KB Home’s standard solar paneled community
represents a first for California’s Irvine Ranch and
a win-win for the buyer and the builder. By Kim Singletary
According to HomeFacts.com,
residents of Irvine, Calif., have
about a 73 percent chance each
morning of waking up to a sunny
day. If they happen to also be a
resident of Primrose at Portola
Springs by KB Home, however, there is a 100
percent chance that those sunny days are going
to save them a lot of money — thanks to a home
solar package that didn’t cost them a dime.
Surrounded on all sides by verdant rolling
hills encompassing 100 acres of open space, lies
the Irvine Village of Portola Springs. While only
minutes from shopping, dining, award-winning
schools and the famed golden strands of Newport
Beach, Calif., Portola Springs also amazingly
boasts six parks — including everything from
junior Olympic swimming pools to lighted athletic
fields — along with miles of winding trails
featuring enveloping views of Loma Ridge.
Portola Springs truly takes advantage of every
benefit of the Southern
California lifestyle, which
makes it the perfect setting
for the first community at
the Irvine Ranch to offer
home buyers the ability
to cash in on the amazing
climate with solar panel
packages that are offered
as standard. And who else
could make this offering but
residential giant, KB Home.
“All of our homes are
Energy Star efficient, and
we exceed Energy Star on every new community
we have,” said Steve Ruffner, president of the
Southern California Division of KB Home.
“It gives the company, especially in Southern
California, a reputation of being the greenest
builder out there. When our customers come
to us, they know we are green. As the largest
builder in Southern California, with over 10
percent of the market, we’re able to offer solar
to the consumer at a really good price, and that’s
why we decided to make it standard.”
KB Home offers solar as standard with all
of the homes in its Built to Order™ line. With
solar packages spanning from six to 14 panels,
homeowners throughout their communities
save from 20 to 80 percent off their utility bills.
“We have 29 communities in California with
solar standards,” Ruffner said. “These homes on
average are 23 percent more efficient than a new
home that meets Title 24 standards.”
The solar packages have had multiple advantages
for both the buyer and the home builder. “When
you buy a KB Home, you also get a tax credit and
that credit can be up to $5,000 just on a standard
system,” Ruffner said. He added, “This is really
great for the buyer because not only do they
save money each month, but they get the added
benefit of a tax credit.” While boosting their green
reputation, KB Home’s extra step into solar has
also boosted sales. “We did some work last year
on our solar program,” Ruffner explained. He
continued, “and those communities with solar
sold at a 30 percent higher rate than communities
without it.”
While Ruffner noted KB’s
excitement about being the first
to try such a program in the
Irvine Ranch, he explained that
the big challenge was to provide
a highly efficient solar system that would integrate
into the architecture that the Irvine Ranch expects.
“We were able to do that,” he said proudly.
Already responsible for some other very
popular neighborhoods within the Irvine Ranch,
KB Home’s Primrose offers a mix of green
living standards with distinctive architecture
and custom finishes helps
provide what Tom Veal,
vice president of residential
sales and marketing for
Irvine Company Community Development, called
a “unique lifestyle unmatched in the region.”
“These homes are another extension of our
commitment that all of the homes in the Villages
of Irvine will be designed and built according to
standards established by Build It Green, a nonprofit
organization in California that promotes
healthy, energy and resource-efficient homes
throughout the state,” Veal said.
KB Home is currently about half way through
construction on Primrose’s 131 Built to Order
homes. Offered in three floor plans ranging
from three to four bedrooms; two-and-a-half
to three bathrooms; and 1,739 to 2,056 square
feet – Primrose homes are green through and
through. From high-performance Water Sense
faucets and low-flow toilets and showerheads
can save homeowners about 30 percent off their
water bill, acording to Ruffner. To radiant barrier
roofing and dual glazed vinyl windows, it’s clear
that the solar panel systems serve as the icing on
one of the greenest cakes around.
Kim Singletary is editor-at-large of Builder
and Developer. She may be contacted at
ksingletary@penpubinc.com.
