Innovative Hempwood Uses Soy
Article provided by Kentucky Soybean Board, by Rae Wagoner
Entrepreneur and HempWood® Founder Greg Wilson said that while he fields a number of media requests, not many of them lead with, “so, I understand that you are using soy in your new product.” But a visit to his Calloway County plant proves that to be true.
Wilson was living and working in China, making flooring out of bamboo, when he listened to a podcast about hemp in the United States. The podcast noted that Kentucky used to be the number one hemp-producing state, and that hemp production has experienced a resurgence. Wilson said that he Googled “Kentucky hemp,” and the top three search results were the University of Kentucky, a company called SunStrand, and Murray State University. Though he couldn’t easily get in touch with the right person at UK and SunStrand has since ceased operations, Wilson said he connected with Dr. Tony Brannon, Dean of Murray State University’s Hutson School of Agriculture, pretty quickly, and Dr. Brannon’s response to his inquiry was, “we can help – when are you coming?”
The rest is history. HempWood located in Murray, became a Foundational Partner of the MSU Center for Agricultural Hemp, and continues to partner on support projects ranging from production, processing, safety and chemistry-based adhesive research.
Wilson co-founded Fibonacci LLC in 2018 and has patented HempWood, which is made from compressed hemp stalks and sealed with a soy-based adhesive. Why hemp? Wilson said that by using biomimicry, the workers at his 16,500 square-foot facility can take hemp that takes 3-4 months to grow and turn it into something that is comparable to trees that can take up to 200 years to mature.
Where does the soy come into play? One issue with building materials is that many use phenol formaldehyde, which Wilson said is on its way out because it emits VOCs (volatile organic compounds) as gases, which may have adverse health effects. Working with renewable, sustainable hemp and knowing the niche market to which he’s targeting his product, Wilson knew he had to use a renewable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly adhesive to bind the hemp fibers into a strong, solid block which is called a cant in the lumber industry.
“The soy glue is actually a greater scientific achievement than the use of hemp,” Wilson said. In addition to the adhesive, Wilson said the process includes soy protein, which brings the total soy content of HempWood to just a little over 12 percent.
The process of turning hemp stalks and soy glue into six-by-six inch, four-foot blocks of HempWood is currently a labor- and time-intense one. The company has contracted with growers in a 100-mile radius to grow the fiber hemp variety used for this product. While hemp plants bred for their cannabidiold (CBD) content are short and bushy, fiber hemp varieties often grow up to 12 feet tall. The fiber from these plants is the strongest naturally occurring fiber, and because of the short growing season, fiber hemp is often double-cropped behind wheat.
The process of turning raw hemp and soy into HempWood is unlike anything else being done in the United States, Wilson said, so having Charles Harris as his machine manager is key to the success of this venture. Harris is a tool and die fabricator by trade and has worked in factory set-up and maintenance for decades. This past year, he said, “has been the most interesting one... by a long shot.” Harris is a bit of an inventor, and that serves well in this pilot plant. He said that he had heard about HempWood coming to town, thought it sounded interesting, and tried to apply for a job. “The website told me to upload my resume online,” he said with a smile. “I don’t think I’ve done a resume since I was made to in high school, and I wanted to see more of what was going on, so I just stopped by one day. Greg was here, and we got to talking, and here I am.”
Harris has proven instrumental in creative problem-solving. He has retrofitted tobacco presses and dryers purchased from the Carolinas, he’s looked at other drying apparatuses and designed his own, and he’s installed a bioburner to heat the facility and fuel the dryers using excess biomass and sawdust. Harris and Wilson have spent countless hours studying the process as it evolves and brainstorming ways to make it less labor-intense and more automated while keeping the product quality at its current high standard.
The most automated step in the process is near the end – the massive press machine that was custom-built in China and shipped over for installation. Wilson credits Congressman James Comer with helping to cut through some of the red tape involved with both the machinery and the production and processing of the hemp itself. Comer was invited to cut the symbolic ribbon, which he did on August 26 of 2019. That’s the same day the first cant came off the production line.
As production increased through the fall and winter months, stock on hand added up. Wilson was scheduled to introduce architects and builders to HempWood at a number of trade shows this spring, but as COVID-19 canceled show after show and closed store after store, those plans were put on hold. “The story is great, but we gotta get the market recaptured. Since COVID happened, everything got put on hold. We are basically an online sales company now, located in the middle of a cornfield.”
“Therein lies our biggest problem right now,” he said. “We are continuing on the production schedule to ramp up output as much as 20 percent per month in order to be cash-flow positive from a manufacturing output standpoint by the end of this quarter.”
Marketing Manager John Crye is optimistic about the future of this flooring product. His plans include advertising in architectural magazines and participating in trade shows once they resume, and he says, “once we get that first big feature, demand is going to explode.” He praised Wilson for his foresight in locating between the UPS hub in Louisville and the FedEx hub in Memphis, looking forward to the time that logistics will play a larger role in the company’s success.
Initial markets for HempWood are mostly on the west coast, starting with California, where formaldehyde glue is illegal, and eco-friendly sectors that contain early adopters who can pay for a premium product. “Some of our early-adopter customers are dispensaries in California and Washington,” Wilson said. “CBD shops and eco-friendly businesses like yoga studios are also great, but all that stuff got put on hold because of COVID-19.”
The flooring is currently being made just to the south of us by a company called Tennessee Wood Floorings. They specialize in reclaimed barnwood flooring, so HempWood flooring was an extension of their existing niche.
In addition to flooring for homes and commercial buildings, HempWood is suitable for a wide variety of crafting and home accent uses. Wilson has bowls, tables, cutting boards, picture frames and even duck calls fashioned from HempWood, and the distinct pattern in the grain makes for an attractive and unique look.
Aside from being attractive, HempWood is environmentally friendly, renewable and sustainable, made in the USA and a member of the Kentucky Proud program. It also counteracts global deforestation. COVID concerns notwithstanding, it’s evident that Wilson, Harris, Crye and the other members of the HempWood team have the skills and work ethic to turn this innovative idea into a mainstream construction material. Learn more at www.HempWood.com or follow the company on Facebook and Instagram.
