Santolina at South Mountain, a gated community of single-story houses in Phoenix, provides a portal into a more sustainable future with the addition of a concept home that showcases wellness at every turn. Built by KB Home and the Well Living Lab, a collaboration between Delos and the Mayo Clinic, it features design and construction materials, products, and technologies that offer health benefits to residents guided by the EPA’s Indoor airPLUS standards.
KB Home is the first homebuilder to join the Well Living Lab Alliance, a consortium of global organizations conducting and applying human-centered research to better understand the relationships between health, wellbeing, and indoor environments. Its Healthy Home program in particular emphasizes the impact of residential environments on physical and mental health, sleep, and productivity.
This concept home is divided into four customized micro environments, including the KB Home Office, which is outfitted with ergonomic furniture, and MindBreaks, where biophilic design takes center stage in the form of Vistafolia modular green wall panels and an app that helps improve mindfulness. Elsewhere, smart devices measure health status and key biometrics of all inhabitants and visitors, like WithingsThermo, a no-contact thermometer that tracks temperature readings and syncs with a smartphone app to offer medical advice.
In the kitchen, a GreenGuard-certified low-porosity Silestone quartz countertop is paired with a U by Moen Touchless Smart Faucet that operates via voice-activated technology along with Whirlpool smart cooking appliances. Kwikset door levers embedded with antimicrobial protection in the finish are found in the bathroom.
“With our homes being multifunctional spaces, homeowners of all ages are looking for ways to ensure their homes are healthy and enhance wellness, even as we look toward post-pandemic,” says Rob McGibney, regional president for KB Home Arizona. “The concept home with Well Living Lab examines current and new healthy-home technologies and how they can improve comfort, resiliency, and overall wellness.”
A version of this article was originally published by KBB.
