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With faster internet and emerging technologies, how much longer will unsustainable working practices remain the norm?
IT and communications are becoming ever more advanced. Might home working soon replace the carbon intensive daily commute? Giles Crosse learns more.
Glance at any high street rush hour, and the environmental impacts of commuting become all too apparent. Notwithstanding more efficient, sustainable public transport, increased home working could change this, reducing emissions, stress and adding flexibility to our lives.
But do we want to change? Are individuals and socio-cultural patterns ready for such a dynamic shift, and can businesses successfully operate using remote employees? “Work is increasingly going virtual. There are now four million people freelancing in the UK and 2.6 million home based businesses. On top of that there are 7.5 million people working for their boss remotely,” says Xenios Thrasyvoulou, Founder of PeoplePerHour.com
Thrasyvoulou has only five in house employees out of 30. Proof, he says, the model works. “Increased flexibility, better work/life balance and in most cases a higher income. For the company; lower cost in hiring, firing, managing staff and keeping them under one roof, for the community lower emissions from commuting, less congestion and overcrowding and an overall more productive economy”
Fear of change?
Not everyone agrees. “I think people will always commute to a certain extent, and in the near future and in terms of carbon climate change I’m not sure that’s going to change fundamentally over the next ten years,” says John Alker, Head of Advocacy for the UK Green Building Council. He also works for the WWF.
“There are clearly certain benefits in terms of transport, but to a certain extent you are just displacing energy use for things like computer load. We are undoubtedly gobbling up more and more energy, in residual usage and in things like video conferencing.”
“None of this is necessarily covered by regulations, and with the Zero Carbon Homes targets coming in we will have to look at this and ways to build in carbon offsetting.”
Alkers’ point is, aside from heating and lighting an office, computers and people use the same energy whether at home or at work. Apart from vital travel impacts, there may be little difference. So what about sociological trends or loneliness?
“Most people who’ve turned self employed will testify adamantly that their productivity is much higher when working for themselves: they are more motivated, work around their own schedule and preferences, and waste less time dealing with political issues which is unavoidable in an employment situation.” believes Thrasyvoulou.
Whistle while you work
There are ways to make home working more sociable. “There could be potential for things like local home networking hubs, to offer energy reductions and a social life for home workers,” says Alker.
Other people-centric benefits exist. US research suggests time saved avoiding traffic jams actually works out to an extra day off every two weeks.
Thrasyvoulou reckons SMEs may have the most important card to play in evoking change, as they are better equipped to cope with the demands of adapting to the newer models:
“We tend to forget that the vast majority of employment is accounted for by small and medium sized businesses. These tend to be the ones that are located out of main city hubs, are more cost conscious and actually more environmentally conscious as well. They are the first to innovate, and will carry on driving change and uptake in new working practices.”
The hard facts
2007 data from the US Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) on home working reveals some startling numbers. The report concludes that ‘annually, a worker with a one way commute of 22 miles can save up to 81,000 MJ of energy by telecommuting five days a week’.
Remarkably, the report also explains ‘81,000 MJ is equivalent to about 50 per cent of the annual electricity consumption of an average household.’ So the potential for meaningful change is clear.
But there are other less quantifiable issues. Who pays for home-based IT equipment? How do we value or estimate the importance of more time spent with children and family? Might accusations people ‘aren’t really working’, or a sense of isolation and loneliness minimise the advantages for certain groups?
Either way, the direction of travel seems set. The CEA’s latest October 2009 research declares: ‘The number of Americans who worked from home or remotely at least one day per month increased 74 per cent from 2005 to 2008.’
“It’s all quite a weird tradeoff, and one that businesses will increasingly have to grapple with,” reckons Alker. Thrasyvoulou disagrees: “SMEs employ more than half the working population. If the majority of these were to make some element of their business virtual, they could play a very prominent role in delivering a greener, more sustainable future.”
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