To encourage the use of more environmentally friendly building materials, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a nearly $6.2 million grant to the Nashville-based Hemp Building Institute. They work with entities that develop environmental product declarations and life cycle assessments for biogenic materials, such as those made from hemp, soy and straw bale, which EPA says “provide a unique opportunity to directly address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment.”
The idea is to make the details of hempcrete and other building materials made with agricultural products better known to manufacturers and builders in order to lessen dependence on concrete and other materials that cause more greenhouse gas emissions.
Organizers “will develop an open-source database for biogenic materials and provide extensive education, training, and technical assistance,” says an EPA description of the grant award. “The overall goal of the project is to assemble the assessments, protocols, tools and training in an ecosystem designed to increase adoption of biogenic building materials from agricultural crops.” The award is expected to fund activity in Maryland, Tennessee, California and Alabama.
“This is a big victory for hemp and other natural building materials,” said Jacob Waddell, president of the Hemp Building Institute. “The project will work with Alabama State University (ASU) and the California Straw Bale Association (CASBA) to develop an open-source database for biogenic materials.”
Waddell said that accounting for the greenhouse gas impacts of biogenic materials is “more complicated because of the sequestration of carbon during the growth of the plant material,” which reduces the overall footprint of hempcrete and others compared to concrete. “Without efforts to properly account for the biogenic carbon of natural materials,” he said, “the impact of any stored carbon may be overlooked or disregarded.”
The hempcrete grant is part of a $160 million funding round announced by EPA. The agency said the awards will support 38 businesses, universities and nonprofits in all 50 U.S. states.
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