A little over a year ago my son Alex told me that we should explore expanding my practice using hemp as a building material. His presentation convinced me that not only was hemp an incredibly diverse plant, it was also a market that was going to open up in the US as the laws for growing were changing.

We went out to Denver and Boulder, studied the laws, attended some conventions, met some people, and then we started making some phone calls.

HVT: I know from meeting that you didn’t strike me as the ‘hippy’ type and that Dorset isn’t exactly a commune community, so did you personally have any reservations about getting involved with cannabis?

BE: I’m involved in the industrial hemp industry in order to develop a new building type and design within my architectural practice. In order to accomplish this goal, I need to educate my clients that hemp has nothing to do with marijuana and that it has been used as a building material for centuries throughout the world.

HVT: I know that you’re working with a group called Left Hand Hemp out in Colorado, so when you guys got connected up out there in Colorado, what were the steps?

BE: Alex and I met the two principals of Left Hand Hemp, Kelly Thornton and Alli Cloyd at the NOCO Hemp Expo convention back in April. They teach classes on how to build with Hempcrete so we figured the best way to learn, was to sign up for a class, get our hands dirty and build something!

When I called Kelly, he said that his next class would be in October for hemp entrepreneur named Eric McKee who wanted to build a 16 foot by 20 foot post and beam Hempcrete barn for himself in the suburbs of Denver…and he was looking for an architect!

Eric’s goal was to use his workshop to develop materials for the ski industry using hemp technology and bioplastics.

HVT: Let’s talk about Hempcrete 101 – the basic concept of Hempcrete and what it really is as a building material.

BE: Hempcrete is made from the material in the core of the stalk, called the hurd. After it’s been processed, it basically looks like shredded wood chips, but when you mix it with a lime binder and water it becomes Hempcrete.

Once the mix is complete, the Hempcrete walls are created by packing it between removable forms very much like what you see in concrete foundation wall construction. Basically, the Hempcrete is the insulation in the walls and once it has cured, it will give you an R-value rating WAY beyond anything you can get with standard insulation materials. At this point, the only thing you can’t build with Hempcrete is the foundation and slab.