Women?s strive to reach higher leading positions and build a career that's combinable with child birth and private life, is an on-going debate among academics in the fields of leadership, management and organization. This bachelor level thesis is written at the section of Management & Organization at School of Business, Economics and Law in Gothenburg, Sweden, spring semester 2015. In our research methodwe have used source triangulation with a qualitative approach to the subject of egg-freezing in favour forcareer with a focus on Swedish workplaces. The purpose has been to illuminate, map out and further problematize how the introduction of the employee benefit in November 2014 can be seen to relate to social sustainability.A lot of the management research that discusses social sustainability tends to focus on how women (and men!) try to balance family life and career and how to combine (or to not combine) them.

The examination has been performed at Bjerking AB, which is an architectural and engineering company. Bjerking AB has the ambition to be a member of Green Building.The Green Building program developed in year 2005 by The European Commission, the program is an environmental system with the aim to improving energy efficiency within the sectors of non-residential buildings. The minimum requirements to participate the program are following: in new-built buildings the calculated energy consumption must be 25 % lower than the requirements in the BBR (Building regulations) and in refurbishment the reduction must be 25 % lower than before the optimization.The aim of this study has been to examine and review the company Bjerking AB's energy efficiency work in the project of building the school/kindergarten S:ta Maria Alsike, where the goal is to get this building Green Building classed. A description of requirements to become a member of the Green Building has also accomplished in the thesis.The methods performed in this study are literature review, searches on the Internet, studies on the project database for facts/values, calculation of energy consumption and interviews of members of the Green Building. The following issues have been dealt with in the report;-          Did the building in the project manage the requirement to achieve an   energy consumption that is 25% lower than the requirements in BBR?-          What technical measures/system was selected in the building?-          What kind of cooperation was the project based on?-          What is required for consultancy companies and real estate owners to become members of the Green Building?The study of the project and calculation of estimated energy consumption in the building, give the result 47 kWh/m2, year.

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..

There's no doubt today that mankind has contributed to the changing climate byher use of fossil fuels. This must change in the nearby future. The Europeanleaders are expressing concern that renewable energy sources are not beingused to their full potential. The 2001/77/EC Directive on Electricity Productionfrom Renewable Energy Sources was accepted in 2001 to encourage thedevelopment of energy production from renewable sources, which isconsidered a step towards the fulfillment of the goal of the Union, that 12% ofthe gross energy consumption should come from renewable energy sources bythe year 2010.The objective of this thesis is to illuminate the common legislation of the EUregarding renewable energy with regard to goal fulfillment, judicial quality,conflicts with other goals of the EU and other faults. The objective is reachedby a hermeneutic study in which interpretation of written text is the mainmethod.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between financial risk and ESG scores in order to assist investors in making investment decisions. We investigate the hypothesis that there is a relationship between the ESG score of a company, and the financial risk in terms of volatility in the relevant company?s share price. The paper is grounded in sustainability reporting and financial risk. With the world facing significant changes and natural disasters, there is an urgent need for action to mitigate environmental impacts to avoid devastating consequences.

According to a decision of the European Commission, measures are to be taken to reduce the use of energy in the EU. The goal is to reduce it by 20 % compared to the current use. This shall be done to the year 2020 (European Commission, 2011). One industry that use large amounts of energy is the construction of buildings which account for almost a third of the energy use (Brogren, 2012). The major part of the energy that is used in the construction industry is not used when the buildings are built, but rather during the rest of their subsequent lifetime.

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.

Allmänheten har en stor efterfrågan av produkter inom området för hemautomation. Den senaste bluetoothstandarden Bluetooth Low Energy skapar nya möjligheter för intressanta produkter som underlättar vardagen. Lösningar som IR och Wi-Fi ger inte de förutsättningar som krävs för att på ett energisnålt och praktiskt sätt erbjuda sådana produkter, något som Bluetooth Low Energy gör. I denna rapport diskuteras standarden i syfte att redogöra för hur den kan användas för att automatisera ett hem.För detta examensarbete implementerades en strömbrytarprototyp och en iOS-applikation, vilka användes för att unders öka och påvisa ett koncept för hur tekniken kan tillämpas för hemautomation. Resultaten visar att teknikens räckvidd är dess främsta begränsning.

In today?s fast growing and closely connected society, a reliable and energy efficient transportation system is more than ever desirable. Nowadays the significant part of the transportation sector?s energy demand is supplied by fossil fuels.Improving energy efficiency in combustion engines will result in reduction of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. A modern internal combustion engine has an efficiency of 30-45 %, where the most energy loss occurs as result of heat losses in the exhaust and cooling systems.

As demand for renewable energy is increasing rapidly, the market for biomass pellets is expected to continue to grow in the near future. Most of the new raw materials that are discussed for pellet production have one thing in common; the production costs will increase compared to using traditional raw materials such as sawdust and planer shavings. The aim of this thesis is to investigate to what degree increased use of new raw materials for pellet production will affect the general pellet prices in Sweden and to survey what plans Swedish pellet producers have concerning new raw materials. To investigate the raw material situation of the Swedish pellet producers an industry survey was performed. Literature studies were also made on previous research in the subject field. Calculations of the production costs for pellets were done for the raw materials sawdust, wet sawmill chips and energy wood respectively. New raw materials are already used by the large-scale pellet producers in Sweden.

Abstract In my work, I have tried to define and clarify the conception of sustainability seen from my perspective as a landscape architect. With a basis in literature studies, I have analysed and commented on different applications, contents and meanings of sustainability and endurance. This compilation is based on how a number of writers, researchers and authorities consider the importance of integrating ecological, social and economic aspects of sustainability in city planning. My perspective has mainly been founded on the anthologies and compilations from the 80´s and 90´s where Per G. Berg and Björn Malbert acted as editors.

Purpose: To examine how a tour operator works to implement sustainability in the development of the business, as well as what significance it has to consumers in selecting a tour operator. Furthermore, the purpose is to provide recommendations on how tour operators should work to communicate their commitments.Methodology: The research strategy applied is a case study which follows an abductive approach. Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to complement each other. A semi-structured interview with a tour operator and a consumer survey constitute the empirical foundation.Conclusion: The conclusion of the study is that consumers show a positive attitude towards CSR, but do not see it as a determinant when choosing a tour operator. Thus, CSR does not constitute a competitive advantage against competitors.

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.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the possible effects of an unstable ventilation system and its influence on energy use and thermal comfort. The report also explores how qualified personal working with HVAC view and handles system control.In order to meet the requirements in energy efficiency and a comfortable indoor climate control regulation is a prerequisite. With optimized increased complexity of the climate systems, it becomes more challenging to control the system and the risk of unstable control increases. No previous studies about what affect an unstable system can have on energy use and thermal comfort have been found.The report is based on several tests were the controlling variable has been increased until the system becomes unstable. Two different types of unstable systems have been investigated.

The aim of this thesis is to develop a new business model for district heating and cooling firms which can contribute to a stabilization of the Swedish national energy system. The business model is developed for a district heating and cooling firm and is exemplified with Fortum Heat. The theoretical investigation around the topic creates a rigid base for following qualitative empirical studies. Osterwalder?s canvas for business model generation is used together with a Casual Loop Diagram to identify a number of business opportunities which stabilizes the national energy system.