Pilot study to measure the energy and carbon impacts of teleworking
Teleworking offers various socio-economic benefits to the workforce, especially during major disasters. However, the holistic net energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions impacts of telework remain poorly understood. This paper develops and tests a longitudinal mixed-methods approach to estimate en...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Ubiquity Press
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Buildings & Cities |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://account.journal-buildingscities.org/index.php/up-j-bc/article/view/271 |
| _version_ | 1797804392838070272 |
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| author | Sharane Simon William O’Brien |
| author_facet | Sharane Simon William O’Brien |
| author_sort | Sharane Simon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Teleworking offers various socio-economic benefits to the workforce, especially during major disasters. However, the holistic net energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions impacts of telework remain poorly understood. This paper develops and tests a longitudinal mixed-methods approach to estimate energy and emissions in three domains: home office, transportation, and information and communications technology (ICT). A pilot study of 11 participants from Ottawa, Canada, is used to evaluate the method, while generating a rich dataset and new insights. The results show transportation, home heating and cooling account for > 94% of telework-related energy, while home office equipment, lighting and ICT account for the remaining 6% (and < 2% of GHG emissions). Not including employer offices, teleworking will likely yield a net reduction in energy and GHG emissions compared with conventional working arrangements, but this result is dependent on personal choices, routines, purchasing decisions and household structure. The paper concludes with a discussion and future recommendations for the developed method based on the lessons learned. Practice relevance A new mixed-methods approach was developed and piloted to study the holistic energy impacts of teleworking. This demonstrates measurement tools, data analysis measures and scenario modelling. It provides lessons learned and acknowledges limitations. It is a major step forward in setting the stage for larger scale studies. The specific results showed that compared with conventional working arrangements, nine of the 11 participants are likely to consume less energy and produce fewer GHG emissions when teleworking based on a scenario-based analytical approach. However, if workers use sustainable transportation, teleworking may not yield any energy savings as increases in the home domain are expected. Future studies should include the employer offices. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T05:36:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-597659a8c2a0463bb76cfb26e0d794ea |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2632-6655 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T05:36:31Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Ubiquity Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Buildings & Cities |
| spelling | doaj.art-597659a8c2a0463bb76cfb26e0d794ea2023-06-14T07:21:03ZengUbiquity PressBuildings & Cities2632-66552023-05-0141174–192174–19210.5334/bc.271282Pilot study to measure the energy and carbon impacts of teleworkingSharane Simon0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5496-6431William O’Brien1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0236-5383Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University Ottawa, ONDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ONTeleworking offers various socio-economic benefits to the workforce, especially during major disasters. However, the holistic net energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions impacts of telework remain poorly understood. This paper develops and tests a longitudinal mixed-methods approach to estimate energy and emissions in three domains: home office, transportation, and information and communications technology (ICT). A pilot study of 11 participants from Ottawa, Canada, is used to evaluate the method, while generating a rich dataset and new insights. The results show transportation, home heating and cooling account for > 94% of telework-related energy, while home office equipment, lighting and ICT account for the remaining 6% (and < 2% of GHG emissions). Not including employer offices, teleworking will likely yield a net reduction in energy and GHG emissions compared with conventional working arrangements, but this result is dependent on personal choices, routines, purchasing decisions and household structure. The paper concludes with a discussion and future recommendations for the developed method based on the lessons learned. Practice relevance A new mixed-methods approach was developed and piloted to study the holistic energy impacts of teleworking. This demonstrates measurement tools, data analysis measures and scenario modelling. It provides lessons learned and acknowledges limitations. It is a major step forward in setting the stage for larger scale studies. The specific results showed that compared with conventional working arrangements, nine of the 11 participants are likely to consume less energy and produce fewer GHG emissions when teleworking based on a scenario-based analytical approach. However, if workers use sustainable transportation, teleworking may not yield any energy savings as increases in the home domain are expected. Future studies should include the employer offices.https://account.journal-buildingscities.org/index.php/up-j-bc/article/view/271buildingsenergy demandgreenhouse gas emissionsteleworkingtransportationworking from home |
| spellingShingle | Sharane Simon William O’Brien Pilot study to measure the energy and carbon impacts of teleworking Buildings & Cities buildings energy demand greenhouse gas emissions teleworking transportation working from home |
| title | Pilot study to measure the energy and carbon impacts of teleworking |
| title_full | Pilot study to measure the energy and carbon impacts of teleworking |
| title_fullStr | Pilot study to measure the energy and carbon impacts of teleworking |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pilot study to measure the energy and carbon impacts of teleworking |
| title_short | Pilot study to measure the energy and carbon impacts of teleworking |
| title_sort | pilot study to measure the energy and carbon impacts of teleworking |
| topic | buildings energy demand greenhouse gas emissions teleworking transportation working from home |
| url | https://account.journal-buildingscities.org/index.php/up-j-bc/article/view/271 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sharanesimon pilotstudytomeasuretheenergyandcarbonimpactsofteleworking AT williamobrien pilotstudytomeasuretheenergyandcarbonimpactsofteleworking |