LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and the Well Living Lab today announced a multiyear research project. The Well Living Lab, founded as a collaboration between Delos and Mayo Clinic, is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge to transform indoor environments and improve human health and well-being. The research project will focus on accelerating new discoveries by migrating findings from the Well Living Lab’s research to real-world assessments in partnership with KB Home. This is an important step toward improving public awareness of the impact of the home environment on physical health, mental stress and productivity. It is also an opportunity to advance these new discoveries in a home environment to improve personal comfort, resiliency and overall wellness.
The KB Home and the Well Living Lab research project will span three phases:
- Phase 1: Launching in February 2021, KB Home and the Well Living Lab will educate homebuyers about current healthy home technologies and products at a new KB community model home in Phoenix near the Mayo Clinic Arizona campus.
- Phase 2: KB Home will build a dedicated “test laboratory” home for the Well Living Lab to conduct evidence-generating research about the impact of indoor environments on the health of occupants.
- Phase 3: KB Home and the Well Living Lab will begin pilot studies in partnership with homeowners in the Phoenix area to validate research outcomes to create healthier indoor environments and gain insight on how to best bring them to consumers.
“The Well Living Lab draws upon the expertise of our building, health and behavioral scientists to conduct human-focused studies in both simulated and real-world settings,” said Dr. Win Shen, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist and advisor to the Well Living Lab on its Healthy Home research project. “There are many benefits to this multiyear project that will allow the Well Living Lab to bring its research out of the lab and into real homes. By conducting studies with KB Home, we can gather valuable data to improve the places where people live, work and play.”
Well Living Lab Managing Director and Delos Senior Vice President Barbara Spurrier added, “The Well Living Lab, in partnership with KB Home, is committed to translating and applying its discoveries to improve human health and generate tangible contributions to society.”
KB Home has been a strong champion for many years of the key role homebuilders can play in constructing healthier homes. The partnership between KB Home and the Well Living Lab further reinforces the homebuilder’s commitment to promoting health and wellness through sustainable homebuilding.
“We made the commitment almost two decades ago to building sustainable homes that can support the health of their residents,” said Jeffrey Mezger, KB Home’s Chairman, President and CEO. “Well before the current pandemic, we saw we could offer affordable homes that can make a positive impact on what we value most but can’t buy: our health. We’re proud to lead our industry in focusing on improved indoor air quality and other wellness features and honored to partner with the Well Living Lab on this multiyear research project directed at advancing the future of healthier homes.”
Nearly 20 years ago, the company built its first ENERGY STAR® certified new home. Today, every KB home is designed to be ENERGY STAR certified and deliver an enhanced indoor environment thanks to quality construction techniques and materials as well as high performance ventilation systems that regularly introduce fresh outdoor air. Additionally, the company incorporates design features guided by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Indoor airPLUS standards, including low- or zero-VOC products in carpeting, paint, insulation and cabinetry, and comprehensive air sealants to significantly reduce drafts, moisture, dust and pollen as well as antimicrobial door handles and touchless faucets to reduce the spread of germs.
KB Home is also a leader in advancing new technologies. In January 2019, the company debuted KB ProjeKt®: Where Tomorrow Lives™, a health-oriented concept home of the future that redefined the home as a “health hub.” In that same year, KB Home became the first U.S. homebuilder to offer the Delos DARWIN™ Home Wellness Intelligence platform in select communities, a powerfully integrated wellness system that monitors and calibrates the indoor home environment.
About KB Home
KB Home (NYSE: KBH) is one of the largest and most recognized homebuilders in the United States and has been building quality homes for over 60 years. Today, KB Home operates in 42 markets across eight states, serving a wide array of buyer groups. What sets us apart is how we give our customers the ability to personalize their homes, from homesites and floor plans to cabinets and countertops, at a price that fits their budget. We are the first builder to make every home we build ENERGY STAR® certified. In fact, we go beyond the EPA requirements by ensuring every KB home has been tested and verified by a third-party inspector to meet the EPA’s strict certification standards, which helps to lower the cost of ownership. We also work with our customers every step of the way, building strong personal relationships so that they have a real partner in the homebuying process and the experience is as simple and easy as possible. Learn more about how we build homes built on relationships by visiting kbhome.com.
About the Well Living Lab
The Well Living Lab, founded as a collaboration of Delos and Mayo Clinic in 2016, is dedicated to identifying how indoor environments impact human health and well-being. It conducts scientific research with human subjects in a simulated real-world environment and shares practical findings that can be applied to improving indoor spaces where people spent approximately 90 percent of their time. The lab has 5,500 square-feet of sensor-rich, reconfigurable space in downtown Rochester, Minnesota. Learn more about the contributions of the Well Living Lab at welllivinglab.com.
