KB Home Trickles Down Smart Tech from Concept Home to Production Builds

Shall we call it KB Homenomics? The national home builder has just trickled down smart health, wellness, and automation technology from its futuristic KB Home ProjeKt concept home to production builds in California. Located in the Genoa at Orchard Hills community in Irvine, the new technologically-laden homes range from 3,550 to 3,950 square feet and begin at $1.7 million. Ultimately, KB Home plans to construct 110 homes on the site, which is situated southeast of Los Angeles.

From Concept Home to Production Trickle Down

Built near Las Vegas, the KB Home ProjeKt was intended to be an incubator for smart technologies. Image: KB Home. — Built near Las Vegas, the KB Home ProjeKt concept home was intended to be an incubator for smart and healthy technologies. It seems they succeeded on that point. Image: KB Home.

The KB Home ProjeKt was unveiled at CES 2019. As we wrote in our previous coverage on the home, the Las Vegas-area concept home endeavored to deliver connected home and holistic design features aimed at the long-term health and wellness of its eventual occupants. It strove to achieve these goals through intelligent building design and a host of smart technologies woven throughout the home.

Much of the core energy independence and innovation technology from this concept build is trickling down into the new homes at Genoa. This includes the available DARWIN Home Wellness Intelligence network from Delos, standard high-efficiency SunPower Equinox rooftop solar array systems, and the optional Tesla Powerwall energy storage and management system provided by Swell Energy.

“The KB homes available at Genoa at Orchard Hills offer our customers smart solutions for energy independence while supporting personal wellness for homeowners and their families,” said Steve Ruffner, regional general manager for KB Home, in a press release. “Buyers are seeking homes that deliver on energy efficiency and promote healthier home environments. This new smart home delivers on that.”

Available Integrated Health and Wellness System

A centerpiece for health and wellness features from the KB Home ProjeKt concept, the optional DARWIN system moves well beyond conventional HVAC and constantly monitors the home environment through a series of smart sensors. In doing so, KB Home says whole-house air filtration, water purification, and restorative lighting are automatically optimized for health and wellness.

Furthermore, all KB homes at Genoa are equipped with the KB Smart Home System featuring Google Assistant. This specialized version of the newly-renamed Google Nest home automation ecosystem enables homeowners to control many connected home features, automate daily routines, and strive for higher energy efficiency.

Near Zero Energy Options

All homes in Genoa get an integrated 2 kW SunPower Equinox solar setup. Homeowners can elect to upgrade to a much larger SunPower solar system fitted with the Tesla Powerwall storage batteries. In doing so, KB Home says these new homes can achieve Near Zero Energy (NZ) for annual energy costs near zero.