Completely unrelated to Southern California’s technology industry, but one of the things which happens when you publish an online news site, is you get random press releases by the hundreds. Every once in awhile, you get one where you go “what were they thinking?!?!”

Today’s prize for “what were they thinking” is a real estate firm for a  luxury home builder out of Las Vegas, which is pitching this morning that it  is selling a “9,617 square foot newly custom-built estate home” which they claim is the “largest custom home” to receive “multiple green building practices” and “”distinguished green certifications and ratings”, including using specialized HVAC equipment, compact flourescent light bulbs, etc. etc.

So what’s the big deal? Anyone familiar with the LEED certification standard for green homes–and general concept of being “green”–knows a huge part of adopting green building techniques is NOT building a giant home, and scaling the size of the house to how many people are living in it. There’s even a specific LEED calculation that specifies the square foot living space per person for a green home. Claiming you’ve got a giant luxury home which is the most energy efficient, is like claiming you’ve got the most energy efficient deep ocean drilling rig, or the most energy efficient mountaintop removal machine!

More juicy tidbits from the builder:

“The home features two wine rooms, unique designer ceilings throughout, an elevator providing easy access to all three levels, and sheltered, private parking for up to nine vehicles.”

Can anyone else spot the “green” issues in there?

Filed under:
Clean Energy, Random by Benjamin Kuo