A look inside the hemp building industry in Europe and North America, and how one Spanish couple is using hempcrete to build their dream home.
How many of us think about the quality of building materials used in our homes? This is a question that’s driving the interest in the hemp building industry in Europe and North America.
That was also the motivation for Stephen Hill and Marjolein Meulblok, a couple based in the south of Spain, when they decided to rebuild a derelict Spanish farmhouse using raw hemp materials. In 2020, they launched The Hempcrete Project after years of searching for the right location to build a durable home for their family.
Hill and Meulblok met 15 years ago in La Herradura, Andalucia, and today the couple has five kids. They’ve lived in rental accommodations since they met, but for the last few years, they have been researching alternative ways to live that are more connected to nature–and may even avoid the burden of a 30-year mortgage.
Due to their backgrounds, sustainability and self-sufficiency are important to Hill and Meulblok. Hill grew up on one of the first organic farms in the United Kingdom, where he gained an in-depth knowledge of agriculture. Since 1980, he has specialized in making hand-made guitars, and still teaches the craft to students around the world.
Meulblok is a Tibetan yoga and reflexology practitioner with a deep interest in self-healing practices. Together, they’ve run organic farming workshops in La Herradura, where they learned about permaculture (a sustainable and self-sufficient approach to land management) and how to live in harmony with nature. They knew they wanted to infuse their knowledge of sustainability and self-sufficiency into their next home.
La Herradura is also home to beautiful beaches. But as scenic as is the region is, its coastal location brings high humidity inland, which has a major effect on the structural integrity of buildings over time and makes homes built with concrete extra cold in the winter and extra hot in the summer.
This was another factor in Hill and Meulblok’s decision-making process. In keeping with their sustainable goals, they also wanted a to create a house with a stable temperature, powered only by solar panels.
Meulblok says she also looked into tiny houses and container living options, but none of those seemed like they would suit her lively family. After countless hours of researching, she discovered that homes could be built using hempcrete or hemplime, which is mixture of hemp hurd with a lime-based binder that creates a “monolithic wall system,” according to the Carbon Smart Materials Palette, to be used as a material for construction and insulation.
In 2020, they eventually purchased an old cortijo (farmhouse) in the hills behind La Herradura and decided to reconstruct it using hempcrete.
The house they bought was built in 1936 and had a floor space of 88 square meters (947.2 square feet). It was originally divided into two parts: a living space in the front half and stables in the back. They converted the whole space into a home by knocking down the stables and adding a second floor to the back part of the house.
To fully insulate the house, they began the rebuild from the foundation up and re-rendered the old walls and built new walls with a hemp and natural hydraulic lime (NHL) mix. Hill explains that people often use concrete to restore the walls of old homes, which can trap moisture and cause damp problems.
They removed the concrete render from the old 50-centimeter-thick walls and converted it back to the original stone. They then re-rendered it with NHL and hemp shiv mix.
“What this mix does is allow the walls to breathe, as well as [adds] a layer of insulation and [prevents] any future issues with damp[ness],” Hill says. They used shiv and lime manufactured in France, and lime bought locally from Cannabric.
Over the course of several months, they dug up the foundation by hand, digging about a foot into the ground. They created a new foundation with a mix of stone, lime and hemp.
“First, there’s a sub-base of gravel and that prevents ground water rising up into the foundation,” Hill says. “Next is a breathable waterproof membrane, and that’s topped with expanded clay aggregate, which controls humidity. On top of that is about 15 cm of hempcrete mixed with sand, and on top of that again is 3 cm of hydraulic lime, sand and water, which seals the floor. The final skin is a special Moroccan skin called 'Tadelakt,' which gives the floor a smooth finish and can be dyed any color.”
To build the walls at the back of the house, they used a process called hand casting. To accomplish this, Hill and Meulblok built a wooden support structure for the walls and laid a foundational plinth at its base made with local rock and thermal brick, about 14 centimeters high. “The hemp cannot be placed at ground level because with heavy rain the splash will seep into the walls,” Hill says.
To create the hempcrete for the walls, they mixed shiv, NHL and water in an old cement mixer. To build the walls, they placed shutter boards on the interior and exterior of the wooden frame, creating a gap the width of the wall, and about a foot high. They poured the hempcrete mix into the space and left it to dry for over 24 hours.
