{"id":48031,"date":"2018-06-27T12:01:25","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T16:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=48031"},"modified":"2025-09-30T16:25:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T20:25:00","slug":"hemp-house-project","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/hemp-house-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Hemp House"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n\n \n \n \n \n
\n\n
<\/div>\n \n
\n
\n\n

\n Hemp House\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Throughout human history, hemp \u2013 the non-psychotropic strain of the plant cannabis sativa<\/em> \u2013 has been many things. The crop can be eaten or used to make clothing, body lotion, oils, plastic, paper – even fuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carl Sagan, the late American astronomer and scientist, went so far as to suggest in his 1977 book that hemp could have been the world\u2019s first agricultural crop, giving rise to human civilization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to a new partnership between Carleton University\u2019s Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism<\/a> and a university alumnus, hemp\u2019s next great application could be in sustainable homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tale of the hemp house begins 50 years ago, when Anthony \u201cTony\u201d Humble enrolled in Carleton\u2019s Bachelor of Commerce<\/a> program in 1968.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hemp
Anthony “Tony” Humble<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy commerce degree was, considering how my career has turned out, invaluable,\u201d says Humble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating, Humble embarked on a varied career, working in natural resources, finance, and the environmental and biotechnology sectors to name a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he stumbled on the potential to use hemp in constructing homes, he developed his newest business venture, Prosperium<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[This] is the result of a 20-year quest to find the perfect sustainable technology for communities,\u201d Humble says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The revelation hit Humble when he discovered Zeoform<\/a>, an Australian-based company which uses only water and cellulose fibres from hemp to create a \u201cdense, wood-like\u201d product that is  non-toxic and biodegradable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGram for gram,\u201d hemp is \u201cas strong as steel, if not stronger,\u201d Humble says.  \u201cA tree grows in one direction and that\u2019s the direction the grain goes,\u201d but with Zeoform \u201cthe orientation is totally random . . . there\u2019s no grain to split or warp,\u201d says Humble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a product in hand and a vision on the horizon, all he needed was a building partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter, Jesse Bird, a Masters of Architecture student at Carleton.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Hemp<\/figure>\n\n\n

A HERE+NOW Design Competition Winner<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bird earned international recognition last year when his innovative design<\/a> of a main residence, office\/research space and a tiny guest house took first place at the prestigious 2017 HERE+NOW design competition led by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was like a euphoric experience, I didn\u2019t know exactly how to handle it and how big of a scale the win actually was,\u201d Bird says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He beat out nearly 200 submissions from more than 50 architecture schools across North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humble saw a Carleton story about the win<\/a> and couldn\u2019t resist the opportunity to connect with his alma mater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was one of those magic moments . . . Jesse\u2019s an amazing young man,\u201d Humble says. \u201cWhen coincidences like that happen, you\u2019ve got to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the two are partners in a project to build a tiny hemp house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy first thought about Tony was nothing but admiration,\u201d says Carleton Architecture Prof. Sheryl Boyle, who is overseeing the partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cHere\u2019s a young mind working in an incredibly productive and creative environment [and Tony thought]: `Let\u2019s go to the seed of enthusiasm and design intelligence for the future generation, let\u2019s start with them and build forward.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Using hemp as a building material is such a breakthrough because all products would be sustainable and locally produced, giving rise to the “100-Mile House,” based on the 100-Mile Diet lifestyle advocated by Canadian authors Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon<\/a> where one just consumes foods grown and produced in a 100-mile radius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boyle is working with an interdisciplinary team \u2013 including Owen Roland in Biology, Wayne Wang in Chemistry, Jeffrey Erochko in Civil Engineering, and Ian Beausoleil-Morrison and Cynthia Cruikshank in Mechanical Engineering. They hope the design will advance the cause of sustainable communities around the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFinding this connection between nature, art and architecture is what really resonates with me and my values as an architect,\u201d Bird says. \u201cYou\u2019re cultivating a crop, which will result in good farm income . . .  and good secondary income through processing the seeds into flour and oil . . .  but then the products you make out of the fibre, that\u2019s your shelter,\u201d Humble says. \u201cYou\u2019ve got food, shelter and employment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Hemp<\/figure>\n\n\n

Resilience a Key Factor in Hemp House Adoption<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crop\u2019s resilience is another major draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven the most poverty-stricken countries, even the very poor soils around the world, [they] can grow hemp,\u201d Humble says. \u201cWhat we\u2019re doing is creating a fundamental building block for developing countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dream is to ultimately build full-scale homes across the globe based on Bird\u2019s winning design. But the team will start small with a structure that\u2019s about 200 square feet (the size of a one-car garage).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tiny house approach is a great starting point for two reasons, says Boyle.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cOne, it\u2019s manageable time-wise and, two, it tests absolutely all architectural products . . .  and it\u2019s also portable [for testing].\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There\u2019s an important role here as well for hands-on learning and real-world applications for students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArchitecture is about getting in touch with all these real sites where we build things with real clients, real innovators, real materials and real inventors,\u201d Boyle says<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[The workplace] is about managing relationships and communication \u2013 that\u2019s 75 per cent of any job,\u201d Humble adds. \u201cNo more than 25 per cent of it is technical capability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Hemp<\/figure>\n\n\n

From Design to Production<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number 50 finds its way into the story again- this fall, Carleton\u2019s Azrieli School celebrates its 50th anniversary. As part of the celebrations, the team hopes to have the first stage of the project, prototype hardwood floors made of hemp, on display for testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team will then move into building panels, the tiny house and, eventually, the full-scale design. In two-and-a-half years, the research project should be complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Prosperium presents zeoforms revolutionizing technology. We use hemp to create you’re dreams and products! Literally the sky is the limit. Join us and help us spread the word! @zeoform #prosperium #hemp #marijuana #cbd #thc #treehugger #trees #homedecor #home #laughing #love #change #you #it #soeasy #kickstarter #twitch #instagram #helpinghand #branding #technology #newtechnology #revolve<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Prosperium<\/a> (@prosperium_global) on Jun 14, 2018 at 8:40am PDT<\/p>\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to change the building industry,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see nothing but opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Hemp<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Throughout human history, hemp \u2013 the non-psychotropic strain of the plant cannabis sativa \u2013 has been many things. The crop can be eaten or used to make clothing, body lotion, oils, plastic, paper – even fuel. Carl Sagan, the late American astronomer and scientist, went so far as to suggest in his 1977 book that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":48043,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[17,28,31],"cu_story_tag":[1924,1918],"class_list":["post-48031","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-alumni","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_type-sustainability","cu_story_tag-advancement","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-engineering-and-design"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/48031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/48031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98163,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/48031\/revisions\/98163"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=48031"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=48031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}