Quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) are an emerging field-coupled nanotechnology with remarkable performance and energy efficiency. In order to enable the exploration of this technology, we propose a model for the logic synthesis of QCA circuits that, for the first time, considers and abstracts all main physical aspects-in particular, energy dissipation. To this end, we review in detail how energy is dissipated in QCA cells and present a corresponding environment that allows for the estimation of the energy dissipation with respect to any specific set of technology parameters. Based on that, we derive a model for logic synthesis. A case study confirms the accuracy of the proposed model and reveals that interconnections have a significant impact in this technology-motivating a more rigorous consideration. These findings eventually provide the basis for a new generation of synthesis approaches at the logic level that are explicitly dedicated to QCA systems.