Publication: Towards a conceptual framework of direct and indirect environmental effects of co-working

The use of tools for virtual communication and collaboration enables employees to work from places other than their traditional employer’s office, a practice called telecommuting. Telecommuting offers the potential to reduce commuting, traffic congestion and commute-related environmental impacts (e.g. energy requirements of car commuting). In times of distant learning and home-office, this topic is more relevant than ever. Working from a local co-working space that is closer to the employees’ homes than their employers office is a form of telecommuting that has the potential to significantly reduce commuting and is not associated with deficits of working from home (e.g. isolation, lack of focus). In their recently published paper, DSI Mobility member Jan Bieser and his co-authors develop a framework of direct and indirect environmental effects of working from local co-working spaces and apply this framework to a co-working living lab established in Stockholm. The results of their analysis revealed that the energy required to operate the co-working space (e.g. for heating) and increased leisure travel on co-working days or home office can counterbalance commute-related energy savings. Thus, working from a local co-working space or from home does not lead to energy savings per se, but should be accompanied by additional energy savings measures, such as reduction of office space at the employer’s office and creating local, non-motorized access to non-work activities.