Meritage Homes Corporation

Meritage Homes Corporation, one of the largest builders in the country, has championed the ENERGY STAR Certified Homes program as the baseline for every home it builds, and incorporates ENERGY STAR throughout its marketing and sales materials. Meritage is receiving ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year—Sustained Excellence recognition for its commitment to educating its employees, industry stakeholders, and the public about the value and benefits of energy efficiency. Key 2014 accomplishments include:

• Completing more than 5,000 ENERGY STAR certified homes in 2014, which will save nearly 42 million kilowatt hours of electricity, eliminate more than 58 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, and reduce homeowner utility bills by more than $5 million annually.
• Engaging and educating employees, trade partners, stakeholders in media, utilities, municipal governments, and industry professionals through a comprehensive, multi-tiered public awareness campaign that includes online learning centers, educational content, and community outreach.
• Educating homebuyers about the value and benefits of advanced building techniques and ENERGY STAR certified homes at its more than 100 Green Home learning centers throughout the United States, as well as through webinars, school tours, and homeowner education sessions.
• Providing mandatory training to sales representatives on the value of an ENERGY STAR certified home, as well as producing Continuing Education courses for real estate professionals, including a 3-hour course on the features and benefits of ENERGY STAR certified homes and a two-day energy efficiency course.
• Performing a cost analysis of complying with ENERGY STAR Version 3 requirements, and initiating upgrades to purchasing and construction processes as a result. Additionally, the company is transitioning its HVAC design to an optimized national standard as part of a pilot program.