Deep Green Building: Hemp-Lime Construction

Limited to 25 participants.
(€750 fee includes all meals)

We have already signed up hemp building enthusiasts from South Africa, Finland, Germany, Czech Republic, Turkey, USA and Iceland. JOIN THEM!

3-day Immersive Course: Whether you want to start your own hemp construction company, set up a business serving a sub-sector or supplier niche, or build your own home, HempToday Institute’s (HTI) 3-day Deep Green Building experience is a unique opportunity to get in-depth knowledge and practical skills quickly. Our international faculty members are leading practitioners, entrepreneurs and business owners with broad knowledge of hemp-lime construction, and who have networks of other leading hemp building professionals around the globe.

Rich content, hands-on experience: Early mornings are spent in two seminar sessions leading directly to hands-on participation in an exclusive, unique, on-site hemp construction project. We wrap things up with a session during which we explore specific matchmaking opportunities among the 25 participants.

The Palace at Naklo, Lelow, Poland. During the workshop we will construct walls for rooms to create an apartment in the attic of this building, which dates to 1770.

(Afternoons & Evenings/Days 1, 2 & 3) The hands-on project for this course is the construction of interior walls (remember, it’s February!) to create a guest room in the attic of the Palace at Nakło, an 18th century estate that serves as the home of HempToday Center and a functioning Hemp Bed & Breakfast.

This unique initiative is based on an architectural plan to add five rooms and an apartment in open space that, through nearly 250 years, was never inhabited. Hemp-lime is the perfect construction material for this project based on its light weight, and its advantageous thermal and acoustical properties. It also results in walls that are stronger than those used in traditional construction, and provide natural humidity and thermal control – all in one layer. In essence, these materials breathe.

Who’s invited

We’re inviting entrepreneurs, architects, engineers, researchers, managers, business & trade professionals and do-it-yourselfers to join us as we explore hemp-lime building and the hemp construction sector, push forward strategies for creating healthier living spaces and do our part to help reverse the damaging effects CO2 emissions.

Schedule:

Day 1, Thursday, Feb. 22 (morning): Hemp in Construction
History, theory and applications of hemp-lime materials. You’ll be introduced to all aspects of hemp-lime construction including framing, materials evaluation and selection, mixing techniques, shuttering or slip forming, how to source materials, hemp walls, floors and roofs, interior and exterior plastering and more.

Day 2, Friday, Feb. 23 (morning): Business & Entrepreneurship

• Overview of markets around the world; Market models; Community Supported Agriculture; Local economic development & local value chains. Sector SWOT analysis.
• Entrepreneurship; Business models & planning; Niche market opportunities; Checking your assumptions; Matching your skills set and networks to hemp building industry.

Day 3, Saturday, Feb. 24 (morning): Matchmaking & Networks
Exploration of matchmaking potential among participants: Knowledge and technology transfer; Business partnerships; Supplier relationships; Value chain development. With a special emphasis on further development of shared media assets to advance the industry at large.

Course leaders

Wolf Jordan, Wolf Jordan & Co., Belgium
Wolf Jordan is one of Europe’s leading experts in eco-construction and the production of high quality natural paints, plasters and renders for the building industry. He is the founder and sole owner of Wolf Jordan & Co., which operates out of Greenbizz, a Brussels-based incubator that backs growth of startups and small firms focused on sustainability. Wolf’s company produces binder formulas for hempcrete construction, and natural oils and waxes for wood and stone. An old-world craftsman with more than 36 years’ experience in natural materials, Wolf is also a lecturer, educator and innovator who has worked on building projects all over the world.

Piotr Jastrębski, Podlaskie Konopie, Poland
Piotr Jastrzębski and his brother Marcin farm, process and sell hemp derivatives from their vertically integrated hemp operation in northeastern Poland, picking up a family tradition that was temporarily lost in the second half of the 20th century. Their company, Podlaskie Konopie, is also active in Poland’s natural building scene, conducting hempcrete building workshops and frequently appearing at natural building trade shows.

Other Permanent Faculty

Steve Allin, International Hemp Building Association (IHBA)
Monika Brummer, Cannabric, Spain
Pamela Bosch, Highland Hemp House, USA
John Patterson, Tiny Hemp Houses, USA
Dhiraj K. Shah, Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures, Nepal

Co-organizers

HempToday
International Hemp Building Association (IHBA)
Wolf Jordan & Co.
Hempoint