The question of excessive global energy use needs to be solved. All energy production and usage have negative environmental impacts, which are best solved by reducing energy consumption and by using energy more efficiently. A large part of the Swedish energy use is concentrated to the building sector and to reduce the total energy consumption real efforts need to be made to make buildings more energy efficient.The aim of this study was to investigate how energy is used in one of Göteborg University?s buildings and to find measures that can be taken to improve its energy efficiency. The chosen building Zoologen, is used for research and education.The main method of the study is computer simulations of the present building and of possible energy reducing measures to be made in the future.

An energy study has been performed on two blocks in an area called Gävle Strand. The buildings are owned by a tenant-owner?s association called brf Carolina and were built by the company Skanska 2008. The builder as well as brf Carolina are pussled by the fact that electricity use is higher than expected while heating is less. Skanska is also very interested in finding out how much heat recovery from stale exhaust air through a geo-thermal heat pump is contributing to the general heating requirement and energy balance in four out of the ten buildings located on the properties.To find possible answers to the higher electricity use a literature survey on user behaviour was conducted.

Roughly 130 000 dwellings have been officially registered since Norway as of summer 2009 passed their bill ?Energimerkeforskriften? on energy performance certificates in buildings. The main objective is to decrease the total amount of national energy consumption by producing a methodology of calculation of the integrated energy performance of buildings as well as proposing cost effective measures to lower each building?s energy consumption. As the measures should not contravene nor be incompatible with the intended quality and character of the building, the ?Energimerkeforskriften? exempts buildings that due to their historical and cultural values are protected cultural heritage legislation. The current system offers a couple of professional certification alternatives, but when two online semi-automatic methods developed specifically for non-professionals are by far the most used, and since the methods of calculation primarily have focused on modern building materials and construction, the rest of the historical building stock stands literally unprotected by incorrect performance certificates and high-risk energy efficient measures. The objective of this thesis is to identify if the current Norwegian energy certificate system poses a threat to older buildings.

This study has been conducted on behalf of Vectura Consulting AB with the purpose to examine how different actors perceive the dimensions of sustainability and sustainable construction. The purpose is also to provide an understanding of existing barriers and opportunities for sustainable construction within the industry and exemplify with different directions for the actors in order to develop sustainability. The study has approach the research problem by using systems theory, developed by Checkland, to identify the relevant system. Other systems theories has been used as an theoretical framework in order to identify barriers and opportunities, which in this study are based on Hughes?s theory about reverse salients and salients.

If one looks at physical planning in Sweden today one can see that while talking about densification of existing development, reduced emissions and careful use of important land, urban sprawl is a fact with development of sheer residential districts in the urban edges and shopping malls in each and every municipality. As sustainable development is an essential goal for physical planning to strive towards, it is worth questioning if the direction of today?s planning will lead to the goal. A sustainable development can be seen as an obvious to goal aim at. In reality the aim means a hard and complex work.

This thesis aims to study the effects of the infrastructure project Västlänken in Gothenburg, a rail tunnel to be built through the city center. The study focuses on the community of Haga where one of the three exits will be constructed and also the surrounding urban environment, to see if the project can be sustainable. Sustainable urban development was selected as the theory, and the term "sustainable" is defined in this study using a number of criteria that two scientists developed. The criteria include economic, ecological and social perspectives on how a place or a geographical area can meet today's needs as well as possible needs in the future. The methods used were semi-structured interviews and content analysis of government documents. Interviews were conducted with various institutions in the city, and companies involved in the planning of the project in Gothenburg.

This study focuses on carpooling and how carpools can be better integrated into today's society. The purpose of the study is to investigate what affects the motorist?s decisions to become a member of a carpool. The study will highlight the barriers and drivers of membership in a carpool. It is important for the future to change the attitude of motorists and get more motorists to choose more sustainable modes, as is the concept of carpooling is a good solution.The study is based on a qualitative approach with six respondents from the Eskilstuna municipality.

The demand for environmental assessments on buildings and energy consumption is increasing as well as the energy performance requirements for buildings. At the same time it is increasingly common with self-producers of heat and electricity generation.The main purpose with this master thesis is to investigate how time resolution affects the environmental assessment of energy consumption in office buildings connected to district heating (DH). Environmental assessments were done with both attributional LCA and consequential LCA with system expansion.Fortum´s DH system in Stockholm was analyzed and district heating production was simulated in a Matlab-model. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the production were calculated. The heat demand of the office Gångaren 16 in Stockholm was simulated in IDA ICE.

