantages over traditional construction materials. While green building continues to grow in popularity, hempcrete’s carbon-negative nature offsets the many carbon-positive building elements. Perhaps the biggest advantage is the inherent insulation value it offers.
Listen in as Jacob shares an inside look at the state of hemp as a building material, from code adoption to manufacturing to what the future holds.
Topics discussed in this interview:
- The upcoming Metal Roofing Summit
- Upcoming goals of the Hemp Building Institute
- What is hempcrete, and what are its uses?
- Is hemp sustainable?
- Jacob’s experience empowering HBI’s efforts
- Bringing hemp construction over from Europe
- Cost and efficacy testing of hemp
- Other hemp building products and use cases
- The IRC code adoption process
- Collecting and comparing data on hemp buildings
- Potential for job creation
- Rapid fire questions
To follow the Hemp Building Institute’s efforts, visit hempbuildinginstitute.org, follow them on Facebook, or email Jacob@hempbuildinginstitute.org.
