How Green Are America's Top Homebuilders?
Calvert to Rank Largest Builders on Environmental and Sustainable Practices The environmental and sustainable practices of the United States' largest publicly traded homebuilders will be ranked in a major new report to be released at 1:30 p.m. EDT on May 6, 2008 by the mutual fund company Calvert, one of the nation's leaders in the field of sustainable and responsible investing. Calvert designed the research into homebuilder sustainability with support from the Boston College Institute for Responsible Investment. In alphabetical order, the 13 homebuilders covered in the report are: Beazer, Atlanta, GA; Centex, Dallas, TX; D.R. Horton, Fort Worth, TX; KB Home, Los Angeles, CA; K. Hovnanian, Red Bank, NJ; Lennar, Miami, FL; M.D.C. Holdings, Denver, CO; Meritage, Scottsdale, AZ; NVR Inc., Reston, VA; Pulte, Bloomfield Hills, MI; Ryland, Calabasas, CA; Standard Pacific, Irvine, CA; and Toll Brothers, Horsham, PA. News event speakers will be: * Stu Dalheim, director, Shareholder Advocacy, Calvert; and * David Wood, director, Boston College Institute for Responsible Investment. As an investor, Calvert seeks to discern how major U.S. homebuilders compare on policies, programs, and performance relating to the environment and resource efficiency. Despite the slump in the overall housing market, the green building industry is seeing annual growth of as much as 30 percent. Green building features for new homes present a clear opportunity for the homebuilding industry -- homeowners are willing to pay a premium for greener and cleaner homes of $18,500 on average, according to McGraw Hill Constructions 2006. TO PARTICIPATE: Join this live, phone-based national news conference (with full, two-way Q&A) at 1:30 p.m. EDT on May 6, 2008 by dialing 1 (800) 860-2442. Ask for the "Calvert/IRI green building report" news event. CAN'T PARTICIPATE?: A streaming audio replay of this news event will be available on the Web at http://www.calvert.com as of 7 p.m. EDT on May 6, 2008. Calvert is a diversified investment management firm with over $15 billion in assets under management. Calvert is a leader in sustainable and responsible investing and manages $6.9 billion in sustainable and responsible asset management strategies for institutional and individual investors. The firm's SRI funds have grown to 21, with the most recent additions being the Calvert Global Alternative Energy Fund (CGAEX) and the Calvert International Opportunities Fund (CIOAX). Over the years, the firm has built a core line-up of mutual funds ranging from equity to fixed income, large cap to small cap, and domestic to international. Calvert also runs the Calvert Social Index(R), a benchmark for measuring the performance of large, U.S.-based socially responsible companies. For more information about Calvert or this report please visit www.calvert.com or call (301) 951-4800. The Institute for Responsible Investment, a project of The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, works with investors, corporations, public sector organizations, research institutes, and related parties to coordinate thinking and action around issues of strategic importance to long-term wealth creation for shareholders and society. In recent years the IRI has focused on responsible property investing as a key area of concern. For more information on any Calvert fund, please contact your financial advisor or call Calvert at 800.368.2748 for a free prospectus. An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of an investment carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information. Read it carefully before you invest or send money. Calvert mutual funds are underwritten and distributed by Calvert Distributors, Inc., member FINRA, subsidiary of Calvert Group, Ltd. May 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire -- May 5/ SOURCE Calvert Group, Bethesda, MD; Boston College Institute for Responsible Investment, Boston, MA Patrick Mitchell, +1-703-276-3266, pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com, for Calvert Group
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