Transitioning Work Arrangements in the Construction Industry: Changes in Time-Use Patterns and Individual Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 150, Issue 9
Abstract
Work from home (WFH) connects traditional life at home and work in office (WIO) by moving work to living areas, and thus, it reshapes the time-use patterns and further influences individual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the changes in time-use patterns and GHG emissions of the construction workforce are still unclear. This study investigated the individual time-use patterns and GHG emissions under traditional life at home, WFH, and WIO for the United States construction workforce between 2017 and 2022 based on national data sets. The American Time Use Survey data sets were applied to identify construction-related participants, extract activity information, and calculate the time-use patterns of various activities within 24 h. Individual GHG emissions were estimated by connecting the time-use patterns and GHG emission intensities of activities, which were calculated based on national Energy Consumption Surveys and the literature. The results reveal that the construction workforce reduced their leisure and sleeping time the most to accommodate the increased work and commuting needs in the transitions from traditional life at home to WFH to WIO. Aligned with the time-use patterns, individual residential GHG emissions decreased during the transitions, mainly due to cooking, laundry, and watching TV and movies, while WIO generated extra emissions from commuting and workplace activities. Overall, WIO generated 46% more GHG emissions than WFH (), while traditional life at home generated 13% more emissions than WFH (). The findings indicate that WFH is an environmentally friendly work arrangement in the construction industry. Several recommendations are provided to help manage activities and reduce GHG emissions in the construction industry. This study provides new insights into the impacts of transitioning work arrangements for the construction workforce from an activity-based environmental perspective and provides opportunities to promote sustainable development of the construction industry.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available in a repository or online in accordance with funder data retention policies (USBLS 2022; USEIA 2022a, b).
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 72071220) and the National Science Foundation of the United States (Grant No. 2121967).
References
American Public Transportation Association. 2021. 2021 public transportation fact book. Washington, DC: American Public Transportation Association.
Apple. 2022. “About Apple USB power adapters.” Accessed May 28, 2022. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210133.
Ashe, M., D. Chwastyk, C. de Monasterio, M. Gupta, and M. Pegors. 2012. 2010 US lighting market characterization. Chicago: Navigant Consulting.
Baatz, C. 2014. “Climate change and individual duties to reduce GHG emissions.” Ethics Policy Environ. 17 (1): 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/21550085.2014.885406.
Barber, L., and S. Breslin. 2020. “‘Wherever I can work, I’ve got to go’: Negotiating mobilities in the context of volatility in the Canadian construction industry.” Labour Ind. 30 (4): 358–377. https://doi.org/10.1080/10301763.2020.1839189.
Cerqueira, E. D. V., B. Motte-Baumvol, L. B. Chevallier, and O. Bonin. 2020. “Does working from home reduce emissions? An analysis of travel patterns as dictated by workplaces.” Transp. Res. D Transp. Environ. 83 (May): 102338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2020.102338.
Challa, R., D. Kamath, and A. Anctil. 2022. “Well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions of electric versus combustion vehicles from 2018 to 2030 in the US.” J. Environ. Manage. 308 (Apr): 114592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114592.
Chan, A. P. C., Y.-H. Chiang, F. K.-W. Wong, S. Liang, and F. A. Abidoye. 2020. “Work–life balance for construction manual workers.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 146 (5): 04020031. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001800.
Chaput, J. P., C. Dutil, and H. Sampasa-Kanyinga. 2018. “Sleeping hours: What is the ideal number and how does age impact this?” Nat. Sci. Sleep 2018 (10): 421–430. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S163071.
Chen, P., Y. Wu, H. Zhong, Y. Long, and J. Meng. 2022. “Exploring household emission patterns and driving factors in Japan using machine learning methods.” Appl. Energy 307 (Feb): 118251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118251.
Corry’s. 2019. “How long does it take to do laundry?” Accessed September 5, 2022. https://www.corryscleaning.com/laundry-time/#:∼:text=Theaverageloadoflaundry,Total%3A80minutesperweek.
Crosbie, T., and J. Moore. 2004. “Work–life balance and working from home.” Social Policy Soc. 3 (3): 223–233. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746404001733.
Crow, D., and A. Millot. 2020. “Working from home can save energy and reduce emissions. But how much?” Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.iea.org/commentaries/working-from-home-can-save-energy-and-reduce-emissions-but-how-much.
