Fort Mitchell, Kentucky based production builder Drees Homes has entered into an agreement with the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) to provide new home buyers an important measurement of long-term energy performance of each new home the company builds. The intent of the agreement is to raise consumers’ knowledge of new home energy performance by using RESNET’s HERS® Index. Use of the HERS® Index will differentiate homes built by Drees Homes from other homes for sale in the markets of Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Nashville, Raleigh, Frederick, M.D., Washington D.C., Jacksonville, Austin and Dallas. Drees Homes is one of the largest home builders in the U.S. Drees Homes builds homes in Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, DC and West Virginia. The company is the 22nd largest homebuilder in the U.S. The builder was named as the 2008 America’s Best Builder by Builder Magazine. For more information on Drees Homes visit their web site at www.dreeshomes.com/about_us.xml The RESNET HERS® Index is the industry standard by which a home’s energy efficiency is measured. The HERS® or Home Energy Rating System was developed by RESNET and is the nationally recognized system for inspecting and calculating a home’s energy performance. Certified RESNET Home Energy Raters conduct inspections to verify a home’s energy performance and determine what improvements can be made to increase it. For more information click on HERS® Index XXX of Drees Homes, said RESNET’s HERS® provides a quantitative measure of energy efficiency and permits comparisons between homes. “It is expected that Drees’ agreement with RESNET will serve as a model to other local and regional builders that would have positive outcomes for consumers and the new home industry,” Steve Baden, executive director of RESNET lauded Drees Homes’ leadership for improving the energy performance of new homes. “Today’s new homes are much more efficient in comparison to homes built just a decade ago. These homes are more affordable to maintain, comfortable and have a higher value. Thanks to leaders like Drees Homes, builders are increasing the energy performance of the homes they build. This is good for consumers, the environment, the local economy and our national security. It is great to have such a large production builder like Drees Homes educating homebuyers on the RESNET HERS® Index.” In making the commitment Drees Homes has been designated by RESNET as an RESNET Energy Smart Builder. RESNET Energy Smart Builders are leading the transformation of the housing towards high energy performance homes. These leading builders are committed to having all of their homes energy rated following RESNET’s stringent standards and marketing their homes HERS® Index.