Kate Nicklin and Graham Mateer, the directors of Commonbond Architects, an architectural firm in London, work in a self-built studio located in the garden behind their bungalow.

Nicklin and Mateer had an additional motivation for the studio. As the website AJ Building Library explains, the couple wanted “to explore the potential of using hempcrete as a breathable biocircular building material.”

“The main idea behind the project was to create something that felt permanent and not like a standard lightweight timber shed,” Nicklin told Dezeen, which noted that, in addition to hempcrete, Commonbound Architects also “used reclaimed materials and a timber frame to create the cuboidal volume, which is topped with a mono-pitched roof.”

“Hempcrete offered an alternative construction which was good for self-building,” Nicklin added. “We like that it can be sourced in the UK and supports small-scale growers, we like that it creates a healthy environment to be in with no off-gassing and its breathable properties, that it sequesters carbon and is ultimately biodegradable.”

According to the Natural Building Alliance, a Colorado-based organization that champions natural building techniques, hempcrete is “a bio-composite building material that is created by coating and mixing particles of hemp hurd (also known as shiv – the inner woody core of a hemp plant) with water and lime and then allowing the materials to dry and harden into a natural insulation material.”

“Like traditional insulation, hempcrete can be the infill material to a wall structure or the insulation material for floors, ceilings, roofs, or windows. When it comes to walls that are framed using studs or heavy timbers, builders can use temporary formwork or permanent, permeable sheathing that is situated around framing to cast monolithic hempcrete walls,” the group explains. 

“Molding and casting walls involve a steady process of creating and mixing hempcrete in conjunction with a bucket brigade of helpers pouring, spreading, pressing, or tamping the hempcrete into formwork. Prior to casting and upon being dumped out of a mixer, hempcrete mixes typically look like crumbly oatmeal with no cohesion until builders squeeze and tamp the mixtures. When builders spread and press the mixture in formwork, they typically do it at a depth of four to eight inches at a time. When the formwork is full, the team of helpers can then remove and raise the slip forms for further assembly to complete the wall. For hempcrete installation that goes beyond the framing of one or both sides of the wall, builders can use spacers attached to the slip forms to extend the depth of the wall.”

Nicklin and Mateer began construction on the studio in May of 2020 and completed it last July. 

The RIBA Journal said that Nicklin and Mateer “had development in mind when, as project architects with 10 years’ experience at other firms, they bought the bungalow.” 

“We were always doing things on skinny little sites so we saw the potential,” Nicklin told the outlet. 

The RIBA Journal has more background on the studio:

“A decision taken even before the final form of the building was worked out was to use hempcrete, and the pair have become enthusiastic advocates for the biocircular material. Combined with a timber frame, it provides structure, breathable insulation and fireproofing, and is so easy to use that the architects could draft in equally unskilled friends to help, making for sociable construction. Outside, the vegetal walls are coated in thick gobs of lime render flicked on with a paint scraper and finished with many thin coats of chalky limewash. Laborious but economical, says Mateer, and another pragmatic choice for people with little hands-on building experience. It gives the small building with its overhanging, monopitch roof a soft but weighty character quite distinct from a typical garden shed. Rustic roughness is also melded with some refinement: oak-framed windows – with triangular mullions inspired by a medieval house at the Weald & Downland Museum – are beautifully made, again by the architects. Even so, stepping through oak doors at either end brings surprise. 

“Daylight fills the sunken rooms through garden-facing windows, set above built-in bench seating, from which ribbed oak wainscotting extends around the base of subtly textured painted hempcrete walls. Reflections from a pond dapple the soffit of the overhanging roof outside – a deliberate recreation of the effect produced by puddles on the balcony of the couple’s last flat. Small windows in the back wall are placed on the outside face to make the best of the west light.”

The studio is a testament to hemp’s versatility as a material –– whether for building supplies or consumer products. A company in Ohio signed a deal with a processor earlier this year to provide raw material for hemp-based bioplastics.

