Building H Index

 

DR Horton

 
 

INDUSTRY

housing

Category

single-family home development

products Profiled

houses and communities developed by DR Horton

 
 

H-Score

 

35

ranked 7th of 7 within housing industry

ranked 25th (tie) of 37 overall

 
 

product description

 

DR Horton is a home construction company and has been the largest homebuilder by volume in the United States since 2002. Customers can choose from a variety of homes and neighborhoods that include options for entry-level buyers, luxury real estate, active-adult communities, and multigenerational households.

DR Horton offers homes that range in size from 1,000 to more than 4,000 square feet and in price from $150,000 to more than $1,000,000. For the year ended September 30, 2020, they sold 65,388 homes with an average closing price of $299,100. The company also offers smart-homes with connected devices, and floor plans oriented towards multigenerational households.

 
 

influence on health-related behaviors

 
 

EATING

slight to moderate negative influence

 

Proximity to grocery stores with healthy food options can positively influence eating habits. One metric of a neighborhood’s food environment is whether it is characterized by the USDA as “low access to food stores.”(1) In a sample of new DR Horton locations reviewed by Building H, 48% were in low-access neighborhoods.

 

opportunities:

  • Review the food environment – both access to fresh foods and prevalence of unhealthy food outlets – as part of the decision to build in a certain neighborhood. Use the potential of aggregated demand that a new development would create to encourage investment in local fresh food outlets like grocery stores.
  • Include raised beds for vegetable gardens as part of home landscaping design – or establish community gardens within the developments.
 
 

PHYSICAL ACTVITY

slight to moderate negative influence

 

The walkability of a geographic location has an influence on the physical activity of its residents. In a sample of DR Horton locations reviewed by Building H, only 4% were in neighborhoods rated as “very walkable” or better by Walk Score.(2) 90% of locations were in neighborhoods rated “car-dependent” by Walk Score and 36% scored 0 out of 100 on Walk Score’s scale. Mean Walk Score was 12.7; the median was 2.5. A higher Walk Score rating for a given neighborhood has been associated with increased physical activity among neighborhood residents.(3)

DR Horton provides a number of amenities that facilitate physical activity in their communities. These include, depending on the community, bocce, clubhouses, fitness centers, pools, and fishing ponds.(4)

 

opportunities:

  • Review the walkability, bikeability and access to transit of a neighborhood as part of the decision to build in a certain neighborhood. Use the potential of aggregated demand that a new development would create to advocate for and encourage investment in sidewalks and bike lanes, if not available.
  • Publish data on the walkability, bikeability, and access to transit of new developments.
  • Provide bike sharing and scooter sharing services at properties.
  • Build sidewalks and ensure adequate, safe space for bicycle traffic within developments.
  • Provide bike sharing and scooter sharing services at developments.
  • Build playgrounds and community gardens in new developments.
 
 

Sleeping

neutral to slight negative influence

 

There is no indication that DR Horton does anything in the design of their properties to enhance their residents’ sleep experiences.

Tools from their smart home offering(5) related to air conditioning control, lighting, and safety hold the potential to create healthier sleeping environments, though it’s not clear that DR Horton has applied these capabilities toward that opportunity.

To the extent that DR Horton’s locations and property designs influence physical activity and time spent outdoors, they could indirectly influence sleep as both of those behaviors are positively correlated with better sleep.

 

opportunities:

  • Promote healthy circadian rhythms by
    • designing for exposure to natural light through larger windows, skylights and solar tubes where possible
    • installing circadian LED lighting systems that adjust color temperature to mimic natural light throughout the day
  • Build in air quality monitors, as poor indoor air quality has been shown to influence sleep (6)
  • Build in smart thermostats in order to optimize nighttime temperatures for better sleep.
  • Use soundproofing and other acoustic design techniques, such as sound-absorbing materials, to reduce noise that could interfere with sleep.
 
 

Engaging Socially

neutral influence

 

In the sample of new DR Horton homes reviewed by Building H, approximately 26% featured front porches. Neighborhoods with high prevalences of design characteristics such as front porches have been associated with more frequent talk among neighbors.(7)

DR Horton’s activity-oriented amenities create opportunities for residents to engage in their larger communities.

 

opportunities:

  • Design new homes with front porches or other street-facing outdoor spaces that facilitate casual social interactions among neighbors.
  • Build common outdoor spaces, such as playgrounds, community gardens and walking spaces, that draw neighbors together.
  • Within developments, offer regular social programming – events designed to bring neighbors together.
 
 

Getting Outdoors

slight negative influence

 

Neighborhood walkability is a key driver of spending time outdoors. The walkability of DR Horton’s locations (discussed above in physical activity) has an influence on how much time its residents spend outdoors.

Access to public parks can also encourage people to go outdoors. In the sample of new DR Horton homes reviewed by Building H, only 12% were within a 10-minute walk from a public park.(8)

DR Horton’s community amenities, many of which are outdoors, encourage its residents to spend time outdoors.

 

opportunities:

  • Pursue opportunities noted above related to neighborhood walkability, bikeability and access to transit.
  • Pursue opportunities noted above related to outdoor amenities such as playgrounds, community gardens and walking paths.
 
 
 
 

Notes

 

  1. The “low-access to food” designation means that a significant portion of residents of the Census tract are more than one mile (if urban) or more than 10 miles (if rural) from the nearest supermarket or large grocery store. See U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Food Access Research Atlas: Measuring Access to Food.

  2. Walk Score is a methodology for assessing the walkability of a location, using a proprietary algorithm that factors in walking proximity to amenities and pedestrian friendliness. Walk Score is based on a scale of 0-100. Locations scoring 49 or under are considered “car-dependent;” Locations scoring 70 or more are rated “very walkable.” Those scoring 90 and above are labeled “walker’s paradise.” See https://www.walkscore.com/methodology.shtml for more on the Walk Score methodology.

  3. E. Twardzik et al. Walk Score and objectively measured physical activity within a national cohort. J Epidemiol Community Health 2019;73:549-556.

  4. See, for example, Palenica Freedom Homes in Florida by DR Horton

  5. DR Horton Smart Home, DR Horton website, accessed December 2, 2021

  6. Tereza Pultarova. Trouble Sleeping? Air Pollution Could Be the Culprit. Live Science. May 24, 2017

  7. Carrie LeVan. Neighborhoods That Matter: How Place and People Affect Political Participation. American Politics Research. 2020, Vol. 48(2) 286–294.

  8. Based on a geographical analysis using ParkServe, a tool provided by the Trust for Public Land.