Centex Energy Advantage homes up to 40% more efficient than older homes

MINNETONKA, Minn., March 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Centex Corporation today announced that construction is under way on Centex Energy Advantage homes across the Minneapolis metro area. Collectively, the Company's 63 new homes currently scheduled are projected to avoid thousands of tons of carbon emissions over time, preventing more than 100 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in just the first year of occupancy.

Centex Energy Advantage is now available in all to-be-built homes ordered in 10 neighborhoods around the Minneapolis metropolitan area. The first, a single-family home located in Carver's Spring Creek neighborhood southwest of Minneapolis, is scheduled for delivery in May. Please visit any neighborhood sales office for more information or see centex.com/energyadvantage.asp for details and centex.com/minnesota/ for details about homes and prices.(1)

"In today's economic conditions, our customers are just as concerned about the cost of living in a house as the cost of buying it," said Marv McDaris, division president for Centex Homes in Minnesota. "These standard energy-efficiency features put more control over energy costs in their hands from the minute they move in. Avoiding surprises in the monthly utility bill is good for our customers -- avoiding the greenhouse gas emissions is good for the whole community."

Centex Energy Advantage homes are up to 40 percent more efficient than a typical 10-year-old home (as defined by the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America Program), according to a study commissioned with the NAHB Research Center.(2) Each Centex Energy Advantage home avoids 1.78 fewer metric tons of carbon dioxide per year than a comparable new home, according to the NAHB Research Center. That's roughly the same as the greenhouse gas emissions from the family automobile over four months or the CO2 emissions from about 183 gallons of gasoline consumed.(3)

Features of the Company's standard energy-efficiency package in Minneapolis include:(4)


    --  Energy monitor: real-time information about electricity usage and
        expense can lead to a 4-15 percent reduction in electricity use; (5)
        Centex is the first national homebuilder to announce the installation of
        an energy monitor in every home it builds
    --  Whirlpool brand ENERGY STAR(R) qualified appliances
    --  Lennox high-efficiency HVAC system(6)
    --  Programmable thermostat(s)
    --  Low-emissivity windows
    --  R-49 insulation in the attic
    --  Compact fluorescent lights in high-traffic areas
    --  Information for maximizing energy efficiency and minimizing the impact
        of home operation on the environment

About Centex

Dallas-based Centex (NYSE: CTX), founded in 1950, is one of the nation's leading home building companies. Its leading brands include Centex Homes, Fox & Jacobs Homes and CityHomes. In addition to its home building operations, Centex also offers mortgage and title services. Centex has ranked among the top three builders on FORTUNE magazine's list of "America's Most Admired Companies" for 10 straight years and is a leader in quality and customer satisfaction.

Editors' notes:



    (1)  Homes, prices, features and availability are subject to change.
         Inventory homes are subject to prior sale.
    (2)  This study evaluated the energy efficiency gains attributable to
         these standard features in a variety of single-family floor plans
         typical of the Company's product line in the climate zones where the
         Company currently operates.  Not all floor plans, building materials
         or construction techniques were evaluated in the study. Efficiency
         gains will vary for other plan types, building materials,
         construction techniques and change of climate zone.
    (3)  Calculations are based on NAHB Research Center estimated efficiency
         of 1.78 metric tons of CO2 per home equipped with these standard
         energy-efficiency features, as determined by the U.S. Environmental
         Protection Agency's "Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator" (see
         www.epa.gov).
    (4)  The Centex Energy Advantage will be supplemented or otherwise
         adjusted as required by state and local codes.  In several markets,
         the Company is currently building homes with components that exceed
         the combined efficiencies provided by these standard features.
    (5)  Based upon published studies reviewed by the NAHB Research Center.
    (6)  14-SEER air conditioning or 90-percent AFUE furnace, depending upon
         climate zone. SEER is "seasonal energy efficiency ratio," a measure
         of seasonal or annual efficiency of a central air conditioner or air-
         conditioning heat pump that is the average BTUs of cooling delivered
         for every watt-hour of electricity used by the heat pump over a
         cooling season. AFUE is "annual fuel utilization efficiency," a
         measure of average combustion efficiency in a furnace or heating
         unit.

SOURCE Centex Corporation