Abstract
The global pandemic COVID-19 has led to an advanced exploration of the remote world, with many employees and employers wanting to continue with the work-from-home (WFH) scenario even after offices reopened. Consequently, it becomes essential to understand the impact of energy load shifts from commercial to residential buildings and the resultant opportunity for the energy-efficient design community with this new trend. Simultaneously, businesses and companies are increasingly declaring net-zero goals, adopting various green market approaches, to tread a socially and environmentally responsible path. We are proposing the creation of a new program for such companies bringing them closer to their climate action goals while also benefitting their employees. It encompasses an opportunity for employers to incentivize energy efficiency upgrades of their employees’ homes, in a manner that proves to be financially feasible for both the primary stakeholders, i.e., companies and employees. We began the research by analyzing utility load shifts due to employees shifting to a WFH setup. Then, we collected information for residential green building retrofit techniques, identifying the most cost-effective and impactful ways to create healthier WFH environments while reducing GHG emissions. Further, we evaluated the viability of the new proposed program relative to the widely used existing decarbonization strategies. Next, we theoretically tested the implementation of the program through a case study. The report culminates with different suggestions to standardize the roadmap of such a voluntary energy-efficiency program and a discussion about its practical implementation to enable a win-win response of COVID-19 to climate change.
Presenters
Moulshree MittalStudent, Masters in Design Studies, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Massachusetts, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Human Impacts and Responsibility
KEYWORDS
Work-from-Home, Residential Buildings, Net Zero Carbon Goals, Energy-Efficiency
