I just got done reading a short article on Inhabitat that described the new “home” (read mega-mansion) being built by Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen. Read the article here. This little piece of the American Dream is 22,000 square feet for the couple and their son and appears, from pictures, to more closely resemble a large hotel development than a single family home. To add insult to injury from a responsibility and sustainability perspective, the couple seems to be claiming that their new home in, in fact, eco-friendly. The article outlines their insistance that the solar panels, energy efficient lighting systems, green materials and rainwater collection system make the green.

I’m trying very hard not to be cynical, but the idea that a home that contains over 7,000 square feet of living space per person is in any way sustainable is ludicrous. The entire population of some small cities could be contained in this home. You could tell me that the home was completely off the grid and made entirely out of straw bales and I still wouldn’t be buying it. What happened to our common sense? What happened to the idea that using only what we absolutely need is one of tenants of sustainable design? I hope some of you are as outraged by these claims as I am!