Hopefully, as more companies begin to adopt a full-service green strategy, you will hear more "Work from home!" and less "Get to work!" A panel at the recent CoreNet Global Summit encouraged U.S. corporations to implement worker mobility "telecommuting" programs in an effort to reduce carbon footprints. Gervais Tompkin (no relation to Ricky Gervais), principal at architectural firm Gensler, reports that about 73 million square feet of office space was delivered in the US during 2007. Alternatively, studies have found that as much as 55% of the nation's office space is underutilized. At HP in the UK, instituting a mobility program resulted in consolidating more than 2,800 workers in 451,000 square feet of office space down to 165,000 square feet...resulting in a 49% energy savings! Given the transition from the manufacturing to the service sector AND the focus on corporate globalization over the past 50 years, mobility programs of one variety or another should be carefully considered at many, if not all, service firms in the US. In theory, all you need is a computer and an internet connection, right?
++CoreNet Panel: For Complete Green Strategy , Firms Must Go Mobile [CPN website]