Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:31:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Thiago Tortorelli Faria.pdf: 1966946 bytes, checksum: 3abdd0be8f7b49f61b8e3b7907afa6e6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-06-23 / This work aims to obtain a mathematical model to determinate the occupancy rate in indoor environment based on signal strength of a wireless sensor network (WSN) in 915 MHz using four links at the environment. It was set a network with one sink and four node sensors in a laboratory in order to collect the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) of each individual link for every different space occupation for each group of people. Based on the data collected, it was calculated the mean, standard deviation and the variance of each individual link and the overall average of links for each group of people. The data was used as input in mathematical models to determine the occupancy rate of the environment. Three mathematical models have been proposed to estimate the occupancy rate. All of them proved capable to estimate the number of people using the overall average of links. The results showed that the tendency is to decrease the RSSI and increase the standard deviation the greater the number of people in the environment. Some links analyzed individually showed a large variation and not following entirely the tendency mentioned. Nevertheless the overall average of links follows this tendency showing that despite a link shows a great variation, the other links tended to compensate this variation and with the overall average of links is possible to get a small error between the real number of people and the estimated number of people. To choose the best model it was used the MAE (Mean Absolute Error). The second order model was the best model with a MAE slightly below of a half people. The results obtained using multilink were compared with a work that used single-link to predict the number of people in a indoor environment. Multilink had a smaller error compared with single-link, which obtained an error of about two people. / Este trabalho tem por objetivo a obten??o de um modelo matem?tico para a determina??o da taxa de ocupa??o de ambientes internos baseado na intensidade de sinal de uma Rede de Sensores sem Fio em 915 MHz utilizando quatro links r?dio no ambiente. Foi montada uma rede com uma base e quatro n?s sensores em um laborat?rio como intuito de coletar a RSSI (Received Signal Strenght Indication) de cada link para cada diferente ocupa??o do espa?o para cada grupo de pessoas. Com base nos dados coletados, foram calculados a m?dia, desvio padr?o e vari?ncia de cada link e cada grupo de pessoas. Esses dados foram utilizados como entrada em modelos matem?ticos para a determina??o da taxa de ocupa??o do ambiente. Foram propostos tr?s modelos matem?ticos para tal estima??o. Os tr?s modelos se mostraram aptos a estimar o n?mero de pessoas utilizando a m?dia geral dos links. Os resultados iniciais mostraram que a tend?ncia ? de diminui??o da RSSI e o aumento do desvio padr?o quanto maior o n?mero de pessoas no ambiente. Alguns links analisados de forma individual se mostraram com uma varia??o grande e n?o seguindo inteiramente a tend?ncia mencionada, mas apesar disso a m?dia geral dos links segue essa tend?ncia, ou seja, apesar de um link demonstrar uma grande varia??o, os outros links tenderam a compensar essa varia??o. Com a m?dia geral ? poss?vel chegar a um erro pequeno entre o n?mero real de pessoas e o n?mero estimado de pessoas. Para a escolha do melhor modelo foi utilizado o RAM (Res?duo Absoluto M?dio) e para a m?dia geral dos links o modelo de segunda ordem foi o que se mostrou melhor com um res?duo abaixo de meia pessoa. Por fim os resultados obtidos com multilink foram comparados com resultados obtidos em um trabalho em que foi utilizado single-link para a obten??o da taxa de ocupa??o em um ambiente interno. Multilink, com um RAM de aproximadamente 0,5 pessoas, se mostrou com um erro menor comparado com o single-link, que obteve um erro de aproximadamente duas pessoas.

