The Trade-Off Between the Three Columns of Sustainability: A Case Study From the Home Service Industry

Abstract Home services are services provided directly at the residence of a customer (e.g., handiwork, babysitting, gardening, cleaning, cooking, etc.). Workers providing home services can travel to the customer's premises by various modes of transport such as by car, taxi, or bike, resulting in different types of optimization challenges discussed in this work. A case study is presented examining home care services and correlating mobility issues, which includes an extensive literature research and interviews with experts in the field. Sustainability aspects are introduced regarding home care mobility based on the three pillars of sustainability and interactions are discussed. It is found that green gold measures (i.e., measures that yield both economic and ecological benefits) are common. In contrast, great trade-offs exist between economic, ecological, and social objectives as choices based on social aspects are often driven by other priorities compared to economic and ecological aspects.