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Senate Bill 5376 was recently passed in the House in Washington state on Feb. 29, which would establish new rules for cannabis waste if it became law.

Currently, cannabis waste (specifically roots, stalks, leaves, and stems that aren’t considered to be “dangerous”) is dumped into landfills and produces methane gas as it decomposes. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 50% of landfill gas consists of methane, which is 28 times more effective than carbon dioxide to trap heat in the atmosphere.

SB-5376 aims to reduce the amount of cannabis waste, and methane gas, that is being produced in Washington landfills. If the law is signed by Gov. Jay Inslee, it would allow cannabis cultivators and processors to sell that plant material with 0.3% THC or less to the general public instead. According to a report from The Spokesman-Review, public buyers could use plant waste for composting or use it to make certain hemp products such as hempcrete, which can be used to make hempcrete or insulation, or hemp fiber products like clothing or animal bedding.

Seth Shamberg, who is the operations manager at Blue Roots Cannabis, a Spokane County-based producer and processor, told The Spokesman Review that they dump an estimated 2,200 pounds cannabis waste material into the landfill every month (approximately 26,400 pounds of material per year). “Usually, we mix it with dirt, cocoa, wood chips, all kinds of (organic material),” said Shamberg. “There isn’t anything recoverable once it’s been ground and mixed like that.”

The material fills up a 40-yard container dumpster, and costs $600 for each one. “This doesn’t do our society any good to be continuing to fill landfills, especially when it’s being mixed with nonorganic garbage piling up or being put into plastic contractor bags before it’s dumped,” Shamberg explained.

Current law in Washington state requires that processors mix cannabis waste with 50% other materials such as paper waste, cardboard waste, plastic waste, or soil. Many processors utilize cat litter or mulch wood chips.

According to Zero Waste Washington executive director Heather Trim mixing in non-cannabis material with cannabis waste only further contributes to the production of methane gas. Trim estimates that nearly 500-1,100 pounds of cannabis is dumped into landfills each week during the growing season in Washington state (based on approximately 1,000 licensed growers).

Trim added that SB-5376 is supported by a House Bill 1799, which was passed in Washington state in June 2022. The bill aims to “reduce methane emissions by diverting organic materials from municipal landfills where they would decompose and create the gas.” Currently, the goal is to require residents and businesses to remove organic material from the garbage and have it collected by an “organics collector or composting facility.”

According to SB-5376, cannabis waste can’t be reused if it’s considered to be “dangerous.” This includes both its THC content, but also any pesticides that were used during the cultivation process. Any materials that are toxic or flammable would not be permitted.

During the sale process, it must be available to the public “on an equal and nondiscriminatory basis.” All purchases and details, including the quantity, price, and name of person or organization who purchases the cannabis waste, must be reported to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board as well as the Department of Agriculture. “It would be nice to see the [Legislature] start to give more detail to some of the cannabis policies that we have in order to give us the opportunity to better rectify the issues that we face,” said Shamberg.

At the House meeting on Feb. 29, Rep. Shelley Kloba offered support of the bill, which she described as creating “a circular economy.” Cultivators would potentially be able to earn extra revenue, and those who buy the waste can benefit from reusing the products, while all parties help reduce waste in the landfill.

However, Rep. Leonard Christian expressed his opposition due to personal negative memories of how cannabis affected his youth. He explained how his mother worked as a cross country trucker and would leave money for he and his siblings. Unfortunately, his sibling would use the money to buy cannabis, leaving Christian only able to obtain food at school. “I’ve seen it wreck a lot of lives over the years,” said Christian. “It’s just not for me, and I’m not going to vote for a marijuana bill.”

A recent report published by Health Canada in January shows that the country has disposed of 3.7 million pounds of cannabis since legalization began in 2018. The disposed cannabis wasn’t waste however, an expert believes it was mainly product that was either too old or had too little THC to be sold. “There is no demand for old and low-THC products, so manufacturers of finished products are not buying this biomass as inputs,” said industry consultant Farrell Miller. “It’s likely low-quality material with no value. As consumers become more savvy with packaging dates on dried cannabis products, this trend will only continue.”

