On the road with the HurdMaster; Catching up with builders in Amsterdam, farmers in Italy
We demonstrated the HurdMaster MD1000Air, the latest iteration of our micro-decorticator, which drew great interest from those recently attending the 11th Symposium of the International Hemp Building Association (IHBA). Participants from all over the world took part in the Symposium, held this year in Amsterdam.
A number of machines involved in the hempcrete construction supply chain were demonstrated at IHBA, which also featured presentations about research science, new technologies and products, and hemp-building projects. The symposium is organized by Steve Allin, IHBA Director.
We also visited the Voorst town hall in Twello, Netherlands, a massive hempcrete casting rebuild. The city has created a public example that reflects the municipality’s climate change and sustainability goals. Built in the 1980s, the original building was typical of structures from that era in that it could not perform in an energy-efficient manner.
Following the IHBA Symposium in Amsterdam, we visited Villa Canapa, a northern Italy hemp farming and hospitality destination, where we also demonstrated the HurdMaster. While the HurdMaster is rated at an output of 50 kg per hour, an Italian crew showed that with a well-organized processing setup, the machine can achieve 100 kg per hour!
A hemp training center and event organizer, Villa Canapa raises awareness of hemp and its possibilities for sustainable use in various sectors, such as textiles, construction and cosmetics. Their farm grows hemp using sustainable techniques to obtain high-quality products. We highly recommend a visit!
The HurdMaster is perfect for operators in certain parts of Italy, where farming and the hemp value chain are on a smaller scale. The local stakeholders who observed the HurdMaster demonstration showed a lot of interest in our technology.