The aim of this diploma work was to obtain a review of the appeal process in Sweden under the Planning and Building Act and the possibilities of appeal in the planning and building permit process. The work was intended to identify potential problems surrounding the appeal process and possible efficiency measures. The goal was to form a report that provides a satisfactory overview of the appeal process in theory and practical application as well as provide relevant concrete proposals on how the appeal process can be streamlined.Background and facts surrounding the work were taken from different types of literature and through several interviews with representatives in government, industry and politicians.The main problems related to the appeal process are in the long processing times and the high number of appeals. There is a great interest to streamline the appeals process and the government is going to launch studies in which possible future actions will be investigated.It is possible to appeal for up to two instances before you need a so called ?leave to appeal? in order for your complaint to be passed on to the next instance.

The housing sector uses 40 % of the energy in Sweden and half of the electricity usage. Theuse of energy is the main reason to the increasing rate of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.This is the main motive but also a wish of higher safety, that is a higher rate of selfsufficientenergy production in Sweden, we want to decrease the need of using fossil fuel. Now whenthe energy price rise, the interest in energy issues increase and more people discuss thepossibility of reducing the usage of fossil fuel. A change to renewable energy such as sun,wind and water is the only solution where we can get a sustainable development.One way to contribute to a better use of energy is to build in the principle of passive house.The house is being built with a thick and tight insulation. If you use a heat-exchanger withhigh degree of efficiency and a final heating battery on the ventilation system, the heat fromlamps, devices and the ones living in the house should be enough to fulfil the criteria ofliving.

This thesis aims to illustrate how environmental impact can be reduced, through the use of lean concrete. It also illustrates how environmental data can be applied to a house through implementation with BIM. In this study a unique concrete structure developed by Swedish Cement and Concrete Research Institute is assessed for environmental impact, by calculating the carbon dioxide equivalents using LCA methodology. The construction is a sandwich element where the concrete is made ??up of three layers.

AbstractClimate and environmental issues are of paramount importance. Researchers agreethat we must all contribute to a reduction of gases that contribute to climatechange. Energy consumption must decrease within all sectors and the promotionof renewable sources of energy must be introduced.Each sector should aspire to decrease its energy consumption. Energyconsumption is strongly linked to waste gases that contribute to climate change.Passive houses are a part of the construction industry's methods to attain energyconservation.Passive houses are derived from low energy houses and super insulated houses. Apassive house is intended to obtain heat from the inhabitants and through theiractivities.

In this thesis work a Geographical Information System (GIS) based methodology to identify locations suitable for the installation of wave energy converters has been developed. Parameters of importance have been identified and a GIS-database has been set up, containing data about the marine environment. In a case study of the Swedish west coast the methodology has been applied, resulting in a number of maps showing possible areas. The results show that large areas are suitable for installation of wave energy converters, from a technical and economical point of view. When consideration is taken to other interests in the area, such as navigation, fishing and environmental protection, the size of the suitable area diminishes considerably.

In this report listed buildings, according to the Swedish Heritage Conservation Act, have been studied with a focus on cases where economical compensation has been given to the owner of the building and cases where the listing of the building has been appealed by the owner. In order for a building to become listed it needs to be particularly valuable from a cultural and historical standpoint. The listed buildings are protected through a list of regulations that determines which parts of the building can or cannot be changed, what methods and materials should be used for changes and repairs, and how the building should be maintained. These regulations should as far as possible be formulated in agreement with the owner, but a building can become listed against the owners will. To decrease the damage this causes the owner he can in some cases have the right to economical compensation. There is also a possibility for the owner to appeal the listing of the building.

Life Cycle Cost, often abbreviated as LCC, is a common tool for comparing the total cost of different alternatives, such as heating and cooling methods. Common heating and cooling methods in Sweden are geothermal energy, district heating and district cooling. This report aims to evaluate how different heating and cooling methods differ from each other while being applied on three different types of buildings, using selected LCC-models. Information about the selected LCC-models wasretrieved from each separate model and its website. Reports and agencies were used as sources for information about the heating and cooling methods.

This Bachelor?s thesis consists of two parts; one with prefabrication (prefab) in focus and thesecond part includes detail design of a house project. These parts are linked together by designingsome parts of the house project as prefabricated.The focus section investigates how prefabrication can act time-, costs- and environmentallyeffective to a building project. This is investigated by combining literary sources with sourcesbased on reality in the shape of interviews. The result of the investigation is that prefabcould acteffectively on previously mentioned factors,if this way of building is used in a proper way.The detail design of the house started in a residential area with a new local plan in Huddinge,named Sjöängen II.

