Today many buildings and it´s nearby surroundings are designed to achieve some kind of environmental goal.The issue concerning energy consumption is currently at focus and it is relevant that we start increase the share of renewable energy. Solar energy is an infinite resource and should therefore be considered when selecting an energy supplier.   Uppsala University hospital is facing major restructuring when parts of the existing buildings will be refurbished and a large new building will be constructed. White Architects have developed a study concerning the new building and for some of the existing buildings on the hospital campus. Uppsala County requires tough energy measures and wants the new building to be classified as an eco-building in Whites following work. The classifications will involve high energy source requirements.   This work has been conducted to see if solar power can be envisaged as a supplementary energy source for the University hospital and also to investigate the aesthetic impact of solar cells on the new building. In this report, solar cells integrated on the facade and PV modules on the roofs have been studied. Focus has been to evaluate the potential of what each option can produce and what opportunity they have to become an intrinsic part of the architecture   The type of solar cell module, which in this case study has been proven to generate most electricity is stand-alone modules on roofs. These are however, more difficult to reconcile with the architecture. Solar cells on the facades should therefore still be considered as an alternative application.The result shows that the potential energy that can be generated by solar panels on the new building is large but not in relation to hospital´s electricity use. It is for that reason questionable whether solar installation, applied on the new building, can be seen as a good additional source of energy or if it will more become a matter of public relations.

Mining has been a major economic activity in the Canadian Arctic for the last century. It has made a valuable contribution to the development of this fragile economy and to the living standards of its inhabitants. The benefits include jobs and income, tax revenues and the social programs they finance, foreign exchange earnings, frontier development, support for local infrastructure, and economic diversification into a broad range of activities beyond the life of the mine. These benefits emerge as the result of activities and influences of several actors that exercise differing degrees of power, whether coercive or exchange by nature. These benefits, however, do not come without costs, particularly to Northern peoples who have suffered historically from the inequitable distribution of resources benefits and inevitable, adverse socio-cultural and biophysical impacts of rapid resource development. <br /><br /> Impact and Benefit Agreements (IBAs) are a mandatory aspect of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. Proponents wishing to develop natural resources on Inuit-owned land are required to negotiate and complete an IBA with the Regional Inuit Organization. These agreements have evolved from simple socio-economic contracts, to multiparty assemblages of agreements designed to promote sustainability beyond the operating life of the mine. <br /><br /> A political ecology approach was taken. Using this approach, it was determined that the distribution of decision-making power appears to be unequal and largely confined to the Industrial and Regional Inuit Association actors. As a result, other affected interests were marginalized in the process including members of the local community, environmental and other non-governmental organizations, and federal, territorial and hamlet government actors. <br /><br /> Nevertheless, the use of IBAs signal a recognition on the part of all stakeholders that historic mining practices are no longer acceptable and that it is now necessary to move towards a more equitable and sustainable approach to mineral development. <br /><br /> In order to answer the question of an IBA's usefulness as a tool of sustainability, a set of sustainable mining criteria was developed and used to assess whether, in fact, the agreement could be used to promote a more sustainable path to mining development in the North. After the application of the criteria to IBAs in general and to one case study in particular, which fell under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, it was discovered that the IBA instrument is limited in its utility&mdash;at least in terms of its current structure. However, in conjunction with other agreements and review processes, the IBAs utility as a tool of sustainability may be enhanced. <br /><br /> By the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement's very nature, decision-making ability on behalf of the community is restricted to the Kitikmeot Inuit Association that only represents the interests of beneficiaries of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and the industrial proponent. Opportunities for broader community (non-beneficiaries) input appear limited, thus restricting the usefulness of IBAs as a tool of community sustainability, at least until this weakness is addressed. Moreover, on a broader level of analysis, it should also be noted that the IBAs still are designed to operate within the global, liberal, capitalist system which itself leads to power imbalances. Nevertheless, it should be noted that IBAs signal a recognition on the part of all stakeholders, that historic mining practices are no longer acceptable and that it is now necessary to move towards a more equitable and sustainable approach to mineral development.

