An Energy Efficient, Tech-Friendly Home
Will the home of the future be energy efficient? If KB Home, www.kbhome.com, Los Angeles, Calif., has anything to say about it, that answer is an emphatic yes.
The national homebuilder just announced the opening of its ZeroHouse 2.0 in Maryland. The home is built so that it can save nearly 50,000 gallons of water a year, has an electric bill that could be next to nothing, and can be monitored and controlled from an iPhone. The builder has also announced plans to offer the net-zero energy home option at all of its Washington, D.C.-area communities.
According to KB Home, the new ZeroHouse 2.0 model home is ENERGY STAR qualified and WaterSense labeled. It combines an efficient building envelope, energy-conserving lighting, appliances, and fixtures with a renewable energy source courtesy of a solar-power system. In all, the home is designed to produce as much energy as it consumes. This leads to a home electric bill that can be nearly zero. In fact, KB Home estimates the home can save homeowners nearly $6,000 in energy costs annually, when compared to a typical resale home.
“Homebuyers now expect a new home to be energy efficient, and we believe that they will increasingly demand a net-zero energy home over the next 10 or 20 years. KB Home is making this heightened level of energy efficiency an option for our buyers who are ready for this kind of future, today,” says Vince DePorre, regional president for KB Home. “Energy efficiency features make good sense for our homebuyers as well as the environment and we’re proud to lead the way in our industry by introducing more options for our buyers to increase the efficiency of their new Built to Order homes.”
Always innovative, KB Home is also extending the value of this home to the future workforce of construction. The builder announced it is sharing its approach and methods with area students who intend to join the construction workforce. This week, a group of students from North American Trade Schools will visit the home in Middletown Woods for a special advance look at the ZeroHouse 2.0.
The students will receive a tour of the home as well as a brief presentation from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Dept. of Energy officials. Students will also have the opportunity to get hands on with the project, with a chance to participate in a pre-drywall orientation walk of a new KB home under construction.