“I use[d] a piece of plywood to tamp down the outer edge of the hempcrete, nice and firm, which creates a hard outer skim that can be rendered,” Hill says. “Without tamping down the hemp, the final walls can be flaky, so this is an important part of the process.” The next day, they moved the shutter boards up another foot and repeated the process. The renovation project has cost them around €50,000 (or $53,628 USD).
Even though Hill’s and Meulblok’s project is not yet finished (they have another six months of work to compete the job), the difference in air quality inside the structure is already noticeable. Not only is it comfortably cool despite the heat of the midday sun, it has a cozy feel, like stepping inside a sound studio, one that breathes.
Projects like this are happening across Europe today. With the right materials and practices, homes built with hemp have a low- or zero-carbon footprint, good thermal performance, stable temperature and higher indoor air quality.
Tom Woolley is an architect based in County Down Northern Ireland and is a special adviser on the board for Hemp Cooperative Ireland. He’s been building with hempcrete for 20 years and has hosted workshops all over the world. His firm built the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun, an outer suburb of Dublin.
In the last year, he’s noted a greater interest in hemp from local community projects and “individual people who want to build the best way they can,” he says.
He also highlights challenges the hemp building industry is facing in the UK. One issue is hemp’s reputation. Back in 2014, British TV presenter Kevin McCloud of Grand Designs hosted a show about building with hemp. At first, the show stirred interest, but ultimately “did a lot of damage,” he says.
“They used the wrong materials and [the houses] weren’t built correctly,” Woolley explains. “Even though the design was nice, it spread throughout the construction industry that hemp was ‘bad news.’” Woolley sees resistance from the construction industry as one of the biggest hurdles for the hemp-building sector in Europe and North America.
He also adds that unsuccessful hemp construction projects can give a wrong impression of working with hemp, noting photos of a home in Devon, England, (built with hemp-based materaisl) with mushrooms growing out of the wall. “When there’s too much fiber in the mix, it can rot,” he says. And he warns against using the wrong kind of hydraulic binder.
“If there’s too much cement in the binder, the hempcrete becomes too dense. It then takes a lot longer to dry and doesn’t have the thermal performance of low-density hempcrete,” he says, referring to its ability to retain heat.
He also stresses the importance of using “clean shiv”—the interior stalk of the hemp plant, also called hurd—meaning it contains minimal fiber and is dust-free. For Woolley, a failed hemp construction project is usually due to the use of “the wrong part of the plant or the wrong binder,” he says.
But this is still a “cottage industry,” he says, and things are improving, with good suppliers emerging, such as East Yorkshire Hemp in the UK, as well as others in France, Italy and Lithuania.
Woolley is waiting for someone to make a breakthrough by landing a contract for a large housing project in Europe and notes that could help advance the hemp building industry there. This is a sentiment shared by the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) and the U.S. Hemp Building Association (USHBA).
“Bio-based construction is gaining interest, and we see traditional construction companies acquiring hemp companies or showing an interest in their own line of hemp products,” says Francesco Mirizzi, senior policy adviser at the EIHA. “The ideal evolution of industry is the integration of bio-based hemp products by the construction industry.”
There are companies dedicated to using hemp as a building material. For example, IsoHemp in Belgium is a construction company that makes hempcrete blocks for residential homes. “The company has doubled the size of their facilities in the last year,” Mirizzi says.
In addition, there are industry initiatives such as the GRACE project, which is a consortium made up of 22 partners from academia and the bio-based industry throughout Europe, to cultivate hemp crops that can be used in industrial-scale production.
However, according to the EIHA, the lack of decortication lines in Europe is a problem. Right now, there are only 12 on the continent, with six located in France. Mirizzi calls this “a lost opportunity” that results in supply chain issues. Without a processing industry, agriculture farmers have no incentive to grow. “The sector needs investment,” he says.
Another problem, according to Mirizzi, is the price of hemp, which is higher than conventional products, like cement. However, he believes it “will be less of a problem in the future because nothing else compares on energy performance.” He also sees a need for training, to give builders the knowledge to “build homes that breathe,” he says.
