KB Homes’ Primera Terra, one of the largest communities of LEED platinum-certified homes in California, this week won a 2011 LEED for Homes award in the multi-family category at the U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild international conference and expo in Toronto.

The 2011 award categories recognize innovative multi- and single-family projects, production builders, affordable housing projects and developers, an overall commitment to LEED for Homes, and Project of the Year.

The 2011 Project of the Year award was given to The GO Home in Belfast, Maine, built by GO Logic. With a small but smart footprint of 1,500 square feet, the three-bedroom LEED platinum residence uses minimal energy and was built at construction costs comparable to a building a standard home. As a net zero and passive house, The GO Home was designed to bring design and energy performance in line with affordability, and is designed to slash energy usage by 90%. The project will be replicated across a 36-home community in Maine.

Other LEED for Homes winners include Power Haus, built by Josh Wynne Construction, for Outstanding Single Family Project, Sarasota, Fla.; ActiveWest Builders was recognized in the Production Builder category for its Meadow Ranch Development in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; the LEED platinum Juneberry Lane project in Oregon City, Ore., developed by Clackamas Community Land Trust, received the Outstanding Affordable Housing Project award; affordable housing developer New Hope Housing of Houston was recognized for developing safe and affordable single room occupancy (SRO) housing for adults with limited incomes; the award for Outstanding Program Commitment was given to the Habitat for Humanity of Kent County, Grand Rapids, Mich.

KB Home’s Primera Terra residential community project, located in Playa Vista (west Los Angeles), was recognized for its optimization of the 52-unit building’s envelope in order to maximize performance. KB Home controlled costs by performing cost/value reviews and proved that a LEED platinum project can be designed and built without a significant increase in construction costs, the USGBC said.

According to KB Home, Primera Terra homes are 40% more energy efficient than a typical new home. Each owner has an energy monitoring system to track their energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs online or using smart phone.

KB Home’s Los Angeles office served as owner, general contractor and construction manager on the project; KTGY Group, Santa Monica, was the architect; Fuscoe Engineering, Irvine, was civil engineer; Englekirk Partners, Santa Monica, was structural engineer; and TAD Engineering, Orange, was MEP engineer.