An overarching aim of this research was to investigate the comprehensive value of green residential buildings as seen from two perspectives: that of the developer and that of the occupant (the customer). The dissertation consists of studies presented in seven papers.  The studies conducted to investigate the developer’s perspective focused on construction cost and potential profit (papers I and VII). The customer’s perspective was examined with three approaches: the impact that energy and environment have on the decision to purchase (or rent) an apartment (paper V), willingness to pay for a green apartment (paper VI) and finally, the occupants’ satisfaction with the dwelling and indoor environment (papers II, III and IV).  The first paper examines whether increased investment costs are profitable, taking into account the reduction in operating costs. The investment viability is approached by comparing investment in conventional and green residential building, particularly passive houses, using real construction and post-occupancy conditions. The increased investment costs in energy-efficient building were also the focus of paper VII. In this paper, the aim was to study how technologies used in energy-efficient residential building construction affect the available saleable floor area and how this impacts on the profitability of the investment. Potential losses and gains of saleable floor area in energy-efficient buildings were assessed using a modelled building and analysed with the help of the average construction cost. Papers II and IV present results from a study of occupants’ satisfaction and indoor environmental qualities. Both papers aim at comparing and analysing responses from occupants living in green and conventional buildings. Paper III focuses on a similar subject, but investigates occupants’ satisfaction among all adults living in multi-family buildings in Sweden, providing a national context for the results presented in papers II and IV. The results indicate that occupants are generally satisfied with their dwellings, but indoor environment proved to have a statistically significant effect on overall satisfaction. The results in paper V indicate that energy and environmental factors have a minor impact on customers’ decision to purchase or rent an apartment. However, availability of information on building energy and environmental performance may have an effect on the likelihood of the buyers’ being interested in environmental qualities and consequently an impact on their decision. The study presented in paper VI shows that customer interest in energy and environmental factors has a significant impact on stated willingness to pay for green dwellings. The paper discusses the stated willingness to pay for low-energy buildings and buildings with an environmental certificate and attempts to assess the rationale of the stated willingness to pay for low-energy dwellings given potential energy savings. / Fokus i detta forskningsprojekt har legat på att undersöka värdet av gröna bostäder ur ett brett perspektiv, dvs både genom att studera byggherrens och de boendes (kundens) synpunkter. I avhandlingen ingår sju uppsatser. Undersökningen av byggherrens synpunkter fokuserades på kostnader och potentiella inkomster (uppsats I och VII). Kundernas åsikter undersöktes på tre olika sätt: vilken effekt energi och miljö faktorer hade på beslut att köpa eller hyra en lägenhet (uppsats V), betalningsvilja för gröna bostäder (uppsats VI) och slutligen de boendes trivsel samt nöjdhet med inomhusmiljön (uppsats II,III och IV). Den första uppsatsen syftar till att undersöka om ökningen av investeringskostnader vid byggande av gröna byggnader kan täckas av framtida energibesparingar och minskning av driftkostnad. Investeringens lönsamhet undersöktes genom att jämföra skillnader i byggkostnader mellan konventionella och gröna bostäder med skillnader i driftskostnader givet olika antaganden om energipriser och räntekrav. Huvudfokus i uppsats VII var också byggkostnader, men denna gång undersöktes hur nya tekniska lösningar påverkar boarea och lönsamhet av energieffektiva bostäder.  Genom att konstruera en modell av ett typhus analyserades potentiella ökningar i boarea med nya lösningar och hur detta påverkade lönsamheten i olika geografiska lägen (prisnivåer). Uppsatserna II och IV presenterar resultat från boendeundersökningar. Båda uppsatserna syftar till att undersöka boendes trivsel och nöjdhet med inomhusmiljö samt att testa skillnaden i svar från boende i gröna och konventionella bostäder.  