A search for time-integrated CP violation in the Cabibbo-suppressed decay D-0 -> pi(-)pi(+)pi(0) ir is performed using for the first time an unbinned model-independent technique known as the energy test. Using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.0 fb(-1) collected by the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 8 TeV, the world's best sensitivity to CP violation in this decay is obtained. The data are found to be consistent with the hypothesis of CP symmetry with a p-value of (2.6 +/- 0.5)%. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.