Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Out of office: The environmental impact of the homeworking revolution

Working from home has become the norm for many people over the last 18 months.

Working from home has lots of potential benefits: no commute, no office politics and the ability to work in your pyjamas are just some.

But working from home (WFH) may also have another huge advantage – could it help save the planet?

Is WFH better for the environment?

As we have logged on from our kitchen tables over the last 18 months, it’s very possible that we have been unintentionally helping to reduce our carbon footprint.

Take commuting. Transportation is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the UK and more than half come from personal vehicles. Close to 70% of people drive to work – usually alone.

Doing away with millions of workers’ daily commutes seems like an easy climate win.

After all, carbon dioxide emissions from transportation dropped by 20% last year as people hunkered down at home.

Carbon emissions have likely been lowered by working from home as offices sit empty
Offices across the country have been mostly empty since March 2020.

However, what’s happening inside those homes must be added into the equation.

How much energy is being used to have the heating on? Is that energy coming from clean sources?

“For the most part, this can all be quite easily measured,” said Fraser Millar, an environmental analyst from Zero Waste Scotland.

And so, Fraser did just that.

When home becomes work

“We did a study right at the start of the pandemic,” he said. The aim was to track the impact of lockdown on Zero Waste Scotland’s carbon footprint.

Looking at everything from heating and commuting to corporate travel and the purchase of new remote working office equipment, Fraser began calculating the environmental “costs” of working at home.

Fraser Millar is an environmental analyst at Zero Waste Scotland.
Fraser Millar is an environmental analyst at Zero Waste Scotland.

“Our emissions from commuting were by far our biggest source of carbon,” he said.

“Each of us was sitting in our own individual cars every day traveling back and forth alone, which is the worst type of commuting (for the environment).”

However with that cut, Fraser found that the company’s daily carbon footprint had fallen by 73% compared to business as usual.

“This was even taking into account we were now running 150 heating systems instead of just one,” he said.

In the summer, when everyone’s heating was permanently off, Zero Waste Scotland’s daily carbon footprint had dropped by 92% compared to business as usual.

Hidden climate impacts of the new normal

Letting workers who can work remotely split their time between home and office is emerging as the dominant choice for companies navigating the new normal.

But hybrid working could create a “worst-case scenario”, according to a June study from the Carbon Trust and Vodafone Institute for Society and Communications.

Carbon emissions have likely been lowered by working from home
Returning to the office for a hybrid way of working could be the worst-case scenario for the environment.

“This split could result in consuming more energy and emitting more emissions as both homes and offices are fully operating to enable teleworkers and office workers to do their jobs,” the report warned.

Fraser is equally cautious.

“The carbon savings might not be as dramatic for every business,” he said.

“If you have an ultra-local workforce who all walk to the office, for example, things will be different.”

He recommends that each organisation looks carefully at their own carbon emissions, plus there are other aspects to consider.

“In the end it’s not all about carbon, and things like wellbeing and being able to meet your colleagues may well counteract any environmental benefits.”

Read more about the future of working from home: