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 layout of the house reflect one of the paramount priorities: relaxation. A spacious 10-foot porch wraps completely around the residence 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 and you can get it from removals eastbourne. (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 barely on TV.)
House 1 belongs to George and Laura Bush, and is in Crawford , Texas .
House 2 belongs to Al and Tipper Gore, and is in Nashville , Tennessee .
http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp
I love it.
Comment by Jason — Wednesday April 4, 2007 @ 8:46 pm
House #1 shows that a lot more thought and planning went into it, not just “glitz” to impress people. But, after all, Al did “invent the Internet”, you remember. They need a home to impress visitors of their importance and money, and social standing.
Comment by Mom — Thursday April 5, 2007 @ 6:44 am
This was on Snopes a week or so ago. I enjoyed it and their commentary.
BTW, I love your new blog photo. I posted about our visit to the VLA a year or so ago.
Comment by Richard — Thursday April 5, 2007 @ 7:38 am
I passed this around here, and the liberals had very little to say!
Comment by Mom — Friday April 6, 2007 @ 9:43 pm
I’m surprised they didn’t argue that he needed that to do his job as “Chicken Little”.
Comment by Don — Saturday April 7, 2007 @ 8:27 am
Although this doesn’t reduce the importance of his message in “An Inconvenient Truth”, it sure must be embarrassing to Al.
Comment by Daryl — Sunday April 15, 2007 @ 3:49 pm