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Two Tasmanian hemp business owners are founders and operators of the island state’s hemp processing operations. Andi Lucas of the hemp processing facility X-Hemp and Tim Crow of Hemp Harvests proudly embrace the benefits of hemp, but in a recent interview with ABC News, both of them expressed the need for regulations to change.

“I’m effectively being treated as though I’m dealing with some sort of narcotic when in actual fact it’s a crop like grain, or barley, or wheat,” said Lucas about the state of the industry. “I think we missed an opportunity, the rest of the world has the ability to utilize the whole … plant,” added Crow.

In November 2023, the Tasmania government tabled the Industrial Hemp Amendment Bill 2023 in parliament. New regulations associated with the bill would have changed both the 2015 Industrial Hemp Act and the Industrial Hemp Amendment Regulations 2016 to free up restrictions encountered by people like Lucas and Crow.

At the time, Jo Palmer, the Minister for Primary Industries and Water, explained that legislators are committed to improving the state’s hemp industry. “Proposed amendments will improve clarity, efficiency, and transparency for licensees,” Palmer said in a press statement. “It will also provide consistency with existing legislation in relation to police powers, the assessment of suitability of applicants, and definitions for fit and proper persons and responsible officers.”

X-Hemp was founded by Andi Lucas (who is also the Tasmanian Hemp Association’s president). According to her website, X-Hemp is the only cannabis fiber processing mill in Tasmania, and one of only a few throughout all Australian states. “X-Hemp grows its own crops and works with our state’s licensed hemp farmers, converting the grain stubble left from the hemp seed harvest—which was previously being burned off as waste—into saleable products,” the company website states. “X-Hemp sells hemp for building materials, mulch for landscaping, bast for specialty paper production, and other outputs for alternative uses such as animal bedding.”

Lucas told ABC about the benefits of hemp processing and hempcrete production. “Hempcrete as a building material is highly insulating, it’s non-combustible, so it actually won’t ignite,” Lucas said. “It’s fantastic for bushfire areas, that type of thing, it’s a very attractive option for people who are looking to build environmentally sustainable homes. Hemp basically sequesters carbon through the growth cycle of the plant and the building’s life cycle.”

X-Hemp is making hempcrete to be used in the interior construction of the University of Tasmania’s (UTAS) forestry building, which was announced in January 2023. “We’re incredibly excited to be asked to supply material to a huge project that UTAS are building in Hobart and the old forestry building,” Lucas explained. “It’ll be the largest hempcrete building in the southern hemisphere and all of that hemp is being locally grown and processed in Tassie, which is amazing.”

Crow founded Hemp Harvests, a hemp seed processing company which sells hemp seed hearts, hemp protein concentrate, and hemp seed oil. In the ABC interview, he explained that traveling in France and the Netherlands showed how hemp has truly become mainstream. “That’s where they produce fiber which is put into composites—BMW and Mercedes put them into car door panels.” He added that hemp insulation is more beneficial and takes less energy to create versus traditional methods of insulation, although it’s currently more expensive.

He also explored the North American and Canadian hemp markets, specifically how they have evolved and expanded hemp production. “Now there’s a lot of investment going into using the fibers, including building materials—there’s people making natural insulation and flooring,” Crow said.

When the Tasmanian Industrial Hemp Amendment Bill 2023 was shelved last November, the government stated that the industrial hemp industry could be worth $10 billion by 2050, and is an important contribution to help the state move toward sustainability.

Overall, Australians have shown overwhelming support for cannabis in a variety of ways. A recent YouGov poll showed that 50% of Australians are in favor of legalizing a bill that would allow residents to grow up to six cannabis plants for personal use. The poll also showed that 54% of Australians support decriminalization, with 33% saying they do not support decriminalization, and 12% didn’t know.