Dey, M., H. Frazis, M. Loewenstein, and H. Sun. 2020. Ability to work from home: Evidence from two surveys and implications for the labor market in the COVID-19 pandemic: Monthly labor review. Washington, DC: US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Dong, X. 2005. “Long workhours, work scheduling and work-related injuries among construction workers in the United States.” Scandinavian J. Work 31 (5): 329–335.
DOT and Bureau of Transportation Statistics. 2022. Transportation statistics annual report. Washington, DC: DOT and Bureau of Transportation Statistics. https://doi.org/10.21949/1528354.
Energy Saver. 2022. “Appliances and electronics.” Accessed October 12, 2022. https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/appliances-and-electronics.
Energy Star. 2023. “Energy efficient products for consumers.” Accessed March 16, 2023. https://www.energystar.gov/products?s=mega.
Filimonau, V., D. Archer, L. Bellamy, N. Smith, and R. Wintrip. 2021. “The carbon footprint of a UK University during the COVID-19 lockdown.” Sci. Total Environ. 756 (Feb): 143964. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143964.
Gallagher, C. M. 2022. “The construction industry: Characteristics of the employed, 2003–20.” Accessed September 4, 2023. https://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2022/the-construction-industry-labor-force-2003-to-2020/home.htm.
Giménez-Nadal, J. I., J. A. Molina, and J. Velilla. 2020. “Work time and well-being for workers at home: Evidence from the American time use survey.” Int. J. Manpower 41 (2): 184–206. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-04-2018-0134.
Hager, T. J., and R. Morawicki. 2013. “Energy consumption during cooking in the residential sector of developed nations: A review.” Food Policy 40 (Jun): 54–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.02.003.
Hallman, D. M., L. B. Januario, S. E. Mathiassen, M. Heiden, S. Svensson, and G. Bergström. 2021. “Working from home during the COVID-19 outbreak in Sweden: Effects on 24-h time-use in office workers.” BMC Public Health 21 (1): 528. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10582-6.
Haynes, N. S., and P. E. D. Love. 2004. “Psychological adjustment and coping among construction project managers.” Construct. Manage. Econ. 22 (2): 129–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144619042000201330.
Hendron, R., and J. Burch. 2007. “Development of standardized domestic hot water event schedules for residential buildings.” In Proc., Energy Sustainability Conf. 2007, 531–540. New York: ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/ES2007-36104.
Hunter, G., S. Hoyne, and L. Noonan. 2017. “Evaluation of the space heating calculations within the irish dwelling energy assessment procedure using sensor measurements from residential homes.” Energy Procedia 111 (Sep): 181–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.03.020.
Jhang, S. R., Y. C. Lin, K. S. Chen, S. L. Lin, and S. Batterman. 2020. “Evaluation of fuel consumption, pollutant emissions and well-to-wheel GHGs assessment from a vehicle operation fueled with bioethanol, gasoline and hydrogen.” Energy 209 (Oct): 118436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.118436.
Ko, G. T. C., J. C. N. Chan, A. W. Y. Chan, P. T. S. Wong, S. S. C. Hui, S. D. Y. Tong, S. M. Ng, F. Chow, and C. L. W. Chan. 2007. “Association between sleeping hours, working hours and obesity in Hong Kong Chinese: The ‘better health for better Hong Kong’ health promotion campaign.” Int. J. Obesity 31 (2): 254–260. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803389.
Kwatra, S., J. Amann, and H. Sachs. 2013. Miscellaneous energy loads in buildings. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. 2022. “Home energy saver & score: Engineering documentation.” Accessed May 27, 2022. http://hes-documentation.lbl.gov/calculation-methodology/calculation-of-energy-consumption/major-appliances.
Leroy, Y., and B. Yannou. 2018. “An activity-based modelling framework for quantifying occupants’ energy consumption in residential buildings.” Comput. Ind. 103 (Dec): 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compind.2018.08.009.
Li, D., G. Huang, G. Zhang, and J. Wang. 2020. “Driving factors of total carbon emissions from the construction industry in Jiangsu Province, China.” J. Cleaner Prod. 276 (Dec): 123179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123179.
