By Sharon Verbeten
Entrepreneur Zachary Popp is taking the phrase “building a better mousetrap” to heart — but in his case, it’s creating a better construction material. His Wittenberg company, Sativa Building Systems, creates unique patented Z Panels, made of a proprietary blend of hemp and lime.
The panels take the place of materials for above-grade wall construction, exterior sheeting, insulation and sheetrock. The product is also resistant to mold, fire, pests and rot.
It started 12 years ago when Popp, a father of seven, discovered mold in his daughter’s room. Having grown up with a father in the construction business, Popp set out to find a solution.
“I started to look into mold-resistant materials,” he says, and discovered hempcrete, a strong carbon-negative product invented 30 years ago that wasn’t in wide use.
Popp began researching and blending his own hempcrete in his garage, using raw materials sourced from overseas.
“I’m a very curious person, and I love research,” he says. “I just started to dive in … and find a way to make it as cost effective as possible.”
The process wasn’t without its challenges; to get around international shipping costs, once hemp was legal to sell in the United States in 2018, Popp sought domestic sources to bring costs down. He then contacted a patent agent who helped him navigate the costly journey of securing a utility patent for his Z Panels.
Popp says that hempcrete, while strong, can take a long time to dry out — so his solution was to create a precast block or panel to ship to building sites.
For the first four years, Popp, who was working full-time as dean of enrollment at Midstate Technical College in Wisconsin Rapids, funded the venture himself with “a lot of sweat equity and my own finances.” After he had achieved proof of concept through prototyping and lab testing, Popp sought investors.
A Wefunder campaign brought in $145,000, and Popp hopes to raise an additional $1.2 million from angel investors.
“We need to convince people that the current [building] product is deficient,” he says. “It’s a long road ahead and we recognize that, but we have investors who are really interested.”
Sativa is building a 2,400-square-foot production facility in Wittenberg that Popp says can produce up to 200 Z Panels — enough for one home a week — per day. He is currently awaiting code approval of the product and is ready to scale as soon as possible.
“The plan is to scale in proportion to demand,” he says. “To produce Z Panels for about one home a week, I’ll need a crew of about five.” By soliciting pre-orders, attending trade shows and targeting large construction companies, Popp anticipates the business could realistically hit revenues of $50 million in five years.
Once the code approval is finalized and the production facility is built, Popp plans on working full-time with Sativa, living off savings for a while.
But he has plans for a big marketing push for the Z Panels. “We’re going to produce a tiny home,” Popp says, noting it will be the only tiny home in the U.S. built with Z Panels.
“I think there will be substantial orders,” he says. “It allows us to get a product we can sell sooner than later.”