Uppsats III fokuserar också på inomhusmiljön, men analysen gjordes på svaren som samlades in under Boverkets projekt BETSI och resultaten är därmed representativa för alla vuxna som bor i flerfamiljshus i Sverige. Uppsats III ger därmed en national kontext för uppsatserna II och IV. Resultaten visar att boende trivs i sina bostäder, men inomhusmiljön har en statistiks signifikanta effekt på allmän nöjdhet faktor.. Resultaten i uppsats V tyder på att energi- och miljöaspekter spelar mindre roll i beslutet att köpa eller hyra en lägenhet. Den synliga informationens tillgänglighet angående byggnadens energi- och miljöprestanda, påverkar kundens intresse för dessa faktorer och därmed indirekt hushållets beslut. Resultaten i uppsats VI pekar på att kunderna, som är intresserade av byggnaders energi och miljö prestanda, är villiga att betala mer för gröna bostäder. I uppsats 6 diskuteras betalningsvilja för låg-energi byggnader och för byggnader med miljöcertifikat samt utvärderas om den angivna betalningsviljan är rationell beslut när man tar hänsyn till nuvärdet av framtida energibesparingar. / <p>QC 20131014</p>

A Robótica tem iniciado uma transição de Robótica Industrial para Robótica de Serviço, movendo-se em direção as necessidades diárias dos seres humanos. Para realizar essa transição, robôs necessitam de mais autonomia para executar tarefas em espaços dinâmicos ocupados por humanos, diferente dos ambientes controlados das fábricas. Nesta tese, é investigado um problema no qual um time de robôs completamente autônomos deve visitar certos locais em um ambiente interno usado por humanos a fim de executar algum tipo de tarefa. Este problema está relacionado a três importantes questões da Robótica e Inteligência Artificial (IA), que são: coordenação, localização e navegação. Para coordenar as visitas nos locais desejados, um escalonamento deve ser realizado para encontrar as rotas para os robôs. Tal escalonamento deve minimizar a distância total viajada pelo time e também balancear as rotas. Este problema pode ser modelado como sendo uma instância do Problema dos Múltiplos Caixeiros Viajantes (PMCV). Como este problema é classificado como NP-Difícil, é proposto o uso de algoritmos aproximados para encontrar soluções satisfatórias para o problema. Uma vez que as rotas estão computadas, os robôs necessitam de se localizar no ambiente para que eles tenham certeza de que estão visitando os lugares corretos. Muitas técnicas de localização não são muito precisas em ambientes internos devido a diferentes tipos de ruídos. Desta forma, é proposto uma combinação de duas delas. Nesta abordagem, um algoritmo de localização WiFi rastreia a localização global do robô, enquanto um algoritmo de localização Kinect estima sua posição atual dentro da área delimitada pela localização global. Depois de visitar um dado local de sua rota, o robô deve navegar em direção ao próximo. A navegação em ambientes internos ocupados por humanos é uma tarefa difícil, uma vez que muitos objetos móveis e dinâmicos podem ser encontrados no caminho. Para isso, o robô deve possuir controles reativos para evitar colidir com objetos dinâmicos, como pessoas, enquanto ele navega. Além disso, objetos móveis, como mobílias, são passíveis de serem movidos frequentemente, o que muda o mapa utilizado para planejar o caminho do robô. Para resolver estes problemas, é proposto um algoritmo de desvio de obstáculos e um planejador dinâmico de caminho para ambientes internos ocupados por humanos. Desta forma, esta tese contribui com uma série de algoritmos para os problemas de coordenação, localização e navegação. São introduzidos: Algoritmos Genéticos (AGs) multi-objetivo para resolver o Problema dos Múltiplos Caixeiros Viajantes, abordagens de localização que utilizam a técnica de Filtro de Partículas (FP) com dispositivos Kinect e WiFi, um Sistema Híbrido Inteligente (SHI) baseado em Lógica Fuzzy (LF) e Redes Neuronais Artificiais (RNA) para desvio de obstáculos e uma adaptação do algoritmo D*Lite que permite o robô replanejar caminhos de forma eficiente e requisitar auxílio humano se necessário. Todos os algoritmos são avaliados em robôs reais e simuladores, demonstrando seus desempenhos em resolver os problemas abordados nesta tese. / Robotics has started the transition from industrial into service robotics, moving closer towards humans daily needs. To accomplish this transition, robots require more autonomy to perform tasks in dynamic spaces occupied by humans, different from well controlled environments of factory floors. In this thesis, we investigate a problem in which a team of completely autonomous robots