Back in January of this year, during the International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Florida, KB Home unveiled a prototype model called the KB Home GreenHouse: An Idea Home Created with Martha Stewart. Beyond its traditional appearance and various amenities intended to evoke the Martha Stewart style, the builder keyed in on the home’s main performance feature: net zero energy operation.
KB Home has since begun incorporating NZE performance into its production scheme through an initiative called ZeroHouse 2.0, which combines energy efficiency construction measures with photovoltaic power. The first ZeroHouse 2.0 models are being rolled out this week in Tampa, Florida, and in San Antonio and Austin, Texas, and the company says the ZeroHome 2.0 option will be introduced in more KB Home communities in 2012.
Since the GreenHouse debut, KB Home has edged further into the energy efficient home market with a commitment to build all its homes to meet the current Energy Star for New Homes standard. And in February, the company announced that it would provide an Energy Performance Guide (EPG) – essentially a “mileage sticker” estimate of monthly energy costs – for each model it offers. EPG energy costs are calculated via the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index, which uses as its reference a comparable home built to the specifications of the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code. Such a home would have a HERS rating of 100, and HERS Index scores below 100 indicate greater energy efficiency.
A Florida take on ZeroHouse
The ZeroHouse 2.0 model built in the Tampa area earned a HERS rating of minus 5, meaning its 5.9 kW PV system is expected to generate surplus electricity when the home is in normal use. Whether that actually happens will depend on occupant behavior. The house is cooled by a 19 SEER Carrier heat pump. It also is equipped with a Rainwater Hog modular rainwater collection system, which can be used for landscape irrigation as well as an emergency water supply for the home’s occupants.
Bringing a KB Home in the Tampa area to the ZeroHome 2.0 adds about $50,000 to the cost of the house, though the up-charge varies from market to market, company spokeswoman Cara Kane tells Fine Homebuilding. Energy Star-rated homes in the company’s Emerald Oaks subdivision just east of Tampa, range in price from $148,990 for a 1,443-sq.-ft. three-bedroom to $203,990 for a 3,512-sq.-ft. home with three to six bedrooms.
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One of KB Home’s first editions of its ZeroHouse 2.0, which is designed for net-zero-energy performance. This model is in Tampa. Other ZeroHouse 2.0 models are being unveiled in San Antonio and Austin.
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The ZeroHouse 2.0 in Tampa offers 1,865 sq. ft. of interior space.
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The ZeroHouse 2.0 in Tampa includes a 5.9 kW photovoltaic system.
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Sounds like a bunch of hype to me. Our new KB Home wasn't even well sealed where outside smells would come in although they claim they spray foam any gaps to seal the home for energy efficiency. The insulation was also inadequate and not to code in our KB Home. Our attic was supposed to have a minimum of 13" of blown in insulation but only had about 6-7" and the other side had no insulation. This makes me think all this going green, energy efficiency stuff is just really a joke especially when they can't even properly insulate an attic or care enough to have the foreman or an inspector actually properly check things like that. We've also had a lot of other problems with our new KB Home.
Here's more information on our experience with KB Home . . .
http://www.kbhomeproblems.com