Habitat for Humanity has built thousands of homes, but nothing like the home that is rising up in record time in Riverdale.

Habitat for Humanity Edmonton teamed up with construction materials giant LaFarge and Edmonton-based consulting firm Stantec to develop the first NetZero precast concrete home in Canada. The exterior shell was put together, like giant pieces of Lego, in a matter of hours on Thursday.

"This project will push the limit of sustainable design." - Keith Shillington, VP, Stantec

Klaas Rodenburg, sustainable design coordinator for Stantec, said the house is a prototype, which could be mass-produced for much lower costs. For example, he envisions precasts could be made in Edmonton and shipped to places like Fort McMurray at significant cost and time savings.

The Edmonton home will be monitored over the next two years by the Concrete Sustainability Hub at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The two families moving into the Riverdale will pay an interest-free mortgage to Habitat that will never be more than 25 per cent of their income. They are also required to invest 500 hours of “sweat equity” into the home.

A NetZero home is designed to be so energy efficient that it can, over time, use no power; it creates power on sunny days and returns it to the grid, and uses minimal amounts during winter days, resulting in zero net energy use. The home is located at 102nd Avenue and 90th Street.