needs to visit certain locations in an indoor human environment in order to perform some kind of task. This problem is related to three important issues of Robotics and \ac{AI}, namely: coordination, localization and navigation. To coordinate the visits in the desired locations, a scheduling must be performed to find routes for the robots. Such scheduling needs to minimize the total distance traveled by the team and also to balance the routes. We model this problem as being an instance of the multiple Traveling Salesmen Problem (mTSP). Since it is classified as NP-Hard, we propose the use of approximation algorithms to find reasonable solutions to the problem. Once the routes are computed, the robots need to localize themselves in the environment so they can be sure that they are visiting the right places. Many localization techniques are not very accurate in indoor human environments due to different types of noise. Therefore, we propose the combination of two of them. In such approach, a WiFi localization algorithm tracks the global location of the robot while a Kinect localization algorithm estimates its current pose on that area. After visiting a given location of its route, the robot must navigate towards the next one. Navigation in indoor human environments is a challenging task as many moving and movable objects can be found in the way. The robot should be equipped with a reactive controller to avoid colliding with moving objects, like people, while it is navigating. Also, movable objects, such as furniture, are likely to be moved frequently, which changes the map used to plan the robot's path. To tackle these problems, we introduce an obstacle avoidance algorithm and a dynamic path planner for navigation in indoor human environments. We contribute a series of algorithms for the problems of coordination, localization, and navigation. We introduce: multi-objective Genetic Algorithms (GAs) to solve the mTSP, localization approaches that use Particle Filters (PFs) with Kinect and WiFi devices, a Hybrid Intelligent System (HIS) based on Fuzzy Logic (FL) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for obstacle avoidance, and an adaptation to the D*Lite algorithm that enables robots to replan paths efficiently and also ask for human assistance if it is necessary. All algorithms are evaluated on real robots and simulators, demonstrating their performances to solve the problems addressed in this thesis. / Tese (Doutorado)

Syftet med detta arbete är att bidra med kunskap om hur förskollärare ser på lek och dess betydelse för barns motoriska utveckling. De har fått dela med sig av sina tankar om hur lek och motorisk utveckling har för relation och vad förskollärare anser är deras roll vad gäller lek och motorisk utveckling. Detta har möjliggjorts genom att använda sig av det fenomenologiska perspektivet där människan erfar världen genom kropp och sinne. Tidigare forskning visar att det finns ett tydligt samband mellan lek och motorisk utveckling. Arbetet bygger på kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra förskollärare. Resultatet visar att förskollärarna anser att det finns ett tydligt samband vad gäller lek och motorisk utveckling. I resultatet framkom det även att pedagogerna i förskolan har en viktig roll i arbetet med lek och motorisk utveckling. Att vara närvarande pedagog förutsätter att fler är med och deltar och att det blir en jämnare nivå på leken. / The purpose of this work was to provide knowledge about how preschool teachers look at play and its importance for children´s motor development. They have shared their thoughts about how play and motor development are related and what preschoolers consider is their role in play and motor development. This has been made possible by using the phenomenological perspectives where man experiences the world through body and mind. Previous research shows that there is clear connection between play and motor development. The survey is based on qualitative interviews, semistructured interviews on four preschools teachers. The result shows that preschool teachers believe there is a clear connection in play and motor development. In the result, it was also found that the preschool teachers play and important role in the play and motor development. Being a present teacher assumes that more people participate and participate, and that there is more even level of play.

This master’s thesis is focuses on flow theory and optimizing current state of air distribution in theater hall by CFD simulations. A part of this thesis is project solution of one variant.

