As birch is one of the most common trees in Sweden, and probably one of the easiest for someone who lives here to identify, it is interesting to note that most people do not know how variable the genus is and how widely it is distributed across the northern hemisphere. One can find birch growing at both high and low elevations, demanding different soil conditions and preferring varying amounts of sunlight. Many people may also be surprised to hear that the colour of the bark can vary from bight white to almost black, and different shades of pink, orange and red can also be displayed. This, together with the astonishing beauty of the genus, the important role as a pioneer in many ecological systems and the difficulty in sorting out the taxonomy of the genus, constitutes the background of this thesis. The thesis is written at the Department of Landscape Development in Alnarp, Sweden with Kenneth Lorentzon, researcher at the Swedish University of Agriculture as a supervisor. The aim of this thesis is to highlight which species and cultivars within the genus Betula could be appropriate for horticultural use in Sweden.

European Union has made a new decision that all new built houses by 2020 shallbe near-zero energy houses. Boverket?s definition of near-zero energy housesintends buildings with good energy performance in which a proportion of theamount of energy that must be added to the building is made of renewable energy.Passive House is a set of requirements from FEBY designed to build energyefficient buildings. This is achieved by reducing loss of heat through the buildingenvelope and to take advantage of the passive heat from solar radiation,installation and heat sources like people living in the house.This project has been made with help of Anebyhus and one of their model houseshave been examined from the report?s issues, including Anebyhus?s energyperformance, requirements for the manufacturing and assembly, how theenvelope must be improved to fulfill the requirements for the Passive House andwhat energy calculation programs are available on the market.The report aims to provide solutions for energy efficient houses that are adaptedfor production of house building.Two visits to Anebyhus has been done to study their manufacture and assemblyof building elements.

The understanding of the role of nature for rehabilitation of both physical and psychological afflictions has greatly increased in the last few years. There?s a lot of science that describes the healing effects of nature. The rehabilitation garden in Alnarp has contributed with very positive results from the treatments of patients with burnout syndrome. In the first stages of rehabilitation, the need for calm is very important and a demand-less and stress-free environment is of essence.

This study investigates and describes the phenomenon of ?technical tourism?, in the case ofwind power plants in Sweden. The main purpose of the study is a greater understanding ofa field which to date has remained largely uncharted.Technical tourism is a type of visits to a production site, where the technical aspect ofthe production is the main focal point for the visitor. The definition of technical tourism isbased on concepts within ?Industrial tourism?.

After I heard that two deadly accidents in farming 2003 were created by work with cattle, I got the idea of writing this degree project. So far there are not too many reports written about safety for the worker nor the animal. Therefore it will fit in with a report about safe handling of free stalled cattle. The Swedish Board of Agriculture would also like to do an information material about outside stalled cattle with this degree project as a background. The collecting of material was made by visiting farmers. The goal was to visit 15 ? 20 herds and when this is being written 19 herds have been visited.

This work consists of a survey and risk classification of eleven metal industries including foundries, finishers and engineering industries in two industrial areas in Mora. The study follows a method called MIFO (Method of Surveying Contaminated Sites) composed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. In the method assessments of the degree of hazard posed by the pollutants, the level of pollution, the conditions of dispersal, sensitivity and the degree to which the area is worthy to protect are made for each contaminated site (object). The assessment classify the objects into four risk classes in which risk class 1 denotes a very large risk, 2 large risk, 3 moderate risk and risk class 4 little risk. The work of surveying using MIFO is divided into two phases.

Skanska 21 is a student program for university students. The program runs for a year and a half parallel to university studies. It is aimed at those studying a few specific master engineering programs at Lund University, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Chalmers University of Technology or Luleå University of Technology. The program consists of a number of program meetings such as company presentations, a boarding school week, rhetoric training and project visits. The aim of the project is to evaluate the Skanska 21 student program.

In this report a study is carried out with the aim to identify added values of EPC projects implemented in schools in order to increase the interest of EPC projects on the market. The report examines how the planned maintenance, supervision, maintenance and corrective maintenance is affected, how insurance premiums and terms are affected, the indoor environment and how the tasks of the operating staff is changing. A literature study of energy savings, energy use in schools, maintenance and insurance as well as how energy efficiency improvements are related to the Swedish environmental objectives has been made. Visits were carried out in Ludvika, interviews were also carried out with operation technicians and local strategists in Ludvika as well as employees of insurance companies.Schools often have neglected maintenance and problems with ventilation and indoor environment. Schools also have a large energy saving potential due to their low utilization, mainly because they are empty parts of the year.

