This thesis describes the new construction of a small house and it includes studies of three heating systems: geothermal heating, district heating and pellet. The purpose of this thesis is to project a small house which can manage Building Regulations, BBR conditions and then examine three possible heating systems for the small house. This thesis is a literature study which gives an understanding of the heating systems technical structure, properties and costs. An empirical study completes the literature study by giving a deeper understanding of district heating costs and pellet costs. The empirical study contains two interviews, one of which was conducted in a district heating corporation and the other interview was conducted in a pellet corporation.

The Smart Grid technology has during the last decade been established as a way to create a greater flexibility on the electricity grid that will be needed as the development moves towards an increased share of renewable primary energy sources in the electricity production. One part of the Smart Grid technology is the ability to shift loads in time, to adapt to either price or emissions, known as Demand Response. This project, which was conducted at KTH in collaboration with the consulting corporation Capgemini, examines the economic, environmental and social aspects of the Demand Response technology. In the project, three household products are used in a model that derives the potential savings in costs and emissions of CO2e. The results show that the actual savings measured in SEK are small, but that the savings measured in percent can be as high as 20 percent. Reduction of CO2e emissions is slightly lower.

The aim of this study was to map out the quality of the treatment in the forensic outpatient care unity in Malmoe from a patient point of view. This target group, seriously mentally disordered law-offenders, has been neglected in the scientific research. This investigation will hopefully contribute to a positive change in this subject. To achieve a good understanding of this field a methodological triangulation was conducted which included an observational study, a pilotstudy and semistructured interviews. 14 patients and 10 staff members were interviewed.

Background and problem: In Croatia, the hotel industry has undergone difficult and unstable conditions since the 90s. Since 2001, however the results in the sector has improved due to increased investment in the renovation of facilities and construction of new hotels.Purpose: The study aims to examine hotel operations on the Makarska Riviera on the basis of tourist business perspective, and examine its quality, service and accessibility.Method: In this study we used a qualitative approach. The survey was conducted through structured interviews and a non-participant observation.Result and conclusions: Satisfied and fulfilled employees, in turn that the hotels will have satisfied customers and may have profitable operations. Many hotels aim at constantly working to improve profitability and customer satisfaction. When measuring customer satisfaction, many hotel owners felt that the service is good and that they have received a good response from their guests.

The aim of this study is to, from a child?s family relations, describe the usage of terms relating to factors of risk and safety in science and in investigations concerning children in need of protection. It is also of importance in what way the terms are used when the Social Services suggest that measures should be taken, and in which way the children have been heard in the investigations.The issues raised in this study are: (a) How is the current life situation and life quality of the children discussed? (b) The value of factors concerning risks and protection. (c) How is the children?s own descriptions taken in to consideration? (d) Is gender issues considered? (e) How is Lagerberg?s model (Lagerberg, 1998) useful in investigations?The method of analysis is mainly qualitative however it is combined with analysis of literature relevant to the study.

The business world has been through an extreme transformation over the past decades, which have forced companies to look at themselves from a new point of view. Consumers have a complete new set of ways to gather information and are more motivated than ever to make sustainable consumption choices. This change of attitudes among consumers has made companies focus on other things than price versus quality. A whole new concept has been brought up to questioning: environmentalism. Consumers demand more organically produced products.

AbstractTitle:Behovet av kundorientering i fastighetsföretag, finns det?Author:Joel Nilsson ErlemanTutor:Agneta SundströmPurpose:Thru a quality point of view, examine and analyze how Akelius AB customer orientatesthem self in an area such as Brandbergen, were the demand is larger then the supply.Method:Through a qualitative research approach with an inductive and a hermeneutic orientation thestudy approaches Akelius AB and the company?s costumer orientation thru several interviews and asurvey. The gathered data?s purpose is to answer research questions to investigate how costumerorientations function and to how to implement it in real estate companies.Theory:The theory explains the meaning of customer orientation and its use in real estate companies.The theoretical discussion is based on a five-gap model, which is used to analyze the service quality inAkelius AB and to analyze the relation to their costumers.Empire:The findings show how Akelius experience costumer orientation in Brandbergen and thecostumer?s perception of Akelius AB service quality.Analysis:Compares the theory and the empirical data to see the service quality thru using the GapModel.Conclusion:Akelius AB satisfy their customer?s need in what could be expected of them. In thesituation with increased demand and lower supply Akelius AB have the possibility to offer theircostumers a much lower quality than the costumers usually wants and expect.

