In this report two Sustainability Life Cycle Assessments are carried out for two types of tiles for Riksbyggen, to contribute to a sustainable urban transition. Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment involves performing a life cycle assessment based on four principles based on scientific research and presented by the non- governmental, non-profit organization, The Natural Step. The principles concern raw materials, chemically produced substances, degeneration of nature and social conditions.Origin of products, manufacturing sites and manufacturing procedures were initially completely unknown and much of the work has consisted of finding the entire cycles, understand manufacturing processes of ceramic tiles and evaluating what materials and what type of energy sources that are required for the production. A socially sustainable perspective has been of high relevance alongside an ecologically sustainable perspective.The report begins with the basic underlying facts and the purposes of this investigation and that the reasons why Sustainability Life Cycle Assessments are carried out are to provide Riksbyggen and the own workers with documents presenting Riksbyggens ideas regarding sustainability and to hopefully get the ideas further down in the supply chain. The methods used to fulfill the investigation are presented and scientific facts about LCA and ceramic building materials are reviewed.

Corporations meet complex challenges as they operate on a global market. Global multidimensional problems are referred to wicked problems and which cannot be solved only managed. In this case, of certified palm oil, palm oil production can be seen as a wicked problem due to deforestation of rainforest, land grabbing and social conflicts. There are also conflicts regarding the value and interest of palm oil. This thesis investigates the Swedish transformation for certified palm oil and how actors in the Swedish food market address this transformation to have certified palm oil in their production. The aim of this thesis is to explain enabling factors to address the governance gap of ethical sourcing in the food industry.

Earth?s resources have been exploited unsustainably. If an entire conception of exploitationof natural resources does not change now, this will entail enormous costs in the future.This insight has lead to a recently increased interest in clean technologies among privateequity capitalists. In the fourth quarter of 2006 about 10 percent of all private equityinvestments made in the US market were placed in the cleantech industry. Despite a goodinvesting climate in Sweden, Swedish capitalists have shown little interest in cleantechinvestments.

The shape and arrangement of the outdoor environment at a preschool has a critical impact on the possibilities to practice different pedagogic activities (Grahn et al.1997). At the preschool at Edwin Ahlqvists road, the employees are inspired by Reggio Emilia in their way of thinking, and they consider their outdoor environment is not suitable for the pedagogic activities they use. Reggio Emilia is a city in the north of Italy (Wallin 2001). The preschools there are famous for their pedagogy, their creativity and their democratic way of working (Dahlbech & Johansson 1986). The Reggio Emilia pedagogy is constantly renewed and developed, but with the children?s needs in focus and simultaneously with the quick changes of the modern society.

North Western Kungsholmen in Stockholm is confronting big changes and Stockholmsstad is planning that the area will be an extended part of the existing structure in centralStockholm. Dwellings and offi ces are built and the population increase heavily. Th isresult in a need to look at how public green areas can develop and be designed. Th epurpose is to design a proposal for a master plan of S:t Göranområdets public greenareas. Exploateringskontoret, Stockholm stad, who has initialized the task, claim thatthere is a need of clarifying and shield the qualities in the green areas of today and howto create new green structure.The problem formulations which are current in this master thesis are:? Is there a need of a distinct identity for the green areas of S:t Göransområdet? If so,how is this created?? How can the green parks and nature areas inside S:t Göransområdet be improved anddevelop?? How can the connections between the green areas inside S:t Göransområdet beclarifi ed and how can they connect to the surroundings?To get inspiration and information for the design this thesis include a study of theincluding parts in the design process.

We have the tradition in Sweden to build villas and houses with a wooden framework. It has become natural for us because we have so much forest in our country. Building with wood has advantages, it is easy to process, but also disadvantages, as it is sensitive to moisture.Finland has long made use of the thermal blocks to build villas. It is a type of bricks that are a bit like a sandwich element, with a core of EPS and concrete on both sides of the core material. The concrete is hollow, so that after the walls has been bricked up you pour concrete into the hollow bricks.The issue of this report is to find out if concrete can be an alternative to wood as framework material in villas.

North Western Kungsholmen in Stockholm is confronting big changes and Stockholmsstad is planning that the area will be an extended part of the existing structure in centralStockholm. Dwellings and offi ces are built and the population increase heavily. Th isresult in a need to look at how public green areas can develop and be designed. Th epurpose is to design a proposal for a master plan of S:t Göranområdets public greenareas. Exploateringskontoret, Stockholm stad, who has initialized the task, claim thatthere is a need of clarifying and shield the qualities in the green areas of today and howto create new green structure.The problem formulations which are current in this master thesis are:? Is there a need of a distinct identity for the green areas of S:t Göransområdet? If so,how is this created?? How can the green parks and nature areas inside S:t Göransområdet be improved anddevelop?? How can the connections between the green areas inside S:t Göransområdet beclarifi ed and how can they connect to the surroundings?To get inspiration and information for the design this thesis include a study of theincluding parts in the design process.