Despite the challenges, industrial hemp hubs are growing in France, Italy, Germany, Poland and Lithuania, and the same thing is happening in the U.S., according to Jacob Waddell, president of the USHBA. With more processing factories opening up near growers, the beginnings of reliable supply chains are taking shape.
“What makes sense are localized markets,” Waddell says. “Right now, we’re importing goods from overseas to use in building. But long-term, we see companies coming in and establishing hubs in the U.S. What’s being imported is the technology.”
There are also companies innovating technology in the U.S.
HempWood is a Kentucky-based company that specializes in hardwood flooring made with hemp. They’ve overcome the problem of not having a decorticator by adapting old technologies from other industries.
They also use a modified drier from the tobacco industry to dry out the fiber and source all their materials locally.
Waddell sees HempWood as an example of a localized system signaling the future of the industry. “Between 2009 and 2015 there were a lot of one-off innovative projects but now, there’s a mind-shift. What’s happening now is we’re figuring out how to make these products available to everyone,” he says. More recently, he’s seen interest from large chains such as Lowes and Home Depot in carrying hemp products.
“While there’s no question, building with hemp by hand is great for one-off projects,” says Kiko Thébaud, a Massachusetts-based architect and adviser on the Cape Cod Hemp House project. Thébaud has spent years researching low-carbon products for the construction industry and says he sees mass insulation with hemp as a way to battle environmental problems.
“The construction industry is responsible for 40% of carbon emissions in the U.S. alone,” he says. “Using hemp is a way to counteract that damage and create beautiful homes, and it can be adapted to local needs. For example, because it’s fire resistant, it makes sense to use it in California. That’s just one of its many benefits. Really, we have no time to lose.”
Based in Spain, Natasha Kerry Smith writes about cannabis trends, and tackles taboo topics on her blog, The Healthy Hashhead. She’s currently working on a collection of poetry and a book project, both inspired by cannabis. Find her on LinkedIn.
Market conditions dictate the resetting of the agreement terms.
GATINEAU, Quebec, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE -- HEXO Corp., a producer of cannabis products, today announced that the company has entered into an amending agreement (the “Amending Agreement”) to the previously announced transaction agreement (the “Transaction Agreement”) with Tilray Brands, Inc. Separately, the company announced that it has also entered into an amending agreement to the previously announced equity purchase agreement (the “Standby Agreement”) with 2692106 Ontario Inc. (the “Investor”) and KAOS Capital Ltd. (“KAOS”).
On June 14, 2022, in view of current stock market conditions and in order to reduce closing risk related to the pre-amendment minimum liquidity closing condition, the Company entered into the Amending Agreement to the Transaction Agreement pursuant to which HEXO, Tilray Brands and HTI agreed to:
Additionally, Tilray has irrevocably waived any non-compliance by HEXO with the minimum liquidity interim covenant contained in the Transaction Agreement for all periods prior to the date of the Amending Agreement for all purposes, including with respect to Tilray’s ability to terminate the Transaction Agreement for any such non-compliance.
“The strategic partnership with Tilray Brands significantly improves HEXO’s capital structure and provides the opportunity to accelerate our growth in global markets,” said Charlie Bowman, president and CEO of HEXO. “Challenging stock market conditions have necessitated amendments to the agreement, but this is a critical step in unlocking the shareholder value held within the Company."
The terms of the Transaction Agreement are otherwise unamended. The closing of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Agreement (as amended by the Amending Agreement) and the amended and restated Assignment and Assumption Agreement (the “Transaction”) remain subject to the satisfaction of a number of conditions, including: (i) receipt of approvals from the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”) and the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC; (ii) receipt of shareholder approval from HEXO’s shareholders; (iii) no material adverse effect having occurred in respect of HEXO; and (iv) receipt of all consents and approvals required by any regulatory authorities, including from the Competition Bureau.
HEXO expects to file a supplement (the “Circular Supplement”) to its previously filed management information circular (the “Circular”) in due course, a copy of which will be available under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, on EDGAR at www.sec.gov or at https://docs.tsxtrust.com/2092, the website for the meeting materials maintained by the Company’s transfer agent and registrar. The Circular Supplement will include further information regarding the Amending Agreement in order to permit shareholders to make a fully informed decision when considering the Transaction.
