Pennsylvania Hempcrete installation company Americhanvre Cast-Hemp made a big announcement this week on the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast that will propel the American hemp building industry forward in a big way.
McIntosh said the “Americanized” version of the Ereasy Spray-Applied Hempcrete System will soon be available for sale, dramatically reducing the cost and increasing the availability of this innovative technology that can cut the installation time of a hempcrete application by nearly sixty percent.
“Part of our licensing agreement with Damien Baumer of Ereasy in France is that we were given permission to find a contract fabrication partner to create the hardware and the other components for the Ereasy system here in the United States,” McIntosh told podcast host Eric Hurlock.
Made in America for American Builders
McIntosh said he’s chosen to work with EZG Manufacturing in Malta, Ohio.
McIntosh has an established relationship with EZG Manufacturing and said that he uses EZG’s masonry mortar mixer with the Ereasy system.
“It’s a really well-made piece of equipment and they’re a good American company doing good things for the masonry industry.” He said EZG is keen to get involved with alternative building methods, such as hempcrete.
The Americanized version of the system will have a few modifications, but none of the changes “are systemic,” McIntosh said. “The equipment still operates in the way that it was intended to, but we did make some changes that make it a little bit easier for the operator both to use and then also to repair here in the United States.”
One such change will be the power requirements for the motor, which on the European model needed to be stepped down from 220v to 110v. The Americanized version eliminates the need for the power inverter.
“That alone is a major change for the Americanized version and then a few other things that are just aimed at beefing it up and making it a little bit more user friendly,” McIntosh said.
Hempcrete installations are growing in popularity. McIntosh is one of several hempcrete builders in the country, but it’s a small industry and there’s a spirit of solidarity among the various builders.
What is Hempcrete
Hempcrete is mold- and pest resistant, fireproof, and creates a vapor barrier that regulates the interior temperature of a home. Hempcrete also has the ability to sequester carbon, pulling in carbon from the atmosphere over the life of a building, potentially lasting hundreds of years.
The hemp hurd Americhanvre uses is imported from Europe where the industry is more established and hempcrete has wider acceptance as a building material. He hopes to be sourcing domestic hemp hurd within a year or two as more domestic processors come online.
McIntosh is director at large for the US Hemp Building Association, an organization dedicated to the development of the industry and establishing hempcrete as an approved building material in building codes.
Hempcrete Training
In April, McIntosh will be hosting the first of several extensive training sessions for the Ereasy Spray Applied Hempcrete System at Wildfox Farm in Barto, Pennsylvania, with training sessions to be scheduled throughout the year in various locations around the country, such as Oregon and Texas.
McIntosh intends to train attendees not just on how to use the equipment and build with hempcrete, but hopes to provide some practical business training too: How to run a business, how to estimate and bid a job, good accounting practices, paying taxes, and so on.
“There’s a lot of things that we’ve earned the hard way over the last three years or four years that I’d really like to boil down into a four day long class that covers more than just running the equipment,” he said.
To learn more about the new Americanized version of the Ereasy Spray-applied Hempcrete system and how to sign up for training sessions, go to https://americhanvre.com/training/