Since energy simulations are used to verify that projected residential buildings will reach the current energy requirements it is important that the results are reliable.This report investigates the extent of uncertainty in energy simulations, estimates the causes of the uncertainty and its economic and environmental consequences.The method used in this report is based on three validation methods; empirical validation, analytical validation and comparative validation. The analysis was carried out for five multi-family dwellings in Uppsala with installed meters for energy measurements. One of these objects, Klockarlunden, was studied in more detail than the others.The results show that the deviations are between 10 and 29% for the studied objects, which means that the uncertainty is estimated to be at least 29%. All simulations underestimate the buildings need of energy. The simulation for Klockarlunden can predict the energy consumption to be within the range of 46-98 kWh/m2year with 90% confidence level based on the current uncertainty.

AbstractEmbla 5 is an office building which has done a large improvement. The clients of this building has made an order of WSP and the student Anders Kempe to calculate the use of energy for the building, and after that result proposing further measures which can decrease the energy use of Embla 5.The ground for this report is when calculation of the present energy use of the building is stated. To make that information of a number of parameters such as envelope, the heating system and ventilation has been located and set in to the simulation program IDA ICE which calculate the energy use.To improve the energy use further this project has been concentrated to change the system of ventilation. Today the ventilation system is of the kind CAV (constant air volume) and the air flow is dimensioned for after recommendations from BBR and Arbetsmiljöverket in the office spaces. Consider that Embla 5  is an office building where the people only staying for 8-10 hours/day so was the ide to see how much energy saving if the air flow is reduced the time people not being in the building.

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.

In Sweden the residential and commercial sector is a major user of energy, why the Swedish government has set a specific goal to half the energy usage in buildings by 2050, compared to 1995. The Swedish Energy Agency has therefore started the campaign ?Halvera Mera? to encourage demonstration projects that will show how to renovate in an energy efficient way, and in doing so prove that it is possible to reduce a building?s energy usage by half and still make a profit. These projects are intended to serve as good examples and give inspiration to residential owners to perform energy efficient renovations. To make sure that these projects serve their purpose, it is important to know what will inspire and what will impede a residential owner to invest in energy efficiency improvements.

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate different types of measures for making buildings more energy efficient and to estimate their profitability. The calculations were performed with the building simulation program VIP+ and the evaluation of the profitability with the life cycle cost method. Furthermore, it was examined how losses in the distribution of secondary systems of district heating can be avoided. Options to replace district heating with a local district heating system based on bio-energy have been investigated. The possibilities of achieving more efficient thermal energy consumption and production for the chosen estate were also examined.The object of the study has been a residential estate with 133 detached houses in Uppsala, built in 1974.

It is found that the properties of the record years of 1965-1975 is leaking a lot of energy andthese properties are facing a major energy efficiency. From the energy aspect, the facade isafflicted with poor thermal insulation which is a big problem. To address this problem addinginsulation is a good alternative to reduce overall energy consumption of a building. Thewindows on these buildings are also a problem from the energy point of view. Therefore,there are many reasons considered for energy upgrading.

Abstract   This degree project comprises 30 credits, i.e. 20 weeks of work. The work mainly deals with the energy balance for a multi-family house in Västerås and the requirements for energy conservation in the Swedish building code, BBR. Calculations of the energy balance are supplemented by a number of interviews. Energy conservation in general has become more important in recent years and the subject is in line with increased public awareness. This importance and attention is explained by environmental problems in general and global warming in particular, but also by rising energy prices.

The Swedish government has introduced a goal to reduce the energy intensity by 20% to the year 2020. To reach this goal actions need to be taken throughout the energy sector which includes residential and commercial buildings. This thesis considers the possibility to reduce the energy usage in a building located close to Uppsala. The analyzed building is a combined office, cafeteria and entrance and was completed about half a year before this project started. Therefore the measures presented for a more energy efficient building are presented as measures for future constructions.Simulations have been made in VIP-Energy, a dynamic energy calculation program.

This thesis aims to investigate the information habits of peoplewith a serious interest in music. What information needs do theyexperience, what information sources do they seek out to fulfillthese needs and what part does the public libraries play in theirinformation habits?To answer these questions a qualitative approach was used. Fourrespondents with a serious interest in music were interviewed.The theoretic framework was based on Robert A. Stebbins theoryon serious leisure and Karen E.

