Data centers
The same mill can sell hurd into a data-center wall
This is a potential market. It is not a purchase order.
Microsoft funded a 2021 study. Microsoft has not bought hurd from this mill. Microsoft has not publicly built a hempcrete data center. What they built in Virginia is mass timber.
Studies
- Carbon Leadership Forum, University of Washington, Transformative Carbon-Storing Materials (Feb 2021). Microsoft-funded. Hemp and hempcrete are listed among carbon-storing fibers. Fire resistance, moisture handling, carbon storage, non-toxicity. carbonleadershipforum.org · PDF
- Data Center Dynamics write-up of that paper. datacenterdynamics.com
- Chris Magwood / HempBuild on hempcrete panels for fireproof data-center work. hempbuildmag.com
- What Microsoft actually built — Gensler mass-timber hyperscale, Northern Virginia. Timber, not hemp. gensler.com · Data Center Dynamics
- American Cement Association, data-center cement demand. 247,000 metric tons of cement into US data centers in 2025. About 860,000–1,000,000 metric tons over three years. 5,426 operating facilities (March 2025) toward about 6,000 by the end of 2027. ACA PDF · S&P Global
- USDA NASS National Hemp Report, April 2026. Fiber utilized $13,453,000. 21,693 acres. 3,104 lb per acre. Total hemp $739 million. hempan26.pdf
Why this can be a market
Data-center builders already buy low-carbon envelopes (mass timber, low-carbon concrete). Hempcrete and hemp batts are the plant-based envelope SKU — walls, panels, insulation. Not the structural frame. Steel, timber, or concrete still carry the load.
The stall is the first market that pays to stand a decorticator. Construction-grade shiv is the second cut from the same machine. Bast is a third SKU. Compost stays on CleanLoop. Construction revenue is not inside the $1,081 stall net.
Planning math
Every line below is an estimate.
Hempcrete-class fill
- 8 inches = 0.203 m
- Hurd in the mix: 147 kg per m³ of placed hempcrete. Published planning band 110–150 kg/m³. The table uses 147.
Case 1 — 100,000 ft² of wall, panel, or insulation
- 100,000 ft² = 9,290 m²
- × 0.203 m = 1,886 m³
- × 147 kg/m³ = 277,200 kg = 277 metric tons = 306 short tons of hurd
- = 20,400 bags of 30 lb
Acres to grow that hurd
- NASS 2025 fiber: 3,104 lb stalk per acre. Hurd ≈ 70% of stalk → 2,173 lb hurd per acre = 1.09 short tons per acre.
- 306 ÷ 1.09 = 281 NASS acres.
- University fiber trials often run 5–8 dry tons of stalk per acre → about 90–150 acres. Both bands are shown.
Dollars if that same hurd is sold
- Bagged stall ladder already on the site: $16 / 30 lb = $1,067 per short ton.
- 306 × $1,067 = $326,000. Illustration only. A builder does not buy retail bags.
- Bulk construction shiv band $0.25–$0.40 / lb ($500–$800 per short ton), below bagged retail.
- 306 × $500 = $153,000
- 306 × $800 = $245,000
Case 2 — ten such envelopes
3,060 short tons. 2,810 NASS acres. Bagged $3.26 million. Bulk $1.53–$2.45 million. Estimate.
Case 3 — one hundred such envelopes
30,600 short tons. 28,100 NASS acres. Bagged $32.6 million. Bulk $15.3–$24.5 million. Estimate.
NASS 2025 harvested fiber is 21,693 acres. One hundred envelopes at the NASS yield is more acres than the entire current US fiber crop. That is the point of the table. It is not a booked order.
| Case | Hurd | NASS acres | Bagged at $16 / 30 lb | Bulk shiv |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 — one envelope | 306 short tons | 281 | $326,000 | $153,000–$245,000 |
| 2 — ten envelopes | 3,060 short tons | 2,810 | $3.26 million | $1.53–$2.45 million |
| 3 — one hundred envelopes | 30,600 short tons | 28,100 | $32.6 million | $15.3–$24.5 million |
How many mills that demand would keep busy
Reference mill already on the site: Dakota Hemp, Wakonda, South Dakota. Proven 2,000 lb of stalk per hour. Hurd is about 70 percent of stalk, so 1,400 lb of hurd per hour. At 2,000 operating hours a year that is 2,800,000 lb, or 1,400 short tons of hurd per mill-year. Estimate.
| Demand | Hurd, short tons | Dakota-class mill-years |
|---|---|---|
| Case 1, one envelope | 306 | 0.22 |
| Case 2, ten envelopes | 3,060 | 2.2 |
| Case 3, one hundred envelopes | 30,600 | 22 |
| Saratoga, 1,820 stalls, bedding already on this site | 275 tons, from stall ledger | 0.2 |
One Dakota-class mill can bed Saratoga and still have most of its year for construction shiv.
Ten envelopes is about two mill-years.
A hundred envelopes is a regional mill map, not one plant.
US context, labeled estimate, not a forecast and not a Microsoft order. The American Cement Association: 247,000 metric tons of cement into US data centers in 2025, and close to 1 million metric tons over three years. Concrete is about 8 percent of global CO₂. Hempcrete does not replace structural concrete. It replaces envelope and insulation tons. If 5 percent of new US data-center envelope used the Case 1 fill, that is on the order of tens of Case-1 envelopes and several Dakota-class mill-years.
Order of work
- Stand the mill on stall demand. First SKU is bagged cleaned hurd at the Dakota $16 / 30 lb ladder.
- Specify construction-grade shiv as SKU two on the same decorticator.
- The compost pad stays on CleanLoop. Those dollars stay on that page. They are not inside the $1,081.
- Take the Carbon Leadership Forum / Microsoft paper to building-product and data-center materials buyers as the credibility document.
- Hempcrete is a wall and an insulation fill. Steel, timber, or concrete still carry the load.