This week the ICC Committee Action Hearing will consider the appendix for Hemp-lime (Hempcrete) construction. We have been working towards this goal for years and very intensively since last October. Hundreds of man hours have gone into the work. The writing team of Kiko Thébaud, Mary Dempsey, Cameron McIntosh, Gary Fox, Matt Marino, and myself guided by the incredible consulting and engineering team of Martin Hammer, David Eisenberg, and Anthony Dente carefully crafted this document over 4 months. Gathering input from experts around the world, including 4 civil or structural engineers, 4 architects, 15 hemp-lime builders, 6 industry representatives, an academic researcher, an energy expert, and 2 code experts.
This has been an intense process and we are approaching a major event. The ICC Committee will hear statements both for and against the appendix during the committee action hearing taking place March 27-April 6, 2022 in Rochester, New York. We expect that we will present on April 1st or 2nd. The team speaking for the appendix are(in planned presentation order):
- Martin Hammer – one of the lead code consultants on the proposal with over 18 years of code development expertise
- Bob Escher AIA – the founding President of the USHBA and President of Escher Design
- Alex Escher – Director of Hemp Fiber Application at Escher Design
- Anthony Dente – the lead engineer on the proposal from Verdant Structural Engineers
- Tom Rossmassler – President and CEO of Energia and Chief Embodied Officer of HempStone
- Tim Callahan – Design Engineer and former General Contractor responsible for the Nauhaus and 9 other hemp-lime structures
- Anthony Néron – representing DuChanvre with 300 hemp-lime construction projects in Canada
- Jacob Waddell – the USHBA Executive Director and material scientist and engineer
- Kiko Thébaud – a primary author and proponent for the proposal from Kiko Thébaud Architecture
- Sally Warren – a Board-Certified Naturopath, educator, and hemp builder representing BuildGreenNow.net
- Henry Gage Jr. – the USHBA Certifications Director, Electrical Engineer, and Senior Project Manager for the first Hemp House in Kingston, NY also representing BuildGreenNow.net.
We have been preparing for this event for weeks, working to get our testimony for the proposal ready. We are very excited about this historic opportunity to make a giant stride for hemp-lime construction in the US. Once the arguments for and against are heard by the committee they will either approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove the submission. You can watch the hearings live at https://www.iccsafe.org/content/webcast-hearings/.
This effort was only possible with the generous donations provided to the US Hemp Building Foundation. Thank you to everyone who supported the effort including large donations from Environmental Living Industries, MPactful Ventures, and Grassroots Development LLC. The support from the industry shows how important this is. You can donate to the USHBF here.
Please join with us as we urge the committee to accept this proposal. We are Building Our Future, Together.
Jacob Waddell
USHBA Executive Director
I could not possibly be more grateful to or more proud of the outstanding work of the U.S. Hemp Building Association – particularly Jacob Waddell, Henry Gage, Jr., Bob Escher, Alex Escher and Tom Rossmassler – for this crucial, heroic and historic work! Watching the team present its case to the Committee, respond to the Committee’s questions, and then watching the overwhelming majority of the Committee’s hands rise in formal favor of the approval was one of the most momentous hemp advocacy occasions I have ever experienced. Thank you, USHBA for doing the work that heals the world!
All of our prototypes using industrial hemp Hurd and fiber have been extraordinary outstanding. We as Global BioSolutions Group and our academic partners: University EAFIT, University Antioquia are strong advocates of hemp as a building material