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Does teleworking really save energy? Lessons learned midway through an experiment

Experimenting with the energy balance of teleworkingTo measure the effects of telecommuting on energy consumption, ADEME (Agence de la transition écologique) and IFPEB (Institut français pour la performance du bâtiment) have launched an experiment as part of the sobriety plan. The aim: "to calculate the overall impact of telecommuting by measuring energy savings in transport and offices (particularly when closed), and the possible rebound effect of energy consumption in telecommuters' homes".A look back at 5 months of experimentationThis experiment concerns :10 buildings in different contexts (urban, suburban) and climatic zones;100 volunteer teleworkers.The consumption of office sites, agents' homes (electricity and gas) and their transport has thus been tracked, for the time being, from November 2022 to March 2023.Offices were closed at all 10 sites for 4 days on two occasions.Positive initial resultsInitial results show that the energy balance of telecommuting is positive, and even very positive when organized. When a site is closed for more than 48 hours, the overall potential is between 20 and 30% in energy savings over the course of a day.Energy savings on transport also play a key role in the overall balance. They are highly dependent on site location and commuting distance. For example, the experiment shows that energy savings are 2 to 4 times greater in regions outside Paris.Very low rebound effect in housingBased on the initial results of the experiment, the rebound effect of increased energy consumption in teleworkers' homes is 1.4 kWh for a day spent teleworking from home. Given that the average household consumes between 20 and 40 kWh per day, the rebound effect is between 3.5% and 7%.This rebound effect is very limited, particularly in view of the gains made on travel and offices.Continuation of the experimentIn order to refine the results, particularly for housing (behavioral aspects, reduced heating when unoccupied, etc.), and to specify any recommendations that might be given on the organization of telecommuting, the experiment will continue beyond the winter of 2022-2023 and on a larger scale.

• Environment

Published on 13/10/23



[Feature] What data for ecological planning?

