Spray-Applied Hempcrete

Industrial hemp has amazing potential as a building material. It grows quickly on small plots. It is drought resistant. It can grow in poor soils, regenerating them by fixing nitrogen. And it has the potential to store a lot of carbon.

In the past, hemp was one of the world’s biggest crops, grown primarily for its fibers, which were used in rope production. Hemp fiber is now made into textiles, insulation, and some niche products, but the interior core, called hurd, has fewer uses. One of hemp hurd’s more promising uses is for hempcrete, sometimes called hemp lime, which combines the hurd with a lime-cement binder to create low-embodied carbon wall assemblies. However, installing traditional hempcrete is labor and time intensive, making it unsuitable for all but the most dedicated builder. With a new spray-applied version called Ereasy, Americhanvre hopes to change that.