Construction accounts for about 35 percent of the total Swedish energy consumption and most of the energy is used by the large housing stock from the so-called ?Million program?. In the national action plan the government has put forward in energy efficiency. It is mentioned that existing buildings account for more than 90 percent of what is expected to be the housing stock within the coming 50 years. In order to meet environmental objectives its required that the existing stock be reviewed for energy efficiency. The goverment is now initiating a national framework with a budget of SEK 300 million Swedish crowns per year for five years, starting in 2010 to achieve the goal on energy efficient buildings. Energy efficiency of buildings in both new construction and above all within the existing stock are addressed.

The purpose with this study is to investigate funds that are environmentally friendly. Environment issues has become a large subject that affects all aspects in today?s society.  It is a global issue which has affected the awareness of environmentally friendly products and its benefits for the environment.How has this awareness affected the financial market?  In this study the authors have looked at six environmentally sound funds and six energy funds to answer the question if it´s better to have your money in traditional energy or in renewable energy.This study is made in an quantitative way, the data has been gathered from the internet database Morningstar. The energy funds have had its biggest assets in companies dealing with oil, and the environmentally sound funds have had its biggest assets in renewable energy. Bye looking at the different funds rate of return and relating that to risk managing theories of Sharpe and Treynor, the authors compared the two types of funds.During the period that was looked at during this study ( third quarter of 2007 until third quarter 2010) the energy funds outperformed the environmentally sound funds in every aspect. .

The theory that concepts that are interpreted subjectively in building care creates problems in how the concepts are defined in practice within the current governing documents and guidelines for building care. This essay has studied concepts in the building maintenance literature to investigate whether there is consensus in compliance practice within the building process. In the study, 9 concepts have been investigated through conversational interviews and questionnaires answered by practitioners with extensive experience in building care processes. In the survey, an attempt is made, to measure how big or small the consensus is between practitioners who often need to collaborate within the building maintenance process. The investigation shows that existence of the concepts in building maintenance is very common in the theoretical literature examined but is almost completely absent in the craft area. Since laws, regulations, principles, and guidelines have defined concepts to support the decisions in the building maintenance process, it can be concluded that there is a lack of practice for compliance.

This report discusses the constructionof different types of exterior wallconstructions and analyses wall layers.Standard wall constructions from theSwedish building contractors NCC andSkanska and also from the materialproducer Isover have been chosen for theresearch. Life cycle cost analysis hasbeen made to conclude the mostprofitable wall type, seen from asustainable and economic perspective.The calculations have been made for aperiod of 50 years.The report shows that building with wellinsulated walls is a more profitablesolution both economically and whatconcerns sustainability even though thehigher investment. However, when wallssimilar insulation properties are beingcompared, the study proves that lowerinvestment cost is more profitable.The report introduces requiredconstruction techniques of walls inorder that the reader should understandwall constructions with different layersand properties. The essay shows theimportance of properly constructed wallsto avoid air leakage and moisturedamage.The essay has been implemented byliterature studies, contacts with NCCand Skanska and by energy calculationsmade by hand and using the software VIPEnergy..

The prevailing food and energy crisis of the world, due to the declining reserves of fossil energy and a never ending rise of consumption, forces us to look into new fields to supply our energy demand. The boom of bio energy is criticized, as food crops are used to provide biodiesel and ethanol and the volumes are ridiculously small to supply world demand. Algae are one of the world?s oldest life forms and exist in many different phyla, providing a great variety to choose from, for different purposes. Cultivating microalgae offer a way to produce energy at great volumes without competing with food production and at the same time the algae offer a way to use our expensive nutrients in a more efficient way, besides this the algae are carbon dioxide neutral since their carbon source can be supplied by the atmosphere and the additional energy required can be supplied by algal oil or other renewable sources.

Former studies have shown that a considerable part of industries? energy usage can stem from idle times in the production. This thesis, carried out at Siemens Industry sector, evaluates the potential for using the control system to automatically put machines into energy saving mode during idle times. The main part of the thesis consists of a case study performed on machine tools at a Scania production site in Södertälje. Through load measurements the potential for energy savings was determined.The results show that there is a great potential for energy savings during idle times at the site.

In this work an assessment of the compressed air system in the facilities of Vattenfall Heat Uppsala has been conducted. The facilities constitutes, among others, a combined heat and power plant, and two waste incineration plants. The compressed air is supplied primarily by seven rotary screw compressors and yearly electric energy consumption in these has been determined. Furthermore, the usage of compressed air has been mapped in order to find processes with energy savings potential. Several suggestions how to reduce the usage of compressed air have been presented, resulting in decreased need of electric energy and reduced CO2-emissions.The results show that total need of electric energy in the compressors, during a standard production year, amounts to 5.83 GWh.