The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has named Lowe's Companies, Inc. the first winner of the ENERGY STAR® Sustained Excellence Award in Retail. The award recognizes Lowe's long-standing leadership as a retailer of energy-efficient products. Lowe's will receive the EPA's most prestigious award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on March 18.

Lowe's is being honored for outstanding achievements year after year in customer outreach, employee training and product selection, and for reducing greenhouse gas emissions through its industry-leading commitment to energy efficiency. Lowe's has won eight consecutive ENERGY STAR awards (2003-2010), including four ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year awards for educating consumers about the benefits of energy efficiency.

"To be awarded the highest ENERGY STAR honor recognizes years of dedication to providing products and solutions that benefit both our customers and the environment," said Robert A. Niblock, Lowe's chairman and CEO. "We're proud of our leadership role in promoting energy efficiency, and this award challenges us to continue to do more to help our customers save energy and money."

More than 17,000 partners across the U.S. participate in the ENERGY STAR program, and only organizations that have won multiple ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year awards are eligible for the Sustained Excellence Award. Lowe's is the first to win the Sustained Excellence Award in the retail category since the award's inception in 2004. In addition, Lowe's is the 2009 WaterSense® Partner of the Year, offering retail's largest in-stock selection of WaterSense products.

Lowe's, an ENERGY STAR partner since 2001, has successfully integrated ENERGY STAR-qualified products into programs that have helped consumers reduce utility bills. In 2009, Lowe's sold enough ENERGY STAR products to save consumers more than $265 million off their energy bills compared with non-ENERGY STAR products. Consumers can find everyday ways to save energy, water and money at Lowes.com. Last year, more than 10 million customers visited Lowes.com to find ENERGY STAR products and resources for saving energy.

Lowe's achievements in delivering energy-efficiency savings to customers in 2009 included:

• Increasing the quantity and variety of ENERGY STAR products available in stores, including raising the number of ENERGY STAR dishwashers in stock to 90 percent of all dishwashers. Lowe's carries retail's largest in-stock selection of ENERGY STAR major appliances.


• Promoting ENERGY STAR as a way to save energy and money to an estimated 15 million customers per week through in-store efforts that included increased employee training and enhanced signage.


• Partnering with more than 40 utility companies to plan energy efficiency rebate events, and creating an innovative online system to help utility companies simplify the customer experience for rebate promotions.


• Increasing national promotions for ENERGY STAR products and support for tax-free events.

By choosing ENERGY STAR products and solutions, the typical household can save up to 30 percent on energy bills, or about $700 a year. Last year, Americans with the help of ENERGY STAR saved $17 billion on their energy bills and reduced greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of 30 million vehicles. For more information about ENERGY STAR, visit www.energystar.gov.

About Lowe's
With fiscal year 2009 sales of $47.2 billion, Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a FORTUNE® 50 company that serves approximately 15 million customers a week at more than 1,700 home improvement stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Founded in 1946 and based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world. For more information, visit Lowes.com.

Lowe's Companies, Inc.

Lowe's Companies, Inc.

Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) is a proud supporter of Habitat for Humanity International, American Red Cross, United Way of America, and the Home Safety Council, in addition to numerous non-profit organizations and programs that help communities across the country. Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation awards more than $3 million annually to diverse organizations across the United States. Lowe's also encourages volunteerism through the Lowe's Heroes program, a company-wide employee volunteer program aimed at preventing unintentional home injuries. Lowe's, a FORTUNE(R) 50 company with fiscal year 2003 sales of $30.8 billion, has more than 1,050 stores in 46 states.

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