In the profession of architects there is an element called architectural competitions, where several architects compete in submitting the best solution for a certain task. In this master?s thesis I am studying the competitor?s perspective of an international architectural competition, while at the same time gaining experiences for my future career as a landscape architect. The aim of this thesis is to through an introspection of my own process examine a competitors view of the international architectural competition and how to approach the difficulties concerning international competitions. Through that I hope obtain experience about the international competition as part of the profession of landscape architects and other involved professions. To examine a competitor?s reflection of an international competition, I entered and competed in LE:NOTRE Student Competition, a competition for students where the task was to develop 25 kilometers of complex urban periphery along a chain of natural and artificial lakes in Bucharest, Romania.

The incineration of waste is steadily increasing in Sweden and so is the production ofashes. The bottom ash has for many years been used as construction material inlandfills. Now many of the nation's landfills are closed and there is a great need to findanother beneficial use for the ash. Bottom ash is a gravel-like material and with itsmaterial properties it can replace natural gravel in parts of roads and surfaceconstructions. Today this use is only approved within landfill areas where leachate iscollected and checked.

SAMMANFATTNING Uppskattningsvis transporteras 171 miljoner grisar inom EU varje år, varav ca 3,5 miljoner i Sverige. Grisarna kommer, under hela förloppet från förflyttningen från box i stallet till bedövningen i slakteriet, att utsättas för stressande moment. Orsakerna är bland annat omgrupperingar, nya miljöer, vibrationer i bilen samt, speciellt under sommaren, värmestress. Temperaturen i djurtransportbilen är en nyckelfaktor som dessutom kan förstärka effekten av andra stressorer. Lastning i höga temperaturer ökar risken för värmestress. Värmestress innebär att djuren får allt svårare att avge sin värme. Även den relativa luftfuktigheten har betydelse, framförallt vid temperaturer över 30°C. Det är ventilationen i transportbilen som ska transportera bort värme och fukt från bilen.

Weaning is a standard procedure at most studs, and the methods of weaning varies greatly. The method used at the stud in this particular study is supposed to decrease stress. The purpose of the study was to compare the behaviour of foals in group before and after stepwise removal of their mares. Standardbred foals with their mothers were kept in three different groups at pasture (12, 11 and 11 foals, respectively, mixed sexes). They had free access to silage and the foals were fed concentrate in a creep-feeding area. By the time the foals were 5 months old, the mares were stepwise removed from the pasture.

Geothermal energy can be extracted from an aquifer, where the groundwater is used as heatexchange medium while heat and cold are stored in the surrounding material in the aquiferand to some extent in the groundwater. Application of aquifer storage for the use ofgeothermal energy is mainly used in large scale facilities and is limited to sites with suitableaquifers in the form of ridges, sandstone and limestone aquifers.Löwenströmska hospital in the municipality of Upplands Väsby, north of Stockholm, islocated nearby the northern part of the Stockholm esker. This means that it can be profitableand environmentally beneficial for the hospital to examine the possibilities of aquifer storagein the esker material next to its property.The purpose of this master thesis has been to investigate if geothermal energy storage with aseasonal storage of heat and cold can be applied within Löwenströmska hospital?s propertyarea using groundwater modeling. A hydraulic groundwater model was constructed inMODFLOW based on a simplified conceptual model of the groundwater system.

This report describes an investigation of the indoor climate in two different workspaces. Since we a big part of our lives are staying indoors in artificial environments, and more particularly in our workplaces, we think it would be interesting to do this investigation. The technical solutions for air treatment systems began with simple natural systems without fans and where the thermal rise of the air applied. In modern time is technical air treating systems used to take care of the fresh air supply. This type of units can supply filtered air with the right temperature to the building. Well-functioning ventilation is essential to bring clean fresh air to the room and effectively remove impurities without sound- or draught problems. The indoor climate is relevant for the output capacity.

In order to understand the human impact on today?s remaining ?virgin? forest and to develop sensible management strategies for future reserves, it is necessary to know how these forests have developed. This knowledge can be gained by using forest history analysis. here are large areas of forests still untouched by modern forestry in the mountainous region in the county of Norrbotten. These forests are highly interesting study objects from an ecological and historical point of view.

Change is a natural state for both people and institutions, but as the surrounding world moves faster it becomes important to quickly be able to adjust to new conditions. Customers? force of negotiation increases as the global competition grows. One factor that becomes more vital to customers is the amount of quality standard a company can offer them. Several factors are essential if a work of change will be considered a successful investment, where the change can be perceived in both a positive and negative way for an employee.