New hemp brick companies starting up this year in North America show that hemp is creating the building blocks of a new industry.
When hempcrete builder Dion Lefebvre of 8th Fire Innovations was building a hemp house in Alberta, Canada a few years back, he figured he was onto a good green building material. And then the half-constructed house caught fire, burning for seven hours. He recalls that the damage was minimal, amazing him with its strength and the low cost – $40 (Canadian)– to remediate the damage. “I realized that’s about the best real-world test I could ask for,” he recalled., “I was sold.”
Years later, Lefebvre has started up DiVita Hemp Block and told HempBuild Mag it took him years to figure out why he didn’t lose the house.
“It slowed when it got to the wall,” he said, and slowly absorbed the CO2 produced by the smoldering hempcrete which never ignited. “Hempcrete fought the fire for me!” he marveled.
Hemp hurd was plentifully available in Canada, having been legalized in the 1990s, he said. “This material was going to waste and I realized, ‘hey, there’s an opportunity there!’”
Lefebvre is working on a network of partnerships in North America to distribute his DiVitablocks, a system of precast hempcrete insulation blocks designed to be retrofitted into conventional framing.
Lefebvre said he’s dedicated to widespread adoption through showing builders how easy it can be to switch over to hempcrete, and is planning a network of affiliates throughout Canada and the US (through partner American Standard) with the goal of 100% local materials.
Lefebvre sits on the International Code Council review panel and the ASTM hempcrete standards panel and says testing is underway for R-value fire ratings. Once these materials are approved, builders will feel more comfortable and adoption will be more widespread.
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Gary Fleisher is Editor in Chief of Modular Home Source and Offsite Builder. Email at [email protected]