Lingard, H., and M. Turner. 2022. “Making time for life: A whole-of-industry initiative to reducing work hours and promoting health and gender inclusion in project-based construction work.” Project Leadersh. Soc. 3 (Dec): 100065. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plas.2022.100065.
McGuckin, N., and A. Fucci. 2018. Summary of travel trends—2017 national household travel survey. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration.
Meier, P. J., P. P. H. Wilson, G. L. Kulcinski, and P. L. Denholm. 2005. “US electric industry response to carbon constraint: A life-cycle assessment of supply side alternatives.” Energy Policy 33 (9): 1099–1108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2003.11.009.
Miller, G. N. 2014. “Workplace trends in office space: Implications for future office demand.” J. Corporate Real Estate 16 (3): 159–181. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-07-2013-0016.
National Centers for Environmental Information. 2022. “Climate at a glance: Divisional mapping.” Accessed June 3, 2022. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 2021. Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation: Update, 1–4. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 2024. 2023 standard scenarios report: A U.S. electricity sector outlook. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Navaratnam, S., A. Jayalath, and L. Aye. 2022. “Effects of working from home on greenhouse gas emissions and the associated energy costs in six Australian cities.” Buildings 12 (4): 463. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12040463.
Office of Atmospheric Programs. 2023. The emissions & generation resource integrated database: eGRID technical guide with year 2021 data. Washington, DC: EPA.
Orzeł, B., and R. Wolniak. 2022. “Digitization in the design and construction industry—Remote work in the context of sustainability: A study from Poland.” Sustainability 14 (3): 1332. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031332.
Pabilonia, S. W., and V. Vernon. 2022. “Telework, wages, and time use in the United States.” Rev. Econ. Household 20 (3): 687–734. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-022-09601-1.
Pirzadeh, P., and H. Lingard. 2021. “Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic: Health and well-being of project-based construction workers.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 147 (6): 04021048. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0002102.
Restrepo, B. J., and E. Zeballos. 2020. “The effect of working from home on major time allocations with a focus on food-related activities.” Rev. Econ. Household 18 (4): 1165–1187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-020-09497-9.
Restrepo, B. J., and E. Zeballos. 2022. “Work from home and daily time allocations: Evidence from the coronavirus pandemic.” Rev. Econ. Household 20 (3): 735–758. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-022-09614-w.
Reuter, D. 2022. “Workers spend one third less time on personal grooming when they clock in from home compared with when they commute to the office.” Accessed August 4, 2023. https://www.businessinsider.com/remote-workers-spend-one-third-less-time-on-personal-grooming-2022-1.
Rietmann, N., B. Hügler, and T. Lieven. 2020. “Forecasting the trajectory of electric vehicle sales and the consequences for worldwide emissions.” J. Cleaner Prod. 261 (Jul): 121038. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121038.
Rojas-Rueda, D., A. de Nazelle, O. Teixidó, and M. J. Nieuwenhuijsen. 2012. “Replacing car trips by increasing bike and public transport in the greater Barcelona metropolitan area: A health impact assessment study.” Environ. Int. 49 (Nov): 100–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2012.08.009.
Ruff, K. 2020. Analysis of working from home vs working at the office, as a construction company in the bay area. San Luis Obispo, CA: California Polytechnic State Univ.
Santos, G., and R. Azhari. 2022. “Can we save GHG emissions by working from home?” Environ. Res. Commun. 4 (3): 035007. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ac3d3e.
Subbiah, R., K. Lum, A. Marathe, and M. Marathe. 2013. “Activity based energy demand modeling for residential buildings.” In Proc., 2013 IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conf., ISGT 2013, 1–6. New York: IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ISGT.2013.6497822.
Sun, K. 2020. “Analysis of the factors affecting the commute distance/time of construction workers.” Int. J. Arts Humanit. 6 (1): 2415.
Suratkon, A., and A. S. Azlan. 2021. “Working from home (WFH): Challenges and practicality for construction professional personnel.” Int. J. Sustainable Constr. Eng. Technol. 12 (4): 11–19. https://doi.org/10.30880/ijscet.2021.12.04.002.
Teodorovicz, T., R. Sadun, A. L. Kun, and O. Shaer. 2022. “How does working from home during COVID-19 affect what managers do? Evidence from time-use studies.” Hum. Comput. Interaction 37 (6): 532–557. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370024.2021.1987908.
