The Green Dilemma of Remote Work: Striking a Balance for a Sustainable Future

There are plenty of arguments about the environmental benefits of remote work in the wake of the post-pandemic world, from reduced travel emissions to the reduced use of big event centers and office buildings. It all seems like common sense with just a little bit of contemplation, and much of the data supports this conclusion. However, we also need to consider the opposing arguments. Some evidence indicates that attending an event from home is not quite the miracle for environmentalism that some think it is.

At first glance, the environmental benefits are unambiguous. According to 2020 monitoring, worldwide CO2 emissions decreased by 8.8% in the first six months of 2020. But it is hard to measure how much virtual event attendance contributes to drops like this. Reductions in commuting and office work are only a few factors that contribute to this shift.

What We Know

It’s easy to forget that remote attendees are still using power; they’re just doing it from their own homes rather than in an office or conference venue. Power use is still in effect, and until all electricity comes from environmentally sustainable sources, any use has an impact. Running lights, computers, and a high-bandwidth internet connection from every home, not to mention air conditioning and other conveniences, all add up over time. It’s hard to measure the exact impact these have, spread out among many employees and mixed in among other household power uses. Exact numbers are difficult to come by.

What Can Be Done

The reduction of environmental impact at home is a nuanced process. Common sense actions like turning off unnecessary appliances and lights aside, there’s one specific step that has the most dramatic effect on power waste. Studies have shown that simply not using one’s webcam can reduce the power waste total by 96 percent. This is because the more data transmitted the more power is used, and video streaming is far and away one of the most data-heavy activities on the internet. Of course, this practice must be balanced against the benefits of using webcams in the first place, as I’ve outlined in The Virtual Events Playbook.

One neglected solution for this is to change the resolution of webcams used in a virtual event. For attendees, switching from 1080p to 720p represents a significant reduction in power usage, especially for high-attendance events. (As an added bonus, it also reduces network traffic overhead.) However, event presenters and panelists should still use high-resolution devices.

Maintaining environmentally responsible practices for remote attendees can't be done randomly or on a voluntary basis. These measures require event management and oversight by producers who are aware of how the technology works, and how to reduce energy and emissions overall.

Facing the Future

Ultimately hybrid and remote events still have a clearly positive environmental effect, but they could have an even greater one. With better procedures for remote attendees to minimize waste, this could easily happen. Today, not all companies follow through on their claims of environmental responsibility. However, by holding more sustainable virtual events, and by documenting the actual net energy savings, they will find it easier to back up their sustainability claims.

Remote work and virtual events do seem to be a net positive for the environment, but the reality is a lot more complex. We must not let ourselves be drawn into complacency by initial gains. Extra work is needed to benefit our world and get everything we can out of this trend. The path to making business environmentally safe is a long and complicated one, but it’s a path we need to take.

?

Lee Deaner is President of Leading Edge Training Solutions (www.letstrainonline.com), a leading producer of hybrid and virtual events, informational meetings, and training programs since 2009. He is also the co-author of The Virtual Events Playbook, available on Amazon and directly from Amplify Publishing.