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<DIV>Anyone hear about this??</DIV>
<DIV><BR>Carole</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style=""background: " #cccccc\?>----- Forwarded Message -----</DIV>
<DIV><B>From:</B> Stefanye <<A
href="mailto:texascosmicangel@yahoo.com">texascosmicangel@yahoo.com</A>></DIV>
<DIV><B>Date:</B> Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:43:29 -0700 (PDT)</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Tale of Two Houses</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Subject:
Tale of Two Houses<BR>Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:06:29 -0500<BR><BR>
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<DIV> </DIV>House 1: <BR><BR>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." <BR><BR>The resulting single-story house is a paragon
of environmental planning. <BR><BR>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. <BR><BR>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.
<BR><BR>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.
<BR><BR>"The house doesn't hold you in. Where the porch ends there is
grass. There is no step-up at all." <BR><BR>This house consumes
25% of the energy of an average American home. <BR><BR>(Source:
Cowboys and Indians Magazine, Oct. 2002 and <SPAN id=lw_1174787935_0
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">Chicago Tribune</SPAN> April 2001.)
<BR><BR><BR><BR>House 2: <BR><BR>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. <BR><BR>Also, natural gas bills for this house and guest
house averaged $1,080 per month last year. <BR><BR>In total, this house
had nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for 2006.
<BR><BR>(Source: just about anywhere in the news last month online
and on talk radio, but barely on TV.) <BR><BR><BR><BR>House 1 belongs to
George and <SPAN id=lw_1174787935_1
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">Laura Bush</SPAN>, and is in <SPAN
id=lw_1174787935_2
style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">Crawford
, Texas</SPAN> . <BR><BR>House 2 belongs to Al and Tipper Gore, and is in
<SPAN id=lw_1174787935_3 style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">Nashville ,
Tennessee</SPAN> . </BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BODY></HTML>