House #1 A 20 room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural
gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all
heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the
average American household does in a year. The average bill for
electricity and natural gas runs over $2400. In natural gas alone, this
property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an
American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern
"snow belt" area. It's in the South

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 is 4,000 square feet ( 4 bedrooms )
and is nestled on a 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 the winter and cools it i n the summer.
The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it
consumes one-quarter 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. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the
area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.

HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee; it is the abode of the
"environmentalist" Al Gore.

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas; it is the residence the of
the President of the United States, George W. Bush.