This thesis describes the new construction of a small house and it includes studies of three heating systems: geothermal heating, district heating and pellet. The purpose of this thesis is to project a small house which can manage Building Regulations, BBR conditions and then examine three possible heating systems for the small house. This thesis is a literature study which gives an understanding of the heating systems technical structure, properties and costs. An empirical study completes the literature study by giving a deeper understanding of district heating costs and pellet costs. The empirical study contains two interviews, one of which was conducted in a district heating corporation and the other interview was conducted in a pellet corporation.

The energy that the earth receives from the sun hourly has potential to cover a year?s energy demand in the world. Further, this type of energy is environmentally friendly, natural and free of cost. This report covers solar energy in an urban environment and consists of a case study of installations of photovoltaic cells in a part of the city of Stockholm. It is mainly the economic aspects that are covered but there is also a discussion about the practical consequences and the sustainability as a result of integration of solar energy in an urban environment. The aim of the study is to present results from economic calculations for utilization of solar energy in chosen buildings in Kungsholmen in Stockholm.

This thesis examines why working time preferences differ between workers and nations, and explains the effect of working time regulation and working time flexibility on negotiating work-life balance. In five separate sections the following working time issues are examined: the number of hours worked by workers in Europe; factors affecting individual working time preferences; how working time preferences are negotiated in the national industrial relations systems of Sweden, France and the United Kingdom; how the institutions of the European Union have influenced working time negotiations through the Working Time Directive; and the benefits and practices available to organisations implementing working time flexibility. Broadly this paper views working time preferences as being a highly personal and influenced by factors such as wages, taxation, culture (national and workplace) and non-work responsibilities. It is argued that negotiating a preferred working time pattern is essential to achieving work-life balance and when such a balance is achieved, workers are more healthy, motivated and committed to their employer. Essentially this provides an incentive for businesses to voluntarily implement working time flexibility beyond the regulatory standards..

The aim of this report was to investigate the economy of passive houses. The work was focused on economy in total and on the economy of different components such as windows, insulation, heat exchanger and the air tightness of the climate shell. No attention was paid on the comfort factor or to the impacts on the environment.Two houses, aspiring to be passive were chosen; A big one and a small one. Hence, comparisons considering the size of the building have been possible to do as well.The comparisons were made by calculating ?break even? between two concepts; passive and BBR- concept.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, OTEC, a technology using the temperature difference between cold deep seawater and warm surface water, can extract the work in the form of electricity. OTEC gives also synergies of drinkable fresh water. The temperature difference has an impact on the efficiency of the technology, which means that the feasibility of OTEC is geographically limited. The project intends to explore the possibility of replacing the atoll Tarawa?s present electricity generation with an OTEC plant and to explore synergies. In the present situation all of Tarawa?s electricity is generated by fossil fuels.

The purpose of this study was to examine six girls and boys in grade 4 use of adjectives in narrative texts and examine students' perception and experience of writing from a gender perspective. The methods used were text analysis and an interview. The results showed that girls write more adjectives than boys, but no further significant difference in their use of adjectives was found. There was a certain stereotypical difference in which adjectives they wrote and their attitudes toward writing. Girls are more positive to writing and see writing primarily important for school, while boys think writing is important to succeed in life..

The aim of this study was to describe how adolescents experiences their quality of life, and tocompare if there are any differences in how they experiences their QOL depending on wherethey live, big town or smaller town. The aim was also to examine how adolescentsexperienced their schooling. The study is empirically, quantitative with a descriptive andcomparative design. To measure quality of life a tried and tested instrument ? LifeSatisfaction Questionnaire (LSQ) was used.

With the climate change issues growing in importance on the social agenda, the field of urban masterplanning is of no exception when it comes to minimizing the carbon footprint in a variety of projects. The aim of this thesis has been to prepare the Carbon Critical Masterplanning tool, a software plugin for carbon dioxide emissions assessment developed by Atkins, to be used in Swedish conditions. The main targets were to improve the areas of the tool associated with energy conversion and renewable energy sources, and to test the tool in a real case. A planned construction of a new campus in Albano, Stockholm was chosen for the pilot study. A 3D model was built in the tool and the carbon footprint was calculated for a variety of combinations for energy supply to the future area.

The aim of this thesis is to examine how personnel working with asylum cases at the Swedish Migration Board handle their role as administrators of asylum. For the study 7 asylum administrators were interviewed and the analysis was made with influence from the method critical discourse analysis. To understand the themes in the analysis I have used Michael Lipskys theory about street-level bureaucrats. Main results from the analysis of the interviews were that the street-level bureaucrats had certain strategies for managing the difficult aspects of the job. The interviews also showed that the participating informants had difficulties with different identity positions..

Sweden has distinct seasons with cold winter and temperatures down to minus 25 ?C andpleasant summers with temperatures above 20 ?C. During spring and autumn there could becomechallenges with precipitation. The diverse climate in Sweden affects many homeowners. For thepeople living in leisure boats and permanent housing boats the seasonal changes are clearlyimpacting their economy and the indoor climate.

During the cultivation season there are a several cropping activities to carry out. At what time these activities are carried out is affecting the result and also on the economy of the crop production. As the production costs are high in potato production, it is important to keep an eye on the economy. Profitability is the most important factor in most crop production systems. If the costs are not covered, it is difficult to justify the production.

This paper examines pupils? conception of the Swedish schools constitutive values expressed in the Swedish curriculum. The main question was, at to what extent the schools constitutive values have influenced the pupils conception of their own values. That question problematizes the relation between values, constructed and carried by central administration, and their interpretation at local level by pupils. The study was conducted with qualitative analysis which included qualitative interviews with seven pupils in the last year of the Swedish school system.

With a growing population on earth the amount of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) and other scrap steel increases. The European Directive 2000/53/CE? requires a minimum of 95 % reuse and recovery and 85 % re-use and recycling no later than 1 January 2015, for end-of life vehicles. This imposes a need for more efficient recycling and recovery. Despite this shredder residue (SR) is commonly land filled.This report investigated the magnetic fines residue generated at Stena Metall shredder facility in Halmstad, Sweden.

The financial crisis in 2008, effected companies around the globe and forced them to change their operational strategies, in order to survive. Companies with international links needed to consider external effects and due to that adapt their strategies on a global level. Demands for goods and service were decreasing and companies could only manage the cost during a recession to not face bankruptcy. Organisations need to reconsider their optimal strategy as this will determine their future outcome when managing a crisis as the one in 2008. British Airways - Air Cargo is a global company with an international network which serves about 80 countries, with about 200 destinations.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, OTEC, a technology using the temperature difference between cold deep seawater and warm surface water, can extract the work in the form of electricity. OTEC gives also synergies of drinkable fresh water. The temperature difference has an impact on the efficiency of the technology, which means that the feasibility of OTEC is geographically limited. The project intends to explore the possibility of replacing the atoll Tarawa?s present electricity generation with an OTEC plant and to explore synergies. In the present situation all of Tarawa?s electricity is generated by fossil fuels.