THE FLORA | A BOUTIQUE HOTEL
A MIXED-USE HEMP-LIME BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN SISTERS, OREGON
The Flora will be a 3,000 SF mixed-use building in downtown Sisters, Oregon. It will have 1,500 SF of commercial space on the first floor and 1,500 SF of residential space on the second floor. The Flora will take advantage of Sisters significant tourism industry and utilize the three upstairs units as short-term rentals and the downstairs commercial space as four hotel rooms. The short-term rentals and hotel rooms will operate as one boutique hotel for the Sisters area.
This unique building will be constructed with hemp-lime (also known as hempcrete), a high performance bio-based building material. The hemp-lime will provide a monolithic envelope and will serve as insulation and substrate for lime plaster finishes. Using this simple yet highly effective envelope eliminates the need for the multilayered chemical laden wall assemblies typically seen in construction today.
Hemp-lime is made from industrial hemp hurd, lime and water. Hemp and lime have been used in construction for thousands of years and have experienced a resurgence over the last several decades outside the United States where industrial hemp has been legal. The 2018 United States Farm Bill opened the door to produce hemp in this country and the hemp building industry has been growing ever since.
The benefits of hemp-lime include:
- Increased energy efficiency (up to 70% more efficient than typical construction)
- Dynamic thermal insulation and thermal mass
- Passive temperature and humidity regulation
- All-natural & non-toxic (an ideal environment for people with allergies or respiratory sensitivities)
- Fire resistant
- Earthquake resistant
- Rot & mold resistant
- Insect and rodent resistant
- Effective acoustic performance
- Negative carbon footprint and continued CO2 sequestration for the life of the building
- Highly renewable (2.5 acres of industrial hemp provides enough hemp for a 1,250 sf house)
- Can be a local material depending on where hemp is grown and processed
- Zero waste and compostable at end of life
Outside of the United States, hemp-lime is used in both residential and commercial buildings. Currently, the challenge with using hemp-lime for commercial buildings is the lack of fire-rating documentation; there are currently no certified fire-rated hemp-lime wall assemblies in the United States. To solve this issue, Perennial Building had their hemp-lime wall assembly fire tested by an independent testing facility and received the required 1-hr fire rating. A fire protection engineer will certify the final wall assembly details to satisfy the local building department’s life safety review.
To complement the hemp-lime, The Flora will incorporate other healthy and sustainable materials that have little to no toxic chemicals and embodied carbon.
MARKETING
The intention of The Flora is to help bring hemp-lime construction and bio-based building material into the public’s awareness, ultimately increasing demand and helping lower material cost. Hemp building is a new industry in the United States, awareness and demand are low, and the supply chain is nascent. All of which can cause the material to be more expensive than it will be once it reaches an economy of scale. As the industry grows, the hope is that hemp-lime construction will scale, making healthy and sustainable homes accessible to more people.
The building will have a website promoting hemp-lime, explaining the construction process & benefits, and marketing the other materials used in the building. Marketing outlets will include travel websites, local & national business publications, construction and tourism publications, and hemp building industry events and organizations.
ADDED VALUE
It is well documented that sustainably built and healthy buildings consistently earn higher rents in the marketplace and have higher occupancy. We anticipate The Flora will be no different. This project will stand out in the short term rental and hotel market by providing a hemp-lime experience guests could not otherwise have.
Also, the layout and mixed-use zoning of the building offers significant programming flexibility in the future should demand change to mid-term or long-term rentals for the upstairs units and retail or office for the downstairs units. If the commercial space is utilized as office or retail, higher rents and lower turnover can be expected due to the energy cost savings and healthy environment.
The intention is to receive green building certifications such as Energy Star Net Zero and CEC New Homes.
TEAM
The team is led by Perennial Building, a Central Oregon general contracting firm established in 2019. Co-founders Karen Rugg and Ashley Bice have over 30 years combined experience in commercial and residential construction and are implementing hemp-lime construction to accomplish their mission of fostering sustainability, equity & community through the built environment. Perennial Building will act as the owner-operator upon project completion.
The design team includes Mayes Architecture, Eclipse Engineering (structural), Intuitive Engineering (fire protection), and an energy consultant. UK Hempcrete is also consulting on this project, sharing their extensive knowledge in building residential and commercial hemp-lime buildings in the UK.