CEAC-2022-09-September

News
Fargo House Tests Hemp as Construction
Material By Dan Gunderson | Minnesota Public Radio
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The two small houses are going up on
the back half of a lot just off a busy street, not far from
downtown Fargo.
“These homes are identical in blueprint, they’re 13' by 23',
with 12-foot ceilings; there’s a loft in each of them,’’ explains
Grassroots Development president Justin Berg, the man behind
this one-of-a-kind construction and research project.
One of the houses is built with a traditional wood frame,
fiberglass insulation and covered with that shiny white house
wrap material.
A second house a few feet away also has a wood frame, but
the walls are filled with 12 inches of hempcrete, giving it a
brown, textured look inside and out.
The raw material is called hurd. It’s the inner woody core of
the hemp plant, chipped into small pieces.
The hurd is mixed with a lime binder and water.
“We’re just looking to bring to leverage the opportunity of
having these two buildings built side by side,’’ said Gordon.
“They’re identical, it’s perfect for a controlled study.’’
Gordon is working with a Minneapolis-based Center for Energy
and Environment, which will analyze the data collected
from each home.
These hempcrete walls don’t provide structural support, 2" x
6" wood studs give the wall strength.
Hemp is touted as a healthier alternative to insulation,
reducing mold by creating walls that breathe, providing
excellent insulating properties and serving as thermal mass,
storing heat. The material is also flame resistant
But Gordon said there’s a need for data to validate some of
those claims.
“Up till now, a lot of the talk has just been a lot of claims
“And you blend the mixture to a consistency, a nice sort of
chicken salad — is our joke — consistency,’’ said Grassroots
Development sustainability consultant Sydney Glup. “And we
hand-packed — physically-hand packed — this entire house.’’
They were guided through the process by Bismarck, N.D.-
based Homeland Hempcrete, but the process was easy to
learn said Glup, just a lot of work schlepping buckets of the
material, dumping it into forms and packing it so the walls
would be even after the forms were removed.
The hempcrete walls need to cure for six weeks before they
are covered inside and out with a finish layer of plaste .
These homes might become short-term rentals, but the primary
purpose is research.
“We’re just trying to get that concrete nonbiased research to
contribute to the industry so we can troubleshoot and figure
out how to do better,’’ said Glup. “We want it to be so that
anybody who wants a healthier dwelling can afford it.’’
To collect data, sensors are tucked into the walls of both
houses to monitor moisture and air temperature. Energy consumption
will also be closely monitored.
“This from my knowledge, is the only study of its kind,’’ said
Riley Gordon, principal engineer with the Minnesota-based
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, a non-profit org -
nization partially funded by the state, which helps develop
new markets for Minnesota crops.
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| Chief Engineer
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