Trial / Demo
Here’s how live whole life performance modelling could help you plug the gap…
For manufacturers navigating today’s net zero landscape, decarbonising factories and facilities is a major part of addressing the challenge. From outdated assumptions about energy use to limited visibility over the reality of building performance, inefficiencies in factory infrastructure are often overlooked, yet can quietly drain resources and add to emissions.
As operational pressures grow, from cost and resilience to sustainability and compliance, so too does the need for better building intelligence. But traditional energy audits or one-off reports often fall short of what’s needed to drive long-term change.
That’s where live digital modelling comes in.
Live performance modelling involves creating a dynamic, virtual representation of a factory building or site, connected to real-time operational data from systems like utility meters and building management systems. By bringing this information together through building physics simulation, manufacturers can track facility performance, test scenarios, and plan energy and carbon reduction strategies with a level of accuracy and confidence that static tools simply can’t offer.
For manufacturers juggling production continuity, asset-heavy estates, and net zero goals, this approach is becoming increasingly valuable. It can help identify hidden inefficiencies, prioritise investment, and monitor improvements as they happen - ensuring changes deliver the expected results.
Enter IES Live.
Home to the largest building physics analytics team in the world, IES has developed IES Live, a proprietary service that combines digital building models with real-time data and engineering-grade simulation to support decarbonisation across complex buildings, including manufacturing and industrial sites.
Already being put to good use, we recently worked with the food production arm of Morrisons to model its 49,000 sq ft site in Winsford, Cheshire, helping the business to reduce its building energy use and carbon emissions and inform its pathway to net zero. The live digital replica of the Winsford site responds and behaves like its real-life counterpart, providing operational insights and forecasting the impact of retrofit options in order to inform decarbonisation plans. The project estimates that energy savings of up to 20% will be achieved in the short term, with further savings to be made down the line.
Digital modelling tools like IES Live can play a critical role in manufacturers' shift from reactive to proactive strategies - supporting operational teams, sustainability officers, and digital transformation leads alike to work from the same baseline of real-world, measurable performance.
As energy costs continue to fluctuate, compliance expectations rise, and carbon reduction becomes a competitive necessity, the ability to understand and optimise building performance in real-time is no longer a 'nice to have'. It's fast becoming essential infrastructure for smarter, more sustainable manufacturing.
For those exploring how to decarbonise their factory estate while maintaining business as usual, live modelling may be a key piece of the puzzle.
Find out more – visit www.iesve.com/ies-live