On commission of the County administrative board in Värmland County a method was developed for analysis of the occurrence of artificial land use at lakes and watercourses. With artificial land use is meant land significantly affected by man. Two bases have been used to carry out the analysis. In one of the analysis the vegetation database and in the other GSD¹-Marktäckedata (land cover data) was used (this method has been used by County administrative board in Jönköping County).The analysis comprises all watercourses within Alsterälven river basin. The digital water bodies are created by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute on the basis of GSD-Översiktskartan (general map).

Agencies towards Sustainable Development ? A Study of Environmental Management Systems in Governmental Agencies 2005A vision of the Swedish government is to build an ecologically sustainable society. A tool in this effort is to implement environmental management systems (EMS). The aim of the thesis is to present in which phase of the implementation of EMS Swedish governmental agencies are. This will be done by compilation and evaluation of agencies? yearly environmental reports.The thesis is written in co-operation with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Swedish EPA).

The main purpose of this master thesis is to identify guidelines for a sustainable production that can provide useful information concerning the establishment of a biodiesel production. These guidelines concern the surrounding production environment, such as infrastructures and industries.The thesis is based on theoretical grounds surrounding industrial symbiosis, biodiesel production and how sustainable development should be designed. A study of an already established producer in a similar business area has been used to provide a picture of similar projects. The thesis has with the supervisor's consent focused on the production conditions that are affected by location.The production conditions selected are heating, raw material market, residual and sustainable profile. These are then evaluated through an Excel-based sensitivity analysis.

The purpose of this study is to facilitate sustainable building by the use of BIM. The goal is to determine which aspects of sustainable building, which can be analyzed mainly with BIM tools, but also other aids.The study is based on literature studies and interviews. The literature review examines aspects important for sustainable building by studying environmental certification systems applicable in Sweden, as well as the BIM tools available on the market to analyze these aspects. The literature also includes the concepts of BIM and sustainability in order to provide a clearer view of its meaning. The interviews have brought the study's overall understanding of the industry and guidance on the subject.The results are presented in a table, where the aspects relevant to sustainable building are listed.

An energy study has been performed on two blocks in an area called Gävle Strand. The buildings are owned by a tenant-owner?s association called brf Carolina and were built by the company Skanska 2008. The builder as well as brf Carolina are pussled by the fact that electricity use is higher than expected while heating is less. Skanska is also very interested in finding out how much heat recovery from stale exhaust air through a geo-thermal heat pump is contributing to the general heating requirement and energy balance in four out of the ten buildings located on the properties.To find possible answers to the higher electricity use a literature survey on user behaviour was conducted.

The release of green house gases and the environmental impacts humans have on the environment are huge and might cause irreversible changes to our earth. Meat is considered to have large impacts on the environment, especially beef meat and therefore there have lately been considerable discussions on the sustainable level of meat consumption and production. The main goal with this thesis is to study sustainable meat production and meat consumption in the county of Dalarna in Sweden. Indicators for sustainable meat production and meat consumption were developed and applied on three cases. Interviews were carried out with a municipality in the region that represents the consumer and three beef farmers that represents the producers.

Fairtrade is a certification of products that has grown from the criticism of conventional trade. By increasing the focus on the producers? economic and social conditions, poverty can be fought and the producers? voice in the marketplace can be strengthened. Fairtrade City is a certification for municipalities who wish to engage in ethical consumption. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the Fairtrade City concept and how this can be a tool for working towards sustainable development. To be more concise, we want to answer the following questions: Why does Örebro municipality work with the Fairtrade City certification and how can Fairtrade City be used as tool for working towards sustainable development? The thesis is based on qualitative interviews and e-mail interviews with members of the steering committee for Örebro Fairtrade City and on literature studies. We have in our thesis identified Örebro Fairtrade City as a result of 1) that Örebro municipality through Fairtrade City wants to change their surrounding environment by engaging in ethical trade 2) that the surrounding environment effects Örebro municipality through isomorphism regarding its way to deal with sustainable development 3) that the municipality through its work with ethical trade becomes legitimized by their surrounding environment.