Many buyers, especially first-time buyers striving to achieve the milestone of homeownership, believe that they have to choose between a sustainable home and their dream home. However, KB Home believes that sustainability is a lever for affordability rather than a barrier to entry.
“As a builder that has made affordable homeownership our mission, we see the opportunity to build a beautiful, highly energy- and water-efficient new home at an affordable price that also reduces the overall cost of homeownership through potential monthly utility savings,” says Robert McGibney, KB Home president and COO.
A Track Record of Sustainability
When KB Home talks about sustainability, it’s not just about adding a few energy-efficient appliances or fixtures. The company views the home as a holistic system, where every component works together to offer enhanced comfort, well-being, and utility cost savings. This enduring commitment has made KB Home one of the nation’s top energy-efficient home builders. The average KB home boasts a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index score of 46, the lowest and most efficient publicly reported national average HERS score among large national production home builders. Achieving a certain HERS Index score is also a requirement to delivering an Energy Star–certified home, which is specifically built with materials and construction techniques that help lower the cost of ownership. KB Home was the first builder to make a broad commitment to building Energy Star–certified new homes, a standard of energy performance achieved by fewer than 10% of new homes in America, and has built more Energy Star–certified homes than any other builder.
KB Home has also built over 21,800 WaterSense–labeled and Water Smart homes—again, more than any other home builder. By its estimate, KB homes cumulatively save about two billion gallons of water annually.
Additionally, KB Home works closely with industry partners and sustainability leaders to leverage its scale in order to propel tested and viable emerging sustainability technologies forward, aiming to reduce costs and facilitate widespread adoption. While there are clear business benefits, the company’s focus on sustainability has always been fundamentally about its customers and leveraging sustainability to support affordable homeownership.
Showing the Numbers
KB Home demonstrates the cost savings associated with its energy-efficient homes through educational tools in its model homes. Similar to the EPA’s fuel economy stickers on new cars, KB Home displays placards that show potential buyers the estimated monthly and yearly savings on energy bills compared to older, less efficient homes. KB Home’s “whole-home approach” to energy and water efficiency means an owner can enjoy an estimated average annual savings of $1,800 on utility bills compared to typical used homes. That’s extra money that can be applied to something else like the mortgage.
A Business Model Built to Deliver Affordability
Another way KB Home supports affordability is through its Built to Order approach, which allows home buyers to prioritize the features they want based on their needs. And because KB Home does extensive market research, it understands what features are most desired by first-time and move-up home buyers, who make up about 75% of their customer base. This data-driven approach allows the company to offer a variety of efficient home designs in a range of sizes and with the features buyers most value already included, helping to support affordability. Buyers can then add on additional sustainability and design features that fit their lifestyle and their budget.
“By buying a sustainably designed KB home, a customer can enjoy a lower total cost of homeownership compared to a typical new home through reduced utility bills while still supporting their long-term environmental priorities,” McGibney says.
Cox Communities is proud to work alongside home builders like KB Home and support sustainability efforts by offering energy-efficient features such as smart thermostats, lighting, and other devices that help lower utility bills. Take a deeper dive into these technologies.