Motor vehicle accidents continue to be a leading cause of cervical spine injury despite a conscientious effort to improve occupant safety. Accurately predicting occupant head and neck response in numerical crash simulations is an essential part of the process for developing better safety solutions. <br /><br /> A biofidelic model of the human cervical spine was developed with a focus on accurate representation of the cervical spine at the local tissue level. These tissues were assembled to create a single segment model that was representative of <em>in vitro</em> spine in quasi-static loading. Finally, the single segment models were assembled to create a full cervical spine model that was simulated in dynamic loading and compared to human volunteer response. <br /><br /> Models of each segment were constructed from the basic building blocks of the cervical spine: the intervertebral disc, the vertebrae, the ligaments, and the facet joints. Each model was simulated in all modes of loading and at different levels of load. The results of the study indicate that the cervical spine segments performed very well in flexion, compression, and tension. Segment response to lateral bending and axial rotation was also good, while response in extension often proved too compliant compared to the experimental data. Furthermore, the single segment models did not fully agree with the experimental shear response, again being more compliant. <br /><br/> The full cervical spine model was assembled from the single segment models incorporating neck musculature. The model was simulated dynamically using a 15 G frontal impact test. Active muscles were used to simulate the response of the human volunteers used in the study. The response of the model was in reasonable agreement with the experimental data, and compared better than current finite element cervical spine models. Higher frequency oscillation caused most of the disagreement between the model and the experimental data, which was attributed to a lack of appropriate dynamic material properties of the soft tissues of the spine. In addition, a study into the active properties of muscle indicated that muscle response has a significant influence on the response of the head. <br /><br /> A number of recommendations were proposed that would improve the biofidelity of the model. Furthermore, it was recommended that the future goal of this model would be to implement injury-predicting capabilities through the development of advance material models.

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has gained increasing prominence as a means of accommodating the goals of sustainability in development planning since the 1990s. However, SEA faces considerable difficulties before it becomes a widely accepted and enduring practice. The concepts of SEA and sustainability are complex. SEA has necessarily to deal with a variety of planning and decision-making contexts, and in addition there is a problem of integrating SEA with planning. This combination of factors makes the future role of SEA in environmental planning highly challenging. Literature on sustainability, environmental assessment, and planning suggests that application of sustainability-led and context-dependent principles for SEA can assist in the realization of goals of sustainability. Meanwhile, the effective integration of SEA and planning processes can serve as a means by which sustainability objectives, urban planning practice and SEA application might be addressed. Central to this integration are institutional arrangements which define the extent to which SEA can promote sustainability. This research has been designed to explore the opportunities offered by SEA to provide the degree of strategic connectivity required to strengthen the position of sustainability concerns in the formulation of policies and planning. In particular, it defines the requisite principles and institutional conditions for using SEA as a tool for facilitating sustainability in the context of urban planning in Chinese cities. The research employs a primary case study design, and multiple data and analytical methods which have involved surveys, key informant interviews, secondary data and direct observation. SEA was introduced as part of the 2003 Chinese environmental impact assessment (EIA) law for use with government plans and programs at various levels. The incorporation of SEA into the master plan for city development in the city of Dalian was the first attempt at the use of SEA in any Chinese city and was designed to serve as a demonstration project for other cities to follow. However, the Dalian SEA case was not successful, highlighting the difficulty of facilitating sustainability goals and achieving integration with the planning process. The problems were complex but could be reduced to two major issues: lack of explicit guidelines or principles for the application of SEA, and fundamental institutional impediments. The research concluded that to increase the effectiveness of SEA application in China it is imperative to formulate a set of explicit and sustainability-based principles for SEA and reform the institutional arrangements for environmental assessment and planning, enabling the integration of SEA and planning processes.

