Upper Left Coast

Thoughts on politics, faith, sports and other random topics from a red state sympathizer in indigo-blue Portland, Oregon.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Which one is "greener"?

Home #1
A 10,000-square-foot, 20-room, eight-bath mansion, also including a pool, pool house and separate guest house, all heated by natural gas. This residence consumes more than 12 times the typical household electrical usage of homes in the same area (191,000 kilowatt hours vs. 15,600 kwh). The average monthly bill for electricity and natural gas runs more than $2,400. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. Despite its energy use, this home is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern "snow belt" area. It's in the South.
Home #2
Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university, this home incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The home is 4,000 square feet with four bedrooms. A central closet in the home holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees) heats the home in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses NO fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the home. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape, nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest.
Now, which one sounds greener to you? And, who they they belong to?

Home No. 1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee; it is the home of Al Gore.

Home No. 2 is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas; it is the residence of the President of the United States, George W. Bush.

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