To build high-rise buildings made of timber has for long been limited by national laws, due to the lack of knowledge in engineering solutions. Frame structures made of wood has for a long time been associated with major fire hazards and consequently lower safety and this connection is still being made today. The increased environmental awareness in recent years has contributed to the exploitation of indigenous building materials, including wood from our own Swedish forests and has become increasingly common. Increased knowledge about how structures behave in fire and how they can be protected in order to achieve safe timber structures has resulted in a growing interest in these structures in the construction industry. Research in the area is constantly updated and new laws allow any number of storeys in wooden buildings in Sweden as long as the performance requirements are fulfilled.The main part of this work has involved calculations of the fire resistance and load bearing capacity of floor and wall constructions.

At the Skoghall pappermill, sulphatepaper pulp is produced in a continuous digester originally from 1969. To be able to maintain a high level of production there is a need for a process with few disturbances. Variations in how well the wooden chips are packed in the digester is one form of disturbance. Today there are no available measurements on how well the chips are packed. Instead this is regarded as being constant.

Karlstads Energi AB:s vågstation vid Hedenverket i Karlstad är en anläggning där invägning och analys av träbränsle utförs. Provtagning och hantering av träbränsle hör till de dagliga arbetsuppgifterna för personalen. Vid nära hantering av trämaterial finns risken att exponeras för trämögelsporer. Exponering av mikrobiologiska luftföroreningar kan orsaka hälsobesvär på lungor och luftvägar hos människor.Efter utförd riskbedömning av vågstationen noterades en oro att trämögelsporer och dammpartiklar sprids bortom lokalen för provtagning av träbränsle till andra utrymmen. Bedömningen talar för att ventilationen kanske är bristfällig och inte är anpassad för den aktuella verksamheten.

The business cycle of the wood flooring branch is currently high however that situation may not be sustainable. In a possible future weaker business climate, the importance of marketing becomes accentuated for firms that aim to maintain their sales levels. We can see trends that competition among the Swedish and foreign manufactures is already stepping up. The intent of this study is to establish marketing guidelines for floor- and molding manufacturers, so they can establish a clearer brand image in DIY retail outlets. By comparing the approach of sports- and DIY stores to brand and product placement, this study aims to bring new knowledge to the DIY branch for improved consumer and product handling.

The standard housing of farmed mink provides little opportunities for them to behave naturally and abnormal behaviours such as stereotypic behaviour and tail biting may occur. To prevent abnormal behaviours animals in captivity are often provided with different kinds of enrichments. The aim of this study was to investigate what kind of enrichment farmed mink use when they have several kinds to choose from and to observe if abnormal behaviours can be decreased with a larger cage and a more multifaceted environment. Totally 20 silver blue, 10 months old female mink were kept in traditional cages (80x30x40 cm) for 7 days and in larger cages (195x80x40 cm) with several types of enrichments for 7 days. The enrichments were wire net- and wooden shelves, wire net- and plastic cylinders, water bath, plastic ropes, branches, straw and tennis balls. One-zero scan sampling on behaviour and choice of place were performed during 3 hours and 20 minutes prior to feeding during 7 days per treatment in April 2004.

Forestry and reindeer husbandry are entitled to use the same land for their operations. For this reason, conflicts occasionally arise between them. Soil scarification is a forestry operation which has a negative effect on the occurrence of reindeer lichen. Reindeer lichens are of crucial importance to reindeers and reindeer husbandry, especially in the winter when reindeers primarily feed on different lichen species (Cladina spp. and Cetraria spp.).

The intention of this final thesis is to examine how to create a schoolyard that inspires children at the age of 6 ? 12 years to play and give them possibility to develop. To get a lot of knowledge in this subject, I have combined studies of literature with practical studies at Hosjöskolan in Falun. During my practical studies I have done interviews, walks in the area with the children and visited other schoolyards. I have based a design proposal for the schoolyard of Hosjöskolan on these studies.

ABSTRACTToday's modern technological society is constantly evolving and house planning is one area that is constantly creating new technical solutions. By looking back at selected architectural eras during the 1900?s, the idea is to study and analyse three building structures in Gothenburg with a focus on quality and content in the urban space.In order to provide a background for the three selected areas, their history has been studied. The main question for the research is: how do different building structures affect the content and qualities in the urban space?The areas have been selected to represent three typical epochs in Swedish building history.

The global biodiversity loss is mainly due to human activities such as an intensification of forestry. Boreal forest ecosystems in Fennoscandia are characterized by disturbances such as forest fires, storms and floods. However, industrial forestry practices suppress forest fires and change the landscape, leading to a loss of habitats and associated species. Particularly lichen species with slow adaptation abilities and a strong substrate specificity face an extinction debt in boreal forests since their substrates are long-lived but no longer created. In this study the species-substrate relationship of two red-listed forest-fire dependent lichen species Carbon-icola anthracophila and C.

Biodiversity is essential for human well-being and it is defined as the genetic variation within species and the variety of species and ecosystems. Biodiversity provides several ecosystem services which are necessary for human beings but there are different threats towards the biodiversity. The biodiversity linked to the forest in Sweden are threatened, about 50 % of the red-listed species in Sweden are associated with forests. This is linked to the commercial exploitation of the boreal forest in Sweden which started 200 years ago. The forestry the last 50 years, with clear-cuts, have contributed to a fragmented forest landscape.

Eco certification of small housesTo construct an environmental friendly building and show that as a company you care for the environment, is presently very attractive in the Swedish real estate market.This degree thesis covers the environmental certification called ?Svanenmärkning? the Swan, witch is the Swedish equivalent to the European standard ?the EU Flower?. It is concentrated on the certification process in small houses that the Swedish institute of standard, SIS, has presented. We have worked together with the company Faluhus witch is a Swedish producer of small family houses.Faluhus is located in the town of Borlänge, Dalarna and has produced family houses since the 1950:s. They have a great heritage born in the old Swedish mining culture, with great wooden mansions and country homes.

Food insecurity is a great problem worldwide and Ethiopia is one of the sub-saharan countries that are suffering from poverty and food insecurity and a large part of the population are living in a state of undernourishment. To reduce these problems, a successful horticulture production can be an important factor. Compared to other crops, fruit production in Ethiopia has not been a large part of the agricultural sector. However, the demand on the domestic market is increasing as well as the production for avocado and mango. To increase food security it is important to focus on ways to decrease post-harvest losses of food products and not only have the productivity of agriculture in focus.

The subject of this project focuses on how Landscape Architects by their profession can explore and directly make a difference in the cityscape. This paper documents the process of art - based research practice. The purpose of installing temporary activities is to encourage people in the city to discover, participate and invite people to be more playful in the city. My experience of interaction in public spaces comes primarily from the education within landscape architecture, from site-specific art installations I have performed in different cities and from observations of landscape architecture, street art and urban life in the cities of Vienna, Berlin and Linköping. It is fascinating and inspiring to see how the urban space can invite and allow visitors to participate and therefore feel invited to the open space. As a landscape architect I wish to create urban spaces that are useful and inspiring for their visitors. The projects main question: How can you make temporary landscapes that encourage outdoorinspired activities at selected locations in the city? is answered by practice based research, an approach in which theoretical research are developed through practical experiments in the designing- and implementation process.