Green Living

A modest 1,100 square feet and sporting Maine-milled cedar siding and rooftop solar panels, this York home, designed by Portland’s Caleb Johnson Studio, embodies several Pretty Good House principles.

How to Design a Pretty Good House

Expert Advice

Niftier than its tongue-in-cheek name suggests, the grassroots building standard launched in Portland balances cost and energy performance.

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community solar power in Maine

Is Community Solar Right For You?

Green Living

New community solar farms, coupled with more affordable ways to opt-in, are making it easier than ever for Mainers to soak up the sun.

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solar power, solar panels on roof

Designed by OPAL; built by GO Logic; photographed by Trent Bell

Look on the Bright Side

Green Living

Declining prices, changes in state policy, and improved technology mean there’s never been a better time to go solar in Maine.

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green roofs

Winkelman Architecture, one of a handful of Maine architects with experience designing “green roofs,” worked on this foliage-topped Brunswick home.

It’s Alive!

Green Living

The living roof takes root in Maine.

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eco-friendly subdivisions

The first house constructed on Cumberland’s Solar Way is outfitted with 20 solar panels (but wired for 30, which would elevate it to net-zero status) and a charging station for an electric car in the garage. The porch is five feet deep — ideal for allowing sunlight into the home in winter and providing shade in the summer. Photograph by Michael Eric Bérubé.

Greener Acres

Green Living

Is one of Maine’s new eco-friendly subdivisions right for you?

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Architect Chris Briley (right) enjoys a nip in his office/studio with fellow architect Phil Kaplan. The pair think of their podcast as “edu-tainment.” Photograph by Mark Fleming.

Drinking Buddies

Architecture & Design

The hosts of Portland’s Green Architects’ Lounge podcast mix tasty cocktails with sustainable building lessons.

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solar energy in Maine

Sunny Side Up

Green Living

What do Mainers need to consider if they want to harness solar energy to power their homes?

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passive-solar maine home

Greenhouse Effect

House Tour

It’s nearly impossible not to feel good in Luke and Sarah Cellier’s passive-solar home above the Back River in Georgetown.

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