Marijuana Moment
As part of a government effort to encourage the use of more environmentally friendly building materials, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded a nearly $6.2 million grant to a nonprofit that works with hempcrete, a concrete-like material that’s made with hemp.
The Nashville-based Hemp Building Institute, which works with entities that manufacture and use construction products, will receive $6,186,200 to develop environmental product declarations (EPDs) and life cycle assessments (LCAs) for biogenic materials, such as those made from hemp, soy and straw bale, which EPA says “provide a unique opportunity to directly address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment.”
The idea is to make the details of hempcrete and other building materials made with agricultural products better known to manufacturers and builders in order to lessen dependence on concrete and other materials that cause more greenhouse gas emissions.
Organizers “will develop an open-source database for biogenic materials and provide extensive education, training, and technical assistance,” says an EPA description of the grant award. “The overall goal of the project is to assemble the assessments, protocols, tools and training in an ecosystem designed to increase adoption of biogenic building materials from agricultural crops.”
The award is expected to fund activity in Maryland, Tennessee, California and Alabama.
The Hemp Building Institute will partner with the Maryland-based business incubator EntreVator to launch what’s being called The Biogenic Building Materials project, according to a writeup of the award by the National Industrial Hemp Council of America.
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