The Company also announces that, in view of the Company’s current share price, the Investor has formally agreed, for a period of three months, to reduce the minimum price condition included in the Standby Agreement from the CAD$0.30 to CAD$0.10 per share. This will ensure the Company may, during such three month period, draw upon the financing commitment (the “Standby Commitment”) contemplated by the Standby Agreement even if its share price were to fall below CAD$0.30 per share. In addition, the Investor has agreed to allow the Company to commence the process of drawing upon the Standby Commitment immediately following receipt of necessary regulatory approvals without having to wait until the first five trading days of the next calendar month as previously contemplated by the Standby Agreement. Subsequent draws will continue to be available only during the first five trading days of any month during the term of the Standby Commitment. Given the current market and macro-economic conditions, the Company believes that this is a positive development that will help ensure that it can have immediate access to capital as contemplated by the Standby Agreement. The Company is not required to pay the Investor any additional consideration in connection with these amendments to the Standby Agreement.
The previously scheduled meeting of shareholders will proceed as originally planned on June 14, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. E.T. (the “Meeting”). At the Meeting, shareholders will be called on to consider and, if deemed advisable, to pass, with or without variation, an ordinary resolution approving certain aspects relating to the Standby Agreement, as amended (the “Standby Commitment Resolution”), all as required pursuant to the rules of TSX and as more particularly set out in the Circular previously sent to shareholders of record on May 4, 2022 (the “Record Date”).
Following the vote on the Standby Commitment Resolution, and without asking shareholders to vote on the resolution approving certain aspects relating to the Transaction Agreement, the Company intends to adjourn the Meeting until July 4, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. E.T. (the “Reconvened Meeting”) in order to provide shareholders with additional time to review the Circular Supplement and consider the amendments to the Transaction Agreement described above. It is expected that the only matter that will be considered at the Reconvened Meeting is the “Note Amendment Resolution” as described in the Circular and the Circular Supplement. Additional details regarding the timing and location of the Reconvened Meeting will be disclosed to shareholders in the Circular Supplement and otherwise communicated by press release. The Record Date for the Reconvened Meeting will remain unchanged at May 4, 2022.
The Circular and form of proxy previously distributed to registered shareholders in connection with the Meeting confers discretionary authority upon management (or other person(s) designated as proxy therein) to vote on amendments or variations of matters coming before the Meeting. Management intends to rely on the discretionary authority granted in the Circular and form of proxy to vote FOR each of the Standby Commitment Resolution and Note Amendment Resolution.
If a registered shareholder has submitted a management proxy and does not wish the proxy to be voted in this manner, they may revoke their proxy at any time prior to the Meeting in the case of the Standby Commitment Resolution and the Reconvened Meeting in the case of the Note Amendment Resolution. Such a proxy may be revoked: (a) by depositing an instrument in writing, including another completed form of proxy, executed by such registered shareholder or by his, her or its attorney authorized in writing or by electronic signature or, if the registered shareholder is a corporation, by an authorized officer or attorney thereof at, or by transmitting by facsimile or electronic means, a revocation signed, subject to the Business Corporations Act (Ontario), by electronic signature, to the head office of the Company, located at 120 Chemin de la rive, Gatineau, Québec, J8M 1V2, at any time prior to 5:00 p.m. (E.T.) on the last business day preceding the day, as applicable, of the Meeting, the Reconvened Meeting or any adjournment(s) or postponement(s) thereof; or (b) in any other manner permitted by law. For certainty, the Company will continue to accept revocations of proxies with respect to the Note Amendment Resolution (but not the Standby Commitment Resolution) following the vote on the Standby Commitment Resolution in accordance with the procedures set out above as will be further detailed in the Circular Supplement.
If a non-registered or beneficial shareholder wishes to revoke their previously given voting instructions, they must contact the broker or other intermediary that they provided their voting instruction forms to and comply with any and all applicable requirements of such broker or intermediary. A broker or other intermediary may not be able to revoke voting instructions if it receives insufficient notice of revocation, and any non-registered shareholder wishing to revoke their voting instructions should contact such broker or intermediary in sufficient time to ensure that their revocation of voting instructions is received.
Shareholders are encouraged to attend and vote at both the Meeting and the Reconvened Meeting.
