The beginning of any house construction involves a series of questions that need to be answered. Who will live in the house and how will it be used? How many bedrooms and bathrooms? What architectural style? What features? What types of finishes and furnishings?
Like many challenges in the nascent industrial hemp industry, the owners of the Cape Cod Hemp House have set out by arming themselves with an evolving team of experts near and far hwo were willing to take all of the unique details and challenges of this groundbreaking home.
But when you start construction on a house like the Cape Cod Hemp House, not only are there exponentially more questions to answer, there are questions you don’t even know to ask. And relatively few people you can go to for the answers once you know the questions. It’s easy to assume that by default a house will be built with energy efficiency in mind, but questions on sustainability, air quality and thermal comfort are rarely asked.
The owners bought this property knowing they’d eventually rebuild, but the more they looked at construction, the more the answer seemed obvious. Hemp. Why hemp? The answer is surprisingly simple: to inspire others to learn more about hemp and other sustainable, healthy building methods and materials. To show it can be done well, and done to scale. The goal is a high performing home built with a lower carbon footprint. A home that will withstand the coming issues arising from climate change and is built without red list materials. This includes everything from the insulation in the walls, to the fabric covering the sofa. Will it be perfect from a sustainability standpoint? Will every decision turn out to be the best they could possibly have made? Probably not, but they’ve set out on a path to be intentional and mindful about each decision - something that we should all be better about.
Like many projects in the nascent industrial hemp industry, the owners of Cape Cod Hemp House have set out by arming themselves with an evolving team of experts near and far who were willing to tackle all of the unique details and challenges of this groundbreaking home.
