Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Ketchum and Sun Valley can add another item to their list of accolades, now that the area plays host to the first public facility in the United States made of hemp.
Idaho Base Camp, a nonprofit organization formed in 2014, has finished construction of its Borah Basin Building, located at its headquarters on the other side of Trail Creek Pass, northeast of Ketchum and Sun Valley.
The building is made with about 75 percent recycled materials, including a passive solar design and solar thermal heating. Its hempcrete materials are an insulated bio-aggregate that uses the wooden core of industrial hemp–known as the "hurd"–as its primary component.
Combined with a lime-mineral based binder and water, it absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and uses it as a reagent to solidify into an insulating form.
"It is an example of responsible and sustainable architecture," Idaho Base Camp wrote in a press release.
To celebrate the completion of the three-year project, Idaho Base Camp will hold a ribbon-cutting party on Saturday, Aug. 5, from 1-4 p.m. at its headquarters over Trail Creek. For more information on how to get there, contact Idaho Base Camp at office@idahobasecamp.org or 208-720-1822.
The event will include live music, food and samplings of the program offerings possible in the new building, which was made possible by donations from the Elaine P. Wynn and Family Foundation.
Whitney McNees, co-director of the organization, said the idea for the building came about after staff decided they wanted to build a community space.
"There are yurts and camping, but until now there hadn't been a large space for groups to gather indoors," McNees said. "It opens up opportunities for more retreats and educational experiences, as well as extends our season of use to a four-season facility."
They wanted the building to be built in line with the organization's mission of advocating for and educating about sustainability practices. Mattie Mead, the architect who designed the building, signed on after McNees read an article about a friend of her brother's who won a business model competition on the East Coast, the runner up of which was Mead with his company Hempitecture.
Hempitecture advocates using industrial hemp for building materials because it is environmentally friendly and contributes to carbon sequestration.
"I called him on the phone, told him what we were planning and that we wanted to build sustainably, and he came out for a visit," McNees said. "The rest is history."
Since then, Mead has settled in Ketchum and serves as a Planning and Zoning commissioner for the city of Ketchum.
"We partnered up with [architect] Dale Bates and a huge team of volunteers and workers to make this dream come true," McNees said.
The building will be used for any number of things. It is intended to be used for a community gathering space, McNees said.
"We envision anything from classroom space, to writers workshops, to yoga, dance and movement retreats, to shelter from the elements," McNees said.
Mead said there are always challenges when working with a new material.
"Hempcrete has great advantages but has limitations, such as a long curing process that happens as the walls absorb carbon dioxide," Mead said. "During this process, the temperatures should not be below freezing, so we needed to think of ways to make the construction process more efficient to avoid night-time freezing temperatures in the early fall. To address this, we ultimately used a panelized construction method that allowed foundation work to happen simultaneously as our wall segments where being built and curing."
Bates, the architect and project manager, brought his experience on many other natural building projects and was able to get various tradespeople on the remote site when it was critical.
"The organization of the entire building process becomes even more critical when you're miles away from the nearest hardware and lumber store," Mead said. "In this sense, the learning curve of hempcrete was secondary towards the challenge of the overall organization of the entire project. The project would have encountered many more challenges had it not been for the organizational leadership of this collaborative project."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Idaho Basecamp builds first public hemp building in U.S. | Events | mtexpress.com
Contact: Contact Us | Site | mtexpress.com
Photo Credit: Larissa Romensky
Website: mtexpress.com | News, Sports, Arts, Events, Calendar and Classifieds for Sun Valley, Ketchum, Hailey, Bellevue, Carey and Blaine County, Idaho - Idaho Mountain Express Newspaper - mtexpress.com
Idaho Base Camp, a nonprofit organization formed in 2014, has finished construction of its Borah Basin Building, located at its headquarters on the other side of Trail Creek Pass, northeast of Ketchum and Sun Valley.
The building is made with about 75 percent recycled materials, including a passive solar design and solar thermal heating. Its hempcrete materials are an insulated bio-aggregate that uses the wooden core of industrial hemp–known as the "hurd"–as its primary component.
Combined with a lime-mineral based binder and water, it absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and uses it as a reagent to solidify into an insulating form.
"It is an example of responsible and sustainable architecture," Idaho Base Camp wrote in a press release.
To celebrate the completion of the three-year project, Idaho Base Camp will hold a ribbon-cutting party on Saturday, Aug. 5, from 1-4 p.m. at its headquarters over Trail Creek. For more information on how to get there, contact Idaho Base Camp at office@idahobasecamp.org or 208-720-1822.
The event will include live music, food and samplings of the program offerings possible in the new building, which was made possible by donations from the Elaine P. Wynn and Family Foundation.
Whitney McNees, co-director of the organization, said the idea for the building came about after staff decided they wanted to build a community space.
"There are yurts and camping, but until now there hadn't been a large space for groups to gather indoors," McNees said. "It opens up opportunities for more retreats and educational experiences, as well as extends our season of use to a four-season facility."
They wanted the building to be built in line with the organization's mission of advocating for and educating about sustainability practices. Mattie Mead, the architect who designed the building, signed on after McNees read an article about a friend of her brother's who won a business model competition on the East Coast, the runner up of which was Mead with his company Hempitecture.
Hempitecture advocates using industrial hemp for building materials because it is environmentally friendly and contributes to carbon sequestration.
"I called him on the phone, told him what we were planning and that we wanted to build sustainably, and he came out for a visit," McNees said. "The rest is history."
Since then, Mead has settled in Ketchum and serves as a Planning and Zoning commissioner for the city of Ketchum.
"We partnered up with [architect] Dale Bates and a huge team of volunteers and workers to make this dream come true," McNees said.
The building will be used for any number of things. It is intended to be used for a community gathering space, McNees said.
"We envision anything from classroom space, to writers workshops, to yoga, dance and movement retreats, to shelter from the elements," McNees said.
Mead said there are always challenges when working with a new material.
"Hempcrete has great advantages but has limitations, such as a long curing process that happens as the walls absorb carbon dioxide," Mead said. "During this process, the temperatures should not be below freezing, so we needed to think of ways to make the construction process more efficient to avoid night-time freezing temperatures in the early fall. To address this, we ultimately used a panelized construction method that allowed foundation work to happen simultaneously as our wall segments where being built and curing."
Bates, the architect and project manager, brought his experience on many other natural building projects and was able to get various tradespeople on the remote site when it was critical.
"The organization of the entire building process becomes even more critical when you're miles away from the nearest hardware and lumber store," Mead said. "In this sense, the learning curve of hempcrete was secondary towards the challenge of the overall organization of the entire project. The project would have encountered many more challenges had it not been for the organizational leadership of this collaborative project."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Idaho Basecamp builds first public hemp building in U.S. | Events | mtexpress.com
Contact: Contact Us | Site | mtexpress.com
Photo Credit: Larissa Romensky
Website: mtexpress.com | News, Sports, Arts, Events, Calendar and Classifieds for Sun Valley, Ketchum, Hailey, Bellevue, Carey and Blaine County, Idaho - Idaho Mountain Express Newspaper - mtexpress.com
