Winchester Homes Wins 2008 'Builder of the Year' Award

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Media Contact: Edwin Prugh - NEVIN Communications
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Building Industry presents ‘BUILDER OF THE YEAR’ award to Winchester Homes for the 3rd Consecutive Year.

Maryland National Capital Building Industry Association awards Winchester Homes “2008 Builder of the Year” for the 3rd consecutive year.

Bethesda, MD (November 17, 2008) – Winchester Homes is thrilled to announce they have been named the 2008 “Builder of the Year” by the Maryland National Capital Building Industry Association for the third consecutive year. In addition to the Builder of the Year recognition, Winchester Homes was awarded two major Environmental Achievement Awards in Land Development for outstanding work enhancing, preserving and protecting the environment. The awards were presented at the MNCBIA Membership Reception on October 23, 2008 at the Bethesda Marriott Hotel.

The MNCBIA “Builder of the Year in the High Production” category award recognizes overall excellence in the areas of scheduling, supervision, engineering, quality control and ethics. This award is based on surveys from suppliers, subcontractors, and vendors from the Maryland and Washington DC building industry. For almost 30 years, Winchester Homes has been built over 18,000 homes in many of the Washington DC area’s luxury communities. This track record of experience helps demonstrate why Winchester Homes was named the 2008 Builder of the Year. Winchester has received numerous national awards for customer satisfaction, high quality construction, innovative architectural designs, safe business practices and environmental leadership. Winchester Homes was one of the first major builders to be granted the National Association of Homebuilder’s National Housing Quality Award recognition. Another key reason for achieving the Builder of the Year award is their exclusive Your Home. Your Way.™ design process allowing customers to experience an unparalleled level of flexibility and customization in building their new home.

The MNCBIA Environmental Achievement Awards in Land Development look at how home builders and developers deal with a broad range of environmental regulations dealing with open space, water runoff, tree protection, sediment control and stormwater management in their communities.

Environmental Achievement Awards in Land Development:
Riverwood - a Camberley Homes luxury community in Ellicott City, Maryland. Camberley Homes is the luxury home building division of Winchester Homes. The Riverwood community was recognized for its exceptional bio-sensitive design and construction methods around its multiple stream crossings. The community will consist of 74 homes on one-acre homesites. Environmental features include nearly 45-acres of a 100-year floodplain, 5 acres of greater than 25 percent slopes that are protected and portions of mature hardwood forest throughout the homesites. All Camberley Homes are 100 percent EnergyStar certified and third-party inspected for energy efficiency.

Auburn Village - a single family home community in Sandy Spring, Maryland. Auburn Village was recognized for preservation of a historic estate, excellent use of open space and the preservation and handling of a Maryland state champion tree. The community is a “Rural Neighborhood Cluster” style community made-up of 31 single family homes in Sandy Spring, Maryland. Of the total 50-acre plan, over 35 acres were preserved as open space.

“We are excited to be recognized as ‘Builder of the Year’ by the Maryland National Capital Building Industry Association for the third year in a row. This recognition is a testament to our employees and vendor partners that work diligently to provide unique home designs and exceptional client service for our all our customers.” said Alan Shapiro, President of Winchester Homes.

About Winchester Homes:
Winchester Homes is known for its progressive Your Home. Your Way™ design concept which gives customers the ability to work one-on-one with designers to create a home that fits their unique lifestyle. Winchester Homes offers the program at each of its 11 single-family and townhome communities in Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery and Prince Georges counties in Maryland and 12 single-family and townhome communities in Loudoun, Fairfax and Spotsylvania counties in Virginia. In the past 30 years, Winchester has delivered more than 18,000 homes in the Washington DC region. For more information, visit www.winchesterhomes.com.

About the MNCBIA
The Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association (MNCBIA) is a regional organization of more than 700 member firms representing the interests of more than 18,000 individuals in the building and development industry operating in Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's and St. Mary's counties in Maryland and in the city of Washington DC. The Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association strives to create an environment in which residents in suburban Maryland and Washington D.C. have continued access to the housing and communities of their choice and the opportunity to realize the dream of homeownership.