Sweden has an environmental goal to achieve until the year 2020. To achieve this goal the construction business has to take an initiative to use the modern techniques that are available to lower the energy consumption I buildings. There?s also a debate going on today regarding the energy demands set by the Swedish government through Boverket, some communities throughout Sweden thinks that the demands are to low and have therefore set up own demands regarding energy in buildings.The possibility to construct energy-saving buildings is today very great, with energy-efficient heating-systems and dense climate envelope. The interest to raise energy-efficient buildings have also increased as a consequence that the population have become more aware about their impact on the environment.

Energy-wise houses in Järinge - technical follow-up The company JM built energy-efficient houses in Tensta in Stockholm. They have built a total of 16 houses divided into two parts of A-houses and B-houses. The buildings are an attempt by JM to minimize energy-use of the buildings without affecting the comfort and living standards. The project aims to examine the data for the 16 houses on the basis of data and produce a report showing how the buildings worked through a technical perspective. JM approximates that the purchased energy will not be higher than 95 kWh/m2 per year.

Climate change is the modern society?s common issue. The developed countries areconsuming more than what is sustainable, and the climate change due to the use offossil fuels can be seen clearly. EU has specified goals, in order to stop furtherdamage, which demand that every member state have to reduce its energyconsumption by 20 % before 2020 and 50 % before 2050, relative to 1995.The Swedish government uses a number of instruments to encourage reduction in theusage of energy, but every individual has to contribute to reach the goals.With increasing energy price the cost of living is going up. A lot of people are lookingfor ways to save energy and not be affected as much by the increasing price.Investments for insulation, replacement of windows and replacing old heating systemfor a new efficient heat pump is getting more and more common.This thesis is about investigating the possibilities in becoming independent from buyingenergy for households.

The representative democracy has become weakened during the last decades. At the same time the United Nations declared at the Rio de Janeiro meeting in 1992 that environmental problems can best be solved by involvement of all concerned citizens in decision-making. The main purpose of this study has been to examine if citizens panels is a possible way to involve citizens in environmental decision-making and what the outcomes can be. Furthermore the study has investigated what the participation has contributed to environmental politics and how representative the results have been. This has been carried out by investigating the Piteåpanel in the municipality of Piteå by conducting interviews.The result of the study shows that the involvement of the citizens in the decision-making influenced the environmental politics of the municipality.

This report is the product of the course AF101X, a bachelors degree in Samhällsbyggnad atKTH. The task of the course is to design a small house at a given location and also implement adeepening study. The house in this report is located in Kiruna in the north of Sweden, where theclimate is much colder than in the rest of the country.The deepening study of this report is to evaluates how realistic passive housing north of thePolar Circle is based on those facts. The house will to some extent be designed to fit the passivehousing standard.

WSP building physics in Stockholm has certified the preschool Temmelburken in Bromma with the system of certification Miljöbyggnad. The rating of the building became BRONZE. In this thesis the preschool has been investigated with respect to the three areas: thermal climate, use of energy and improving of the level of certification. The thermal climate at the preschool has been investigated by a questionnaire survey and by measurements in order to do comparisons between the results from the two investigations as well as with the results of the simulations that WSP has done at the certification of the preschool. The differences between the results from the simulations and the questionnaire survey for winter as well as from the measurement performed with a comfort meter the 19th of March are concidered to be reasonably small since they give rise to the same rating according to Miljöbyggnad.   Operational data for the use of energy for the preschool have been obtained in order to do comparisons with simulations performed by WSP and Svenska Besiktningar AB. The comparison shows that the simulated values for the specific use of energy are lower than what the real specific use of energy would be for the preschool, since just the operational data for the heat energy is higher than the simulated values. At the investigation of the possibility of improving the level of certification it was found that the rating of the preschool can be raised from BRONZE to SILVER by improving the ratings of the ?thermal climate summer? and the ?daylight?.

Eleven years after broking the Kyoto-protocol, the European Union still stands in the front line, combating climate change. How come the EU, with 27 diversified states, is able to integrate its members to what is widely considered the most progressive climate policy in the world? This thesis takes a closer look at the negotiations that have shaped EU climate policy. Using negotiation-models to categorize different aspects of EU climatenegotiations, several key-findings are presented. The thesis concludes that while EU entered the Kyoto-protocol with little to lose because of external factors like previous energy-reforms in key member countries, it had plenty to win in global influence and the satisfaction of an overwhelmingly Kyoto-positive public.

