New Meritage Community Offers Affordable Energy Efficiency

A solar electric and thermal system that makes fuller use of heat generated from the roof of a house is at the heart of energy-efficient and affordable homes that Meritage Homes started selling last week in a new community called Lyon’s Gate in Gilbert, Ariz. The eight floor plans available at the 210-homesite Lyon’s Gate range from 1,600 square feet to 3,000 square feet. But the real news is that their prices start at less than $180,000, which C.R. Herro, Meritage’s vice president of environmental affairs, attributes to the cooperation of the builder’s suppliers and other trade partners. “For the past six months, we’ve been reaching out to every company we deal with to get them to understand our strategy to become a production builder of energy-efficient homes,” Herro tells BUILDER. “Our CEO [Steve Hilton] has a vision of what a large home building company can become, and the [trade partners] that bought into what we are doing all came in with lower profitability” so the house prices could be kept affordable.

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