This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using different benchmarking models to measure and compare the efficiency of Swedish gas distributors. It also discusses to which extent the results of a benchmarking study should influence the revenue-cap which will be implemented in the gas distribution sector in Sweden from year 2011. The discussion is based on arguments from both theory and practical applications of benchmarking. The results suggest that benchmarking Swedish gas distributors against distributors in another country using a parametric model is most favorable, but the reliability will be increased if non-parametric models are used also. Partial and total productivity measures could be used to confirm results of other benchmarking analyses.

This thesis deals with numerical simulation of earth pressure against tubular bridges in the software Plaxis. Plaxis is a FEM (Finite Element Method) software based on numerical calculations for which approximate solutions are developed through an iterative process. The program is specifically designed for soil and rock mechanical tests, such as voltage and deformation calculations in soil.The Royal Institute of Technology conducted in 2005, field tests on tubular bridges of corrugated steel, which was part of Ersa Bayoglu Fleners PhD (Bayoglu Flener, 2009). She studied how two different tubular bridges deformed during installation and filling. Tests and measurements were made during filling.

In Örebro, the car traffic share does not tend to decrease. The crowdedness on some of the bus routes is high at times. Investigations show that the residents of Örebro want a city centre whose street environment is more restrictive of car traffic and better for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. To decrease the car traffic share a rapid, convenient, clear, effective and environmental friendly public transport with high frequency and strong capacity in a short, direct and logical network is needed. A modern tramway fulfils these criteria.At first, this report describes factors that are important to take into consideration when planning a tramway.

Newbeam Sweden AB är ett ganska ungt företag som genom deras patent har börjat kunna pressa unika träkompositer i 3 dimensioner. Företaget ligger i startgroparna med sin första tillverkningslina som skall öppnas i Söderhamn, Hälsingland.De själva har satsat mycket mot byggnadsindustrin. Min uppgift i detta arbete har varit att undersöka andra marknader med deras profi lpressade träkompositer som grund. Inriktningen blev butiksinredningar som ett resultat av researcharbetet som gjordes.Intervjuer och undersökningar gav en bild av hur viktigt det är med användarvänlighet samt enkelhet och de två orden blev mitt motto arbetet igenom.Resultatet av detta kom att bli lite mer än bara butiksinredningar..

This report is a joint venture with SCA Skog AB in the Jämtland forest management area. The company is a major player in the timber market in northern Sweden, and also a large business globally with offices in over 100 countries. The purpose of the study was to find out how timber suppliers want feedback/follow-up after completion of timber business. To determine this, a questionnaire survey was sent out to 75 landowners who supplied the wood for the company during the past year. The questionnaire consisted of a total of 15 questions with the opportunity to comment on certain issues.

My project aims to understand more about the methods used in making woven textiles on an industrial level, and how these tech¬niques can be adapted to create object-specific pieces. On visiting the furniture fair in Stockholm, I was surprised to see that most of the textiles used for furniture were so similar, despite the variation in the furniture itself. My project is about creating textile patterns that are specific for each piece.The idea behind the process could be used for any product, but the pattern I created is specifically for the armchair Accent by Yngve Ekström. I wanted to create the feeling of a pattern moving over the surface of the object and adjusting to it. I worked primarily with differences in density.

The report is a project in cooperation with the Swedish toy company Playsam. The assignment was to design a new toy to their range of products, a pull along toy in shape of a snail with a mechanical function. The research phase contains studies and analysis of the company, its identity, product range and its customers. The research phase includes all the information needed to complete the project. A number of concepts were presented for evaluation by the company.

The purpose of this thesis is to examinethe possibilities for adding a floor to anexisting building using the two materialswood and sheet metal profiles as the loadbearing structure. An apartment buildingfrom the 60s has been used as referencehouse. Two different suggestions for thedesign are presented in the rapport. Oneof them has been analyzed with wood andsheet metal as the load bearing structure.Using the old constructional calculationsand blueprints of the existing buildings,the load bearing capacity has beencalculated. In the calculation programFEM-Design the building has been testedwith the loads that an extra floor wouldgive.

Logosol is a company that produce small-scale wood processing products. To be able to expand the business Logosol have decided to increase exports, their target markets are the US, Russia, Germany and Norway. The expansion has mainly been through subsidiaries situated on the abroad markets. The subsidiaries have done poor results and that has influenced the whole company. CEO Bengt-Olov Byström made a decision to sell out the units to the people who worked in the business.

Vårt syfte med detta examensarbete är att undersöka hur föräldrakontakten ser ut på en invandrartät skola i Malmö, med särskilt fokus på utvecklingssamtalet. Vi har gjort fem semi-strukturerade intervjuer med fyra olika lärare samt biträdande rektorn på skolan. Våra slutsatser är att de flesta av föräldrarna i grundskolans senare år, oavsett kunskaper i svenska språket, kommer till utvecklingssamtalet. Däremot uteblir majoriteten vid föräldramöten. Vårt resultat indikerar att detta inte bara beror på om man förstår svenska eller inte, utan också exempelvis på vad man som förälder prioriterar eller känner sig delaktig i.

This report discusses questions concerning wear on forest roads. The purpose of the work is to investigate if the wear on the roads will decrease when the speed limit gets lower for the trucks that transport the wood. A normal forest road, class B, was used in the study. In total 5000 m3f timber was transported on the road. Data about the road was measured with a profilograph car before and after the timber transport.

"Ekskolan" is a monumental school placed in the middle of the new town area "Mariehäll" in Stockholm, Sweden. 600 pupils between preeschool until year 5 will use the school and its big schoolyard between the townsquare and the public park.The school will be built in massiv wood, both for human reasons with a environment of good, healthy and suitable material for the people and the school activity.The school is seperated in 3 volymes that organises different years; house B and C, and the common facilities: house A. The scool has a cultural profile with rooms for creative activites, documentation and exhibition.To mark the border to the public places that surround the scool and to meet the inclined topography, the schoolhouses will stand on a terrace. The terrace creates rooms between the houses that can be used to utdoor teaching. Likewise, the terrace creates a opened sightline between the public rooms and all the way down to the river..

The purpose of this thesis has been to determine experimentally how good a peltierelement is to convert waste heat from wood burning. Three different peltier elementswere used in a comparison study. The comparison was mainly done to know howmuch power could be obtained from each element. Even, a circuit with a step-upfunction has been created to give a higher output voltage than the peltier elementitself. The result of the experiments was a low output power, the highest valuereached 2.18W.

Utvecklingen av förbandsmetoder är viktigt för att utveckla konstruktionslösningar. Under det senaste decenniet har forskning på limmade förband utförts, främst på inlimning av stålstag och plattstål i limträ. Förhoppningen är att spänningen ska fördelas jämnare i förbandet och att brott ska kunna undvikas. Hypotetiskt sett skulle det kunna göra knutpunker utan synliga förband möjliga vilket även skulle gynna arkitekternas önskemål.Genom en sammanställning av tidigare forskning dras en jämförelse mellan testresultaten och en antagen knutpunkt som belastas av egentyngder och variabla laster. På så sätt kan limmets kapacitet konkretiseras.

This report concerns the for Sweden foreign tree species hybrid larch, hybrid aspen and poplar, and focuses on the area Kalmar and Mönsterås municipalities. The report shows that there are not only advantages with these species. The larch, the most common of the alien tree species has the greatest problems due to that its timber is difficult to sell in the area but also the Larch´s poor pulp quality and is more likely to be damaged by wildlife than the spruce is. Hybrid Aspen is much easier to sell and is used like regular aspen for match wood and textile pulp. Its disadvantage is the high cost for plants and to prevent damage from wildlife.