Asheville hemp house featured in documentary pushing hemp as building material of the future

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Currently it’s illegal to grow industrial hemp, marijuana’s close cousin, in the U.S.–despite the fact that it’s a non-psychoactive homebuilding material that’s saved one Asheville homeowner 75 percent on heating and cooling costs. While hemp is currently in the process of being legalized in many states, allowing for products such as Full Spectrum Organic Hemp Oil to become more attainable, it’s close association with marijuana has rendered it illegal for years.

The $325K Asheville hemp house, the nation’s first, figures in a new documentary in the works, Bringing It Home, about the battle for industrial hemp, the history of hemp, and how it could drastically cut the energy and money spent heating and cooling homes.

Industrial hemp makes 1,000’s of sustainable products and can help farmers, our health, the economy, and the environment. But why can’t we grow it in the U.S.? Now raising money to complete production, “Bringing It Home” (www.bringingithomemovie.com) explores the story of hemp: past, present and future and the expanding global industry that is putting money in the pockets of business leaders and farmers all over the globe. Hemp is a non-psychoactive plant that can help solve problems such as global warming, nutrition, deforestation, unemployment, toxic clean-ups and improve indoor air quality in buildings.

Filmmakers Blaire Johnson and Linda Booker began filming after learning about the first house completed in the America using hempcrete by a home designer now on a mission to build a hemp group home for his young daughter and other children with chemical sensitivities and disabilities. As a building material, hemp combined with lime is non-toxic, highly insulating and mildew, pest and fire-resistant. But the one huge drawback — industrial hemp is currently illegal to grow in the United States — so it must be imported, despite the fact that it once was a thriving crop in America.

From an April 15, 2011 post: First spec hemp house in U.S. to be built in West Asheville; cost is $325,000 for 1,560 square feet of green built house

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

  • 1

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9 Comments

  1. mark robinson July 7, 2013

    why do you semi-legitimate writers always chicken out when speaking of Hemp? One would think that at LEAST a smattering of the media would have noted, by now, that hemp, being Cannabis Sativa, isn’t a “cousin” of pot, but the same plant, bred, to be tall and produce MANY seeds as opposed to pot, which was bred for resin production, thus, no seed, and short stocky plants with many branches, for more flowers. You see, this is more complicated that your oversimplification indicates. However, no entity can have one without the obvious benefits of the other being illuminated. Ideally, both the utility of the plant material, and the medicinal necessity of the icon will soon be evident to even the darkest corners of our culture and intelligensia.

    Reply
    1. claudia townsend April 17, 2014

      Trueth!!!

      Reply
  2. Rob jensen March 23, 2013

    I saw hemp fields for miles and miles in South texas

    Reply
  3. Rob jensen March 23, 2013

    I saw hemp fields for miles and miles is south texas also

    Reply
  4. Dale March 22, 2013

    Illegal to grow in the USA? The railroads grow it and there are farms in Kansas that raise it legally.

    Reply
  5. Bishop Global November 27, 2012

    Who’s the manufacture of these products and materials, thank you.

    Reply
  6. Jen Bowen / fotojennic June 19, 2012

    In related news – this happened just last week.

    Reply

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