Talk the talk or walk the walk?
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. (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. In 2006,
this house devoured nearly 221,000 kWh, more than 20 times the national
average. (The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilo watt-hours
per year, according to the Department of Energy.)
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.
Quiz: Which house belongs to George and Laura Bush, in Crawford, Texas and
which house belongs to Al and Tipper Gore, in Nashville, Tennessee?
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Dr Bob Griffin, www.grif.net
1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given