IES has launched a new 3D Urban Energy Model of Dublin Town, offering a comprehensive view of energy use and carbon emissions across more than 3,000 city-centre buildings. The digital twin, commissioned by Dublin Town Business Improvement District, provides an advanced, data-driven tool to support the capital’s journey to net zero.
3D digital twin offers building-level insights
This publicly accessible model brings together energy performance data, operational analytics, and building physics simulation to map energy consumption and emissions on a block-by-block basis. It represents the most detailed digital twin of Dublin’s commercial core to date.
3D energy model of Dublin Town
Developed using IES’s digital twin technology for urban energy modelling, the platform enables users to:
- Benchmark energy performance at the individual building level
- Identify high-emission, high-energy-consuming properties
- Simulate retrofit scenarios ranging from basic behavioural changes to deep energy upgrades
- Visualise potential energy, cost, and carbon savings
The model connects to a live dashboard platform that updates in real time, ensuring ongoing monitoring, tracking, and validation of energy performance.
Supporting net-zero buildings in Dublin’s Business District
This initiative supports Dublin City Council’s 2030 climate goals by providing stakeholders with evidence-based retrofit planning. Using simulation-based analysis, the model tests various decarbonisation scenarios—shallow, medium, deep, and full renovations—against city-wide targets.
Each building is provided with:
- Operational carbon savings curves
- Phased investment plans
- Forecasts of return on investment from retrofit measures
These features give businesses a financially clear and technically robust roadmap to net-zero carbon buildings in Dublin.
Free energy audits for SMEs in Dublin Town
To drive immediate action, IES is offering free energy audits for SMEs in Dublin City Centre through the SEAI voucher scheme. Eligible businesses—those with fewer than 250 employees, turnover under €50 million, and annual energy bills over €10,000—can access tailored energy assessments.
These audits include:
- Utility bill review
- On-site energy survey
- Identification of waste and inefficiencies
- Recommendations for low- and no-cost energy-saving actions
- Quantification of capital projects and ROI
Turning data into decarbonisation action
Beyond diagnostics, IES’s flagship platform, IES Live, enables building owners and managers to implement decarbonisation plans validated in real time. By linking live energy performance data with predictive simulation, IES Live creates a feedback loop that supports continuous performance optimisation.
Through this model and platform, businesses in Dublin’s commercial district now have the tools to:
- Understand their energy performance
- Quantify the benefits of retrofit strategies
- Build decarbonisation plans based on engineering-grade data
- Track and verify progress toward net-zero commercial buildings in Dublin
A model for urban regeneration
According to Dublin Town CEO Richard Guiney, the model enables businesses to act with clarity and confidence. “This model translates ambition into practical steps and empowers every operator to map their pathway to lower costs and lower carbon,” he said. With this 3D urban energy model and IES’s support services now available, the path toward a sustainable, energy-efficient Dublin city centre is not only mapped—it’s actionable
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