A local innovator’s hard work is
paying off after his tiny hempcrete
houses won three of four award
categories Sept. 15 at the first-ever
GROW Calgary Micro Home Design
and Build Competition.
Dion Lefebvre and his team of 22
won top marks for Best Team, Best
Home Smaller Than 109 square feet
and Best Open Entry Under 400 sq.
ft. Built Off Site. A fourth category,
Best Concept Design, is still being
judged. There were nine other entries
in the competition.
He also was voted the Most Valuable
Builder.
“I’m on top of the world,” he said.
“What a crazy ride this summer has
been. It was a real group effort all
around.
“The whole aim of the project is to
showcase affordable housing options
for the homeless,” he added, estimating
that the competition alone built
10 homes for less than $35,000. “Our
focus was local and sustainable.”
His usage of hempcrete — a biodegrable,
sustainable building material
made out of industrial hemp
waste that can absorb pollutants out
of the atmosphere and can hold heat
for hours on end, made him stand
out among his peers.
One of his two entries was dubbed
the “Micro 108” because it is literally
108 sq. ft. The majority of the
micro home was built in Westlock
and finished in Calgary. Construction
took approximately two weeks
and the building cost him $12,000
with donations. Lefebvre estimated
the building would have cost $20,000
if he had covered all the costs. Broken
down, the home could be built at
roughly $100 per square foot.
A second micro home he built earlier
in Westlock, his proof-in-concept,
was also entered in the competition
and was awarded the Best Under
400 sq. ft. Both homes are still in
Calgary.
Lefebvre noted that much of the
credit goes to his 22-person strong
team from across the nation.
“We had some real heavy hitters
spread across Alberta, B.C. and
Manitoba,” he said. “The best of the
best in natural building was on my
team.”
Aside from the glory of winning,
Lefebvre said the village mentality
of the competition was very educational
as builders traded ideas about
materials, structures and designs
among each other and enjoyed campfires
at night.
“We had some pretty good competition
that kept us on our toes,” he
said. “We were up against a 10-sided
geodesic dome that folds up into the
back of a truck. It was pretty sweet,
it actually won fan favourite. Now it
will be retrofitted with hempcrete.
All the teams helped each other one
way or another, either through information
sharing, tool sharing or,
material sharing.
“Then we all sat around the campfire
and drank beer after. It was a
real collaborative effort.”
Now that he’s established hempcrete
as a viable building material,
the sky’s the limit for Lefebvre. He
said he’s looking to start building
custom portable homes up to 400
square feet, though he figures the
design could be scaled all the way
up to 3,000 square feet.
“We’re at the capacity now where
we can facilitate cottage builds for
lakesides. We’ve got the team to
make things code-inspected, we’ve
got engineers that can approve different
mixes and work with building
code inspectors on this,” he said. “It’s
come a long ways, but we’re set to
build now.”
He said anyone interested should
phone him at (780) 283-2837.
Lefebvre is also pegged to host
next year’s competition, potentially
here in Westlock. He said he was
planning to speak to both Westlock
County and Town of Westlock councils
later in the year about the prospect
and begin drumming up community
support and sponsorship.
In the meantime, he’s still enjoying
the euphoria of victory. He expressed
his thanks to his sponsors
and to Westlock County for allowing
him to work on his inventions.
