Working from home has lots of potential benefits: no commute, no office politics and the ability to work in your pyjamas are just some.
But working from home (WFH) may also have another huge advantage – could it help save the planet?
Is WFH better for the environment?
As we have logged on from our kitchen tables over the last 18 months, it’s very possible that we have been unintentionally helping to reduce our carbon footprint.
Take commuting. Transportation is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the UK and more than half come from personal vehicles. Close to 70% of people drive to work – usually alone.
Doing away with millions of workers’ daily commutes seems like an easy climate win.
After all, carbon dioxide emissions from transportation dropped by 20% last year as people hunkered down at home.
However, what’s happening inside those homes must be added into the equation.
How much energy is being used to have the heating on? Is that energy coming from clean sources?
“For the most part, this can all be quite easily measured,” said Fraser Millar, an environmental analyst from Zero Waste Scotland.
And so, Fraser did just that.
When home becomes work
“We did a study right at the start of the pandemic,” he said. The aim was to track the impact of lockdown on Zero Waste Scotland’s carbon footprint.
Looking at everything from heating and commuting to corporate travel and the purchase of new remote working office equipment, Fraser began calculating the environmental “costs” of working at home.
“Our emissions from commuting were by far our biggest source of carbon,” he said.
“Each of us was sitting in our own individual cars every day traveling back and forth alone, which is the worst type of commuting (for the environment).”
However with that cut, Fraser found that the company’s daily carbon footprint had fallen by 73% compared to business as usual.
“This was even taking into account we were now running 150 heating systems instead of just one,” he said.
In the summer, when everyone’s heating was permanently off, Zero Waste Scotland’s daily carbon footprint had dropped by 92% compared to business as usual.
Hidden climate impacts of the new normal
Letting workers who can work remotely split their time between home and office is emerging as the dominant choice for companies navigating the new normal.
But hybrid working could create a “worst-case scenario”, according to a June study from the Carbon Trust and Vodafone Institute for Society and Communications.
“This split could result in consuming more energy and emitting more emissions as both homes and offices are fully operating to enable teleworkers and office workers to do their jobs,” the report warned.
Fraser is equally cautious.
“The carbon savings might not be as dramatic for every business,” he said.
“If you have an ultra-local workforce who all walk to the office, for example, things will be different.”
He recommends that each organisation looks carefully at their own carbon emissions, plus there are other aspects to consider.
“In the end it’s not all about carbon, and things like wellbeing and being able to meet your colleagues may well counteract any environmental benefits.”
