Building H Index
KB Home
INDUSTRY
housing
Category
single-family home development
products Profiled
houses and communities developed by KB Home
H-Score
40
ranked 6th of 7 within housing industry
ranked 22nd (tie) of 37 overall
product description
KB Home is a home building company and was the first company to be traded on the NYSE as a home builder, and has built 600,000 homes since its inception in 1957.
KB Home offers single family homes that start at 1,239 square feet and they delivered 10,672 homes in 2020, for a total of $4.2B in revenue. They also explicitly state a focus on building in metropolitan areas where they can deliver 800 homes per year, and target land parcels that meet their investment return standards.
KB Home created a concept home of the future, KB Home Projekt(1), that is designed to help residents improve their physical and emotional health and well-being, using smart-home technologies, in 2019.
influence on health-related behaviors
EATING
neutral to slight 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.”(2) In a sample of new KB Home locations reviewed by Building H, 56% were in low-access neighborhoods.
The KB Home Projekt concept home of the future showcased healthier eating through two features: 1) smart appliances and an app that can analyze refrigerator contents, select recipes, and partially automate the cooking process; and 2) a “living garden wall” for growing produce. It’s not clear to what degree, if any, KB Home has integrated these features into new homes.
- 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
moderate negative influence
The walkability of a geographic location has an influence on the physical activity of its residents. In a sample of new KB Home locations reviewed by Building H, not a single one was in a neighborhood rated as “very walkable” or better by Walk Score.(3) 92% of locations were in neighborhoods rated “car-dependent” by Walk Score and 22% scored 0 out of 100 on Walk Score’s scale. Mean Walk Score was 12.8; the median was 4.5. A higher Walk Score rating for a given neighborhood has been associated with increased physical activity among neighborhood residents.(4)
- 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
slight positive influence
The KB Home Projekt concept home showcased features intentionally designed to create better sleeping conditions for residents. These features included: noise-reducing walls and windows and circadian rhythm lighting that adjust the color temperature of the lights to mimic the rhythms of natural light over the course of the day and help to align a resident’s circadian rhythm more effectively, a precursor for better sleep. The system also gradually increases the bedroom temperature in the morning, drops it at night, and lowers window shades to filter out exterior light sources.(5) It’s not clear to what degree, if any, KB Home has integrated these features into new homes.
KB Home began to offer the Delos DARWIN™ Home Wellness Intelligence(6) platform, which helps to optimize environmental conditions for better sleep, in select communities in 2019.(7) It’s not clear how many new homes come with these features.
To the extent that KB Home’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.
- Migrate the approaches developed in the KB Home Projekt to more new homes and/or include the Delos DARWIN™ platform in more new homes.
Engaging Socially
neutral influence
In the sample of new KB homes reviewed by Building H, approximately 22% featured front porches. Neighborhoods with high prevalences of design characteristics such as front porches have been associated with more frequent talk among neighbors.(8)
The KB Home Projekt concept home makes explicit mention of creating semi-private spaces at the front of homes in order to create more opportunity for “social collisions.” It’s not clear to what degree, if any, KB Home has integrated these features into new homes.
- 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 to moderate negative influence
Neighborhood walkability is a key driver of spending time outdoors. The walkability of KB Home’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 KB Home homes reviewed by Building H, only 28% were within a 10-minute walk from a public park.(9)
- 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
KB Home Projekt - Where Tomorrow Lives. KB Home blog. February 16, 2019
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.
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.
E. Twardzik et al. Walk Score and objectively measured physical activity within a national cohort. J Epidemiol Community Health 2019;73:549-556.
Leah Ghazarian. This House Keeps Residents Healthy by Design. Builder. February 15, 2019
See the Delos website.
Ibid.
Carrie LeVan. Neighborhoods That Matter: How Place and People Affect Political Participation. American Politics Research. 2020, Vol. 48(2) 286–294.
Based on a geographical analysis using ParkServe, a tool provided by the Trust for Public Land.