Come join us and learn from Sergiy Kovalenkov, an internationally known hemp lime builder that has worked on over 100 hemp lime projects across the globe including recently, in the United States, at the Kosmos Stargazer Resort.
Hempire, the company for which Sergiy is the CEO, is known for its innovation in building housing for displaced families for 170 displaced individuals and war orphans in Ukraine.
All which show Sergiy’s a passion for architectural design working on traditional style of builds but also his thinking outside of the box with hemp lime dome construction.
As a guest of We Stand for The Trees, Sergiy will be leading us on theory and application of hemp lime in September 2025. These workshops are in Sanders County. Where wildfires in recent years, have made the wildfire urban interface of the local small towns more apparent as flames scorched the edges of the most outer developed areas. Come Join us September 12 or September 13 to get hands on hemp lime building experience.
According to Kovalenkov, Hempire has tested the flammability resistance of Hemp Lime. “After applying a flame of 1650 Degrees to a 6 inch hemp lime block. Hempire found that the inner side of the block never rose above 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Making hemp lime a good material for building fire resistant homes” to quote Sergiy from an online interview by We Stand For the Trees for Montana Cannabis Magazine Summer 2025 edition.
More about Hemp Lime as a natural fire resistant construction material
Smoke often fills the big sky of Montana, wafting through red glowing horizons from the wildfires that occur frequently during the summer months, Many residents of Montana are employed as wildfire fighters. Risking their lives to keep their communities safe from wildfires.
Those seeking to recreate in the wild areas have to know the current fire restrictions and follow them carefully as 85% of all wildfires are human caused. Sparks from debris burning, machinery, cigarette butts, cannabis joints, bowls or unattended campfires can all cause wildfires.
Alarmingly, Incidences of wildfires are known to be increasing. A report from NASA indicates that 60 % of all known Western US wildfires have occurred since the year 2000. Many residents take precautions about protecting their homes from wildfires such as clearing brush and trees and having available irrigation lines to keep vegetation wet.
Fire insurance is often purchased but with the increase of wildfire danger insurance costs are increasing and have doubled in the last decade as shown in Montana. Fire insurance approval may also be hard to get for homes constructed in a WUI.
Even so more new houses are getting built, in the wilderness urban interfaces (WUI), where wildfire danger is the greatest. So it is here in the WUI here that another defence against wildfire danger can be instituted.
Hemp Lime, a bio based material for housing construction that has been tested to show combustion resistance when high temperature flames are applied. This makes hemp lime an appealing construction material for building houses located in the wildfire urban interface.
Hemp lime is created when strands of fiber are removed for the outer hemp stalk; the inner woody fibre called the hurd can then be chopped into small pieces, mixed with water and a lime binder.
This hemp lime can be pressed into bricks or wall forms that are supported by timber framing or other structural framework like bamboo.
When this hemp lime mixture dries it becomes hardened and can be covered with another natural material such as clay or lime plaster. Though hemp lime can be covered with other materials such as wood paneling. Clay or lime plaster is the best choice because it allows the walls to sequester carbon which helps the hemp lime form into a stone-like material over time when the hemp lime is alchemized by carbon in a process called petrification. This makes the hemp lime less porous, increases the hardness and durability to withstand the environmental effects of fires and freezing weather.
Come learn more and get some hands-on experience at one or both workshops this September 12 and 13, 2025.
