Policies to minimise environmental and rebound effects from telework: A study for Australia.

• A comparative lifecycle assessment (CLCA) evaluated teleworking. • Modelling of telework assessed the rebound effect which is demonstrated to be negligible. • Teleworking is more beneficial if employees travel ≥30 km each work day. • More energy efficient home offices compared to commercial offices, mean greater environmental benefits. • Policy and practise recommendations include downsizing permanent office space. A comparative lifecycle assessment (CLCA) was undertaken to determine the environmental effect or impact of teleworking compared to office-based work in a corporate setting in Australia. Teleworking was demonstrated to have smaller environmental effects than office-based working, but only under certain conditions. Teleworking was more beneficial if an employee travels ≥30 km each workday. The more energy efficient the employer's buildings are, the lower the environmental value of teleworking. Greater energy efficiency in home offices means greater environmental benefits. If the energy used in the remote (residential) work area increases above 1212 kW h of energy per year, the environmental effects become greater than those from non-teleworking. The greater the use of renewable energy in remote compared with commercial offices, the greater the environmental benefits of teleworking. Rational corporate policy recommendations were developed based on these outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]