Boulognerskogen is a park in the central of Skövde that have had a health resort, paths for strolling, outdoor-bath, outdoor-sport areas and events. During the 1970:th there was a lack of interest for the park and very few visited it. By a motion from a resident in Skövde wich proposes that a city playground will be build in Boulognerskogen gave me an opportunity to investigate how the potential of the park can be used to create a funny and nice place to visit for children in company with adults. By a program that contains the main goals and design program for a city playground in Boulognerskogen, I wanted to present a proposal that could meet childrens needs to play and to use the conditions of the place to create places to play in, and where children in company with adults could be together. To reach this, I wanted to try different methods that could lead to a proposal that was well supported by children and adults, and wich was possible to use by the local authority in their further actions. The methods that I used was therefor an important part of the work. I have choosen to define the concept "city playground" as a greater playground situated in the center of the town that are suitable for outings and as a meetingplace, with a varation in playground attractions and promote children and adults to be together, aiming at younger children in the ages of 1-10 years in company with adults, but should also give space to activities of other groups.

Assisted living is a relatively new form of housing that received a government definition in 2007 in conjunction with a government appointed investigation of future alternative accommodation for senior citizens. The type of accommodation is intended for seniors who have the need for increased security, which may be a consequence of that they feel anxious or lonely. It concerns ordinary homes with qualities that suit needs of seniors. There is no allowance from the local municipality required in order for seniors to apply for these homes and so assisted living should not be confused with nursing homes/ sheltered housing. The purpose of this study is to identify success factors for a winning concept for assisted living in the Gothenburg region, on behalf of Skanska Project development.

The number of weaned piglets per sow and year is a good measurement of sow productivity since it is affected by the number of piglets born alive, the pre weaning mortality (i.e. mortality of live born piglets between birth and weaning) and the number of litters per sow and year. This measure is also closely connected to the number of piglets produced per year, which partly determines the profitability of the piglet producer. During this study, eleven successful piglet-producing herds were visited. Eight of the producers were Swedish and three of the producers were Danish.

Since long, Sweden has had exceptionally low calf mortality compared to most other countries. The tradition has been to keep calves in individual pens. With increasing number of cows per herd there is now a larger interest in more efficient and economical group systems for housing calves. However it has been noticed that bigger herds have more health problems and higher calf mortality than smaller herds. The early signs of disease are harder to detect when the animals are not fed manually.

The competitiveness and profitability of swedish farm enterprises is frequently discussed in agricultural media. Increased exposure to the surrounding world with greater competitive pressure and considerable price fluctuations in the agricultural markets demand new ways of acting to secure the agricultural sector?s long-term survival and profitability. Structural change and/or diversification leads to increased numbers of stake-holders around the farm enterprise and thereby also the expectations of the farmers ability to lead and coordinate resources. Lean is the name of a management model developed by Toyota, influenced by the lack of resources in Japan during the post WWII period.

In Sweden today many municipalities and sport clubs chooses to build artificial turfs becauseof the increased period of using the turfs during the year and less maintenance requirementsthan for natural grass fields. What could be problematic with artificial turfs is the rubbergranules used as infill material in the turf matt. The rubber granules are often made fromrecycled tires, which may contain for the human health and the environment, harmful substances.This was the reason why the Swedish Chemicals Agency commissioned a statusreport in 2006 which, among other things, concluded that the environmental and health risksassociated with granules made from recycled tiers in artificial turf fields were small, but thatthere could be a local environmental hazard. The purpose and objective of the risk assessmentwas to identify how artificial turf plans granules can affect recipients in the area closeto the pitches and provide input to reduce the spread of metals and substances harmful forboth human health and the surrounding environment. The work was divided into three parts:(1) the construction of artificial turf pitches and their material content, the spread of granulatesoutside the fields and disposal of artificial turf pitches.

In this report a study is carried out with the aim to identify added values of EPC projects implemented in schools in order to increase the interest of EPC projects on the market. The report examines how the planned maintenance, supervision, maintenance and corrective maintenance is affected, how insurance premiums and terms are affected, the indoor environment and how the tasks of the operating staff is changing. A literature study of energy savings, energy use in schools, maintenance and insurance as well as how energy efficiency improvements are related to the Swedish environmental objectives has been made. Visits were carried out in Ludvika, interviews were also carried out with operation technicians and local strategists in Ludvika as well as employees of insurance companies.Schools often have neglected maintenance and problems with ventilation and indoor environment. Schools also have a large energy saving potential due to their low utilization, mainly because they are empty parts of the year.