История двух домов

[ymarkov]

Story of Two Houses

				HOUSE # 1: A 20-room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. A pool (and a pool house), and a separate guest house all heated by gas. In one month this mansion consumes more energy than the average American household in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400 per month. In natural gas alone (which last time we checked was a fossil fuel), this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not in a northern or Midwestern "snow belt," either. It's in the South.			ДОМ 1: 20-комнатный особняк (не считая 8 ванных), отапливаемый природным газом. Бассейн (с купальней), отдельный дом для гостей, всё отапливается газом. За один месяц этот особняк потребляет больше энергии, чем средний американский дом за год. Ежемесячный счёт за электричество и газ превышает $2,400. Одного газа (ископаемое топливо, насколько мы в курсе) этот особняк сжигает в 20 раз больше среднего американского дома. И этот дом не в северной или среднезападной холодной зоне. Он на Юге.
				HOUSE # 2: Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university, this house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas, and it consumes 25% of 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 house. Flowers and shrubs native to the area blend the property into the surrounding rural landscape.			Дом 2: Построенный по проекту профессора архитектуры ведущего национального университета, этот дом включает все доступные современным строителям "зелёные" свойства. Площадь дома - всего 4,000 кв. фута (371.6 кв. метра) (4 спальни); расположен он на сухой прерии Юго-Востока Америки. В центрaльном шкафу установлены геотермальные теплонасосы, качающие грунтовые воды через трубы, уходящие на 300 футов под землю. Эта вода (с обычной температурой около 67F - 19C) отапливает дом зимой и охлаждает летом. Эта система не использует ископаемых топлив вроде нефти и газа, и потребляет четверть энергии, требуемой обычной отопительно-охладительной системой. Дождевая вода с крыши собирается в подземную 25,000-галлоновую (94,625 литров) цистерну. Отработанная вода из ванных, раковин и туалетов уходит в подземные очистительные цистерны, а оттуда - в главную цистерну. Собранная таким образом вода затем используется для орошения окружающей почвы. Цветы и кусты, присущие региону, плавно включают дом в окружающий сельский ландшафт.
				HOUSE # 1 (20 room energy guzzling mansion) is outside of Nashville, Tennessee. It is the abode of the renowned environmentalist (and filmmaker) Al Gore. HOUSE # 2 (model eco-friendly house) is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas. Also known as "the Texas White House," it is the private residence of the President of the United States, George W. Bush.			ДОМ 1 (20-комнатный прожорливый особняк) находится около Нэшвилля, штат Теннесси. А живёт там известный защитник окружающей среды (и режиссёр) Альберт Гор. Дом 2 (образцовый "зелёный" дом) находится на ранчо около Крофорда, штат Техас. Известный также как "техасский Белый Дом", он является личной резиденцией президента США Джорджа Буша.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

Comments

[murushi.livejournal.com]

Politicians are hypocrites. What else is new? :-)

[uzheletta.livejournal.com]

ne lubish' ty gora :)

(frozen) Rather misleading.....

[flaviarassen.livejournal.com]

The "Texas White House" isn't the primary house or office for the Bushes - it's an EXTRA house.
The Gore mansion is both house & office space for ALL the Gores.
Try comparing the White House to other houses in DC for a more accurate depiction of this supposed "comparison".
Gore also pays over & above his energy costs to try to get energy from greener sources.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/gorehome.asp

I would be willing to bet that Gore's policies as President would be far greener than Bush's, too.

(frozen) Re: Rather misleading.....

[ymarkov.livejournal.com]

Thank God Gore isn't our President. Then his mansion would be an EXTRA house, too!

(frozen) Re: Rather misleading.....

[flaviarassen.livejournal.com]

Of course not.
He wouldn't have built anything like that if he'd had the
White House to work out of.
And would Bush have bothered to build anything ecological
if the entire world wasn't watching...?

(frozen) Re: Rather misleading.....

[ymarkov.livejournal.com]

You know them both so well!

Has either house been in the news much?

(frozen) Re: Rather misleading.....

[flaviarassen.livejournal.com]

Of course not.
It is only because someone decided to try to go after Gore
that either one got mentioned.
And had Bush not bothered to be ecological in that house,
someone would have done the same to him. At the very least,
it would be used as just another part of an attack on his
energy policies.

(frozen) Re: Rather misleading.....

[ymarkov.livejournal.com]

You know them both so well!

Has either house been in the news much? Bush's ranch (built in 1999) was profiled in the Chicago Tribune once. Gore's house was built more than 60 years ago - he chose to buy it (in 2002).

Who are "ALL the Gores?" With 20 times the average consumption, does he house 20 times the average number of people?

(frozen) Re: Rather misleading.....

[flaviarassen.livejournal.com]

Hey, thanks for the info on when Gore's house was built.
The way everyone was talking, I thought it was built recently.
Now there's no room to talk, really:
Buying an old house is recycling.
Buying an old house & fixing it to run green is exemplary.