In December 2023, the General Secretariat for Ecological Planning (SGPE) published a proposed roadmap entitled "Digital and data for ecological planning".Drawn up with the help of more than 300 national and local public-sector employees, this roadmap suggests ways, sector by sector, to make better use of available data and ensure that it is shared for the purposes of steering and analyzing public policies.This dense document (259 pages) identifies and details a total of 147 actions. " Digital technology must help change the current system, not optimize it even further".In an introduction in the form of a manifesto, the authors of the roadmap address, at length, the raison d'être (the "why?") of this roadmap: " Faced with the major, systemic challenge represented by the ecological transition, and given the urgency with which we must act, digital technology is an indispensable tool for targeting the most effective actions, managing complexity, reducing delays, modeling, anticipating crises, networking and mobilizing (...) Digital technology must help change the current system, not optimize it even further".They go on to explain the method (the "how") of implementing the roadmap: "For a digital project to be a success, it is often necessary for a large number of players to do their part in a coordinated fashion (developing the necessary standards, making the data available, creating the interface, deploying the tool, training users...) ".As part of the "public platform" approach that underpins the roadmap, " the public authorities lay down the basic rules governing the ethics, security and interoperability of digital tools. It also builds the basic infrastructures. These are identity or business databases, which are distributed in open data or shared with a given circle of players via ad hoc infrastructures. These foundations must be robust and pragmatic. Without them, everything else is built on sand".This public platform approach "allows roles to be shared between the public and private sectors. (...) This collaboration takes the form of shared digital bricks, monopolized by the public sector in the relevant geographical area, to which digital services are connected, often in the private, competitive sector". Eight themes mappedThe work was structured around the eight themes of France Nation Verte's ecological planning. These are: "better mobility", "better housing", "better resource conservation", "better biodiversity conservation", "better production", "better nutrition", "better consumption" and "transversal".To visually represent the roadmap's objectives and projects, the authors used the metaphors of buildings and "bricks" to map each of the eight themes. Each theme (building) is thus associated with several types of "digital bricks": foundations (rules and infrastructure), "walls" (digital services), roof (observatories). "Each brick rests on those below. Dysfunctions observed on the tip of the iceberg, such as the lack of interoperability of digital services (building walls) or the lack of consistency in observatory data (building roof), are very often due to dysfunctions or the absence of robust foundations". Each of the 147 areas identified as priorities is the subject of a numbered "action". Each action is documented: business challenges, current situation, sub-actions to be undertaken, initiators (central administrations, operators, territories), a main initiator and an indicative timetable. And use cases for each themeIn addition, each of the eight themes is associated with use cases that the roadmap is designed to address as a priority:Getting around: "Analyzing and planning mobilityBetter housing: "Energy consumption in housing", "Improving the citizen's approach to renovation".Better preserve resources: "Forecasting water resources and managing crises", "Managing coastline recession".Better preservation of biodiversity: "Taking biodiversity into account in urban planning decisions".Better production: "Efficient deployment of renewable energies".Better nutrition: "Enhancing soil qualityBetter consumption: "Making environmental cost measurement more reliable and harmonized".Cross-functional use cases: "Tooling citizens", "Tooling territories".Each use case explains the business challenges and the current state of digital tools and associated data, as well as the impact indicators."This work on use cases makes it possible to define the priority actions for the theme. Conversely, cartographic work enables us to know everything that exists (...) and to think about the urbanization of bricks in a systemic way: who relies on what? who needs to be interoperable with what?". Identify missing bricks or bricks to be consolidatedThe main contribution of this roadmap is that it reveals "these underground bricks to initiate, unblock, secure or accelerate their development and integration into all the higher bricks". In this way, it tackles "several sea snakes whose smooth operation is essential if we are to professionalize, industrialize and rapidly scale up to meet the ecological emergency".Key identifiers (such as premises and building identifiers, or agricultural parcel identifiers), business databases (such as real-time public transport information, soil quality, environmental impacts of real food products, or data on the reparability, durability and environmental impact of real products) are among the bricks that are missing or need to be reinforced. "Move the governance of the digital commons towards more public models, or create them