Design of a house requires knowledge of both technology and economics. Heating and ventilation shall be designed, costs are calculated and estimated and requirements must be fulfilled. Which heating system is to be elected is also a difficult choice, especially with rising energy prices as a factor.The choice of energy system is not always given, because it depends on several factors. Below is a comparison between district heating, geothermal heat pump and electric boiler from an economic standpoint. In a previous report appears district heating and geothermal heat pump as the best options.

This study examines the use of building modeling and energy simulations in the design process  of  a  building.  The  take-off  point  is  the  notion  of  energy  simulations  being needed early and throughout the building design process, and that the lack of energy simulations may be explained by the fact that they are time consuming and therefore often too expensive. A greater interoperability between software tools used by relevant disciplines,  such  as  the  architect  and  the  energy  specialist,  would  create  smoother workflows, which would reduce this cost and open up for more frequent and iterative energy  simulation  processes.  The  study  is  an  assessment  of  the  modeling  tool  Revit and  the  simulation  tool  Virtual  Environment  and  whether  they  can  create  smoother workflows, and make leeway for a more frequent use of energy simulations throughout the  design  process.  It  also  investigates  the  limitations  of  what  can  be  examined  by simulations in Virtual Environment. This will hopefully help clarify the future role of energy  simulations  in  design  processes.  The  method  is  a  trial  by  error  approach  of testing the two software tools by building and simulating a model. The results of these tests  show  that  the  workflow  is  not  optimal  (and  therefore  time  consuming)  for frequent  and  iterative simulations  throughout the  design  process,  but  it  also  reveals some  great  possibilities  of  what  can  be  performed  with  these  two  powerful  tools  at hand.  Further  development  with  regards  on  platform  independency  of  the  building information  model,  including  seamless  exporting  and  importing,  seems  necessary  to strengthen the future role of energy simulations..

The purpose of this Master thesis is to examine theinformation use and information seeking behaviour amongpersons who actively work with information. For this study,interviews have been conducted with a group of six personswho work with information in information intensiveorganizations. The aim is to answer the following questions:What kind of information is connected to the respondents?work tasks? What is the purpose of their search forinformation? Which information sources do they use and whatkind of information sources do they demand? The theoreticalframework consists mainly of Wilsons information needs andinformation seeking model.The results of this study show that none of the respondentshad any strategic model for their work with information. Theinformation that the respondents were searching for is ofdifferent content and depends on the organization in which therespondent operates.

This thesis investigated the possibilities to resume cultivation of an old manor house built of timber and what this would mean from an energy and moisture perspective. The building in this case study is named Sofiedals mansion and was built in 1858 in Valbo 11 kilometers west of Gävle.The structure of the house was documented and used as a starting-point for carrying out calculations focused on energy and moisture aspects. With the help of a number of computer programs and a conducted air tightness test, the buildings energy consumption were calculated and compared with the current building regulations.In addition, the building was analyzed considering energy retrofitting and what it meant for moisture problems. The energy retrofitting consisted of additional insulation, decreasing the buildings permeability through air sealing; window and door replacements. When a building is equipped with natural ventilation it is difficult to know its precise performance and how an energy retrofitting affects it.

A growing interest for the climate and the environment has led to an increased interest forenvironmentally friendly and Renewable energy sources, such as biogas. Planning new biogasplants requires a decision basis including facts about approximate amounts of biogas possibleto produce at the plant. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a model that calculates theapproximate biogas and digestate production from a planned or existing biogas plant.Developing the model required a literature review and studies of calculations concerningbiogas and digestate production performed by WSP Sweden AB. As a complement to themodel development, facts about substrates for biogas production were compiled through aliterature review. In addition the methane potential from selected materials was determined bybatch experiments.

This thesis has been carried out on behalf of IV Produkt AB and intends to set an average ratio of thermal energy losses in apartment buildings that were built during the 1960-1990. This shall be derived by analyzing the total district energy consumption that has been divided into three parts: heat energy losses (the actual heating requirements), the heating of domestic hot water and heating energy consumption for the controlled ventilation.Three different residential areas that were built during the years 1962-1966 and one that was built in 1993 has been analyzed. All residential areas are located in Växjö urban and contains between four and six apartment buildings.The analyzed objects have a mechanical exhaust ventilation systems and district heating as the heating method. No own laboratory work or experiments have been done in this thesis, the calculations have been done on the basis of parameters from VEAB, interviews with property managers, and literature studies. By calculations, we have got a result that is reported in Chapter 6.