E-mail debunk: Which House Belongs to the Environmentalist?

[Sweet Freedom]

LOOK OVER THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING TWO HOUSES AND SEE IF YOU
CAN TELL WHICH BELONGS TO AN ENVIRONMENTALIST.

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 ALONE this mansion consumes more energy than the average
American household in an ENTIRE YEAR. The average bill for electricity and
natural gas runs over $2,400.00 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.

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.

HOUSE # 1 (20 room energy guzzling mansion) is outside of Nashville,
Tennessee. It is the abode of that 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.

Debunk:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/gorehome.asp
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-johnson-and-james-boyce/a-far-too-convenient-mea_b_42171.html

[StoryTeller]

1. Thanks for this

I just got a similar email this morning and was trying to find ways to debunk it. Here's the text of the two-house description, below. EDITED TO ADD: Please note the order of the descriptions were switched in the version I got. The Bush house is listed first. Any info on whether the Bush house description is accurate?

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 reflects 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.)