The map of professional practices and mobility has been turned upside down by the pandemic. What consequences does this reconfiguration have on our carbon emissions? Are there any more judicious choices to mitigate them? It is to these questions that a study, launched Thursday by the National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS) and many partners, will attempt to answer.
At first glance, teleworking may appear to be a healthier option for the environment, since it reduces or avoids trips to work places. But behind the veil of simplicity lies a much more complex reality. “All kinds of underlying factors make it difficult to answer the question: is teleworking reducing our carbon footprint? », Launches Louise Hénault-Ethier, associate professor and director of the Center Eau Terre Environnement at INRS. Instigator of this pioneering study, she underlines, by way of example, the lengthening of the distances to be covered following the flight to the suburbs, or the increased consumption of data or equipment necessary for the installation of a home office. .
To try to determine the new carbon emission profile of the post-pandemic work organization, then make recommendations accordingly, the study conducted in collaboration with Partenariat Climat Montréal and Polytechnique Montréal will first look at behavior. and the impacts of the INRS community (students, teaching and administrative staff), before proposing to apply the method to a range of companies and voluntary organizations. Nearly twenty institutions have already indicated their interest in participating, which could represent a pool of several thousand people, estimates Mme Hénault-Ethier, which will remain under the scrutiny of researchers for three years.
Encompassing calculation
Fixed in the coming weeks, the data collection method would be done by polls, questionnaires and surveys; but also, possibly, by means of mobile applications or artificial intelligence. The results will then be converted and calculated into greenhouse gas emissions, in particular thanks to the expertise of Louis-César Pasquier, a carbon sequestration specialist at INRS.
The institute had already lent itself to such an exercise before the pandemic, but the calculation was confined to the strict professional framework. Such a method turns out to be ill-suited to the new economic and social context. “This will be a first study of the effects on the balance sheets of indirect carbon emissions. Often, direct emissions are calculated, such as consumption and travel within the framework of professional functions, but everything relating to personnel and teleworking is set aside, because these data are difficult to find, ”explains the researcher.
PHOTO ARCHIVES THE PRESS
Louise Hénault-Ethier, associate professor and director of the Center Eau Terre Environnement at INRS
Catherine Morency, professor at Polytechnique Montréal and holder of the Mobility Chair, adds: the picture must indeed go much further than the simple elimination of the home-office journey. “In this type of study, the other rebound effects of teleworking are often neglected, while we want to understand the impacts on overall mobility, with structural changes such as moves, vehicle acquisition, the number of of deliveries. […] Not working in the office can generate other behaviors and other trips, and these are often done in a car or in neighborhoods dependent on cars, ”she says. “The reorganization of work reconfigures the entire activity system, the mobility of all household members. For example, if we had chosen a day care center close to the workplace, this now implies additional travel, ”illustrates Mme Morency.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, PRESS ARCHIVES
The gradual return to the office or hybrid telework / office presence systems will probably have effects on the carbon footprint of certain professionals, many of whom settled in the suburbs or in the regions during the COVID-19 crisis.
A priori, transport will represent a prominent footprint, but other aspects will probably weigh in the calculations, such as the more intensive use of cloud computing (for the needs of videoconferences, among others) and of electronics, which teleworkers consume. any further. “We will see if other elements are to be taken into consideration, such as the multiplication of the material: for example, if you have a computer or a chair at the office, but that you have another one to work at home”, indicates Louise. Hénault-Ethier.
In the context of best practices
The ultimate goal: to be able to formulate the best recommendations to companies and organizations wishing to reduce or offset the carbon footprint of their staff in this unprecedented context. “If, for example, we find that employees take their cars instead of buying a monthly bus pass to go to work two days a week at the office, maybe organizations will want to help them access monthly passes at a cost. low, to avoid converting fewer trips into more cars. With evidence, this will help organizations adopt policies and action plans that will have the greatest reduction in carbon footprint at a more realistic cost, ”concludes Mme Hénault-Ethier.