Huge but green New American Home in Las Vegas - Los Angeles Times
* Photovoltaic (solar) panels to generate some of its electricity;* Insulated concrete forms in its structure and spray-foam insulation to max its thermal performance;
* A natural-gas-powered heating and cooling system making its American debut in the home, after extensive residential use in Japan;
* Windows with low-emission coatings and mechanized sunshades to shield some of the desert sun.
(Find more specs are at tnah.com .)
This is the builders' 26th New American Home. Many of its predecessors were rapped for bloated excess, and though this house certainly couldn't be accused of modesty, it sure makes a case for desert cool -- one can envision a reincarnated Rat Pack hanging out here, though one suspects Frank Sinatra and the guys wouldn't know what to make of its Zen garden or "rejuvenation room" for meditation and yoga. The architect is Danielian Associates of Irvine.
Desert cool doesn't come cheaply, though the builders aren't