HAIZ – Hemp Agro-Industrial Zone

There is no question that over time, the industrial applications of hemp will become the largest and most profitable market segment for hemp, even greater than cannabinoid-based products. News coverage of companies developing value-added products for industrial applications of hemp is rapidly increasing, demonstrating the growth that is now occurring in this segment of the hemp industry.

Minimizing transportation costs is the key to a successful industrial hemp operation, as raw materials are extremely bulky, of low value, and requires large amounts of material to be moved from farm to processing. With the high cost of transport today, the shorter the distance, the more likely an opportunity for profitability. The HAIZ is part of the Company’s ongoing business strategy which utilizes the exceptional properties of the hemp plant for the production of raw materials and other value-added products, assembled in a centralized location adjacent to the hemp farming activity. Such production processes will be essentially waste free.

Through partnerships, joint ventures, and acquisitions, Global Hemp Group will collaborate with a strategic portfolio of forward-thinking companies that also believe in the disruptive potential of the industrial hemp plant. The HAIZ focuses on the utilization of the hurd (inner woody core) and fibre, to create products which have the greatest environmental impact. A few such areas include building materials, bio-composites, textiles, and nonwovens, to name just a few. The HAIZ has been designed to be replicable in any region where there is hemp cultivation.

GHG is participating in a housing project with Inno-Habitat-Victo, the local affordable housing authority together with BGA Architects, a local architectural firm committed to energy-efficient housing using natural materials. The city has donated the land for the project. The project consists of one three-apartment building that will be built with hempcrete blocks. The floors of the buildings will use cement-free, carbon-negative concrete panels made of industrial by-products and captured CO2 (eg. [CarbiCrete products](#)) to further reduce the carbon footprint of the building. The principal function of the pilot project will be to generate information on the construction process and performance of the building from thermal, hygrometric, and acoustic perspectives under real-life conditions. Strength and fire-retardant properties will also be investigated. Promotion materials, highlighting the performance of the building, will be produced following the actual occupation of the buildings.

• Economic: In recent years the most profitable aspect of the hemp industry has been cannabinoid extraction and refinement. Global Hemp has always believed that this would just be an initial step to the industrial applications of the hemp plant something that could subsidize the development of industrial applications for the HAIZ strategy.
• Social: From soil to shelf, the HAIZ concept is based on a collaborative rather than competitive operations model, benefiting all stakeholders throughout the process. From growing of the crops through to the final materials and products, the HAIZ concept promotes cross-sector partnerships, regional development and job creation.
• Environmental: The HAIZ embodies a commitment to environmentally friendly processes, from farming to production. The HAIZ concept utilizes the entire plant for the production of raw materials and products for the overall best benefits that balance profitability, as well as socio-economic and environmental impacts.

Under the HAIZ model, farming contracts are negotiated on the basis of the principal product produced, with a commitment to purchase the secondary parts of the crop as other suitable industrial processes become available. As such industrial processes prove sustainable, the farming contracts will become more comprehensive and will likely contain some form of participation in the HAIZ to ensure the quality of inputs and continued commitment to the goals of the group. This will create higher returns and more stable revenues ABOUT US PROJECTS NEWS INVESTORS CONNECT for farmers and put agricultural waste products to profitable use while promoting a more sustainable farming system with proper crop husbandry practices. GHG will support farming practices that foster greater carbon sequestration in soils to increase farmer revenues through carbon credits.

Research is an important ongoing component of the HAIZ. Under this strategy, R&D consists of review and determination of best practices of hemp production and industrial processes used.

Agricultural – Research in agriculture will focus on seeking and developing new cultivars and accompanying farming practices that will be best suited for targeted farming areas and industrial processes and end products. This will include breeding hemp varieties that are easier to decorticate, as well as those that provide high-quality fiber.

Industrial Processes – GHG will seek to attract and support research at its facilities surrounding the best processes in the transformation of hemp materials. Within its R&D, Global Hemp Group will consider facets of processing on two levels. Primary processing, for various raw materials available from the hemp plant, and secondary processing, where considerable value is added through the manufacture of consumer goods. GHG will forge partnerships under the HAIZ model with owners of proprietary technologies capable of adding significant value to the raw materials for goods produced.