New work modes and environment: decrypting

If working more means polluting more… Perhaps working differently means slowing down global warming. What are the links between professional life and the company's carbon footprint? What new work models allow reducing greenhouse gas emissions and harmful impacts on the environment? Teleworking, 4-day week, flex office: decoding these solutions, crossroads between social and climatic justice.

‍

‍

1. Professional habits and ecological transition: same fight?

‍

In a society that advocates work towards social success, a new voice emerges. "Working more means polluting more". Citizens demand other work modes, other rhythms. For individual comfort, social justice, but also to curb global warming.

Is this founded? Concretely, what are the links between our work modes and environmental impacts?

Here are 5 arguments that prove that, yes, working more is harmful to the climate.

‍

1.1. Working more means producing more

‍

In our Western society, working more often rhymes with producing more… More goods and services, often not indispensable, often very harmful to the climate. All this, in a world already swallowed by overproduction. 

Working more means encouraging more consumption. It supports the myth of infinite growth, in a finite world.

Working more, too often, means extracting more raw materials, consuming more fossil energy to transform them, encouraging consumption even more to clear stocks, and accumulating these useless purchases in landfills and trash cans. 

‍

💡 Of course, it all depends on which company you work for, and for what purpose! Hence the search for new work modes… Which we explore in the rest of the article! 

‍

In short, studies are clear: working time is closely linked to economic growth… Which, in turn, leads to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts.

‍

1.2. Less free time = less associative commitment

The associative fabric (in France, indispensable to many environmental causes) relies on people who have time. Students, retirees, part-time, etc. 

If we work more, or longer, we have even fewer chances to mobilize people to get involved in environmental causes. Working more means no longer having time to rummage, walk, take the bike or get involved in associations. 

The solution is therefore not to work more, but differently. Reviewing our work modes creates free time. The latter favors sobriety and volunteer engagement.

‍

1.3. Work time impacts our personal choices

‍

At home, the number of working hours impacts the personal carbon footprint. 

Members of affluent socioprofessional classes have less time, and more money. Thus, executives will tend to choose faster, albeit more expensive… And more polluting. Car, plane, prepared meals, new purchase, etc. 

Yes, because taking the bike, rummaging second-hand or cooking local vegetables: it takes more time. Thus, among the CSP+, the increase in working hours immediately impacts the carbon footprint of the household.

‍

💡 A 10% average reduction in working hours of a household would reduce its carbon footprint by 8.6%. (2012 Study)

‍

1.4. Company premises have a heavy carbon footprint

‍

Working more can also impact the carbon emissions of the organizations themselves. Indeed, this generates additional emissions, starting with prolonged use of premises by employees. Emissions related to company premises already represent an important part of their climate footprint:

‍

• In France, the final energy consumption of company premises amounts to 146 kWh/m² per year (Durable Real Estate Observatory, 2022). In GHG emissions? This would amount to 12 kgCO2/m².yr.
• Over the entire life cycle (construction, maintenance, operation, upkeep, etc.), professional offices would emit 78 kg CO2eq/m² per year.
• Office buildings also include furniture. In particular, computer equipment weighs heavily in the carbon footprint of premises.

‍

On average, there are 15 m² per employee - and, all too often, one, two, or even three computer screens per person.

‍

💡 Fortunately, certain work methods allow reducing the carbon footprint of company offices - as we share with you in the second part. 

‍

1.5. The commute to the office is an area of emissions to improve

‍

Finally, employee transportation accounts for a significant portion of the carbon footprint of most companies. 

According to a study by INSEE (2017), 74% of home-to-work trips would be made by car. Most of them, with a single passenger (auto-solism). 

Carbone 4 thus calculates that nearly 20 Mt CO2eq each year are due to home-to-work trips - i.e., 15% of work-related emissions in France (excluding international air and maritime).

Taking the car to go to work is a strategy to save time on the trip… And work longer in the office! While maintaining a certain work-life balance. 

