SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 06, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2017 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award. This is the seventh year that Meritage Homes has been recognized as a leader in the EPA’s ENERGY STAR for Homes Program and the fifth year Meritage Homes has been honored for sustained leadership in protecting the environment.

“This award reaffirms Meritage’s commitment to energy-efficient homebuilding, which results in healthier, safer, quieter and more comfortable homes, while also reducing utility bills,” said C.R. Herro, Vice President of Environmental Affairs for Meritage Homes. “Our team continues to lead by advocating for improved residential building standards that promote energy efficiency. We remain dedicated to implementing innovative solutions that maximize efficiency and deliver cost savings to our homeowners.”

Meritage Homes, an ENERGY STAR partner since 2001, builds homes that exceed the ENERGY STAR program requirements for energy efficiency and deliver long- and short-term savings to its homeowners. Meritage Homes will be honored for its leadership in advancing energy-efficient homebuilding at the 2017 ENERGY STAR Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. on April 26, 2017.

With guidance and support from the ENERGY STAR program, Meritage Homes set and achieved many sustainability goals last year, including:

• Delivering 7,138 ENERGY STAR certified homes in 2016, which are estimated to save more than 61 million kWh of electricity, eliminate over 93 million pounds of CO2, and reduce homeowner utility bills by an estimated $7.3 million annually.
• Achieving an average Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index Score of 58 for all homes rated in 2016.
• Advocating for better building practices and improving trade awareness by infusing ENERGY STAR messaging in all marketing, sales training, and advocacy to the industry and municipalities. 
• Building cost-effective Zero Energy homes at a community scale, and developing utility best practices to serve full-scale zero energy communities in the future. 
• Developing advanced load-leveling strategies to improve the value of energy efficiency to all stakeholders.
• Partnering with the EPA, DOE, utilities, and manufacturers to demonstrate scalable advances in energy efficiency. 
• Adopting advanced ventilation strategies to reduce humidity and HVAC demand, and partnering with the Indoor airPLUS program to initiate new homebuilder sales training programs.

"Through their continued collaboration with ENERGY STAR, Meritage Homes delivers innovative energy efficiency solutions to help Americans save money, save energy and reduce emissions," said Dean Gamble, Technical Manager for the ENERGY STAR Certified Homes program.  “I applaud Meritage Homes for repeatedly earning the EPA's highest ENERGY STAR award, the 2017 Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award, demonstrating a strong commitment to educating its employees, industry stakeholders, and the public about the value of energy-efficient construction."

In 2015 alone, ENERGY STAR and its partners saved American businesses and consumers 503 billion kilowatt hours and $34 billion dollars on their energy bills, while achieving broad emission reductions.

The 2017 Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Awards honors organizations that have made outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through energy efficiency. These awards recognize ongoing leadership across the ENERGY STAR program, including energy-efficient products, services, new homes, and buildings in the commercial, industrial and public sectors.

For a complete list of 2017 winners and information, and more information about ENERGY STAR’s awards program, visit www.energystar.gov/awardwinners.

About Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes is the eighth-largest public homebuilder in the United States, based on homes closed in 2016. Meritage Homes builds and sells single-family homes for first- time, move-up, luxury and active adult buyers across the Western, Southern and Southeastern United States. Meritage Homes builds in markets including Sacramento, San Francisco Bay area, southern coastal and Inland Empire markets in California; Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Austin and San Antonio, Texas; Phoenix/Scottsdale, Green Valley and Tucson, Arizona; Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado; Orlando, Tampa and south Florida; Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina; Greenville-Spartanburg and York County, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Atlanta, Georgia.

Meritage Homes has designed and built over 100,000 homes in its 31-year history, and has a reputation for its distinctive style, quality construction, and positive customer experience. Meritage Homes is the industry leader in energy-efficient homebuilding and has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for Sustained Excellence Award every year since 2013 for innovation and industry leadership in energy efficient homebuilding.

For more information, visit www.meritagehomes.com.

About ENERGY STAR

ENERGY STAR has 16,000 partners working to protect the environment through greater energy efficiency, including manufacturers, retailers, public schools, hospitals, real estate companies, and home builders. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners have saved American families and businesses $430 billion on their energy bills and 4.6 trillion kilowatt-hours of energy, while achieving broad emissions reductions—including 2.8 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

ENERGY STAR® is the simple choice for energy efficiency. For 25 years, EPA’s ENERGY STAR program has been America’s resource for saving energy and protecting the environment. Join the millions already making a difference at energystar.gov.

Contacts

Meritage Homes Corporation
Brent Anderson, 972-580-6360
VP Investor Relations
media@meritagehomes.com

ENERGY STAR 
Kristinn Leonhart, 202-343-9062
Communications Director
Sharpe.Kristinn@epa.gov