Transportation by trucks plays a major role in North America’s economy. The growth of this industry will increase the loads on existing roads and highways and raises the possibility of overloaded vehicles, which causes significant damage to the pavement and consequently will reduce the lifespan of the roads. Weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems technology helps to address the challenge of overloaded vehicles. This technology provides traffic monitoring, collects data for pavement research and design, and improves the capacity of static weigh station operations. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about the behaviour of WIM sensors installed in different environments, which affects reliable and precise data gathering. More knowledge is required on proper installation procedures, pavement design for WIM systems, choice of sensor type for location, and calibration processes. This research is intended to explore the behaviour of WIM piezoelectric sensors under different loads and environmental conditions. Specifically, the effects of air and pavement temperature, and weight and speed of trucks are examined with respect to the estimation accuracy of WIM sensors. To accomplish this, three WIM systems composed of different piezoelectric transducers were installed at the CPATT test site at the Waste Management facility of the Region of Waterloo in 2007, and two WIM systems were installed between exits 238 and 250 on Highway 401 eastbound near Woodstock, Ontario. It was concluded that the output of the polymer piezoelectric sensor is influenced by temperature and weight factors but not by normally observed vehicle speed differences. While temperature can be compensated for, not enough information has been gathered yet does the same for weight factor. It should be noted that very low speeds (e.g. < 50 km/hr) result in significant errors for all the sensors, so that in congested sections WIM results should be interpreted accordingly. These results will be useful for investigating the effects of environmental conditions on other WIM systems and for predicting the responses of sensors in actual installation environments. This will assist in the recommendation of: (1) alternative and transparent calibration procedures for the WIM sensor systems, (2) and improved benefits of least expensive technology.

The need for rehabilitation of bridges has become a critical challenge due to aging and an increase in traffic loads. Many of these bridges are exceeding their design fatigue life. Since many of these bridges are structurally deficient, they need to be rehabilitated or replaced by a new bridge. The most susceptible and weak parts of steel bridges to cracks and fatigue are the welds, due to the presence of high stress concentrations, tensile residual stresses, and imperfections as a result of the welding process. Inspection and repair of welds are difficult and elimination of welded details is not possible in steel bridge construction. Ultrasonic impact treatment (UIT) is a promising and innovative post-weld treatment (PWT) method for improving the fatigue performance of existing welded steel and steel-concrete composite structures such as highway bridges. The fatigue resistance of treated joints is enhanced by improving the geometry of the weld toe, and introducing compressive residual stresses. However, a lack of tools for quality assurance has slowed UIT’s adoption by bridge authorities. The current study was undertaken to examine the fatigue performance of structural steel welds subjected to UIT at various levels, including intentional under-treatment and over-treatment, and to relate the fatigue performance of the treated welds to geometric and metallurgical properties measured to control the treatment quality. The last objective was to use the laboratory results to develop acceptance criteria for the quality control of UIT in bridge applications. Fatigue tests of non-load carrying fillet welded attachments were conducted on properly treated, under-treated, and over-treated weld toes. Statistical analyses of the fatigue life data were performed and crack growth was monitored using the alternating current potential drop (ACPD) method. Measurement of local properties (such as weld toe geometry, local hardness, and residual stresses) and examination of the weld toe microstructure were also performed on the untreated and treated welds. The effects of weld toe geometry on the local stresses in the untreated and treated welds were also investigated using elastic finite element analysis (FEA) to obtain the stress concentration factor (SCF) for the different treatment cases and to examine the changes in the SCF for the different weld toe geometries. Based on the statistical analysis performed in this research, the results illustrated that UIT significantly improved the fatigue lives of weld details regardless of the investigated level of treatment quality. The fatigue lives of welded details under constant amplitude (CA) loading and constant amplitude loading with under-loads (CA-UL) were increased up to 30 and 27 times respectively. On average, the fatigue life of the treated weld details was slightly lower under CA-UL than under CA loading. Treatment quality had little impact on the mean of the S-N curves. However, it did impact the design (95% survival probability) S-N curves, with the curve associated with a proper treatment slightly higher than the curves for poor or unknown treatment quality. Local near-surface microhardness and compressive residual stresses were greatest for the over-treated welded details, followed by the properly treated and then the under-treated welded details. Increasing the treatment speed resulted in a greater reduction in the surface microhardness and compressive residual stresses than decreasing the treatment intensity. Finite element analyses showed that changes in weld toe geometry due to UIT can cause a decrease in the SCF near the surface of the treated weld toe. The SCF was the lowest for the properly treated steel specimens and slightly higher for the under-treated specimens. For the over-treated specimens, the SCFs were nearly as high as for the untreated weld. The SCF increases as the thickness of the flange increased up to 19 mm. With further flange thickness increase to 38 mm, the SCF did not change substantially. The work presented herein demonstrated that indent depth measurements from the base metal side, commonly used for quality control, may not identify over-treatment on their own. Indent depth measurements from both the weld and the base metal sides, obtained by measurement of weld toe impressions, offer a good alternative means for identifying over-treatment. However, for identifying under-treatment, indent depth measurements should be used in conjunction with visual inspection for traces of the original weld toe.

