Mar 25, 2021 - Energy & Environment
Online calculator measures the climate impact of remote work policies
- Ben Geman, author of Axios Generate

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
An online tool from data analytics startup Watershed enables users to input various kinds of info to help gauge whether changing remote work policies will increase or decrease emissions — and by approximately how much.
How it works: Right now the public calculator from Watershed — whose clients include Shopify and Stripe — models five regions: San Francisco, New York City, Houston, London and Toronto.
- The calculator arrives as many companies and organizations are giving employees the option to continue remote work — partially or completely — after the pandemic.
Inputs for current policy and projected policy changes include...
- The number of employees and how many days per week they'll be in the office.
- Employees' living patterns (suburbs vs. urban cores) and commuting methods — cars, trains or biking and walking.
- The size of offices, which matters for their use of power and natural gas.
- Whether the company buys clean power and gives that option for remote workers.
Go deeper: How bitcoin and remote work impact the climate fight