This Master´s thesis aims to aquire knowledge about volunteers attitude toward work. It emphasis is on the differences between volunteers and non volunteers. There are four research questions used in order to fulfill the aim in a scientific manner. The essay aims to get in depth knowledge regarding whether or not the respondents feel that they have gained advantages in work life due to the fact that they are involved in volunteer work. One of the pivotal questions is if there is a possibility to see a pattern that binds together the reasons for volunteer work and the attitude toward work.

Storage of biomass is often associated with problems such as heat development, dry matter losses and reduction of fuel quality. The rise in temperature can potentially cause a risk of self-ignition in the fuel storage. Moreover, emissions from storage piles can cause health problems in the surrounding. The dry matter losses and reduction of fuel quality can have economical effects. The aim of this thesis project is to develop guidelines on how to store large amount of biomass at Vattenfalls heat and power plants in an optimal way.

Introduction: The health for individuals with intellectual disabilities is asubject that is prioritized by the Swedish Institute for Public Health. Socialsupport has been proven to be important for health and quality of life. Despitethis fact there is no research available regarding the influence social support hason health and quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities in Sweden.Aim: To describe social support and the consequence of social support forhealth and quality of life for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Method:A litterature review of research in a defined area with a descriptive design.Systematic searches for articles were done in several databases and ultimately16 articles were chosen. Themes and categories were created with respect to theaim of this study during the analysis of the articles.

Commercial strategies are becoming more common in an increasing number of sports - Swedish golf is no exception. Previous research shows that new opportunities for non-profit organizations, to assign parts of their operations to a limited company, do not have any economic importance. The supplementary question arises why more golf clubs nonetheless choose to corporatize its activities? Is the purpose of commercial strategies generally linked to business- or sport-related success? This paper, containing two studies, aims to create an understanding of the underlying drivers of commercialization, and furthermore to quantitatively demonstrate how commercialization is reflected within Swedish golf in terms of strategy and marketing. Swedish golf clubs were categorized as more or less commercial, and examined based on business-related variables such as communications, brand awareness and price discrimination, as well as sports-related variables as success factors and success indicators.

Today evidence exist that environmental chemicals deteriorate male sperm quality and that testicular cancer is increasing. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical with estrogenic effects used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic and are found in, for instance, plastic boxes, feeding bottles and food containers. Much of the research on how men's reproductive ability is influenced are performed on rats. This review article complies how male rat reproduction is affected by BPA as a model for humans. Studies have investigated how sperm are affected, hormonal changes during reproduction and how reactive oxygen species (ROS) affects sperm.

In Sweden, there an increasing need for transport and this leads directly to fuel demand of the transport sector is expected to increase. Both politicians and industry believes that renewable fuels are a realistic and significant method to reduce the transport sector's environmental impact. This study aims to document the Swedish haulage contractor?s attitude to biodiesel. Also to document the strengths and weaknesses of biodiesel, based on opinions from the ultimate consumers.

The purpose of this project is to examine students' pespectives on quality in teaching. The characteristics that are described to denote a 'good' and 'less good' teachers are linked to ideas about types of corresponding leadership styles in the classroom. The report is based on surveys of students in Upplands-Bro high school outside Stockholm. In order to get better insight and further knowledge of the subject, the student accounts have been related to current discussions in the literature about good leadership and teaching quality.Following the methodology of grounded theory a pilot study was constructed to design the research instruments. In the pilot study I collected students' perceptions on quality-related categories in teaching and leadership which then formed a bases for a survey which was distributed to a larger student sample. The survey includes questions that relate to the middle order, which is based on three criteria that make up the characteristics of a 'good'/ 'less good' teacher and the leadership style that suits students descriptions of good teacher characteristics.The results of the study show that a good teacher should have subject knowledge, be good at writing and illustrating the curriculum on the whiteboard and explain and clarify their instruction through good communication.

The debate on the future of Nuclear power in Sweden has increased with the discussion on global warming. The uncertainty of fossil fuel- and carbonprices the latest years has aroused considerable interest in Nuclear from power companies, industry and politicians. Nuclear power plants have negligible CO2 emissions and are not directly affected by increased price of emission rights and fossil fuels. The future power production needs to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases to become sustainable. The purpose of this study is to examine the value for power producers to have the option to invest in Nuclear power and how a Nuclear power venture would affect future electricity prices. The study uses two methods, a traditional cash flow model and real option analysis, to estimate the value of Nuclear power.