As far as your last question:
a) Gore's wife also works, and he has more kids living with him
than Bush does, IIRC.
b) there's no real proof that it's "20 times more"

[aphar.livejournal.com]

100 meter geothermal pipes?!
this drilling alone is probably more expensive than the whole Gore's house.

[ymarkov.livejournal.com]

Yeah. A lot of "green" technology and other gimmicks - e.g., hybrid cars and carbon credits - are net energy losers.

[dlevey.livejournal.com]

Yeah. A lot of "green" technology and other gimmicks - e.g., hybrid cars and carbon credits - are net energy losers.

So you're saying, then, that Gore's house really *is* "greener"? :-)

[ymarkov.livejournal.com]

Had it been smaller - not unlikely. (The fact that drilling at Bush's was a one-time expenditure of energy vs. ongoing expenditure at Gore's makes actual estimation a bit difficult.)

[yyi.livejournal.com]

neither do what they preach (at least according to the media) ;)

[yyi.livejournal.com]

he might have built it on top of an unsuccessful oil search site (whatever those are called) - so the drilling would have all been done by then ;-)

(frozen) "Tennessee Center for Policy Research"

[flaviarassen.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, not a lot of the MSM is saying a lot about them,

(Okay, here's something: http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=54656)

but the Blogosphere is.

http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com/2007/03/far-right-tn-center-for-policy.html
http://taureandevi.blogspot.com/2007/02/who-is-this-tennessee-center-for-policy.html
http://www.seeingtheforest.com/archives/2007/02/a_far_too_conve.htm
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tennessee_Center_for_Policy_Research

(frozen) Re: "Tennessee Center for Policy Research"

[ymarkov.livejournal.com]

Do we care about the facts, or who uncovered them? Of course they were out to get Gore. Just like there are scads of groups out to get all prominent politicians.

(frozen) Re: "Tennessee Center for Policy Research"

[flaviarassen.livejournal.com]

You are already assuming that they are "facts that have been
found out", rather than something that has been made up.
If you admit that they are "out to get Gore", then you have to
admit that they have a bigger burden of proof - more than just
their say so. A burden that they have already dropped, by the
looks of all the things they left out (for starters).

(frozen) Re: "Tennessee Center for Policy Research"

[ymarkov.livejournal.com]

I checked. So did Snopes. Plus, I know a few things about these old houses.

So, does Gore have 20 times the average number of people in that house, or just 10 times? (I do hope that he's allowed to install those solar panels... although they're a net energy loser, too. But if this is to change, someone has to keep buying those things.)

(frozen) Re: "Tennessee Center for Policy Research"

[flaviarassen.livejournal.com]

Yes, Snopes.Com did check - and nowhere do they endorse the "20 times"
figure. In fact, they say that "Other factors...make the Gore's energy
home usage comparable to other homes in the same area." Even though
other homes in the area are considerably smaller - as per the same
report.

And I'm sure he did nothing he wasn't allowed, or that would
have been reported on ages ago.

(frozen) Re: "Tennessee Center for Policy Research"

[ymarkov.livejournal.com]

*I* endorse it. It's about 17 times the national average, based on my numbers.

"Comparable to other homes in the same area" doesn't square with the 12-times figure for Nashville. Moreover, this is Belle Meade, the old money area. All homes there are like that - large and wasteful.

And I'm also sure Gore didn't do anything illegal. All this is mostly beside the point.

(frozen) Re: "Tennessee Center for Policy Research"

[flaviarassen.livejournal.com]

Oh, YOU endorse it "based on your numbers"?
Well, I don't, based on mine.
How's that?
Even "your numbers" don't jibe with the numbers you
say you endorse.

First off, the "times the national average" is one
of the basis for deception.
If you went per square footage, you'd have to change
"your numbers".

And "your numbers" vary with whatever point you are
trying to counter.
OT1H, you say that you can;t compare his homes to
others in the area, but then OTOH, you turn around &
o just that when you want to lump them in together
with the "large & wasteful" homes that you've
decided you know all about.

The upshot is that he's recycled an old home for his
needs and has modified it to be green - and doubtless
the "report" was made before he'd even finished getting
clearances for everything he's wanted to do. The group
that made the "report" has been found out to be unreliable
at best.

(frozen) Re: "Tennessee Center for Policy Research"

[ymarkov.livejournal.com]

Wow, three fallacies in a single post!

However, this is not worth my time to explain, as well as beside the point.

Susan, you're too partisan and argumentative. In my journal, only my kind of partisanship is allowed. Please check yours, so that I don't have to ban you.

[bringing-peace.livejournal.com]

nu-nu

[mordekhai.livejournal.com]

А я скажу по-русски: хорошо! Хорошо, что коровы не летают! (с) Хорошо, что у политиков слова с делами не расходятся. Или не сходятся?

[butsu.livejournal.com]

shalom
do you happen to have any tips on building an eco-friendly and - to some extent - self-sustainable home from scratch?