Workplace Experience Apps Bring Emissions Data Into The Hands Of Employees

Workplace Experience Apps Bring Emissions Data Into The Hands Of Employees

Over the past three years, workplace experience apps have brought increasingly rich insights to employees on building operations such as indoor air quality, workplace utilization and co-worker locations. The next horizon of innovation for workplace apps is bringing carbon emissions data into the hands of employees. The hope is that workplace apps can make carbon data accessible to staff and encourage more sustainable behaviour. There are also commercial incentives for workplace app vendors; this product extension will enable them to capture a share of growing investment in ESG tech.

What solutions are emerging today? In January 2022, workplace software specialist spaceOS partnered with energy management software provider aedifion to bring real-time energy consumption and carbon footprint data to employees. This integration will allow employees to use the spaceOS app and dashboard to view real-time energy usage data by assets such as lighting or HVAC. Another interesting proposition comes from VINCI Facilities, which launched the CO2 Footprint App to inform employees about their firm’s carbon emissions from buildings, operations and business travel. The VINCI app also educates staff on specific actions to reduce their carbon footprint and allows benchmarking across different teams.

The use of mobile apps to engage employees on sustainability is not new. The early 2010s saw the emergence of mobile apps to drive sustainable behaviour. Witness CloudApps launching the sustainability employee engagement app SuMo in 2012, which encouraged staff to participate in challenges such as switching to teleconferencing instead of air travel. WSP launched a personal carbon tracking solution helping employees and clients reduce their carbon emission across home, travel and commutes. This first-generation of apps paved the way for connecting staff to corporate goals, but the wavering business commitment to sustainability limited mass uptake.

With corporate sustainability programmes re-emerging, the expansion into employee carbon reporting is an appealing opportunity for workplace app vendors. That said, this market segment is on track to get busy quickly, with energy and sustainability software specialists making their own moves. For example, in February 2022, WeSpire launched a new set of software tools to help mobilize employees on sustainability goals and measure emissions in a hybrid work environment. Successful propositions will go beyond providing staff with generic company-wide carbon emission data by sharing local and personalized sustainability insights.

For more insights on future developments across smart building and workplace technology, see our report 10 Predictions For Smart Building Technology In 2022 And Beyond.