"Mead worked with local contractors to create a new framework suited for a hempcrete wall system. Once the home was primed for its new envelope, the next step was to create the hempcrete material by mixing 12,000 pounds of hemp aggregate with 23,000 of lime binder."
"Hempitecture has reached a critical nexus. Gibbons and Mead have worked with renowned architects Olsen Kundig and Axel Vervoordt and have recently opened an office/workspace in Ketchum. They held a Hemp Summit at the Argyros in Ketchum in October 2019, a weekend-long event that attracted roughly 300 people.
“Every project that’s well executed creates a precedent, and that precedent can be shared,” Mead says.
As awareness spreads and engineers learn about the potential of hempcrete, many of the barriers to building with hemp are likely to subside.
Eyes on Sun Valley
The building is made of 75 percent recycled materials with a passive solar design. It will be heated with solar thermal. It’s hempcrete materials use the wooden core of the industrial hemp stalk. When combined with a lime-mineral based binder and water, it absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and uses it to solidify into an insulating form.
CBS 2 Idaho News
“I looked to natural materials to create more insulating, more efficient, and less energy intensive homes," Mead said. "And through that study Hempcrete stood out to me as above and beyond one of the greatest options for creating a building that is not just energy efficient but is also healthy."
"A handful of companies, like Hempitecture, are giving hemp a resurgence as a building tool.
'What we’re trying to do is look at how hempcrete can be applied into more custom homes, more larger-scale homes,' said Matthew Mead, founder of Hempitecture."
Seattle K5 News
"Hemp is often touted as a more environmentally sustainable building product because of its usefulness for phytoremediation. Phytoremediation is the use of plants for removal of contaminants in soils, sludges, surface water, and groundwater."
New York Times
"The most sustainable building material isn’t concrete or steel — it’s fast-growing hemp. Hemp structures date to Roman times. A hemp mortar bridge was constructed back in the 6th century, when France was still Gaul."
The Seattle Times
"Manufacturers say it is ideal for low-rise construction, a product that is stuccolike in appearance and toxin-free. Its promoters also boast that it has a lower carbon footprint, requiring three times less heat to create than standard limestone concrete."
"Matthew Mead's and Tommy Gibbons company Hempitecture built the country's first public-use building made of hempcrete, hemp-based building materials that absorb C02 emissions and improves insulation."
Check out our 4 part mini-series, "The Basics of Hempcrete." This video series covers some of the critical elements to consider during the three stages of a hempcrete installation: Mixing, Forming, and Packing.