Assessing the Carbon Footprint of Teleworking: A Case Study of Two Research Projects before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic

The objective of this study is to assess the carbon footprint (CF) of electricity use and transportation, with a focus on teleworking, through the implementation of two research projects that were initiated before and completed after the COVID-19 pandemic. The study applies an integrated methodology...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sofia Papadogiannaki, Natalia Liora, Daphne Parliari, Stavros Cheristanidis, Anastasia Poupkou, Dimitrios Melas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-08-01
Series:Environmental Sciences Proceedings
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4931/26/1/101
Description
Summary:The objective of this study is to assess the carbon footprint (CF) of electricity use and transportation, with a focus on teleworking, through the implementation of two research projects that were initiated before and completed after the COVID-19 pandemic. The study applies an integrated methodology based on the GHG Protocol guidance and DEFRA emission factors to investigate the CF of the projects, both during the pre-pandemic and teleworking period, as well as during the pandemic period with 50% teleworking. The results indicate that telecommuting contributed to a reduction in CO<sub>2</sub> emissions of 49–55%. Furthermore, a 20% reduction in car usage for commuting to and from work resulted in reductions of approximately 30% in transportation. These findings suggest that implementing such measures post-COVID-19 could have a significant impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
ISSN:2673-4931