Certification systems, that assess companies? work with social and environmental issues, have emerged in an increasing number of industries. Today, there are environmental certifications for the food industry, the forestry, the fisheries sector and several more. In apparel industry, certification for sustainable working conditions has been of major impact. The property sector is no exception from other industries.

During the last decades the Swedish local party systems have gone through some considerable changes. The number of parties present in local party systems have increased and in some cases even doubled. This makes coalition building between parties complex and parties will be forced to rethink their coalition strategies and adjust to the new circumstances. Theoretically, coalition building has often been considered and applied to national data and there have been just a few attempts to develop and theoretically explain coalitions on a local level. Thus the aim of this paper is to use different theoretical approaches to local data to test the significance of traditional coalition theories.

Throughout the history, the theories which have shaped our cities have varied from time to time. We have gone from a city development characterized by spontaneousness, where commerce and people side by side shared the space, into a function-based planning where people and functions are being increasingly separated. Regardless the forms of planning the city design causes implications for those who live there when the physical environment controls were we live, work and meet. In today's society where `sustainability ' has become a watchword the current community planning needs to be questioned so we, in the best possible way, can meet future changes. Searching for new planning strategies is part of this and in this essay the term `mixed-use´ will be investigated and analyzed in terms of its social aspects.

The aim of this project is to design and craft sustainable fabrics according to slow fashion principles. Furthermore the intention is to develop these fabrics, to make them exciting and congenial for use as trouser fabric for skateboarders..

Public concern and the need of responsible way of doing business have brought forward the issue of sustainability at the forefront of discussion in the last decade. Even though, food retailers are playing an important role in the economy, they are exposed for criticism by media and consumers for any socially and environmentally irresponsible business practices because, the potential environmental and social impacts from their operations are significant. These impacts need to be recognized and properly addressed. The main objective of this study was to assess the sustainable business management of a cooperative food retail business in Sweden, known as Konsum Värmland (KV). The necessary data and information on history and status of KV, and its practical activities concerning the implementation of sustainable development programs as well as the motivation and challenges encountered by KV during the implementation were gathered via reviewing different documents, research papers and press releases; interviewing decision makers and other personnel in KV and other researchers from Swedish University of Agricultural University who have investigated KV.

AbstractBuilding Information Model/Modeling/Management (BIM) is a tool that allows for efficient working methods. BIM saves time and money while providing the potential for visualization. This method of working is based on a 3D-model, and then a fourth and fifth dimension are connected. 5D modeling means that a spreadsheet creates cost estimates based on the 3D model. This provides opportunities to carry out calculations in the early stages of the projects. Calculations are currently performed manually and do not contribute to the development that the construction industry requires.

AbstractThe real estate sector is today responsible for 40 per cent of the total amount of energy consumption within the members of the EU. All over the world there are collaborations within research and projects to find ways of reducing the amount of energy consumed by the real estate sector. In Sweden, a directive from the European Union has posed demands on authorities as well as on the private sector to reduce the amount of energy consumed by new building constructions. Together with the directive from the EU there are also new requirements and demands from Boverket for the real estate sector.  These requirements mostly concern the energy consumption of kilowatt-hour per square metre and that the consumed energy also should be renewable.  The aim of this study is to explain what kind of value municipalities experience in using certifications and environmental investments for new and existing buildings. Within the chapter theory, essential areas are described such as; environmental certification systems, economical viability, proceeds connected to building green, difficulties with building green, the performance of green buildings when affected by the behaviour of tenants and customer value.  The following chapter describes the methodology with which we have conducted this study.

This paper examines the opportunities and challenges of integrating conservation practice and the circular economy into practical planning processes. In recent years, the discussion of circular economy and its relevance in the sustainability debate has intensified. According to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the transition to a circular economy is crucial to achieving the national and international environmental and climate goals as well as the global goals in Agenda 2030. Parallel to this, there is a long established heritage discourse that emphasizes the importance of preserving buildings and cultural environments as part of our cultural heritage. These two discourses have common goals, but they differ in how they present their respective arguments.

All new households were to be constructed with "near zero energy house standards" (NZE-house) by the year of 2020. The ambition to construct energy-efficient buildings had to increase rapidly in the spring of 2013.The purpose of this report was to increase the interest for building contractors to construct apartment buildings with passive house standards. By locating and evaluating experiences from an existing passive house a case study including interviews, field visits and document analysis was made. Research of literature regarding other passive houses in Sweden also helped to answer the following questions:- What positive and negative experiences have the study of the passive house meant to the involved stakeholders and residents?- What improvements can be made based on identified experiences?- How can an apartment building be designed as a passive house based on possible improvements?By collecting good and bad experiences, as well as improvements and potential design proposals, a diagram was created designed as a tool for developers when constructing apartment buildings with passive house standards.

1.1 billion people are today living without sustainable access to improved water. The debate over the water sector has been dominated by the discussion over whether public or private actors are the most competent to manage it. In this paper the arguments pro and contra the two positions are presented to try to overview the debate and to try to find new ways to approach the question of the people living without clean water. By examining possible alternatives towards the discussion of public and private actors, it might result in some new approaches on how to move closer towards a solution. One alternative is local, small- scale projects which focus on the situation of the targetgroup in most need.

The importance of chemical use is enormous for areas such as agriculture, industry and medicine and hence a prerequisite for our modern society. In order to protect humans and the environment from the negative effects of chemical use, chemical regulations have been used at a relatively early stage in our history. The purpose of REACH, the new chemical regulation of the European Union, is to generate new knowledge of chemicals within the European market and to increase the responsibilities of the enterprises when it comes to risk management. Whether the enterprises will implement the regulations or not will be of vital importance for the realization of the law?s intentions.The purpose of this study was to identify possibilities and problems that can occur when a downstream-user SME is about to implement REACH.

In this thesis proposals for different designs of a borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) have been developed for the building DN-huset in Stockholm, Sweden. To build a BTES results in savings in energy costs by approximately 44 %, i.e. 2 million Swedish crowns annually. Furthermore, a BTES would reduce the annual environmental impact with roughly 75-157 tonnes of CO2 equivalents per year, depending on how the electricity consumption?s environmental impact is estimated.

This thesis treats Building Information Modeling, BIM, in the production stage. Brieflydescribed BIM is virtual model of a building object where all information about theobject is gathered. All the involved operators in the construction project have access tothe model and can gather or share information about the project. There are several waysto apply BIM in the production stage. This thesis primarily deals with visualization of theobject, preparation and planning, the ability to take amounts from the model andcoordination and clash control.The basic issue was highlighted by Byggdialog AB.

Uppsats för avläggande av filosofie kandidatexamen iKulturvård, Ledarskap i slöjd och kulturhantverk15 hpInstitutionen för kulturvårdGöteborgs universitet2014:40.

The interest in building low energy houses has increased along with the rising engagement inthe climate questions. With the advancing energy prices it is highly suitably for those whobuild and administer their buildings in long-term to build energy-saving houses. 40 % ofSweden?s total energy consumption constitutes of the energy in residences, therefore it iscrucial to take advantage of all the free energy as we possibly can. With crucial questions likequality of living and profit low energy building is a subject that concerns us all.Three proposals for apartment blocks are presented in this work on a real estate in Stockholm.Each proposal is developed through unique processes of design with the purpose to displaypossibilities to deal with the energy requirements of today and tomorrow through energybased architecture.The first proposal is an apartment block based on a traditional design process, the demands ofthe property owner and it?s affected by opinions from architects.