Users of cannabis and hemp plants have long looked for new uses for the plants. People found a number of different uses, most often for medical use for a number of different ailments. However, some people have found that they can use it for other purposes as well, like with clothing, tea, and others. However, in Cape Cod, some have found another use for it, specifically in construction. In fact, this new use could help to make certain improvements in creating new homes.

Details

In Harwich, Massachusetts, a construction project is in the works to use industrial hemp after 80 years of prohibition. The project, called Cape Cod Hemp House, will be a 6000 square foot home with net-zero energy use. The builders will be insulating the project with “hempcrete” which is a mixture of Cannabis sativa stalk material and the more typical limestone-based binder. The owners say that the builders will engineer this project to survive climate-related sea level rise. It will have the added benefit of decreasing the carbon footprint. They accomplish the decrease in carbon footprint by avoiding all petroleum-based building materials. The builders will use the aforementioned natural isolation to reduce energy use and improve the indoor environment. 

Obstacles

The building of this new home has been stalled. This is due to builders’ use of industrial equipment to blow in hemp-based insulation. This caused it to accidentally blow the woody hemp material and lime dust into the neighboring yard. This caused the neighbors to worry that it was poisonous. However, the builders were quick to explain that it was natural and they didn’t need to worry about it. This is because the hemplime, the term used to describe what is used in the building material, contains only hemp, lime, and water. As such, it contains nothing that is harmful to either the environment or people.

Hope

With the introduction of this new use for hemp products, people can demonstrate that there are plenty of reasons to allow the cultivation and sale of hemp. In fact, users have shown that the use of hemp is better in a number of industries than the more traditional methods. It is the hope of the activists that these new uses will lead to changes in the legalization of hemp and cannabis as a whole.

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