Londoners got a look at a breakthrough in energy efficient home design on Tuesday–an affordable zero-carbon home.  From the Independent:

You can pick up the phone and order one, and in three months you can be living your life without contributing anything from your domestic surroundings to Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions, the manufacturers say. They’re a consortium of green building companies called ruralZED, and they say the house they unveiled at the EcoBuild Exhibition at Earl’s Court in London yesterday is the first truly affordable carbon-neutral home.

The super insulated house”three times more efficient than the average British home–is designed to let its owners live off the grid year-round, according to the Independent. Power to the home’s state-of-the-art energy saving appliances is provided by solar panels on the roof, which heat the water, too.

Bill Dunster, whose architectural firm ZEDfactory designed the home, told the Independent that the house itself “is based around a very strong timber frame, supplied as a flat-pack kit, “a bit like a sofa from Ikea.”

ZEDfactory’s zero-carbon home is, like IKEA furniture, geared toward the thrifty do-it-yourselfer who prizes form and function. It has the potential to popularize no-impact living on a scale that seemed unattainable only a few years back. I just hope it comes with better instructions than your average IKEA desk or dresser.

Find out how you can lower your own home’s impact on the planet at lowimpact.org.