Eco-friendly comes home (Maine)

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=287282&ac=PHnws

PORTLAND — Barry Saxe wasn't so much looking for products Saturday as he was shopping for reassurance.

Saxe, who owns New Horizons, a construction company, was checking out the goods at the Green Home and Living Show to make sure he was keeping up with technology that is changing almost daily.

He recently finished building a home in Pownal that is equipped with all the latest energy-saving and generating devices, from a solar hot water system to photovoltaic cells that convert sunlight into electricity. The technology will allow the owner to avoid almost all energy bills initially and he may even reap a bit of a profit down the line by putting excess electricity back onto the power grid.

"It's changing faster than you can imagine," Saxe said of the technology involved in crafting a home that fits all the current buzzwords – low-impact, sustainable, green and energy-efficient. "From when we started (on the Pownal house) early in the year, the technology changed three times."

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