This thesis presents the results of an investigation into the evaluation of a selected test bridge using instrumentation to obtain site-specific factors contributing to the evaluation, with the ultimate objective of improving the estimate of the bridges reliability in order to assess allowable loading more accurately. The experimental portion of the research program involved instrumenting the test bridge with strain gauges, and recording field measurements using two forms of loading. The analytical portion of the research program involved the analysis of the bridge in the as-designed state, based on the design drawings and specification, followed by a re-analysis of the bridge using the site-specific factors measured on-site. The bridge was evaluated using methods outlined in the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code CAN/CSA-S6-00 (CSA 2000). <p>The test bridge is located near the community of Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan. The bridge is constructed of steel-reinforced concrete, and there are three, three-span arch-shaped girders. There are also external steel bars added after initial construction to increase the midspan bending moment resistance. In total, 45 strain gauges were placed on the middle spans of the three girders to record strain induced by two forms of loading: controlled loading, in which a truck of known weight and dimensions was driven over the bridge in a number of pre-determined configurations, and in-situ loading, in which normal truck traffic was used. The current allowable loading on the bridge is a gross vehicle weight of 62.5 t, although increasing the allowable loading to 110 t has been proposed, along with two strengthening alternatives to make this increased loading feasible. <p>To provide a base-line analysis for comparison purposes, the bridge was first evaluated based strictly on information taken from the design drawings and specifications. The evaluation was performed using the load and resistance factor method, in which load and resistance factors were used to account for uncertainty, as well as by the mean load method, in which statistical properties of the variables parameters included in the design were used to account for uncertainty. The result of the load and resistance factor method was a live load capacity factor, indicating the overall rating of the bridge. In addition to the live load capacity factor, the mean load method was also used to determine the reliability index. The results of the as-designed analysis showed that the mean load method gave more conservative estimates of the bridge capacity. Furthermore, it was determined that, based on these assessments, the bridge would not have sufficient capacity to carry the proposed 110 t truck loads.<p>The bridge was re-evaluated using site-specific factors with the mean load method. Using the measured strains, statistical parameters were determined for live load effects, distribution factors, dynamic load allowance, and resistance. Statistical parameters that could not be obtained readily through testing were obtained from the literature. The results indicated that code-predicted estimates of a number of factors were highly conservative. Flexural and shear load effects in the girders were found to be less than 15% of the theoretical predictions, as a result of apparent arching action in the girders, generating significant axial forces. For this arching action to occur, horizontal restraint was required at the supports, either through unanticipated restraint in the bearings, or tension tie action of the tensile girder reinforcement. Furthermore, the dynamic amplification was found to be less than 1.0. The resulting reliability indices indicated that the bridge would be safe under the proposed increased allowable loading (110 t). <p>Finite element models were used to confirm the dynamic amplification observations and examine the effects of different degrees of bearing restraint. The model showed results similar to those measured for dynamic amplification. It was found that if the bearings were to become completely fixed against horizontal translation, the bridge would become overloaded as a result of increased shear effects, demonstrating the need for proper bearing maintenance. <p>An analysis of relative costs was completed to determine the most cost-effective solution for hauling logs. Assumptions were made regarding truck and maintenance and operating costs. The results indicated that the most economic solution was to use the method outlined in the research to increase the allowable loading on the bridge to 110 t, over the strengthening alternatives and simply leaving the bridge in the current state.