where they don't exist"."All the themes highlighted the need to share data between a restricted circle of private and public players in order to implement their ecological planning policies. The roadmap highlights the importance of data dissemination infrastructures, which enable open data to be distributed securely and within a legal framework, and to be shared or made accessible to a restricted circle of players, when they are not intended to be open."Historically, to meet this need, it has often been external private or associative players who have built the necessary sharing infrastructures. However, the associated governance poses problems of continuity, sovereignty and neutrality. To enable the deployment of these infrastructures and the industrialization of the associated public policies, it is therefore essential to move their governance towards more public models, or to set them up where they do not exist. Private digital players can contribute to building these infrastructures, but as service providers, not on their behalf, without which the criteria (continuity, sovereignty) cannot be guaranteed. Rationalizing observatories to monitor and steer ecological planning"The proliferation of public and private observatories makes it difficult to monitor and assess the impact of actions taken". This proliferation of observatories corresponds to the proliferation of objectives and national plans contributing to the ecological transition (transversal or sectoral strategies, roadmaps, multi-year programs, etc.).While the roadmap announces the creation of new observatories (such as the hedge observatory, the industry decarbonization observatory, and the freight transport and logistics observatory), it also provides for the rationalization of existing observatories and their alignment with the ecological planning dashboard, which accompanies the Green Nation Plan. Anticipating data for adaptation and crisis managementThe roadmap is also an opportunity to reinforce a systemic approach to the use of data to anticipate and manage environmental crises. An interministerial working group has identified around ten major types of crisis linked to climate change and the collapse of biodiversity: floods, landslides, underground cavities and coastline erosion, atmospheric meteorological events, forest fires, drought, heatwaves, deterioration in air quality, health risks, epizootics and vector-borne epidemics, "prospective" crises, and so on.In some cases, data is not available for the entire territory (e.g., all the areas likely to be impacted by the detachment of a glacier), or is not updated as frequently as required. In the case of monitoring the appearance of new invasive exotic species or pests, for example, "current systems require highly advanced qualification of data, which is certainly necessary for their scientific reuse, but often leads to long exposure times, incompatible with close monitoring of the subject"."Generally speaking, sources of information are widely dispersed and rarely fluidly accessible. This leads to the construction of sometimes complex feedback channels, conceived on a case-by-case basis rather than in a systemic logic ", add the authors of the Roadmap. "It is therefore necessary to identify all data sources and to exploit them satisfactorily (...). It is also essential to set up a feedback system that takes into account the cross-referencing between crises, in order to deal with these particularly complex cases".The creation of new systems during a crisis is always a delicate matter: the Centre national de commandement stratégique is therefore working on the design of a national data-based crisis management tool, sized and adapted to all types of crisis. A "Digital Data Strategy Committee" and thematic committeesTo meet the need for decompartmentalization and political support, a France Nation Verte "Digital and Data Strategic Committee" will be set up. Co-chaired by the SGPE and DINUM, it will regularly bring together the stakeholders in the scheme to allocate funds, coordinate and secure the program as a whole.The structuring of the new financial resources allocated to the site will be consistent with this governance. These resources will not be allocated player by player, but action by action, in order to decompartmentalize projects and therefore data. As with the global financing of ecological planning, these resources will be allocated on a multi-year basis. 120 posts (FTE) will be allocated to the central administrations involved.Because of the scope and scale of the roadmap, structured thematic committees will be set up around the Green France Nation themes. Towards a territorialization of the "digital and data" roadmapFrance Nation Verte's "digital and data" project involved government departments and representatives of local authorities in the early stages of developing a common roadmap. "Nevertheless, the maps produced are limited to a generic description of regional bricks. They do not take into account the specific characteristics of each region, in order to maintain a certain degree of legibility". Given the complexity of the subject and the number of players involved, a working method was tested with the Breton region in May and June 2023.IGN, Cerema, ADEME, OFB, ANCT and CDC will be making digital and data engineering services available to local authorities. Next steps This frieze shows the main actions of the 147 actions in the roadmap.The timetable is indicative: it may change as work progresses in-house.

