Sustainable urban development is a concept that has become increasingly important as the urbanization continues and more and more challenges are focused to the cities.  The Swedish government and authorities regulates and sets goals for how a sustainable urban development is to be achieved. These laws and goals are vaguely defined, which leads to disputes between the actors about how the term should be interpreted. By examining Västermalms Strand, an urban development project in Stockholm, this study strives to describe how involved actors interpret the concept of sustainable urban development and what the consequences of this are for urban development in Stockholm from an ecological, social and economic perspective. A case study has been carried out where a document study and interviews have been conducted. The interviews were conducted with four key actors from the private and public sector.

This study has been carried out in the spring of 2014 on behalf of PQR Consult AB in Stockholm. The aim of the study has been to analyse the energy usage of the building Skarpövägen 1 in order to explore the possibilites of saving energy by using appropriate equipment. These possible solutions have been simulated by using the programe IDA Indoor Climate and Energy, combined with a life cycle cost analysis. The laundry building, Skarövägen 23, has also been analysed due to its high amount of energy usage. The result of the energy analysis showed that the energy usage was much higher than the energy declaration.

The subject field studied in this essay is environmental scanning. The aim of this study is to analyse how three public organizations within the subject field sustainable development work with their environmental scanning. Most organizations have to relate to their surroundings such as clients and competitors. Environmental scanning is another very important field that organizations have to relate to in their work. This essay has three questions in focus which are the following;How is the work with environmental scanning in the three organizations arranged?How does the work with environmental scanning differ in the three organizations?How important is environmental scanning for the subject field sustainable development?The study was carried out through four conducted interviews with key persons within the three organizations.

Who runs the development? A comparative study of the construction of residential buildings in Nacka and Södertälje.The aim of this study is to identify actors involved in the initiation and implementation of residential house construction in two Swedish municipalities. This means who is taking initiative for new residential buildings, who affects the planning process, who finances these new buildings and who builds them. By exploring empiric material from the municipalities of Nacka and Södertälje, the above questions will be answered and by referring to pluralism, growth machine theory and regime theory a link to general theories of political science is made. The results found show that the analysed municipalities have quite different possibilities for acting and that these backgrounds are also important for which actors will take initiative for new residential buildings and which actors will be allowed to state their opinion during the planning process.

Sustainable design - a study on sustainable design and its incentives and barriersThe purpose of this study was to investigate the incentives and barriers existing within companies focusing on eco-design. The aim was also to examine the consumers? thoughts on eco-design and sustainable products. A further aim was to try to concretize important lessons for future work on sustainable production and consumption. Two methods were used for completing this study; a literature study and a practical study consisting of interviews with companies focusing on eco-design and a survey among students.

The aim of this thesis is to study discursive change in the Swedish environmental political discourse between 1987-2005. The text of three Swedish budget propositions are analysed for this purpose.The results from the analysis are related to a few relevant theoretical perspectives that hold partly different views on what constitutes ?sustainable development? and ?ecological modernization?. Through these theories the thesis continues the discussion around the two central but somewhat blurry terms sustainable development and ecological modernization. The aim of this discussion is to conclude whether the discursive change in Swedish environmental politics can be said to go more in the direction of sustainable development or ecological modernization, or if elements of both perspectives can be found.The analysis shows that the Swedish environmental discourse has come to include more and more political fields such as general welfare politics, during the period.

The aim for the project was to develop a risk analyse tool for measuring the fire safety level in Cultural Heritage buildings of Visby, Gotland. In 1995 Visby were taken into the Unesco:s World Heritage List with the explanation ?Visby is an outstanding example of a Northern European walled Hanseatic town which has in a unique way preserved its townscape and its extremely valuable buildings? One of the demands for the tool was that it should be easy to use and result into a ranking level in examined buildings. The user of the tool is recommended to be personnel in the fire department. To develop the tool a Multi Attribute Decision Making (MADM) method was used.

Mobila verksamhetslokaler erbjuder flexibel lokalförsörjning som alternativ till permanent utbyggnad, eller under tiden som befintliga lokaler renoveras eller byggs om. Denna flexibla möjlighet används dock i en ganska liten omfattning på marknaden. För att öka lokalernas användning finns det därför ett behov av en marknadsundersökning som identifierar de faktorer som kunden värderar.Utredningen syftar till att få fram vad kunden värderar då han eller hon hyr och/eller använder en temporär lokal, och möjligen identifiera nya element som inte finns i marknadens utbud.För att få fram värderingsfaktorer har en litteraturundersökning implementerats och samtidigt har 13 personliga intervjuer genomförts. Intervjuer skedde med personer som använder dessa lokaler och parallellt de som tecknat kontrakt för att hyra dessa lokaler. Studieobjekt är kontor, skola och förskola..

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.

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.

The housing sector of today represents for almost 40% of the energy consumption, an energy consumption of which the major part consists of non-renewable energy sources. This is not sustainable and utilization of new energy-efficient technologies in buildings can be a step in the right direction, towards a sustainable energy society.This report has been made on behalf of and in cooperation with Älvstranden Utveckling AB in Gothenburg to examine how future energy-efficient technologies can affect the energy demand in energy-efficient multi-dwelling buildings.The report is based on Älvstrandens passive house, Hamnhuset, a house whose energy consumption is far below the BBR's requirements. The report looks at the opportunities for improvement within windows, insulation, solar energy technologies, as well as white goods. Computer simulations are then made to apply the selected technologies into a reference building. Technologies are selected from an energy efficient perspective and no account has been taken of other aspects such as the economy.

Eskilstuna Folkhögskola is located in Munktellstaden in Eskilstuna. The school has two separate buildings with entrances that are difficult to find. By having two separate buildings, and to be in an area where there are rules and guidelines for the area's environment, makes it difficult to guide visitors to the school premises.The purpose of my research was to examine how to guide visitors to the school, and how to increase understanding that the school's various buildings are connected.Through practices such as site analysis, interviews, I found that the guidelines are not adapted to the current situation that is established in the district.Through theory and empirical material I have produced a design proposal to facilitate Wayfinding to Eskilstuna Folkhögskola. This is presented as a landmark and a clarification of the schools entrances and signage..

This paper contains an analysis that sets out to investigate how sustainable development is portrayed in textbooks used in gymnasium level civics education. The study covers three textbooks, all in current use. The paper sets out to explore the relationship between the books chapters on economics and those about environmental issues. The sum of these two parts is in the context supposed to make up the books big picture of green sustainable development, i.e. the ecological aspect of sustainable development. An analytical model will be used to categorise and compare the three textbooks.The method chosen for this is analysis of ideas by use of ideal types.

Population growth leads to an increased need for new buildings, both residential and commercial. The regulations of structural design also changes with time. From a sustainable community perspective it may be profitable if existing buildings, that no longer performs their original function, are reconditioned. Knowledge and understanding of the surroundings of the residence must be available. Regulations regarding accessibility to all has increased.

The Swedish building stock accounts for nearly 40 percent of the total energyconsumption in the country. Properties built today are likely to last for 100 years orlonger. This places high demands on long-term and smart energy solutions that willkeep the future Swedish building stock energy consumption at low levels. This thesishas focused on examining how the energy performance of buildings is affected bydifferent choices of window types in different cardinal directions. The objective wasto obtain a basis for recommendations on how window properties can be optimizedfor different types of buildings and orientations.