PORTLAND, Maine — Avesta Housing’s new, affordable, 40-apartment project going up on Brighton Avenue is the first building in Maine to feature stairwells and an elevator tower made from cross laminated timber. The high tech, eco-friendly structural material is cheaper and easier to install than the traditional concrete and steel it replaces. However, the material had to be hauled all the way from the closest manufacturing plant, in Montana, at a cost of $40,000.