• Data

• Innovation

• Commons

• Environment

Published on 03/10/24



Digital decarbonation: new professions, but what kind of training?

The Observatoire des métiers du numérique, de l'ingénierie, du conseil et de l'évènement (OPIIEC) has set out to identify the skills, employment and training needs of companies in the digital sector, in light of their obligations to reduce their environmental footprint.Companies in the digital and engineering sectors see the ambitions and obligation to reduce their environmental footprint " as simply another technological evolution on top of those they have already overcome... The sector is also used to constant innovation, and therefore considers itself perfectly capable of integrating this new paradigm"."The environmental criterion is already gaining ground in recruitment, both on the employer's side and the candidate's, particularly among young graduates ", notes OPIEEC. "To date, the training on offer lacks maturity and clarity: it is not yet equipped to meet the challenges of tomorrow, despite the real abundance of solutions available to companies".New professions ..."While the ecological transition has not revolutionized core businesses, new areas of expertise seem to be developing in response to the challenges of digital sobriety".A number of "new" professions are emerging within larger organizations.Responsible Digital Manager: he/she provides expertise and acts as an interface between the IT Department, the CSR Department and the General Management. He/she creates value through the responsible design of digital products and services.Sustainable Development Director: he/she oversees an organization's sustainable development impacts, activities and aspirations. " The job is becoming increasingly important to companies as they steer strategies linked to sustainable development and sobriety issues in general. These people supervise project managers, heads of responsible departments and work full-time on these issues".Carbon auditor: he/she takes "exhaustive photographs" of all the GHG emissions of a particular organization, event or project. He/she facilitates decision-making in terms of actions to be taken to reduce carbon impact.Responsible Digital Trainer: provides expertise and support to Green IT managers. He/she is responsible for raising awareness and training internal teams."These new professions tend to be reserved for larger companies," says OPIEEC. " In smaller companies, these functions are often integrated into general management, or even technical management".... and new skills for core businessesWhile business function mapping is only slightly affected, "all business functions will have to comply with the requirements to reduce the impact of digital technology: management, sales and marketing functions, technical/product departments, but also all types of other support functions".The study identifies a series of key skills directly linked to reducing the environmental footprint of digital technology.In terms of hardware, this means knowing how to use input peripherals (mouse, trackpad, tablet, microphone, Ethernet cable, etc.), mastering processing peripherals (processor, microprocessor, CPU, motherboard, etc.), storage peripherals, understanding output peripherals (screens, network output devices, different ports, etc.), understanding how to power devices, and mastering man-machine interactions.When it comes to software, it's important to master software eco-design via various tools, the user interface (UX Design), automation and the continuous integration environment.Finally, when it comes to network and cloud computing, this means mastering architecture in all its forms (functional, solution, application, data, software, integration, technical), mastering cloud computing architectures (private, hybrid, public) and virtualization.A training offer that is insufficient in number, unclear and, according to the majority of players, ill-adapted."Some engineering schools and universities offer modules on the subject ", such as ESAIP in Angers and the University of La Rochelle. " But the subject is unfortunately only touched on in the majority of training courses".This brief initial training offer does not cover the entire spectrum of the theme.In particular, OPIEEC points to" The absence of a training course totally dedicated to the theme"."Training that skims the surface of eco-design (Life Cycle Assessment - LCA) and doesn't go into digital optimization in depth"."Business and engineering schools insufficiently involved"."Students are sometimes forced to self-train on their own initiative to acquire a base of knowledge".As far as continuing education is concerned, OPIEEC observes " a profusion of offerings", and even " a Far West effect ", as it is " so difficult to find one's way around". This is due to the multiplicity of players positioning themselves to offer training on this theme: digital service companies (ESN), consultancies, training organizations and associations. Complementary training modules are often " too generic".An action plan?The OPIIEC study concludes with an action plan:Define and clarify the concept of the digital environmental footprint;Raise awareness among all players in the ecosystem;Densify and increase the reliability of technical training;Adapt the mapping of professions.

