ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Representatives from KB Home (NYSE: KBH), Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) and Builder magazine today unveiled the KB Home GreenHouse™: An Idea Home Created with Martha Stewart. The innovative and expertly-designed net-zero energy home is the 13th in Builder Magazine’s Concept Home series tradition that annually showcases an impactful and interesting new concept in homebuilding during the industry’s premier trade conference, the NAHB International Builders’ Show (IBS).
With the IBS set to begin tomorrow, the project partners hosted members of the media during a special event at the home. Members of the media were among the first to tour the KB Home Greenhouse and participated in a question and answer session with Martha Stewart, founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia; Jeffrey Mezger, president and chief executive officer of KB Home; and Boyce Thompson, editorial director for Builder magazine.
“We’re excited to open this year’s home for tours,” said Boyce Thompson. “The KB Home GreenHouse embodies the Concept Home philosophy of bringing together some of the best minds in the business to create a project that has broad appeal, incorporates innovative new products and ideas and will serve to educate other homebuilders.”
Attendees were impressed with the elegantly traditional exterior, free flowing and inviting interior as well as the home design’s ability to bring the outdoors in via a telescoping patio door that spans the length of the kitchen and leads to a spacious lanai.
“We were happy to be a part of this project with KB Home,” said Martha Stewart. “It allowed us to build on our already successful partnership by creating the ultimate ‘green’ home that is not only environmentally friendly, but also beautiful, functional and affordable.”
In addition to its aesthetic appeal, the KB Home Greenhouse achieves a new dimension of environmentally friendly building for KB Home; it is the company’s first net-zero energy home, meaning it is intended to produce more energy than it consumes over the span of a year. As such, it has been labeled as a “Maximized Energy-Efficient Home” by the U.S. Department of Energy. Additionally, the home has been recognized with a variety of other green building achievements, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR® and WaterSense® qualifications, U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® (LEED) for Homes Platinum rating and Environments for Living® green certification.
“In creating the KB Home GreenHouse, we were able to combine our industry-leading position in environmentally friendly building with our reputation for innovation," said Jeffrey Mezger. “With an established track record of building all ENERGY STAR homes in our new communities, we took this opportunity to go above and beyond and built a net-zero energy home that incorporates new ideas and technologies, including a real-time energy monitoring system and a solar thermal water heater, that we believe will one day be standard in all new homes.”
KB Home was recently recognized as the #1 Green Homebuilder for the second consecutive time by Calvert Investments. Participation in experimental projects like the Builder Magazine Concept Home was one of many criteria used by the firm in its evaluation of sustainable practices in the homebuilding industry.
The KB Home GreenHouse: An Idea Home Created with Martha Stewart will be open daily to IBS attendees during event hours, Wednesday, January 12 through Saturday, January 15 for free guided tours. For those not attending IBS, a virtual tour is now available at www.builderconcepthome2011.com. The home will be open to the general public beginning Sunday, January 16. KB Home has scheduled a special open house event for that day. For more information, visit www.kbhome.com or call 888-KB-HOMES.
Note to editors: Photos from today’s event accompany this release and are also available for download at www.builderconcepthome2011.com/media-center.php.
About BUILDER magazine
BUILDER magazine is the leading media brand for the housing industry. It reaches more than 114,000 industry professionals. This show home will be the 13th in the Builder Concept Home series, a fixture at the housing industry’s annual convention since 1998. BUILDER magazine is owned and produced by Hanley Wood. Visit www.builderonline.com.
Hanley Wood, publisher of BUILDER is a leading business-to-business media company focused on the residential and commercial construction and design industries. The company produces magazines, Web sites, e-newsletters, exhibitions and conferences, custom marketing, data services and house plans. Visit www.hanleywood.com.
About KB Home
KB Home, one of the nation's premier homebuilders, has delivered over half a million quality homes for families since its founding in 1957. The Los Angeles-based company is distinguished by its Built to Order™ homebuilding approach that puts a custom home experience within reach of its customers at an affordable price. KB Home's award-winning home designs and communities meet the needs of first-time, move-up and active adult homebuyers. KB Home was named to FORTUNE® magazine's 2010 list of the World's Most Admired Companies for the sixth consecutive year, and ranked #1 for "Innovation" among homebuilders. The Company trades under the ticker symbol "KBH" and was the first homebuilder listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For more information about any of KB Home's new home communities, call 888-KB-HOMES or visit www.kbhome.com.
About Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. is a diversified media and merchandising company, inspiring and engaging consumers with unique lifestyle content and distinctive products. The Publishing segment encompasses four magazines, including the company's flagship publication, Martha Stewart Living, periodic special issues and books. The marthastewart.com website provides consumers with instant access to MSLO's multimedia library, search and find capabilities, recipes, online workshops, community and personalization, as well as wedding-planning tools powered by WeddingWire and digital invitations with pingg.com. The Broadcasting segment produces the Emmy-winning, daily television series, "The Martha Stewart Show," and other original programming on Hallmark Channel, including “Mad Hungry with Lucinda Scala Quinn” and “Whatever with Alexis & Jennifer.” Broadcasting also encompasses Martha Stewart Living Radio on SIRIUS channel 112 and XM Radio 157. In addition to its media properties, MSLO offers high-quality Martha Stewart products through licensing agreements with carefully selected companies, including the Martha Stewart Collection exclusively at Macy's, the Martha Stewart Living line of home-improvement products at The Home Depot, Martha Stewart Crafts with EK Success at Michaels and independent retailers, the Martha Stewart Pets line at PetSmart and more. In 2008, Emeril Lagasse joined the Martha Stewart family of brands; MSLO acquired the assets related to Lagasse's media and merchandising business, including television programming, cookbooks, and emerils.com website and his licensed kitchen and food products. For additional information about MSLO, visit www.marthastewart.com.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6568712&lang=en