Teleworking can reduce the carbon footprint by up to 58%, compared to working in an office, according to a study carried out in the United States.
The study, based on models “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” (Pnas, publication of the National Academy of Sciences, United States), analyzed the potential of remote work to reduce the carbon footprint of employees.
The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the prevalence of teleworking, which can influence greenhouse gas production due to changes in factors such as travel and household energy use.
The study published this Monday, led by Cornell University in the United States, evaluated the greenhouse gas emissions derived from this transition, taking into account factors such as information and communication technologies, daily trips to work, non-work-related travel and energy use in offices and homes.
The team, led by Longqi Yang, used multiple data sets with more than 100,000 samples, including those from Microsoft employees in the US, on commuting and teleworking.
For their study, they modeled the greenhouse gas emissions of U.S. employees in the five aforementioned categories and compared the emissions predicted for “onsite,” fully remote, and hybrid workers.
The model indicated that employees who only telework would have a 58% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to employees who work in person, primarily due to lower energy consumption in the office.
One day a week of teleworking reduced projected emissions by only 2%.
In contrast, two to four days of remote work per week reduced a worker’s emissions by up to 29% compared to in-person employees.
The increased use of information and communication technologies has had a “negligible effect” on emissions, while office energy consumption and non-daily commutes are important, the researchers stress.
The study also suggests that maximizing the environmental benefits of remote working depends on multiple factors, such as vehicle choice, commuting behavior, and energy efficiency in homes and offices.
Source: TSF
