More than $8 million to fund the US hemp industry

Hempitecture is a public benefit corporation created to develop, produce and distribute sustainable, high-performance building materials that significantly reduce embodied carbon in the built environment using rapidly renewable plant-based raw materials.

As one of 14 projects selected nationwide, the $8.4 million award will accelerate Hempitecture’s mission of large-scale decarbonization while contributing to the economic revitalization of former coal communities. The facility will create 25 full-time jobs with wages 15 per cent above the local prevailing rate and will use hemp fiber to reduce the carbon intensity of the products it makes by up to 80 percent.

The funding is part of the Advanced Manufacturing and Recycling program, designed to provide grants to small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) to enable them to build new or retrofit existing manufacturing and industrial facilities in communities where coal mines or coal-fired power plants have closed. These facilities will produce or recycle advanced energy products or contribute to emissions reductions in the manufacturing sector.

It is managed by DOE’s Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) office, which has allocated a total of $428 million to 14 projects.

The U.S. Department of Energy actively supports projects that promote energy efficiency and sustainability, and this funding also demonstrates DOE’s commitment to supporting the industrial hemp industry and promoting the use of low-carbon building materials.

This is not the first time that Hempitecture has collaborated with DOE: in 2021, the company received a $90,000 federal grant to develop a highly thermally resistant hemp wool insulation product with a low carbon footprint.

“America’s transition to a clean energy future is being shaped by communities rich in talent and experience, gained through decades of work in the coal industry,” said Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Secretary of Energy. “By leveraging the skills of these communities’ workforces, we strengthen national security and advance innovative technologies while revitalizing critical areas of the country.”

The global market for clean energy and carbon reduction technologies is expected to reach a minimum of $23 trillion by 2030. Investing directly in the nation’s small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses, which contribute $1 trillion in gross revenue to the U.S. economy and provide more than five million jobs, will rapidly increase clean energy production capacity while maximizing the benefits to U.S. communities.

“Rapidly increasing U.S. manufacturing production and the deployment of clean energy technologies is critical to meeting our climate, jobs, and industrial competitiveness goals,” said White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. “These investments by the Biden-Harris administration, by catalyzing even more private sector investment, will lift up these energy communities by creating good-paying union jobs, improving our supply chains, and ensuring the next generation of clean energy technologies are built here in America.”

The Hempitecture plant in Tennessee will enhance its ability to meet growing demand for low-carbon, high-performance materials with flagship products like HempWool and PlantPanel that are critical to decarbonizing the building industry and are part of a broader vision to transform supply chains using sustainable resources.

Tommy Gibbons, co-founder and COO of Hempitecture, told Oak Ridge National Laboratory that the company’s manufacturing process will make building materials, as well as furniture and insulation. But the most promising aspect is its expansion into the automotive industry.

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