‍

💡 Among car commutes, 1 in 7 is less than 2 km. That's 5 by bike! 

‍

‍

2. What new work methods allow reducing the company's carbon footprint? 

‍

The situation is clear: working more means polluting more. Fortunately, there is a way out: working less... But not only. To reduce the national carbon footprint, we can also… Work differently. 

Here are 4 new work methods, beneficial for the environment.

‍

{{newsletter-blog-3}}

‍

2.1. Redirecting the economy: working better and producing better

‍

Working more therefore means producing more and emitting more emissions… Thus, accelerating global warming. 

So, is there another path? That of working better, to produce better.

In other words: it's time to reorient our jobs towards useful production: 

• Eliminating superfluous products and services, harmful to the environment. Fast fashion, single-use consumables, etc.
• Stopping superfluous technological progress. One might think that by improving the energy efficiency of services, we will solve global warming. Unfortunately, this does not take into account the rebound effect. If a service costs less, consumes less energy, is faster… Then, we will use it more. And, overall, emit more greenhouse gases. We can cite the example of 5G. Thus, the priority remains sobriety, as demonstrated by scenarios such as those of Negawatt, ADEME, or the IPCC.
• Work, yes, but for the essential. Meeting our vital needs, regenerating the social fabric and natural ecosystems, drastically curbing global warming, building the solutions for a carbon-neutral world.

At the company level, this involves questioning the business model (offering the rental of equipment rather than the sale?) and highlighting products and services that avoid as many GHG emissions as possible.

‍

2.2. Reducing working hours, with the four-day week

‍

If working more means polluting more… Working less also means polluting less! At the crossroads of social and climate struggles, the 4-day week is becoming increasingly popular. 

• Reduction of the carbon footprint of home-to-work commutes - equivalent to one day of weekly teleworking. A study in the United Kingdom shows that the 4-day week, implemented at the national level, would reduce the distance traveled each week by 558 million kilometers.
• Reduction of companies' energy consumption: we remove an entire day of heating, elevators, computer equipment, lighting, etc.
• Indirect reduction of the national carbon footprint: thanks to better health or the adoption of decarbonized habits, for example.

The generalization of the 4-day week in the United Kingdom could reduce the country's carbon footprint by 21.3 %! That is 127 million tCOeq per year... Or the equivalent of all the country's individual cars.

‍

Beyond the carbon footprint, the benefits of the 4-day week are numerous. 

• For employees, it is the promise of a better work-life balance, more well-being at work, more time with family, financial savings (home cooking and reduced childcare expenses, for example), etc. It is also the opportunity to make daily choices more consistent with climate challenges.
• For employers: more productivity, reduced costs (maintenance of premises and energy, for example), better talent retention, less absenteeism and sick leave, etc.
• The 4-day week also helps to better share working time, thus reducing unemployment or professional burnout. This brings ecological and social solutions closer together.

Working on 4 days would not reduce the profitability of companies, quite the contrary. New working habits would emerge, much more productive on an hourly rate. We skip unnecessary tasks or endless meetings, and improve internal collaboration and communication processes.

Thus, examples of companies experimenting with the 4-day week are multiplying - such as Welcome to the Jungle, in France.

‍

All these benefits are within reach... Under certain conditions. Once again, we risk the backlash of rebound effects. We must not let this 3-day weekend become an opportunity to take a plane on impulse, or to consume more products with a high carbon footprint! This risk is present in affluent households. 

Thus, the democratization of the 4-day week must be accompanied by an evolution of social norms, social criteria for success, consumption patterns and habits. This can be supported by the emergence of a political, tariff, advertising, but also social framework, valuing social times or associative commitment more than overconsumption.

Pending this societal transformation, the platform Vendredi offers a solution: use this free day to direct teams towards associative commitment. 

