Longford ranked sixth worst county in Ireland for energy-hungry business buildings

Longford has ranked as the sixth worst county in Ireland for energy-intensive commercial spaces

The study analysed the average primary energy use data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), covering commercial and public buildings across Ireland between 2009 and 2025.

Longford averaged 580 kWh per square metre a year, 45% above the national office average, backed by around 152 certificates, and that was the main reason Longford ranked sixth overall.

Offices are the biggest cost in two of the assessed counties, Longford and Mayo.

The research by business energy broker Procure.ie measured how much energy commercial and public buildings used in properties such as offices, shops and warehouses, to reveal which building types were quietly costing businesses the most.

Unlike a BER rating, which gives a building a letter grade, this research looked at primary energy use.

That is the real number of kilowatt hours a building burns per square metre each year; the actual figure your energy bill is built on.

Counties were then ranked by their average primary energy use across all non-domestic building types; to reveal which buildings are the biggest energy drains in each county.

At a time when energy costs remain one of the biggest overheads for Irish businesses, the county you operate in, and the building you operate from, can make a massive difference to the bottom line.

Roscommon tops the list in terms of how much energy its commercial buildings use.

Shops are the reason why with retail buildings in Roscommon averaging 1,725 kWh per square metre a year, against a national retail average of 871, backed by an estimated 298 certificates.

Retail is already one of the most energy-hungry building types in the country nationally.

Roscommon's shops use nearly twice that amount and local business owners are quietly paying for it every month.

Sligo is the rare case where the problem is not one building type as it is two.

It ranks second worst in the country, and if you run a warehouse or an office there, the odds are stacked against you twice over.

Sligo's warehouses average 813 kWh per square metre a year, against a national warehouse average of just 418, nearly double. The offices average 701 kWh per square metre a year, 75% higher than the national office average of 401.

Retail is a big cost in county Carlow for businesses with shops there using 1,157 kWh per square metre a year, 33% more than the national shop average.

For shop owners on Carlow's high streets, this isn't just a stat. It shows up as a real cost on the energy bill every month.

Running a business in Ireland is expensive.

Energy bills are one of the biggest overheads for businesses across the country, and the building you operate from has more impact on those bills than most business owners realise.

Offices in Mayo average 573 kWh per square metre a year, 43% above average, backed by around 496 certificates, one of the biggest office samples in this whole report, and drive Mayo to seventh place overall.