FALMOUTH, Maine — A Maine entrepreneur has built a new home that's 90 percent more energy efficient than the typical home and produces more than twice as much energy than it consumes.
TideSmart Global built the home — dubbed the Viridescent House — as part of an investment of up to $15 million in creating a sustainable business campus in Falmouth.
CEO Steve Woods calls it the state's first "net-positive passive house." The passive house standard means it's 70 percent to 90 percent more efficient. And it's called "net positive" because solar panels make more energy than the home needs, meaning it's better than a carbon-neutral home.
Woods said he hopes it serves as an example for other business leaders to follow and help the passive house certification become a state building standard.