One Valley agency is on board with Telework Day, by having a number of its employees stay home Monday.

It's just another day in the office for Graham Simmerman.

Simmerman says, "You wouldn't even know that I'm not in the office."

However, he's getting all of his work done Monday in the fresh air at his home. With programmed e-mail and phones, he might as well be sitting in his office at the Department of Environmental Quality in Harrisonburg.

Simmerman adds, "The best part of telecommuting is that I get to stay close to my espresso machine."

It's called teleworking and it's quickly catching on for many companies looking to save energy and money.

Simmerman says, "It's primarily an energy savings, space savings, staff morale."

Studies show teleworking saves close to $200,000 statewide in one day while also eliminating about 170 pounds of pollutants. It also reduces traffic, greenhouse gas emissions, and wear and tear on public transportation.

Simmerman says he hasn't missed a beat despite being miles away from his employees.

He adds, "I've been responding to a lot of e-mails and phone calls and e-mails, permit issues, compliance issues. That sort of thing."

Simmerman also says many of his employees make long commutes from all over Virginia and West Virginia.

He says, "For those people, it saves a lot of time and a lot of gas, both."

Thousands of employees and many businesses and state agencies participated in Monday's initiative by Gov. Tim Kaine.