In recent history, the American dream has always been centered around individuality – everyone owns their own home, has their own yard, and, quite likely also has a fence around that yard.
But, not long ago, studies started showing the positive impact that social engagement has, in and outside the home, with mental, physical and emotional health benefits. Based on that data, several groups started creating standards for housing that would incorporate features that would help the occupants receive these benefits.
One such guide is the WELL Community Standard that has 110 features, all addressing specific aspects of the health and well-being of a community. Those features are broken down into specific requirements for a project to earn the WELL Community Standard, but it all starts from the same nine concepts: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, temperature, sound, materials, mind and community.
“The WELL Community Standard is designed for integrated developments so that could mean strategies to promote drinking water access and quality of water, year-round and convenient fruit and vegetable access, walkable design and pedestrian pathways or noise ordinance adoption, to name a few,” says Jamie Matos, senior associate at Delos and on the WELL Community Standard team.
In designing the BUILDER KB Home ProjeKt, the home’s architect, KTGY Architecture + Planning, and the landscape engineer, AndersonBaron, focused on every concept from the WELL Community Standard. The team also took a step forward in considering the aspects of “Where Tomorrow Lives” to dive into the community, nourishment and fitness aspects.
This part of the project will be presented virtually alongside the home’s reveal in January 2019 in Las Vegas and include features such as community gardens, car sharing, water environments for a calming effect, centralized open spaces, micro-neighborhoods, and drone deliveries.
The BUILDER KB Home ProjeKt team also wanted to keep an eye toward attainability, keeping the costs aligned within reach of an average buyer. In an effort to create healthier affordable environments, Enterprise Community Partnership created the Enterprise Green Community Criteria to design communities that cost less to maintain, use fewer natural resources, generate less waste and contain fewer toxic materials.

Those criteria are grouped into eight categories: integrative design, location + neighborhood fabric, site improvements, water conservation, energy efficiency, materials, healthy living environment, and operations, maintenance and resident engagement.
The criteria outline the location + community fabric by the project’s ability to preserve open space and access to open areas; to connect to the community; and to provide access to fresh, local food. The design also adheres to the criteria of garage isolation in a healthy living environment. The garage localizes many of the harmful chemicals that a household may need or use, so it is critical to provide an air barrier between the home and the garage to prevent any contaminants from entering the living space.
Here in this short video, Andy Baron, partner at AndersonBaron, speaks to how his team is addressing these wellness and community goals through the KB Home ProjeKt and its virtual community.

While there is no guide specific to single family developments yet, the team was able to create community based on the criteria from WELL and Enterprise Community Partners. AndersonBaron was able to capture the outdoors inside and to extend the inside to the outdoor environment, creating a seamless experience and one that is healthier for the individual and for the community. The team is using a concept called Play. Gather. Dine. to create a dynamic landscape spotlighting fitness, healthy food options, improved social engagement, and more connection to natural ambiance.
The design of the home also incorporates features to promote wellness on a day to day basis, with new technology solutions, an interior design palette that encourages calmness, and areas for exercise and rejuvenation.
These forward thinking design ideas and more on the project are posted at www.builderonline.com/kbhomeprojekt. Stay up to date with Where Tomorrow Lives by visiting often.