Wednesday, October 4, 2023
  • Login
CEO North America
  • Home
  • News
    • Business
    • Entrepreneur
    • Industry
    • Innovation
    • Management & Leadership
  • CEO Interviews
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • Environment
  • CEO Life
    • Art & Culture
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Business
    • Entrepreneur
    • Industry
    • Innovation
    • Management & Leadership
  • CEO Interviews
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • Environment
  • CEO Life
    • Art & Culture
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
CEO North America
No Result
View All Result

Are Remote Workers Better for Corporate Net Zero Efforts — Or Worse?

in Environment
Are remote workers better for corporate net zero efforts — or worse?
Share on LinkedinShare on WhatsApp

With many companies continuing to offer flexible work locations, the impact of hybrid and remote workers has become a key part of measuring a company’s emissions.

Global emissions fell by a record amount in 2020. And while the pandemic lockdowns that drove that drop were temporary — U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increased 1.3% in 2022, led by buildings, industry, and transportation — it raised one of the biggest unresolved questions for companies looking to reduce their carbon footprint: How much greener can they become simply by having fewer employees commuting into offices every day?

With many companies continuing to offer flexible work locations even as more employees begin to trickle back into offices, the impact of hybrid and remote workers has become a key part of measuring a company’s emissions. 

Salesforce, for example, is continuing to allow people to work from home or adopt a hybrid work model. That strategy will reduce emissions per employee by 29%, according to the company’s 2021 “Decarbonizing a Work From Anywhere World” report, which outlines its climate action plan to reach net zero. That includes measuring employees’ at-home energy usage.

“While home emissions will increase due to the additional energy required to support remote work, reductions in office energy emissions and commute emissions outweigh anticipated home increases,” the report stated.

There’s an argument to be made both for and against the environmental benefits of remote work. Newer or retrofitted office buildings may supply cleaner energy than homes by using renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind. They also may implement greener practices than we typically see in homes, such as using recycled water. Conversely, before the pandemic, people spent an average total of 55 minutes commuting to and from work every day. That’s one reason transportation accounted for 27% of greenhouse gases emitted in the U.S. in 2020. 

“I think what we need to figure out is not just the direct savings on emissions – it’s also the indirect savings and changes in how we do things,” said Ofer Ben-Dov, sustainability practice lead at Traction on Demand, North America’s largest dedicated Salesforce consulting and application development firm. “Because it’s not just, ‘I’m working at home instead of just driving.’ Many will still drive because they need to get to a factory, for example, to work in a production line. They will still commute, but they will emit way less because there are fewer people on the road and less traffic overall. So there are other effects in the general economy that are rolling behind this change that are difficult to account for.”

Measuring employee emissions

Over the last year, sustainability managers have worked to track the impact of working from home and hybrid work and continue to come up with new methodologies. According to Katie Bachman, director of sustainability accounting at Stok, a San Francisco-based sustainability consulting firm, companies can track employee emissions in three ways:

  • Make calculations based on employee location and average energy consumption.
  • Conduct surveys to determine actual employee energy use at their homes.
  • Do an audit of which electronics each employee uses to roughly determine power draw.

While corporate sustainability teams were aware of remote work’s impact on the overall carbon footprint before the pandemic, it wasn’t a big factor in emissions reporting. Only 8% of the global workforce permanently worked from home before the pandemic. However, over the last two years, Bachman said remote work soared to become the most important emissions factor companies needed to pay attention to.

“If you’re not factoring in the electricity I’m using as an employee to do business,” Bachman said, “you’re not really [calculating] the full scope of your emissions.” 

It’s not realistic to go door-to-door to do an energy audit at each employee’s home, but there are tools companies can use to measure and gain better insight into how remote employees impact overall emissions. You can use various calculators and input information like commute times, types of energy used, and times when more energy is consumed. You can also do an overall audit to understand, manage, and report emissions. Salesforce’s Net Zero Cloud uses data analytics to help companies track their carbon footprint. 

“Net Zero Cloud is a carbon accounting, tracking, and forecasting platform that can integrate these measurements and help companies plan,” said Boris Gamazaychikov, manager, emissions reduction at Salesforce. “A lot of companies are starting to estimate [home energy usage], but this is a new thing to include those carbon emissions within your company footprint.”

Corporate sustainability at home

In a perfect world, everyone’s remote work setup would include solar panels, green energy, recycling, composting, and energy-efficient appliances and electronics. But a company can’t force its employees to spend thousands of dollars to overhaul their homes or even report their usage. They can, however, offer benefits and incentives to help create a greener space. 