Until recently the Danish government was hesitant about whether investments in climate and energy policies were the right strategy for Denmark. Today the Danish government argues that during the forthcoming climate conference in Copenhagen in 2009 (COP15), the world's countries must agree upon ambitious climate objectives. Denmark is together with EU-27 aiming at an ambitious climate agreement. This thesis intends to contribute with an understanding of why Denmark, both politically and economically, invests profound resources into committing the world's countries to a climate agreement. The study uses both a neoliberal institutionalism and a constructivist theory in analyzing the Danish engagement.

A large amount of our time is spent indoors in an artificial climate. To make the experience pleasant there are requirements on the ventilation and the heating system. At the present time the most common form of heating is a radiator system complemented with a ventilation system. A ceiling heating system with combined heating and ventilation can replace the two separated systems. The benefit with a ceiling heating solution is that it saves space since the radiator system is no longer needed.

An increased awareness about the global warming has created a demand for more information on how the climate is affected by different activities.This master thesis was initiated by Tricorona, a Swedish company that offers its customers analysis and calculation of their climate impact. Tricorona also supplies climate neutralisation with CERs, in accordance with the Kyoto protocol and controlled by the UN. This work demands updated emission factors for greenhouse gases. An emission factor gives information about the greenhouse gasintensity of a service or a product [kg CO2-eq./ functional unit].The purpose of this thesis is to examine how electricity, district heating, hotels, taxis, food and materials affect the climate and how emission factors for these areas can be calculated.This was done by reviewing and comparing different studies and by interviewing experts. The information was evaluated and recommendations on calculations and emission factors were made.The consumption of energy is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions for district heating, electricity, hotels, taxis and materials.

Organic material used for biogas production can also undergo other treatments. The emissions and impact from the different treatments are evaluated in this environmental assessment, with a focus on energy and climate. The materials included in the study are organic household waste, slaughterhouse waste and liquid manure. Other than biogas production, the possible treatments for organic household waste and slaughterhouse waste are incineration and composting, and for liquid manure storing and spreading. The analysis is based on data and information from current and relevant literature, and relates to the conditions in the Swedish energy system.

Solar energy is the one most talked about among energy sources due to its huge potential amongst renewable energy technologies. A greater use of the solar energy may be the solution to today's climate threats. Normally there are two different types of solar technologies, solar cells and solar thermal collectors. Solar cells convert solar energy in to electricity whilst solar thermal collectors convert solar energy into heat, which can be used to heat hot water for households. This goal of this study has been to investigate the possibility of implementing solar energy into the energy system of Kista Galleria, one of Sweden's foremost venues.

This thesis includes an energy survey of the Herrgården pre-school, which has a modern heating- and ventilation system, and a comparison with Östers pre-school which has an older system. An energy survey of Östers pre-school has already been done by a group of three students and all the calculations and values have been collected from that survey. As of today, both pre-schools are heated thru district heating. It will be much easier to make smart and feasible energy-saving-measures by first conducting the energy survey.Herrgården pre-school in Gävle houses 81 children, therteen teachers, one cleaner and one cook. It was finished in the middle of 2009 and the staff has been very pleased with the in-door climate.

Calculated and measured energy in residential buildings is going to differ. The reason to this may be due to many factors. In this study there is a study on how these factors affect the energy use in a building. To get an insight in what defines energy, there is first a description of energy supply both worldwide and used in Sweden, followed by a description of the energy balance. In this study energy will be studied in residential buildings only.

This thesis includes an energy survey of the Herrgården pre-school, which has a modern heating- and ventilation system, and a comparison with Östers pre-school which has an older system. An energy survey of Östers pre-school has already been done by a group of three students and all the calculations and values have been collected from that survey. As of today, both pre-schools are heated thru district heating. It will be much easier to make smart and feasible energy-saving-measures by first conducting the energy survey.Herrgården pre-school in Gävle houses 81 children, therteen teachers, one cleaner and one cook. It was finished in the middle of 2009 and the staff has been very pleased with the in-door climate.