The Circular Supplement will not address the Standby Agreement and the Company believes all material information relating to the Standby Commitment Resolution is contained in the Circular together with the disclosure in this press release.
Pennsylvania Options for Wellness, Inc. announces launch of Rick Simpson Oil under its "Vytal Options" brand of products in its Pennsylvania-based dispensary locations.
HARRISBURG, Pa., June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --PRESS RELEASE-- Pennsylvania Options for Wellness, Inc. is announces launch of Rick Simpson Oil under its "Vytal Options" brand of products in its Pennsylvania-based dispensary locations.
The development of this product was announced after PA Options for Wellness/"Vytal Options" saw an increase in demand for a competitively priced RSO product. From patients as well as physicians, this concentrated product appears to be a top choice for those battling cancer, chronic pain and insomnia.
Packaged in an easy-to-read pouch, the back label features simple dosing and warming directions.
The full extract cannabis oil (FECO) is made from high-quality cured flower that undergoes an extraction process using food-grade ethanol to yield and preserve a full array of cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, phenols and other fatty acids. RSO is meant for oral consumption (eaten or used sublingually) or applied topically, as opposed to being inhaled like other concentrate forms.
PA Options for Wellness/"Vytal Options" RSO is poised to be an integral addition to the brand's curated in-house product lineup, offering relief through a concentrated intake method at a competitive cost. With educational-backed marketing materials for patients, this product is well-positioned to serve a variety of patients in the Pennsylvania medical cannabis program. PA Options for Wellness/"Vytal Options" currently offers RSO in one-gram syringes.
The company's current branded products include its Troche sublingual and exclusive strains in its flower catalog. In addition to product line expansion, PA Options for Wellness looks toward geographic growth, with two more dispensaries scheduled to open over the next three months.
Monarch, the smallest and most powerful top light on the market, has been improved.
The new Monarch with 1200 W internal driver is available in 2 variants:
1. The 'high efficiency' fixture has the highest light output: max. 4020 μmol/s at a 1120 W consumption and 3.6 μmol/J efficiency. This is recommended for high-tech greenhouse projects where sufficient height is available, so that a high uniformity is achieved with fewer fixtures. Due to its high efficiency, this fixture is also the best option for growers with a limited power capacity.
2. The Monarch 'economic' fixture with 1200 W driver has a lower initial investment. It has a maximum light output of 3810 μmol/s and, with a 1137 W consumption, the efficiency is 3.4 μmol/J.
Despite the year-over-year increase, the state’s $120 million in May sales is a flatline from past two months.
Massachusetts’ 2022 adult-use cannabis sales are up big compared to the first five months of 2021, but May figures represent a seasonal plateau in the state market.
Adult-use retailers reported just more than $120 million in May 2022 sales, bringing the state’s yearly total to $585.6 million, representing a 20.7% increase from the $485.2 million in sales during the same timeframe in 2021, according to the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission’s (CCC) open data platform.
But the current retail market has remained stagnant for three months now: May’s $120 million in adult-use sales is a slight dip from March, $120.3 million, and April, $122.2 million. Year-over-year, May 2022 sales represent a 9.3% increase from May 2021.
The three-month plateau comes after Massachusetts retailers experienced a $10-million sales spike from February to March.
The recent flatline somewhat mirrors last year’s seasonal trend. After a $21-million uptick from February to March 2021, sales rose slightly in April, May and June, before another uptick—a $17-million surge to $127.4 million in July 2021—the state’s highest grossing month last year.
Overall, Massachusetts adult-use retailers have recorded roughly $3.1 billion since the state first launched commercial sales in November 2018.
RELATED: Massachusetts Adult-Use Cannabis Retailers Eclipse $3 Billion in Sales
But that $3-billion benchmark—reached last month—comes at a time when the average retail price per ounce for dried flower continues to dip toward an all-time low.
The average adult-use flower price per ounce was $312.78 in May 2022, a 21.3% decrease from the $397.48 average cost per ounce in May 2021, according to CCC.
Only in April 2020, during the onset of COVID-19, was the average cost lower: $276.22 per ounce.
Cannabis Business Times’ interactive legislative map is another tool to help cultivators quickly navigate state cannabis laws and find news relevant to their markets. View More