To start, it’s about educating employees on what they can do to live more efficiently at home,  whether that’s installing energy-efficient lighting and appliances like washing machines, refrigerators, or even a smart thermostat; installing a home energy monitoring system like Sense; or offering company subsidies to purchase clean energy through local utility companies, to install solar panels, or to purchase electric vehicles for a cleaner commute. 

“We’re going to start to see those types of benefits, especially for 100% remote or permanent hybrid remote workers, be rolled out as companies have to start being accountable for that carbon impact,” Bachman said. “They need to find a way to reduce it.” 

Courtesy SalesForce. By Ari Bendersky. Article available here.

Tags: Net zeroremote workersSustainability

Related Posts

Blistering summer changes americans’ opinions on climate change
Environment

Blistering summer changes Americans’ opinions on climate change

Antarctic sea ice hits historic low
Environment

Antarctic sea ice hits historic low

Climate change floods are ‘new normal,’ says ny governor
Environment

Climate change floods are ‘new normal,’ says NY governor

Mineral mining could affect us water supply
Environment

Mineral mining could affect US water supply

Mississippi drought could cause new orleans drinking water emergency
Environment

Mississippi drought could cause New Orleans drinking water emergency

Underground heat may affect building integrity
Environment

Underground heat may affect building integrity

Lego nixes plans for recycled bricks
Environment

Lego nixes plans for recycled bricks

67 countries sign un ocean treaty
Environment

67 countries sign UN ocean treaty

Un head urges for end of fossil fuel subsidies
Environment

UN head urges for end of fossil fuel subsidies

Deep-sea mining could be source of minerals critical to earth’s future
Environment

Deep-sea mining could be source of minerals critical to Earth’s future

No Result
View All Result

Recent Posts

  • Chipotle tests robot assembly line
  • Blistering summer changes Americans’ opinions on climate change
  • Intel to launch IPO for Programmable Solutions Group
  • Beyoncé to revitalize slow December box office
  • US car sales climb in Q3

Recent Comments

  • Juul Unveils Cutting-Edge Vaping Tech: Navigating FDA Uncertainties – iStreetPark Blog on Juul hopes FDA won’t ban its new high-tech vape
  • CEO North America, August - September 2023 - CEO North America on Interviews – CEO North America, October – November 2022
  • CEO North America, August - September 2023 - CEO North America on CEO North America, December 2022 – January 2023
  • CEO North America, August - September 2023 - CEO North America on Why Tech Companies Are Moving to Texas and Florida
  • CEO North America, August - September 2023 - CEO North America on CEO North America, February 2023 – March 2023

Archives

Categories

  • Art & Culture
  • Business
  • CEO Interviews
  • CEO Life
  • Editor´s Choice
  • Entrepreneur
  • Environment
  • Food
  • Health
  • Highlights
  • Industry
  • Innovation
  • Issues
  • Management & Leadership
  • News
  • Opinion
  • PrimeZone
  • Printed Version
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

  • CONTACT
  • GENERAL ENQUIRIES
  • ADVERTISING
  • MEDIA KIT
  • DIRECTORY
  • TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Editorials –
stuart.james@ceo-na.com

Advertising –
advertising@ceo-na.com

NEW YORK

110 Wall St.,
3rd Floor
New York, NY.
10005
USA
+1 212 432 5800

 

MEXICO CITY

Paseo de la Reforma 296,
Floor 38
Mexico City
06600
MEXICO

HOUSTON

1201 Fannin St.
Suite 262
Houston, TX
77002
USA

  • CONTACT
  • GENERAL ENQUIRIES
  • ADVERTISING
  • MEDIA KIT
  • DIRECTORY
  • TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Editorials –
stuart.james@ceo-na.com

Advertising –
advertising@ceo-na.com

NEW YORK

110 Wall St.,
3rd Floor
New York, NY.
10005
USA
+1 212 432 5800

HOUSTON

1201 Fannin St.
Suite 262
Houston, TX
77002
USA

MEXICO CITY

Paseo de la Reforma 296,
Floor 38
Mexico City
06600
MEXICO

CEO North America © 2022 - Sitemap

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Business
    • Entrepreneur
    • Industry
    • Innovation
    • Management & Leadership
  • CEO Interviews
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • Environment
  • CEO Life
    • Art & Culture
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In