Acre Designs has launched an Indiegogo campaign to help build a prototype of the company’s visionary product: a home that produces as much energy as it uses—a “NetZero house.”

The startup wants to raise about $70,000 through the campaign. That’s not enough to cover the full cost of the basic $200,000 construction, but it’ll prove to potential investors that the idea has broad appeal, CEO Andrew Dickson said.

The Indiegogo project also will help Acre Designs identify other markets where there might be interest in its solutions. If the campaign attracts several donations from people in Austin, for example, the startup could look for opportunities there.

Acre Designs hosted a kickoff party for the Indiegogo campaign on Sept. 10 at the Village Square Co-Working Studio in Kansas City’s Startup Village. Its Axiom House prototype will be built in the neighborhood, and it’ll serve as a living laboratory for the startup’s solutions.

“We’ll do regular tours in the home,” Dickson said.

Dickson and his co-founder and wife, Jennifer, plan to live in the house for a year with their family, as a way to gather data for how the house performs under normal use. After that, it will be opened up to other entrepreneurs who want to live and work in Startup Village.

The goal is to complete the Axiom House during the second quarter of next year.

Acre Designs is a few weeks away from completing its first project, a house near Oak Grove, Mo.  The homeowner-to-be, Mark Griffin, attended the kickoff party at Village Square. He said he’s excited about the startup’s work. While this particular house won’t be a complete “NetZero” design, it promises to deliver very low energy bills.

“We’re looking at 80 percent cost savings,” Griffin said.

For more information about Acre Designs’ Indiegogo campaign, click this link.

(rendering of Axiom House courtesy of Acre Designs. photo of Andrew and Jennifer Dickson, and Acre VP of Construction Don Newman)