I recieved this in an email and after checkin it out I could not believe that it was true....
> We saw "Inconvenient Truth" recently. While I was very taken by the
basic
> message, I felt that the "political advertisement/message" was both
> completely uncalled for and completely out of place with the intended
goal
> of the movie/documentary.
>
> 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. 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.
>
>
