MORTON, Minn. — The Lower Sioux Indian Community is using hemp plants to build homes in Morton, Minnesota, in an effort to better the community.
Project manager Danny Desjarlais says the tribe is building homes with a hemp-based composite material called hempcrete. They're getting the hemp from their own backyard, where they've been growing it for four years.
The process goes like this: crews mix hemp, lime and water. Then, they hand-pack the mixture into the wall of the house. The mixture is like wall insulation and replaces fiberglass, drywall and other toxins used in building materials. They cover the wall with lime plaster, and then, it essentially turns into limestone.
All the farmers and builders are from the Lower Sioux community.
Hempcrete is fire-resistant, mold-resistant and pest-resistant - the added lime makes it that way.
"Everything that was happening with our current homes could be remedied by one product," said Larry Swann, Community Development Financial Institution Director.
With hempcrete creating a better environment, community members can be healthier.
"We have a community that does have a few of our elders with [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] or breathing issues," Swann said. "[Hempcrete is] going to help people breathe."
The material is 100% recyclable and is intended to help residents save money on energy.
"Hempcrete will self-regulate temperatures around 64 degrees, and it self-regulates humidity," Desjarlais said.
Community homes will last a lot longer. "These houses are gonna last hundreds of years," Desjarlais said.
Joey Goodthunder, one of the hemp farmers, is proud of the final product.
"To see it actually in the house from four years ago is unbelievable," said Goodthunder. "It is very exciting. I am very happy to be part of this."
This first pilot home is just for emergency housing.
But they plan on using hempcrete for lots of housing projects, like expanding the program to make pre-fabricated blocks and walls to speed up the building.
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