A recent research found out that firms could dramatically increase their productivity per worker… by just switching to energy efficient lighting systems.
This may sound odd at a first glimpse, but this particular firm in India managed to drop the temperature down in its factories by 2.5°C by substituting their lighting systems, and this in turn unexpectedly increased the productivity per worker.
By comparing factories, lighting systems and temperature, the researcher was able to estimate that the benefits of productivity gains per worker are as much as 5 time bigger than the energy costs savings…
So if we can convince firms from emerging economies to focus on improving the environment where workers produce, not only to improves their welfare, but also to increase their own profits, we may eventually see some important spillovers effects for both the industrial sectors and the environment.