KB Home Introduces Wildfire-Resilient Neighborhood

Rhea-AI Summary

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) has unveiled the nation's first wildfire-resilient new-home community in Escondido, California. The Dixon Trail community, featuring 64 homes, meets the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) standards for both home and neighborhood-level wildfire protection.

Each home will be built to the Wildfire Prepared Home™ Plus standard, incorporating key safety features including:

• Class A fire-rated roofs
• Noncombustible gutters
• Upgraded windows and doors
• Ember and flame-resistant vents
• 5-foot noncombustible buffer around structures

The neighborhood design includes structure separation of over 10 feet and fire-resistant materials like all-metal fence systems. This initiative represents KB Home's latest innovation in sustainable homebuilding, following their achievements in energy efficiency, water conservation, and solar power implementation.

Positive

• First-of-its-kind wildfire-resilient community implementation
• Comprehensive fire protection at both home and neighborhood levels
• Follows KB Home's track record of sustainable building innovations
• Addresses growing wildfire concerns in Western regions
• Partnership with respected IBHS research organization

Negative

• to one location in Southern California
• May involve higher construction costs due to specialized materials
• Requires final IBHS evaluation for complete certification
• Implementation to new construction only

The company’s Southern California new-home community is built with IBHS’s research-backed mitigation strategies to reduce the risk from wildfires.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- KB Home (NYSE: KBH), one of the largest and most trusted homebuilders in the U.S., today unveiled the nation’s first new-home community that meets the home- and neighborhood-level wildfire resilience standards developed by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), an independent nonprofit research organization dedicated to protecting homes and communities against natural disasters. Utilizing fire-resistant building materials, methods and features based on over a decade of IBHS wildfire research, KB Home’s Dixon Trail community in Escondido, California is designed to IBHS’s highest level of protection against direct flame contact, radiant heat and embers, which helps to meaningfully reduce the likelihood of wildfire spread.

KB Home today unveiled the nation’s first new-home community that meets the home- and neighborhood-level wildfire resilience standards developed by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety.

The Dixon Trail community will have 64 beautifully designed homes upon completion. Each home will be built to the Wildfire Prepared Home™ Plus standard and receive a designation certifying that it has met IBHS’s most stringent requirements for homesite-level fire mitigation. Dixon Trail will receive a provisional neighborhood-level designation based on its design, confirming that the community has implemented preventative measures to reduce the likelihood of initial ignitions from an approaching wildfire, protect against embers that could spark spot fires, and slow fire spread if ignitions occur. Dixon Trail is the first applied use of the researched-based, community-level mitigation strategies of structure separation, fire pathway reduction and wildfire-resilient building materials under IBHS’s new Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood standard. Once the neighborhood is completed and has passed an IBHS evaluation, a final Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood designation will be issued.

“In keeping with our tradition of innovation, we are pleased to offer today's buyers the ability to choose a wildfire-resilient home and community," said Jeffrey Mezger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of KB Home. "We are proud that our new Dixon Trail community, with its system of mitigation features, is the first in the nation to meet IBHS’s wildfire resilience standards at the homesite level and at the neighborhood level.”

Research shows that both homesite- and neighborhood-level strategies are key in preventing wildfires from becoming catastrophic. As a model of wildfire resiliency, Dixon Trail has incorporated research-backed mitigation actions into the design of its homesites, including the installation of Class A fire-rated roofs, noncombustible gutters, upgraded windows and doors, and ember- and flame-resistant vents as well as the creation of a 5-foot noncombustible buffer around structures. At the neighborhood level, wildfire risk is reduced by separating almost all structures by more than 10 feet and decreasing potential fuels through the use of fire-resistant materials like all-metal fence systems.

"With fire becoming an increasingly common threat in the West, it's crucial to reconsider how we construct communities in fire-prone regions," said IBHS CEO Roy Wright. "KB Home is at the forefront, implementing our research-driven wildfire mitigation strategies for both the parcel and neighborhood levels at Dixon Trail."

KB Home has a long-standing history of bringing innovation to homebuilding and achieving industry firsts. The company was founded in 1957 with the forward-thinking idea of building slab homes to make homeownership more affordable for first-time buyers. In 1976, KB Home introduced its first energy-efficient homes, setting the stage for future sustainability initiatives. Its first ENERGY STAR^® certified home was built in 2000, and in 2008, KB Home made a broad commitment to design all homes to be ENERGY STAR certified. The company has continued to push boundaries, becoming the first national homebuilder to offer WaterSense^® labeled homes in 2010 and unveiling all-solar communities in 2011. More recently, in 2022, KB Home became the first national builder to adopt the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) highest water-efficiency standards in drought-prone regions and pioneered two all-electric, solar- and battery-powered microgrid communities. In 2024, the company accomplished a major milestone by building its 200,000th ENERGY STAR certified home — more than any other builder in the country. KB Home’s Dixon Trail community represents yet another milestone: the first IBHS-designated wildfire-resilient neighborhood in the nation.

For more information on KB Home’s sustainability initiatives, visit kbhome.com/sustainability.

For more information about KB Home, call 888-KB-HOMES or visit kbhome.com.

About KB Home

KB Home is one of the largest and most trusted homebuilders in the United States. We operate in 49 markets, have built nearly 700,000 quality homes in our more than 65-year history, and are honored to be the #1 customer-ranked national homebuilder based on third-party buyer surveys. What sets KB Home apart is building strong, personal relationships with every customer and creating an exceptional homebuying experience that offers our homebuyers the ability to personalize their home based on what they value at a price they can afford. As the industry leader in sustainability, KB Home has achieved one of the highest residential energy-efficiency ratings and delivered more ENERGY STAR^® certified homes than any other builder, helping to lower the total cost of homeownership. For more information, visit kbhome.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250327788061/en/

For Further Information:

Craig LeMessurier, KB Home

925-580-1583

clemessurier@kbhome.com

Source: KB Home

FAQ

What wildfire protection features are included in KB Home's Dixon Trail homes?

Dixon Trail homes include Class A fire-rated roofs, noncombustible gutters, upgraded windows and doors, ember-resistant vents, and a 5-foot noncombustible buffer zone around structures.

How many homes will be built in KBH's wildfire-resilient Dixon Trail community?

The Dixon Trail community in Escondido, California will have 64 homes upon completion.

What certifications will KBH's Dixon Trail homes receive for wildfire protection?

Each home will receive the Wildfire Prepared Home™ Plus certification, and the community will receive a Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood designation upon completion.

How does KB Home's Dixon Trail community reduce wildfire spread risk?

The community reduces wildfire risk through 10-foot structure separation, fire-resistant materials, and IBHS-approved building methods that protect against direct flame contact, radiant heat, and embers.

Where is KBH's first wildfire-resilient community located?

KB Home's Dixon Trail, the first wildfire-resilient community, is located in Escondido, California.