A plant geneticist, hemp product manufacturer, and natural builder discuss an ingredient for a healthy building industry: hemp
Co-hosted with The Architectural League of New York, this event convenes the experts who are charting new pathways to a healthier future. Together, there is a new industry forming. We’ve called it ‘Agriculture to Architecture.’ The League calls it ‘From Field to Form’. We are encouraged by the possibilities and curious about the challenges to bring plant-based building to scale.
We spoke with Larry Smart, a Hemp plant geneticist, Tommy Gibbons, a Hemp product manufacturer, and Jennifer Martin, a HempLime builder about new developments and hurdles for designing and building with hemp. We asked: How can we work together to bring this superfood to scale for the building industry?
Co-hosted with The Architecture League of New York as part of their series: From Field to Form— this recording took place on November 8, 2023.
"..most farmers are very diversified, so we are trying to break into their normal array of crops and say 'instead of doing 50 acres of soybean, we want you to plant 50 acres of hemp'" -Larry Smart
"..awareness is a huge obstacle, but that is easily overcome.." -Tommy Gibbons
"..there will be a policy shift where people and governments are putting money into biogenic materials and we are learning to build in a different way.." -Jennifer Martin
An alternative to materials made from fossil fuels, hemp has impressive qualities throughout its life cycle and the potential to fuel new economies too. The hemp plant captures carbon, nurtures soil as it grows, and, as insulation promotes healthy interiors. A hemp plant can supply fiber for textiles, hurd for insulation, and grain for food. A burgeoning hemp industry has the potential to ignite rural economies with this new crop, and develop new jobs and processing facilities fed by demand from urban development.
Speakers
Larry Smart is a plant geneticist and breeder who uses genomic tools to understand plant biology and to breed improved cultivars of hemp. A professor at Cornell University AgriTech in Geneva, New York, Smart leads the Cornell Hemp Research and Extension team.
Tommy Gibbons is Chief Innovation Officer at Hempitecture Inc., a public benefit corporation created to develop, manufacture, and distribute sustainable, high-performing building materials based in Idaho. He is a LEED Green Associate and a Department of Energy IMPEL+ Innovator.
Jennifer Martin is a designer, builder, and advocate with extensive experience in natural building materials and systems. She is a partner at HempStone, a New England-based company focused on hempcrete, where she specializes in job site training for architects and contractors.