Last July, Australia became the first country in the world to allow doctors to prescribe psilocybin and MDMA therapy. It was a three-year process and decision by the Therapeutic Goods Administration that eventually led to moving psilocybin and MDMA from Schedule 9 substances to Schedule 8.

If recreational cannabis were to be legalized throughout Australia, a May 2023 report shows that the industry could earn $243.5 million per year within the first five years. “This is the first time anyone has shown their working, and set out exactly how their figures were arrived at,” said Legalise Cannabis WA party leader Brian Walker. “On the spending side we’ve got stuff like your police—for chasing a cannabis crime—the courts and the corrective services for managing that. Altogether, that’s about $100 million per year.”

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A recently published article by The Cool Down (“America’s mainstream climate brand”) detailed how hemp can be “transformed into a material called hempcrete.”

“Hempcrete is a carbon-negative building material made out of hemp, which is increasingly being used in place of concrete. The biocomposite material is created from hemp shiv — the woody core of hemp stalks — and mixed with a binder, such as lime powder, and water,” according to the article. “The result is a tough, adaptable material that can be mixed with varying proportions of hemp and lime depending on its intended purpose.”

The New York Times highlighted that trend in a story published earlier this year, reporting in February that interest in hemp “as a viable substitute for construction material is growing as developers seek greener building options.”

“Hemp can be used in block form, as it was in the building of the sports center, or poured like traditional concrete using hempcrete, a combination of lime, hemp fibers and a chemical binder. Hemp panels can also be used…Hemp is already used in a variety of industrial products, including rope, textiles and biofuel. But hemp construction is hampered by high costs and a supply chain that is not fully formed. And proponents must overcome resistance to a product that is often mistakenly tied to recreational drug use. Advocates say hemp offers many environmental benefits that builders and policymakers seek when creating a carbon-neutral product that is also resistant to fire, mold and weather,” the Times reported.

The write-up by The Cool Down noted that hempcrete offers “multiple benefits for buildings,” particularly as “the building industry hunts for less carbon-intensive materials.”

“For one thing, hemp makes an extraordinary carbon sink when it is growing — research suggests that the crop can capture twice the amount of carbon dioxide that trees can. That carbon dioxide is then locked away in the walls of your hempcrete home for as long as it stays standing,” the article said. “Hemp’s strength at sequestering carbon could be crucial for a building industry that is currently responsible for 39% of global energy-related carbon emissions. Making cement, a key ingredient in concrete, produces vast amounts of air pollution. Manufacturers use fossil fuels to heat limestone and clay in a kiln, releasing an estimated 600 kilograms of CO2 into the atmosphere for every ton of cement made.”

It is just one of a variety of uses for hemp, a hearty and versatile crop that has appeared in manifold consumer products in the United States ever since Congress legalized it for industrial use in 2018. 

A recently published study suggested that hemp-derived topical solutions could trigger hair growth in patients with alopecia. 

The researchers examined a group of about 30 people, evenly divided between men and women, who “used a once-daily topical hemp extract formulation, averaging about 33 mg/day for 6 months.” They said that the “results revealed that all subjects had some regrowth.”

“A hair count of the greatest area of alopecia was carried out before treatment was started and again after 6 months of treatment. To facilitate consistent hair count analysis, a permanent tattoo was placed at the point for maximum hair loss on the scalp,” the researchers explained in detailing their methodology,” the authors of the study said. “The subjects were also asked to qualitatively rate their psychosocial perception of ‘scalp coverage’ improvement after the study was completed. The qualitative scale included ‘very unhappy,’ ‘unhappy,’ ‘neutral,’ ‘happy,’ and ‘very happy.’ The subjects were photographed in a standard manner before and after the study. The photographs were compared for improvements in ‘scalp coverage’ by an independent physician. The qualitative scale included ‘none,’ ‘mild,’ ‘moderate,’ and ‘extensive’ improvement of scalp coverage.”

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