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The normalisation of working from home and flexible work has been one of the Covid-19 pandemic’s few positive legacies.
Today more than a third of Australians – and most managers and professionals – spend at least some of their working lives out of the office, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In Victoria, the former premier Jacinta Allan proposed giving workers the right to work from home at least two days a week. But after business pushback and with a November election on the horizon, the incoming premier, Ben Carroll, delayed the start from September to July next year.
Of course, not everyone has the opportunity to work from home. Digital access varies, few homes have room for an office, and many jobs – including retail, trades and hospitality, and health and aged care professions – require employees to be in-person or on-site.
But for those who can, there’s broad agreement that working from home can be positive for the environment, although the extent of the benefits varies, depending on employee and business behaviours.
What are the environmental benefits?
A well-publicised US study found people choosing to work from home full-time could reduce their emissions by up to 54%. But those savings may be curbed by the fact that remote workers are more likely to increase their emissions for social and recreational activities, such as using the car to run errands.
An Australian study suggests that emission cuts from transport changes outweigh residential energy use increases, concluding that if employees in capital cities worked from home 1.5 to four days a week this might reduce national emissions by 1.2m to 5.8m tonnes.
A 2026 International Energy Agency report recommends working from home to displace oil use from commuting, with the agency’s figures noting that everyone working remotely one day a week could save 24m tonnes of CO2 annually.
Alan Pears, an expert in energy efficiency and a senior industry fellow at RMIT, says there will always be huge variation in environmental savings, depending on people’s remote work behaviours, distance from work and transport mode.
For example, emissions savings from staying at home may be limited for people who usually travel to work by foot, bike or public transport, but more significant for those with long car commutes. In most cases, home energy use – from running computers, lighting, heating or cooling – is likely to rise, although any resulting emissions may be limited for homes with solar, or on renewable energy plans. Careful choices can increase the benefits.
“It’s not just the immediate emissions reductions,” Pears says. “Receiving a big energy bill could motivate energy saving investments in the home that benefit beyond work. Avoiding travel time can be a very valuable benefit including flexibility for family duties, avoiding childcare costs … It may mean the household can run one less car.”
Does working from home reduce car travel and congestion?
Working from home is a good policy for cities and regions struggling with car pollution and congestion as it can have measurable impacts on reducing traffic-related pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, says Dorina Pojani, associate professor in urban planning at the University of Queensland.
Australian cities’ transport systems are largely designed around work-based commutes, and those working from home will avoid the need to drive at peak times. “People might still travel, but just travel at different times in the day,” Pojani says.
“People with cars might end up running errands so the overall amount of travel might not change, or be even greater. One of the knock-on effects is that people start moving to more affordable, outer suburban or regional locations and their commute, when they do visit the office, would become even longer.” Without careful planning, an unintended consequence may be increased car travel on in-office days, and lower overall public transport access and use.
While energy use and workplace comfort used to be a primary concern of employers, the work from home trend has left more employees footing the bill for energy use and comfort.
Research from the University of Sydney’s school of architecture, design and planning has measured the effect of the home work environments on both comfort and productivity, but also residential energy usage.
Associate Prof Jungsoo Kim, an author of the research, says the effect of working from home on household energy usage varies greatly according to many factors. But using simulation data from homes in Sydney, the research found that the overall increase in annual household energy use and emissions was more modest than has been often assumed.
“If someone converts a previously unused room into a dedicated home office and heats or cools that space throughout the day, household energy use can increase noticeably. In contrast, if work takes place in a space that would already be occupied, such as a living room, the additional energy demand is relatively small.”
If you can work from home, here’s how to maximise the benefits
The environmental benefits of remote work are highly dependent on how workers and employers navigate the logistics of their working lives.
Pojani says one of the most effective things people can do to maximise the environmental benefits is using low or zero emissions transport such as walking, biking or e-biking or public transport to run local errands and school or childcare drop-offs and pick-ups, instead of “reaching for the car keys”.
She also recommends embracing shared work environments, especially for those without the space for a home office. “There are now many neighbourhood co-working spaces, and businesses should look at subsidising monthly membership for such arrangements so they no longer need to pay to rent as much office space in the city.”
There are other social and economic factors to consider. According to the ABS, people who choose to work from home cite many reasons, including more flexible hours, the ability to catch up on work, less time commuting and family responsibilities.
Pojani says she fully supports Australian states legislating to make working from home a legal right for workers. “It’s absolutely a positive for society and the environment. We can’t separate these things. We need to strike a sort of win-win balance where both the environment and society benefit.”
