As part of a government effort to encourage the use of more environmentally friendly building materials, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded a nearly $6.2 million grant to a nonprofit that works with hempcrete, a concrete-like material that’s made with hemp.

The Nashville-based Hemp Building Institute, which works with entities that manufacture and use construction products, will receive $6,186,200 to develop environmental product declarations (EPDs) and life cycle assessments (LCAs) 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.

The Hemp Building Institute will partner with the Maryland-based business incubator EntreVator to launch what’s being called The Biogenic Building Materials project, according to a writeup of the award by the National Industrial Hemp Council of America.

“This is a big victory for hemp and other natural building materials,” Jacob Waddell, president of the Hemp Building Institute, said in a video posted to Instagram.

“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,” the hemp council wrote, citing an email from Waddell. “Other partners will include the Parsons Healthy Materials Lab at The New School in New York City and the National Hemp Association.”

Todd Hughes, who founded EntreVator told the hemp council in an email that the company is “deeply honored to receive this grant from the EPA, which marks the beginning of a pivotal journey towards the widespread adoption of biogenic building materials.”

Waddell told the council 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 this month. The agency said the awards will support 38 businesses, universities and nonprofits in all 50 U.S. states.

In 2022, a separate federal agency, the Department of Energy (DOE), awarded Texas A&M University $3.47 million to support a project to 3D print hempcrete products, with a focus on creating affordable housing.

“While production of conventional construction materials such as concrete requires large amounts of energy and releases large amounts of CO2 (carbon dioxide), hempcrete is a net carbon-negative material, which can provide major environmental benefits,” Petros Sideris, an assistant professor at the university and the project’s principal investigator, said at the time.

DOE also sponsored a project in 2021 to develop hemp fiber insulation designed to be better for the environment and public health than insulation products. The agency awarded the COO of Idaho-based Hempitecture an annual stipend of $90,000 and as much as $200,000 to support research into the insulation product.

DOE was interested specifically in the company’s HempWool product, which is described as “the most sustainable, high performing insulation material on the planet.” Beyond being a non-toxic alternative to traditional insulation, the hemp-based product also has a strong thermal resistance and a low carbon footprint.

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Photo courtesy of Brendan Cleak.