‍

2.3. Democratize part-time teleworking

‍

Well known, teleworking is an opportunity to reduce the company's climate footprint. This is mainly due to the reduction of home-to-work commuting. In this case, the environmental benefit is immediate: we avoid taking the car, therefore emitting GES and fine particles on the journey. ADEME then concludes that each weekly day of teleworking would reduce emissions by 271 kg CO2e per year.

‍

This reduction must be adjusted according to rebound effects. These are changes in habits that can generate new climate impacts. In this case...

• Trips, usually made on the home-to-work journey, that must be maintained. Taking children to school, shopping, etc. 
• An increase in household energy consumption. Heating during the day, digital equipment, etc.
• New habits and trips that emerge - going to a gym for example.
• An increase in the digital carbon footprint, particularly linked to video conferences. 
• In the long term: the purchase of individual digital equipment, the addition of a new room in the home, or moving to a more remote location.  

‍

Raising awareness among teams and corporate culture helps limit these rebound effects. 

‍

💡 To read also : How to raise awareness about the environment in the company?

‍

Associated with a well-thought-out strategy, teleworking also helps to reduce energy consumption (not heating or lighting the offices of absent people). The company can even go further, by completely rethinking its premises...

‍

2.4. Rethought offices, and more sustainable ones

‍

New ways of working are also new offices. Company premises must adapt to new uses, as well as to current climate challenges. 

‍

The trendy solution: flex office. It involves rethinking the premises, with non-assigned workstations, and fewer offices than collaborators. This avoids vacant offices on telework days, business trips, vacations, etc. Offices that, although empty, result in real bills (especially energy and maintenance)! 

‍

Flex office can significantly reduce the company's carbon footprint, when this reorganization is associated with a reduction in the real estate footprint. In numbers? ADEME estimates that flex office could increase the climate benefits of telework by 52 %. 

‍

Other solutions exist for more sustainable offices. For example, the greening of outdoor spaces. The benefits are multiple: well-being at work, increased productivity, raising awareness among teams about environmental issues, better attractiveness and retention of talent… But also, carbon capture from the atmosphere. Covering a terrace or roof with plants, growing on fertile soil rich in organic matter, is creating a small carbon sink in the company. Globally, ADEME shares that 1,500 to 2,400 billion tons of carbon are stored in organic matter. So, enriching every square meter of bare soil, or greening our terraces and parking lots, is a response to climate change.

‍

💡 To green your premises: Top 5 actions for a more sustainable office in the company.

‍

From the 4-day week to flex office, through telework or the transformation of business models: new ways of working are emerging. More respectful of the climate, but also of citizens and citizens. So, will you dare to offer these sustainable alternatives to your teams? Sami accompanies you in your action plan to reduce your company's carbon footprint… Among other things, by changing our ways of working.

‍

{{newsletter-blog-3}}

‍

‍

Sources 

‍

On the links between work and pollution

• Retirement and planet, same fight?, Aurélie Delmas for Vert.eco, January 2023.
• Reducing Growth to Achieve Environmental Sustainability: The Role of Work Hours, Kyle Knight, Eugene A. Rosa and Juliet B. Schor, 2012.

‍

On home working and flex office

• Characterization of rebound effects induced by telework, ADEME, 2020.
• Teleworking, really good for the environment? Infographic, ADEME, September 2020.
• Barometer of the environmental and energy performance of buildings, Sustainable Real Estate Observatory, January 2023.
• National survey on transport and travel | Data and statistical studies, ENTD, 2008.
• Home-to-work journey: developing carpooling and soft mobility, Carbone 4, June 2019.

‍

On the 4-day week: 

• Stop the Clock - The environmental benefits of a shorter working week, 4 day week campaign, May 2021.
• The website 4 Day Week Campaign, consulted in March 2023.
• Implementation of the 4-day week in France, Fanny Bachelet for EY, July 2022, consulted in March 2023.
• ‍Will working less save the planet? Yes, but under certain conditions, Anupam Nanda, December 2020.