EPA Recognizes Meritage Homes With 2014 ENERGY STAR(R) Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award

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Second Year That Meritage Has Been Honored With This Prestigious Award for Protecting the Environment Through Superior Energy Efficiency

SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- (Marketwired) -- 04/02/14 -- For the second consecutive year, Meritage Homes (NYSE: MTH) has been awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award for the Company's continued leadership in protecting our environment through superior energy efficiency.

Meritage Homes, an ENERGY STAR partner since 2001, will be honored for its long-term commitment to energy efficiency at the 2014 ENERGY STAR Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. on April 29, 2014.

Meritage has been a leader in bringing sustainable building practices to large-scale homebuilding, with a series of early-adopter advancements:

  • first production homebuilder to adopt ENERGY STAR's performance criteria as the minimum standard in 100% of Meritage homes started since January 1, 2010;
  • first national homebuilder to offer EPA triple-certified homes for ENERGY STAR, Indoor airPLUS and WaterSense qualifications; and
  • first Net Zero Energy production builder in the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Energy has recognized Meritage's leadership in this area for the last four years:
2010 Department of Energy's Building America Partner Award,
2011 ENERGY STAR Builder of the Year Award,
2012 ENERGY STAR Leadership in Housing Award,
2013 & 2014 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award.
"Meritage Homes has earned EPA's highest ENERGY STAR award -- the 2014 Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award -- because of their unwavering commitment to helping consumers become increasingly more energy efficient," said EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe.

"We are honored to receive this award again," said Steve Hilton, chairman and chief executive officer of Meritage Homes. "Meritage is setting the standard for energy-efficient homebuilding by designing and delivering affordable, cost-effective, energy-efficient homes to our homeowners. We are committed to our partnership with ENERGY STAR to advance and promote higher standards for energy efficiency in homes, which also helps protect our environment."

The 2014 Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Awards are given to a variety of organizations to recognize their contributions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through superior energy efficiency. These winners have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by setting and achieving aggressive goals, and employing innovative energy efficiency approaches. 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. Award winners are selected from the 16,000 organizations that participate in the ENERGY STAR program. Meritage Homes was one of only two homebuilders to earn ENERGY STAR's highest distinction this year.

Through 2013, with help from ENERGY STAR since its inception in 1992, American families and businesses have saved $297 billion on utility bills and prevented more than 2.1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

About Meritage Homes Corporation

Meritage Homes is the ninth-largest public homebuilder in the United States, based on homes closed in 2013. Meritage builds and sells single-family homes for first-time, move-up, luxury and active adult buyers across the Western, Southern and Southeastern United States. As of December 31, 2013, the company had 188 actively selling communities in markets including Sacramento, San Francisco's East Bay, the Central Valley and Orange County, California; Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Austin and San Antonio, Texas; Phoenix/Scottsdale, Green Valley and Tucson, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; Orlando and Tampa, Florida; Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina; York County, South Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee.

Meritage has designed and built more than 80,000 homes in its 28-year history, and has a reputation for its distinctive style, quality construction, and positive customer experience. Meritage 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 in 2013 and 2014, for innovation and industry leadership in energy efficient homebuilding. Meritage was the first national homebuilder to be 100 percent ENERGY STAR qualified in every home it builds, and far exceeds ENERGY STAR standards today.

For more information, visit meritagehomes.com.

About ENERGY STAR

ENERGY STAR was introduced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1992 as a voluntary market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through increased energy efficiency. Today, ENERGY STAR offers businesses and consumers energy-efficient solutions to save energy, money, and help protect the environment for future generations. 16,000 organizations are ENERGY STAR partners committed to improving the energy efficiency of products, homes, and buildings. For more information about ENERGY STAR, visit www.energystar.gov or call toll-free 1-888-STAR-YES (1-888-782-7937).

Contacts:
Brent Anderson
(972) 580-6360 (office)
brent.anderson@meritagehomes.com

Kristinn Leonhart
ENERGY STAR Brand Manager
(202) 343-9062
Leonhart.Kristinn@epa.gov

Source: Meritage Homes Corp.

Released April 2, 2014