It’s economy of scale. A centralized building can be much more efficient than many individual houses. Big emphasis on CAN.

It all depends on how wasteful people are at home, wether they commute by train or bike (or how much car trips they do while WFH), and how responsible the office is managed.

The last studies I saw posted in Lemmy about this highlighted the nuance, while people jumped on the maximum possible saving as if that was real.