$900,000 To Prove A Point? Priceless.

We learn today of yet another colossal failure in the world of global warming climate change initiatives. (forgot the name change...) Students at the Lawrence Technological University and DTE (Detroit power company) came together to create a work of art. Actually, if you were going to look at it as a work of art alone, then it wouldn't be so laughable. However, this house was supposed to be a full-fledged demonstration about how a "green" house could perform. It is entirely solar powered and has no electric or gas hookups. Seven months ago, it was unveiled to the public at large as a glimpse into the future of our lives; or at least a proposed future if we would all just go green.

You could go see it today and marvel at its wondrous achievements, but you wouldn't be allowed to go inside. You see, some idiot forgot to flip the breaker during the winter that would have powered a heater and, as (un)luck would have it, the pipes froze and burst, causing $16,000 in damage. I should note the other 'official' story is that the heater drew too much power and the batteries drained which caused the system to back down. So, for now, the house is closed to avoid human safety issues. (rotted floors kinda suck when you walk on them...) So far, nobody is forking over the repair costs. I guess $900K is ok to spend, but $16K is just pushing it too far!

In a way, the official story is even more disturbing. If that's true then how can they expect to be taken seriously when the water pipe heaters drew too much power with absolutely zero other drain from people living in it?!? This thing was designed to support a home office and an electric car. If it can't even support water heaters...FAIL.

But let's just say, for a moment, that this was simply human error (which it was either way; either an idiot or a poor designer). Let's say the idea is sound and we'd really have something useful here had the pipes not burst. I don't know of anyone that would argue that such a house could be built. I mean, any person with a bit of sense would know that if you throw enough solar panels at something, you can power it. That has never really been the critical blocking point for widespread adoption of solar power. So, from that perspective, the house proved absolutely nothing by simply claiming to be "grid-free".

In order to be a true public-shifting piece of work, you have to factor in cost, marketability, ease of construction, and a slew of other factors. You can't just say, "Guess what? This house is grid free and it's the wave of the future! Jump on board!" People like me (and most of America) will tell you to have fun with that house; we'll buy a normal house that costs 1/5th the amount this one did.

Oh - you didn't catch that? Yeah, this beauty cost NINE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. Cha-ching! What do you mean you don't have a million bucks to drop into a house?!? Don't you care about the environment!?!?!

It gets better.

The average American home is about 2400 sq. ft. So you would think that any rational person/organization that was trying to make a point would at least build a house that was somewhere in that neighborhood. Wanna know how big (small) this house is? 800 sq. ft.

EIGHT HUNDRED.

I'm sorry, but if you've got 900K to drop into a dwelling, it ought to hold more than a chair and table. This is just another indication that the green movement 'pioneers' are just plain out of touch with common America.

Now, in Troy at least, they're out of house and home too. Though, really, those words are stretching it a bit, don't you think?