New norm, new role

“I’m getting used to working from home. I quite like it.” How many times have you heard that from friends and colleagues over the last few weeks? There really does seem to be a major shift in attitude to the way we work. The longer we are in lockdown and the slower things take to get back to normal then it feels more like a new normal. Perhaps gone are the days when we commute five days a week but instead work from home two or make home our new permanent workspace.

Already some companies are planning to abandon their offices when leases expire and allow all employees to work from home. Larger organisations will be looking to reduce the office space they occupy with the knock-on benefit of reduced costs including energy. Are we going to see huge areas of office space empty and unlettable in the coming years? It will certainly have a wide range of effects from a brake on the growth of speculative build projects and even on many pension pots that are built on the property market.

It may lead to a whole new role for the energy manager. Already it seems that those who are working from home are spending a good deal of time talking to their company IT specialist to sort out connection problems to continue working successfully. And as we work from home energy use patterns are changing considerably from the norm. It has been estimated that the average domestic bill has risen by 16 per cent over this lockdown period. And it’s likely this will increase even more in the autumn and winter months if we decide that home is the new workplace. Then the energy manager will be the new IT expert. Employees will be able to communicate with him/her to get advice on keeping domestic energy under control. It’s quite possible energy managers will have to extend their range of skills and training.

And as we slowly move to a post-pandemic world what greater opportunity will the Government have to put in place an economic stimulus that builds on the clamour for a green recovery? We have some of the most energy inefficient housing in Europe, most of which will still be standing in 2050. So surely this is a chance to put in place subsidies and grants to reduce fuel poverty and make every home – and potential workplace – efficient, comfortable and affordable.