What Would Al Gore Choose?
Nobel environmentalist goes geothermal at home
Competing products all make great claims and seek endorsements that will, they hope, attract consumers. And in today’s era of increasing environmental consciousness, being known as a “green” product is quickly becoming the highest accolade of all.
Recently, one high-efficiency home heating and cooling system earned an endorsement of sorts from perhaps the best-known environmentalist on the planet—Al Gore. Although the former U.S. vice president, a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for his environmental activism, has not publicly lauded his new HVAC equipment, he voted his approval of an innovative ground-source heat pump system by installing one in his own Nashville home and office headquarters.
According to an assistant, Kalee Kreider, Gore was intent on a geothermal system from the start, and a number of options were researched. “He made the final decision on this heat pump technology,” Kreider says. “He lives there with Mrs. Gore (Tipper), and he works out of the house.”
The new HVAC equipment, manufactured by Earth To Air Systems of nearby Franklin, Tennessee, replaced an older heating and cooling system that had a federal Energy Star rating for efficient operation, Kreider says. “But when you look at overall energy use, this new system is far more efficient.”