In Canada, interest in regional strategic environmental assessment as a framework for assessing cumulative environmental effects is growing. Strategic environmental assessment, and in particular regional strategic environmental assessment, is generally regarded as the preferred assessment framework within which to address cumulative effects due to its broad scale of assessment and its focus on influencing future development. However, very little research has been done to confront the challenges, either conceptually or methodologically, in operationalizing strategic environmental assessment at a regional scale and in assessing cumulative environmental effects in this regional and strategic context. This dissertation advances work in this area by defining a conceptual framework and generic methodology for regional strategic environmental assessment that deliberately integrates cumulative effects considerations.<p> The research methodology includes a literature review, framework and case reviews, and three sets of interviews with Canadian and international practitioners, academics, and administrators knowledgeable on strategic environmental assessment and cumulative effects assessment issues. The research results are reported in four manuscripts. The first manuscript presents a typology of current approaches to regional cumulative effects assessment. The second manuscript reviews lessons from recent attempts at regional-scale, strategically-focused environmental analysis in Canada that include an impact assessment component and explicit attention to cumulative environmental effects. The third manuscript presents a structured framework for regional strategic environmental assessment in Canada, and the fourth manuscript discusses conceptual and methodological challenges that accompany the integration of strategic environmental assessment and cumulative effects assessment.<p> Significant findings include that cumulative effects assessment does indeed represent a significant conceptual and methodological challenge in a strategic assessment context and that cumulative effects assessment in this context requires more than simply adding up direct effects. Further, this research indicates that the seminal contribution of regional strategic environmental assessment is to determine the pace and nature of future development in a region, including significant regional environmental thresholds, targets, and limits; and to inform decision makers of the broader, the slower-moving, the farther-reaching, and perhaps the more insidious currents of environmental change. Moving forward, there is a need to further develop and demonstrate approaches to cumulative effects assessment in a strategic context, develop a supportive legislative and regulatory framework for regional strategic environmental assessment in Canada, and define the unique contribution of regional strategic assessment in relation to regional planning and management.

This multi methods research, which is combined both of quantitative and qualitative methods, is about Public Service Announcement (PSA). This study is aimed to find out if something changes in behavior of people and their attitude to social problem in Russia by an impact of PSA and to understand whereby PSA impacts on changes in behavior of people and rise of attention to social problem in Russia. In order to achieve thesis aims, various types of data presented in this research: a survey of   50 people from different age and sex groups and interviews with a workers of two social organizations. To analyze a data, it were used a univariate and bivariate analysis for quantitative data. Analysis of qualitative data is done in a phenomenological way. According to the results, PSA performs its tasks, something it’s changed in people by impact of PSA, people of all ages noted an  influence of PSA on them, they get to know about social problem, begin to think about or changed their behavior, begun to work as volunteers, made a donation. By all this aspects as emotion, feeling, sensation, design, PSA impact on changes in behavior of people and rise of attention to social problem in Russia.  PSA impacts across effective psychological mechanism such as an emotional sphere of personality. Psychological aspects can be divided into cognitive and emotional. Emotion is one of the key factors of the PSAs. It is established that emotional memory is much stronger than other types of memory, affects human behavior. Cognitive component is related to how advertising information is perceived by people. All elements like an illustration, title, text, logo, layout and general features of the image determine the overall effect of advertising. PSA is a display of goodwill of society, its principled position on socially significant values. Social advertising can and should be considered as a mode of operation of social services.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the influence of e-commerce on the small-size companies in Sweden. This thesis describes the drivers for e-commerce adoption and investigates the barriers and benefits faced from the companies when starting the process of implementation. A qualitative research was performed and an abductive approach was used, where the research findings and the theoretical background were connected by going back and forward in the process of analysis. Interviews with small companies in Värmland Country, Sweden were conducted in order to answer the research questions. This study shows that Swedish companies have relatively well-developed e-commerce strategies comparing to other counties, but the gap between small and large companies is still visible. The decisions for e-commerce adoption are dependent on the knowledge of the owner /manager and e-commerce is extensively used as a marketing tool. Main benefits of e-commerce adoption are improved internal efficiency and increased information exchange. The results suggest that companies value less than before the cost factor and consider the lack of knowledge as a main barrier. At the same time many companies are not motivated enough to make improvements, because of lack of customer demand.