• Environment

Published on 23/04/24



Une feuille de route pour la « décarbonation du numérique »

L'article 301 de la loi climat et résilience impose aux secteurs fortement émetteurs de gaz à effet de serre d’établir une feuille de route en associant les représentants des filières économiques, le Gouvernement et les représentants des collectivités territoriales pour les secteurs dans lesquels ils exercent une compétence. Ces feuilles de routeassemblent les actions mises en œuvre par chacune des parties pour atteindre les objectifs de baisse des émissions de gaz à effet de serre fixés par la stratégie nationale bas-carbone (SNBC).À l’occasion du Haut Comité pour le Numérique Responsable, le gouvernement a présenté le 4 juillet 2023 une proposition de feuille de route sur la décarbonation du numérique.Les acteurs de la filière se sont concertés pour établir une feuille de route présentant diverses mesures concrètes pour accélérer la transition du numérique vers un modèle plus sobre. Cette proposition de feuille de route propose un plan d’actions autour de dix piliers : agir sur la phase de conception et de fabrication des terminaux en augmentant, entre autres, la part de matière première recyclée, allonger la durée de vie et diminuer les consommations en favorisant, notamment, la qualité des réparations des objets numériques, améliorer la prise en compte de la fin des équipements pour inciter au recyclage des terminaux, favoriser la transparence avec la mise en place d’indicateur de suivi de l’empreinte du numérique, intégrer l’internet des objets dans la feuille de route, adopter une stratégie pour les datacenters en mettant en place des systèmes de refroidissement adaptés, par exemple, promouvoir l’écoconception, encourager la sobriété des usages et développer la formation, agir contre l’obsolescence technique mais aussi culturelle et psychologique, adopter une stratégie pour les réseaux en accélérant le passage à la 5G ou en intégrant l’intelligence artificielle pour réduire la consommation des déplacements des opérations réseau mobiles.Cette feuille de route sera intégrée dans la stratégie nationale bas carbone (SNBC) qui sera publiée en 2024.Résumé du plan d’action de la feuille de routeAgir sur la phase de conception et de fabrication des terminaux Augmenter la part de matière première recyclée au sein des terminaux numériques. Encourager une forte mutation dans l’approche et la conception des emballages des terminaux numériques.Allonger la durée de vie et diminuer les consommations Donner aux utilisateurs les clés pour mieux entretenir leurs terminaux numériques et ainsi augmenter leur durée de vie. Aider à l’optimisation de la consommation énergétique des terminaux numériques en phase d’utilisation. Améliorer l’accessibilité à une réparation de qualité des terminaux numériques, pour allonger la durée de vie. Participer au développement des activités de réemploi et de reconditionnement de qualité pour allonger la durée de vie des terminaux numériques.Améliorer la prise en compte de la fin de vie des équipements Aider au renforcement de la filière REP DEEE pour augmenter la collecte, la réutilisation et le recyclage des terminaux numériques.Favoriser la transparence Disposer de données environnementales fiables pour une meilleure connaissance de l’empreinte des terminaux numériques. Mieux faire correspondre les besoins des utilisateurs avec les usages et fonctionnalités des terminaux numériques.Intégrer l’Internet des Objets (IoT) dans la feuille de route Adopter des pratiques d’écoconception matérielle et mécanique pour les objets connectés (hors réseau et services web), dans un contexte B2B. Evaluer l’empreinte environnementale des objets connectés grâce à une PCR « objets IoT ». Adopter des pratiques d’écoconception et d’éco-configuration logicielles pour les objets connectés (hors réseau et services web).Adopter une stratégie pour les datacenters Mettre en œuvre des systèmes de refroidissement des datacenters adaptés et limiter l’utilisation de gaz frigorigènes pour accroître l’efficacité énergétique. Améliorer l’urbanisation des salles serveurs. Réutiliser les friches industrielles, utiliser du béton bas-carbone et allonger la durée d’usage des équipements dans une logique d’économie circulaire. Valoriser la chaleur fatale informatique des datacenters. Améliorer les outils existants et les méthodologies en matière d’information environnementale à destination des clients des datacenters et du cloud (en miroir de la proposition du GT sobriété inviter les fournisseurs de services de cloud computing à fournir des données d’impact à la bonne granularité). Développer les énergies renouvelables, encourager le recours aux carburants bas carbone des groupes électrogènes, favoriser la production sur site en autoconsommationPromouvoir l’écoconception Promouvoir et mettre en œuvre les référentiels d’écoconception des services numériques. Inviter les fournisseurs de services de cloud computing à fournir des données d’impact à la bonne granularité. Assurer dans le temps un support aux applications et aux logiciels. Mettre en place une stratégie de fin de vie du service numérique et du jeu de données.Encourager la sobriété des usages et développer la formation Sensibiliser les publics (professionnels et grand public) de manière continue et pédagogique à l’impact environnemental du numérique. Affichage de l’empreinte environnementale des services numériques. Réguler les mécanismes de captation de l’attention des plateformes numériques. Adapter la définition des vidéos en ligne au terminal utilisé et permettre l’autonomie de l’utilisateur grâce au mode « économie de données » Mesurer l’impact de l’autoplay et de la publicité vidéo et participer aux travaux de leur encadrement.Agir contre l’obsolescence Lutter contre l’obsolescence culturelle ou psychologique. Lutter contre l’obsolescence technique.Adopter une stratégie pour les réseaux Écoconception des équipements de réseau mobile de nouvelle génération. Réduction de la consommation des déplacements des opérations réseau mobiles avec l’IA. Efficacité énergétique des nouveaux équipements antennaires. Réduction automatique de la consommation des réseaux mobiles (en réduisant les interférences). Mise en veille de certaines fréquences du réseau mobile en l’absence d’usage. Passage vers la 5G. Écoconception des câbles et accessoires télécom. Écoconception des boxes (modems). Sobriété dans le déploiement des installations mobiles. Charte de sobriété des transferts de données numériques via la collaboration entre émetteur et transporteur de traficIdentifier des cas d’usage pour la décarbonation des autres secteurs Agriculture : outils d’aide à la décision (capteurs installés dans les parcelles pour diagnostic en temps réel), outils techniques et de robotisation, etc. Transport et mobilité : technologies numériques pour l’électrification du parc de véhicules (interopérabilité bornes), outils favorisant la transition vers des mobilités douces ou moins émettrices (données MaaS, report modal), etc. Bâtiment : BIM et Smart Building dans les phases de conception, chantier, exploitation, et fin de vie. Gestion des déchets : optimisation de la collecte des déchets, amélioration du traitement des déchets (robots de tri intelligents, optimisation de la consommation énergétique des centres de traiteme

• Environment

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