Tijani, B., R. Osei-Kyei, and Y. Feng. 2022. “A review of work-life balance in the construction industry.” Int. J. Constr. Manage. 22 (14): 2671–2686. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2020.1819582.
USBLS (US Bureau of Labor Statistics). 2021. American time use survey activity lexicon 2021. Washington, DC: USBLS.
USBLS (US Bureau of Labor Statistics). 2022. “2020 American time use survey (ATUS).” Accessed May 31, 2022. https://www.bls.gov/tus/home.htm.
USDOE. 2012a. Energy efficiency program for consumer products and commercial and industrial equipment: Clothes washers. Washington, DC: USDOE.
USDOE. 2012b. Energy efficiency program for consumer products and commercial and industrial equipment: Residential dishwasher. Washington, DC: USDOE.
USEIA (US Energy Information Administration). 2018. 2015 consumption and expenditures technical documentation summary. Washington, DC: USEIA.
USEIA (US Energy Information Administration). 2022a. “Commercial buildings energy consumption survey (CBECS): 2018 CBECS survey data.” Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial/data/2018/.
USEIA (US Energy Information Administration). 2022b. “Residential energy consumption survey (RECS) 2020 survey data.” Accessed January 2, 2023. https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2020/.
USEPA. 2023a. Emission factors for greenhouse gas inventories. Washington, DC: USEPA.
USEPA. 2023b. “Power profiler.” Accessed August 6, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/egrid/power-profiler#/.
USEPA. 2023c. “Sources of greenhouse gas emissions.” Accessed May 20, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions.
Venkatesh, A., P. Jaramillo, W. M. Griffin, and H. S. Matthews. 2011. “Uncertainty in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from United States natural gas end-uses and its effects on policy.” Environ. Sci. Technol. 45 (19): 8182–8189. https://doi.org/10.1021/es200930h.
Wu, H., Y. Chang, and Y. Chen. 2024a. “Greenhouse gas emissions under work from home vs. office: An activity-based individual-level accounting model.” Appl. Energy 353 (Part B): 122167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.122167.
Wu, H., and Y. Chen. 2020. “The impact of work from home (WFH) on workload and productivity in terms of different tasks and occupations.” In Proc., Int. Conf. on Human-Computer Interaction, 693–706. New York: Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-60152-2_52.
Wu, H., and Y. Chen. 2022. “Workload and productivity during work from home (WFH) for the construction workforce.” In Proc., 9th Int. Conf. on Construction Engineering and Project Management. Seoul: International Consortium of Construction Engineering and Project Management.
Wu, H., Y. Chen, and Y. Chang. 2024b. “Integrating work into life helps reduce residential greenhouse gas emissions.” J. Environ. Manage. 351 (Part B): 119974. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119974.
Wu, H., X. Guo, and Y. Chen. 2022. “Mental and physical health for construction-related employees: Effects of work from home (WFH) and demographic indicators.” In Vol. 3 of Proc., ASC2022 (EPiC Series in Built Environment), edited by T. Leathem, W. Collins, and A. Perrenoud, 183–191. Loveland, CO: Associated School of Construction.
Yamaguchi, Y., H. Takenaka, K. T. Murata, Y. Kambayashi, T. Okada, A. Taniguchi-Matsuoka, Y. Shoda, and Y. Shimoda. 2020. “National-scale application of an activity-based residential building energy model using postcode-level census data.” In Proc., Building Simulation 2019: 16th Conf. of IBPSA, 2326–2333. Rapid City, SD: International Building Performance Simulation Association. https://doi.org/10.26868/25222708.2019.211024.
Yu, B., Y. M. Wei, G. Kei, and Y. Matsuoka. 2018. “Future scenarios for energy consumption and carbon emissions due to demographic transitions in Chinese households.” Nat. Energy 3 (2): 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-017-0053-4.
Zheng, J., Q. Wen, and M. Qiang. 2020. “Understanding demand for project manager competences in the construction industry: Data mining approach.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 146 (8): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001865.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 19, 2023
Accepted: Mar 27, 2024
Published online: Jul 3, 2024
Published in print: Sep 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Dec 3, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.