How does homeworking affect your company’s carbon footprint?

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Homeworking is becoming increasingly popular for its benefits on mental health, productivity, and the environment. At the same time, few know its possible rebound effects regarding greenhouse gas emissions. The environmental impact of remote working is more complex than we might think, as the impression that we are “saving” on emissions by working remotely might make us emit more on other occasions.

In the following article, we will go through the main emission categories of a company’s carbon footprint influenced by homeworking and discover how to make homeworking more sustainable.

How working from home impacts mobility

According to the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME), working from home once a week could save around 271 kg of CO₂e annually. This benefit is mainly caused by the reduction in employees’ commute distances.

At the same time, being aware of possible rebound effects is essential to maximise the benefits of this practice.

For example, homeworking might incentivise employees to move further away from their office, making their commuting longer and, consequently, potentially more polluting. A study on the rebound effects of homeworking by the ADEME shows that working from home might increase mobility related to shopping, free-time activities, and weekend trips. This study doesn’t want to negate the environmental benefits of remote working – on the contrary, despite the rebound effects, working from home is still beneficial.

However, it is a reminder that even if this practice reduces work-related mobility emissions, companies and employees should continue making efforts in all activities to avoid rebound effects. In assessing the benefits of homeworking, you always need to consider what homeworking replaces. If it replaces short bike journeys, it will clearly have a different impact compared to replacing car journeys.

The effect of homeworking on energy consumption

People working from home might produce more emissions linked to energy consumption (electricity, heating, etc.) depending on the context and set-up of their home offices. For example, if they live alone in an independent house and they heat up the whole place during colder months, their heating-related emissions will be greater than if they turned off their heating while they were at the office, where the heating is possibly shared among multiple people. In order to save energy and avoid emissions, employees should get information about how to heat their houses in a responsible and efficient way.

One more thing to consider is if the offices are heated even when people are home – unfortunately, this is usually the case. Ideally, companies should organise homework to reduce the period during which the office is heated.

Technology usage when working remotely

Working from home may contribute to increased carbon emissions related to technology.

That will be the case if companies offer double equipment (such as an additional second screen or a laptop only for homeworking) to make working from home more comfortable. This redundancy of technology increases the company’s carbon footprint and negatively influences other categories, such as waste management.

Another often overlooked facet of a company’s digital carbon footprint is the increased communication volume while working remotely. Homeworking encourages more frequent email exchanges, messaging, and video calls. Even if the carbon footprint of digital technology might seem relatively small compared to mobility-related emissions (it accounts for 4% of the global carbon footprint), it is an important part of some companies’ carbon footprints.

As such, we recommend keeping the communication volume at a minimum and adopting “emission-saving” actions, such as cutting off the camera during video calls when it is not needed. Ideally, the week would also be organised to set meetings when people are coming to the office, while homework days would be dedicated to tasks that can be completed independently.

How can you make working from home more sustainable?

As we’ve seen, working from home can be part of a company’s carbon reduction strategy, but it’s not a cure-all. As always, climate change is a global and complex challenge that can only be tackled through multiple, simultaneous actions.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to make working from home more sustainable and avoid rebound effects, as the responsibility lies at the company and individual levels. However, here’s a list of solutions that your company can implement.

1. Include environmental considerations in your working-from-home policy

By integrating sustainable guidelines into your remote work policy, you can educate your employees on reducing their environmental impact when working from home. For example, you can include tips on using energy and technology optimally (e.g., not leaving your computer on while taking a break, creating and using e-signatures to avoid paper waste, etc.).

2. Encourage and support employees to switch to renewable energy sources at home

Empowering your employees to transition to renewable energy providers or install solar panels will reduce the carbon footprint and align with your company’s commitment to sustainability.

3. Hold workshops with employees to raise awareness of environmental issues

To raise awareness around sustainable practices while homeworking, consider holding workshops during which your employees would calculate their personal carbon footprint, such as 2tonnes workshops. Other workshops are about extending the lifetime of digital technologies, avoiding the rebound effect, and more sustainable mobility options.

4. Partner with second-hand office equipment companies, upcycling companies, etc.

To raise awareness around sustainable practices while homeworking, consider holding workshops during which your employees would calculate their personal carbon footprint, such as 2tonnes workshops. Other workshops are about extending the lifetime of digital technologies, avoiding the rebound effect, and more sustainable mobility options. Implementing a “bring-your-own-device” policy will avoid having double tech equipment.

“Homeworking policies need to be thought through so that they make environmental sense. Otherwise, the benefit of the action risks to be lost.”

Fanny Hermand, Carbon expert at Tapio

Conclusion

Employees’ homeworking emissions while working from home are indirect scope 3 emissions, so companies often struggle to manage and reduce them significantly. However, it is fundamental for companies to tackle them, seeing that scope 3 emissions account for more than 70% of a business’s carbon footprint. To do so, we advise businesses to work with sustainability experts who can offer personalised solutions to each company’s nature and context.