Hemp Building Institute Pivots to Affordable Housing

*Jacob Waddell, president of Hemp Building Institute. Photo courtesy HBI*

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By Jean Lotus

The Tennessee-based nonprofit that finalized hemp-lime’s inclusion in US residential building codes announced it was changing focus to bring natural building materials to affordable housing.

The Nashville-based Hemp Building Institute board of directors voted in May to follow a “new strategic direction” to focus on lowering the costs and encouraging sustainable building practices to low-income housing, the group said.

HBI Executive Director Jacob Waddell visited Washington, DC last week, where he gave a talk about hemp building materials to the National Association of Home Builders yearly convention.

According to Waddell, federal agencies are lining up behind natural building materials, including the Environmental Protection Agency. The time is right for hemp building materials, especially with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allocating $4 billion for innovation to create more energy efficient homes. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is looking for new markets for agricultural crops including hemp.

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*Hemp-lime is sprayed on the inner walls of a structure. Photo courtesy HBI*

“The HBI is working to make the greatest impact possible on our built environment to help homeowners and the planet. We see affordable housing as an area that needs urgent attention that can benefit from utilizing natural building materials and sustainable building practices.” Waddell said in a statement, “For these reasons, we are proud to announce the change to our mission.”

At the end of May, the HBI submitted a “commentary” to the International Code Council as a final step in submitting hemp-lime (hempcrete) in an appendix for the International Residential Code. The commentary provides guidance and gives compliance examples, making building with hempcrete safe and repeatable by contractors all over the country. The IRC change will cut red tape for builders of one- or two-story houses in the United States. Hemp-lime has been used for 30 years in Europe, including commercial multi-unit structures.

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Appendix BA of the International Residential Code will allow use of hemp-lime in regions of low seismic risk prescriptively without engineering. Regions of high risk still require an engineered design. Forty-nine out of 50 states use the IRC for building codes.

In January, 2024, there will be an opportunity for a submission of a hemp-lime addition to the International Building Code (IBC). The IBC is created by the International Code Council (ICC) to present model codes for the commercial construction industry.

Because of the change of focus for HBI, the US Hemp Building Association is now mulling taking over the process to be included in the 2027 IBC. The ICC codes are updated in three-year cycles.

“The potential of incorporating hemp-based materials in the construction industry is boundless,” said Geoff Whaling, chair of the DC-based National Hemp Association in a statement. “These sustainable solutions offer a compelling opportunity to drive affordable housing initiatives while simultaneously fostering environmentally friendly living spaces.”

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Colleagues praised the HBI’s new focus, including Anthony Dente, principal of Verdant Structural Engineers who helped write the IRC code submission.

“The Hemp Building Institute and its directors have proved themselves as caring members of the green building community that can execute real change in advancing the sustainability technology of hemp building, Dente said in a statement. “The transition of the organization to low income and charitable work is a smart step and I look forward to observing what they are able to accomplish in that space.”

To find out more about the HBI’s charitable mission, visit Hempbuildinginstitute.org.