Pubdate: Thu, 04 Jun 2015
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2015 Star Advertiser
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Author: Kathryn Mykleseth

THE HOUSE THAT HEMP BUILT

Former NBA Coach Don Nelson Touts the Benefits of Building With the Plant

KIHEI, MAUI - Building one of the first homes in Hawaii made of hemp 
has left Hall of Fame NBA coach Don Nelson open to some friendly 
ribbing from his Maui neighbors. "Most of them think they can smoke 
it," Nelson said. While industrial hemp used in the construction of 
homes comes from the same cannabis sativa plant species as marijuana, 
it contains only a small amount of tetrahydrocannabinol - the 
psychoactive chemical that creates the marijuana high.

"You'd have to smoke a telephone pole worth to get a little buzz on," 
said Don's wife, Joy Nelson.

The walls of the Nelsons' 700-square-foot guest house are being 
filled with a material - made out of the chips and fibers of hemp 
stalk mixed with water and lime - called "hempcrete."

Once the smaller house is finished later this month , the next 
project for the Nelsons is to construct the main house on their Sugar 
Beach oceanfront property - a 6,000 square-foot home - with hempcrete.

Don Nelson, 75, said he wanted to use hempcrete because of its low 
environmental impact, noting the sustainability of the hemp plant, 
which can be grown in Hawaii.

"I always felt that hemp was the building material of the future. 
It's a wonderful plant. Some day there will be a lot of hemp homes," 
Nelson said.

The building material is nontoxic and has other advantages for 
construction, including being resistant to insects, mildew and fire.

"We're not killing any trees, which makes us feel good," said Nelson, 
the winningest coach in NBA history. Nelson ended his NBA career in 
2010 with the Golden State Warriors, the team heading into the NBA 
Finals Thursday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

George Rixey, architect and builder of the Nelson homes, said the 
cost for the 700-square-foot hemp house was approximately 15 percent 
more than a home made of traditional materials, primarily because the 
material had to be shipped from Canada and Europe.

Rixey said if hemp could be grown in Hawaii, it would cut the cost.

"It would have a completely 100 percent sustainable building product 
here in the islands," Rixey said. "Someday if someone wanted to tear 
this house down, they could throw it in a dump and it would decompose 
and would be fine. They could also take it, throw it back into a 
bucket and remix it and put it back up again."

The chips of the hempcrete were visible on the walls when Rixey and 
the Nelsons walked around the small house before the final touches. 
The home was built with conventional wood studs and the hempcrete was 
used as a filler for the walls. Stucco will be applied to the outside 
of the home and plaster on the inside of the home before it is complete.

The hempcrete adds insulation to the home, keeping it cool inside on 
warm days and warm on cooler days.

"Looking for sustainability is really difficult in the building 
industry," Rixey said. "Along comes this hempcrete which is (in) 
every category you can imagine for sustainability in building."

State Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R, Kailua-Kaneohe) has been pushing for 
the use of industrial hemp in Hawaii for the past 19 years.

"My vision is on each island we grow the hemp and one use would be 
hempcrete. You have a ready material right there to build the walls 
of your home," said Thielen.

Hawaii currently has one site on Oahu reserved for growing and 
testing hemp at the University of Hawaii's Waimanalo Research Station.

Lawmakers introduced a measure, House Bill 508, last session that 
would allow the growing of industrial hemp under certain specified 
conditions. The bill proposed a grant program to help with 
registration of industrial hemp growers and seed testing. It would 
have provided a way to license farmers to grow hemp. Lawmakers 
deferred the bill in conference committee.

Thielen, 81, blamed the defeat of the bill on a handful of lawmakers 
who still confuse hemp with marijuana.

"Because there are a few people in the Legislature that are afraid of 
a crop that won't get anyone high," Thielen said, "we're restricted 
to one single research plot."

Denise Key, director of Industrial Hemp Hawaii and chairwoman of the 
hemp subcommittee of Hawai'i Farmers Union United, said that more 
test sites are necessary to successfully research and build a hemp 
industry in Hawaii.

"We need to find the right seed for Hawaii," Key said. "The farmers 
want to grow it. There was support all around."

Joy Nelson said Key introduced her to using hemp as a construction 
material. After hearing about all of the benefits, Nelson said she 
decided to use hempcrete for the guest home on the family property.

Joy Nelson's daughter, Lee McBride, said she was excited to be moving 
into the guest house, especially after learning how hempcrete 
insulates, making it easier to keep spaces cool.

"I have allergies, it is supposed to help with allergies and it is 
supposed to be more cost-efficient with heating and cooling," McBride said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom