Meritage Homes Opens Six New Energy Efficient Communities In Florida

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 10, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH), a top-10 U.S. homebuilder, is proud to announce they are offering their new energy saving homes in seven communities around the Orlando, Florida metropolitan area. This announcement comes on the heels of the company launching their first high-performance community, Lake Todd Estates located in Apopka, Florida, on January 27 ^th. The newest communities to offer these new green homes include Forestbrooke in Ocoee, Cypress Preserve in St. Cloud, Preserve at Black Hammock, Terralago in Oviedo and Oaks at Brandy Lake and Independence in Winter Garden. These new high-performance homes can save homebuyers over 65% in energy use as compared to existing homes, according to standards set by the U.S. Department of Energy. All the energy saving features will be included in each home as standard elements, with no additional cost to the homebuyer.  

Meritage Homes was the first national homebuilder to exceed the EPA's ENERGY STAR® qualification requirements in every home the Company has built since January 1, 2010. All Meritage homes are at least 20% to 30% more energy efficient than a typical home built to the current International Residential Code. Meritage subsequently launched their next generation of advanced energy saving homes in the Arizona market last June, which go well beyond ENERGY STAR standards to save 40-80% or more in energy consumption.

Meritage Homes energy saving homes were designed from the ground up to go well beyond the standard energy performance program of any other production homebuilder's community in the Orlando area. Each new Meritage Green Home comes with all of the following advanced building science practices, including:

• Spray Foam Insulation  
• Double Low-E Vinyl Windows  
• Energy Efficient CFL Lighting  
• Weather Sensing Irrigation  
• High Performance Water Saving Plumbing Fixtures  
• 15 Seer Air Conditioning Unit

"We are very happy to be able to offer our energy saving homes in seven Meritage Homes communities across the Orlando metropolitan area. These new high performance homes will offer some of the most advanced energy efficient features available today," said Fred Vandercook, Orlando DP for Meritage Homes. "We continually strive to provide our buyers with homes that offer unequalled energy savings and versatile home designs, built to the highest level of craftsmanship.  We are offering these high performance homes at some of our most desirable communities in the Orlando area. All communities offer homebuyers numerous amenities and a quiet respite from bustling downtown Orlando, but are just minutes away from great dining, entertainment and retail options. These high-performance, energy saving homes will not only save our homeowners money on their monthly utility bills, but will reduce energy consumption and save scarce resources for future generations."