Hemp Fiber for Green Design

Suzy Hodgson

A tour of Zion Growers followed by hands-on session focused on the opportunities to design green products with Vermont hemp fibers.

Vermont Marble Museum

U﻿VM Extension, Zion Growers, Hemp Hollow Processing, Vermont Green Building Network, and Smokey House Farm invite you to join us for a guided tour of Zion Growers new soon-to-be hemp processing operations, followed by a design brainstorming session to develop ideas for prototyping green building and design products using hemp bast and hurd fibers as well as other fiber from crops grown in Vermont.Hemp provides dual crops of grain and fiber, with multiple end uses, which are potentially carbon negative and renewable. Hemp also improves diversification to Vermont&#x27;s agricultural economy and provides value-added production opportunities, including new products for the bio-based green building sector which mitigates climate change and provides a healthy living environment. In this hands-on session, we will discuss both barriers and opportunities to developing this emerging marketplace and what the next steps can be for helping Vermont farmers grow and process hemp. The tour will show what needs to be done to retrofit the large space formerly used for marble to the new uses for hemp. Partners Pooling their experience and expertise together, Laura Cavin Bailey, chair of the Vermont Green Building Network and the Climate Economy Program Manager at the Vermont Council on Rural Development, brings multiple perspectives around the importance of collaborative discussions. Andrea Myklebust is a flax and hemp farmer as well as fiber arts teacher who is overseeing hemp cultivation trials at the Smokey House Center in Danby for this project. Steve Kostell, Community Development &amp; Applied Economics, UVM, teaches and directs UVM&#x27;s biomass and paper-making lab. Laura Sullivan is a fiber artist and Crops and Soils Coordinator at UVM Extension. T﻿ravis Samuels , CEO, Zion Growers, launched his hemp fiber processing company in 2019 and moved to the Vermont marble location in 2022. Alex Escher, Founder of Hemp Hollow Processing, LLC is the Director of Hemp Fiber Application at Escher Design and the Regional Leader of the US Hemp Building Association. Molly Wickes is the new Executive Director, Vermont Marble Museum. Suzy Hodgson, project manager with UVM Extension and the Climate Learning Forum, USDA Northeast Climate Hub, develops collaborations and builds partnerships for climate smart and value-added sustainable agricultural innovations.Who should come? Any interested person including (but not limited to) those involved in the hemp supply/value chain from farmer/producer to processor; designers and users including building trades, building industry, designers; and climate mitigation advocates.This workshop is free and refreshments will be provided.To request a disability-related accommodation to participate in this session, please contact Suzy Hodgson sbhodgson@uvm.edu at least two weeks before the event so we may assist you. Carpooling Please contact any of the partners for carpooling opportunities and check https://carpoolorganiser.com/ where we will post carpooling offers soon.This event is supported by University of Vermont Extension and U.S. Department of Agriculture, through the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number 2021-38640-34668.

Hemp Fiber for Green Design

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Hemp Fiber for Green Design

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