Environmentally Friendly Houses

[Ambassadar]

I thought this was interesting...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

House 1:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The four-bedroom home was planned so that "every room has a relationship with something in the landscape that's different from the room next door. Each of the rooms feels like a slightly different place." The resulting single-story house is a paragon of environmental planning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The passive-solar house is built of honey-colored native limestone and positioned to absorb winter sunlight, warming the interior walkways and walls of the 4,000-square-foot residence. Geothermal heat pumps circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground. These waters pass through a heat exchange system that keeps the home warm in winter and cool in summer. A 25,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof urns; wastewater from sinks, toilets, and showers cascades into underground purifying tanks and is also funneled into the cistern. The water from the cistern is then used to irrigate the landscaping around the four-bedroom home, (which) uses indigenous grasses, shrubs, and flowers to complete the exterior treatment of the home. In addition to its minimal environmental impact, the look and lay out of the house reflect one of the paramount priorities: relaxation. A spacious 10-foot porch wraps completely around the home and beckons the family outdoors. With few hallways to speak of, family and guests make their way from room to room either directly or by way of the porch. "The house doesn't hold you in. Where the porch ends there is grass. There is no step-up at all." This house consumes 25% of the energy of an average American home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Source: Cowboys and Indians Magazine, Oct. 2002 and Chicago Tribune April 2001.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

House 2:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This 20-room, 8-bathroom house consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year. The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, this house devoured nearly 221,000 kWh, more than 20 times the national average. Last August alone, the house burned through 22,619 kWh, guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of this energy consumption, the average monthly electric bill topped $1,359. Also, natural gas bills for this house and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year. In total, this house had nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for 2006.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Source: just about anywhere in the news last month online and on talk radio, but not on TV.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

House 1 belongs to George and Laura Bush, in Crawford, Texas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

House 2 belongs to Al and Tipper Gore, and is in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Wait...Is this the same Al Gore who wrote "An Inconvenient Truth," and who received a Best Documentary Academy Award for the same?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Verified:

 

 

 

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

[Locke]

It's interesting that you posted this link a couple days after I wrote an article about that very same finding. Strange coincidence...

[Flametrooper]

Practice what you preach, Gore, you damned hypocrite.

 

 

 

Not that I'm pro-Bush, but at least he's doing something right...now if only he'd increase funding for similar things and decrease it for Iraq...

[venomai]

How ironic. :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seems biased, though.

 

 

 

The Detroit Free Press further noted that "Gore purchased 108 blocks of 'green power' for each of the past three months, according to a summary of the bills. ThatÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s a total of $432 a month Gore paid extra for solar or other renewable energy sources. The green power Gore purchased is equivalent to recycling 2.48 million aluminum cans or 286,092 pounds of newspaper, according to comparison figures on NESÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s Web site." The figure of 108 blocks of green power per month corresponds to 16,200 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month, Al Gore's average monthly use for 2005.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith Olbermann at MSNBC reported that the Gore home includes offices for both Gore and his wife and 'special security measures' making it unrepresentative of what the average US home consumes. Additionally, the green power purchased by the Gores increased the cost of their electricity by "$5,893, more than 50 percent, in order to minimize carbon pollution."

[Ambassadar]

That's nice he bought the green power chunks but that just seems like a public relations move. I mean it's only for three measley months plus the timing of it makes it suspect. If he had been doing this the whole time he lived there I would respect it but for such a short time frame combined with the timing it appears to me that it is just politics as usual to try to fool the ignorant masses. Hopefully I am wrong but that sure is the way it comes across.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting find nonetheless. Thanks for the post.

[jemathonical]

:lol:

 

 

 

I don't know what to say really.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe Al Gore should go find that ManBearPig... :)

[justin_m23]

:lol:

 

 

 

I don't know what to say really.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe Al Gore should go find that ManBearPig... :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dam you, beat me to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Im being Super Cereal!"

[Catbert]