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Infill Housing Site

Lowry Engineering assisted Grassroots Development in designing a site layout for two houses in downtown Fargo, ND. Grassroots Development’s President, Justin Berg, built two identical houses, one with traditional fiberglass insulation and the other with hempcrete, as a research study. Lowry Engineering’s site layout met City requirements for parking, open space, and building proximity to provide Grassroots Development usable space for their homes. Lowry Engineering also provided sanitary sewer and water routing for each building and a drainage plan that will effectively remove stormwater from the site. These aspects of the design were challenging due to the restricted size of the site, existing structures around the site, and the high traffic volume on adjacent roadways.

To read more about the hempcrete home, click here! 

 Side note on the project: 
The hempcrete serves as the full cavity wall (still with stick framing albeit reduced lumber/24 OC vs 16 OC) that replaces the OSB, housewrap, sheetrock. Both the exterior and interior are sealed with a lime plaster that is breathable and a protectant. Fire resistant (ASTM standard), mold resistant, negative carbon sequestration, R2 - 2.4 per inch, reduced energy needs/equipment, and biodegradable, non-toxic materials. The goal is to lower life cycle costs and a structure that will last as it will get harder over time.