In Sweden, buildings are responsible for about 40 % of total energy use and about 10 % of total CO2 emissions Today more than 60 % of existing Swedish residential buildings are over 40 years old and are in need of major renovation. In addition, 15 % of all multi-family buildings and 27 % of all single-family houses were built before 1945. The increased energy use and threat from CO2 emissions of the building sector create a need for energy efficiency. The important role that renovation of residential buildings will play in reducing the total energy used by the Swedish building sector as well as in reducing primary energy use and CO2 emissions on both the national and global levels has been the impetus for the studies included in this thesis. The aim of the current research is to develop a methodology from a system perspective which can be used to analyze the energy use, optimal life cycle cost (LCC), energy efficiency measure (EEM) package, indoor environment, CO2 emissions, and primary energy use of a building or a community during major renovation. The developed methodology accomplished at three different levels, i.e. building level, cluster level and district level. The methodology considers both energy efficiency and economic viability during building renovation and will also play an important role in overall urban planning. The studied buildings include both non-listed and listed residential buildings and the tools used include building energy simulation (BES), survey, technical measurements, LCC optimization and building categorization. The results show that the combination of BES, technical measurements and surveys provides a holistic approach for evaluation of energy use and indoor environment of the studied residential buildings. The results from the current study also show that the 2020 energy target, i.e., reduction of energy use by 20 %, for the building sector can be achieved by all the studied building types and that the total LCC of these buildings are below the cost-optimal point. In comparison, the 2050 energy target, i.e., reduction of energy use by 50 %, for the building sector may be achieved by the non-listed buildings, but when the constraints relevant to listed buildings are added the cost-optimality changes as some EEMs in direct conflict with the building’s heritage value may not be implemented. The investigation of primary energy use and CO2 emissions by the residential buildings show that the higher the energy saving, the lower the primary energy use becomes, and vice versa. With the same energy saving, the heating system with higher primary energy factor results in higher primary energy use. From a CO2 emissions point of view, EEM packages proposed to help buildings connected to a CHP based district heating system, to reduce the energy use or LCC are not consistently effective. Since these EEM packages will reduce district heating demand, the electricity produced in the CHP plant will also decrease. When the biomass is considered a limited resource, measures such as investment in a biofuel boiler are not favourable from the CO2 emissions point of view. The current study has also shown that combining building categorization method and LCC optimization method will help the community to reduce its energy use, primary energy use and CO2 emissions in a systematic and strategic way. / I Sverige, står byggnadssektorn för cirka 40 % av den totala energianvändningen och cirka 10 % av CO2-utsläppen. Idag är mer än 60 % av befintliga svenska bostäder över 40 år gamla och i stort behov av renovering. Dessutom är 15 % av alla flerbostadshus och 27 % av alla småhus byggda före 1945. Den ökade energianvändningen och hotet från CO2-utsläpp från byggsektorn skapar ett behov av energieffektivisering. Grunden för studierna i denna avhandling är den stora betydelse som renoveringen av bostäder har, såväl för att kunna minska den totala energianvändningen som den primärenergianvändningen och CO2-utsläppen på både nationell och global nivå. Syftet med denna forskning är att utveckla en metodik ur ett systematiskt perspektiv som kan användas för att analysera energianvändning, finna optimal livscykelkostnad (LCC), skapa energieffektiviseringsåtgärdspaket, undersöka inomhusmiljöer, beräkna CO2-utsläpp och primärenergianvändning i en byggnad eller ett samhälle vid omfattande renovering. Den utvecklade metodiken som har använts i de aktuella studierna är på tre olika nivåer: byggnadsnivå, klusternivå och stadsdelsnivå. Metodiken avser både energieffektivitet och ekonomisk lönsamhet vid renovering av byggnader och kommer också att spela en viktig roll i den övergripande stadsplaneringen. De studerande byggnaderna i denna avhandling innefattar både historiska och icke-historiska bostäder. De använda verktygen inkluderar building energy simulering (BES), enkätundersökning, tekniska mätningar, LCC-optimering och byggnadskategorisering. Resultaten visar att kombinationen av BES, tekniska mätningar och enkätundersökning ger en god helhetsbild för utvärdering av energianvändning och inomhusmiljö av den studerade byggnaden. Resultaten från den aktuella studien visar också att 2020-energimålet, d.v.s. en minskning av energianvändningen med 20 % till 2020 av byggsektorn, kan uppnås i alla undersökta byggnader och att den totala LCC av dessa byggnader ligger under den kostnadsoptimala punkten. I jämförelse, kan 2050-energimålet, d.v.s. en minskning av energianvändningen med 50 % till 2050, kan uppnås i icke-historiska byggnader, men med hänsyn tagen till begränsningarna för historiska byggnader, ändras de kostnadsoptimala lösningarna, eftersom vissa energieffektiviseringsåtgärder är i direkt konflikt med byggnadens kulturhistoriska värde och därför inte kan genomföras. Undersökningen av primärenergianvändning och CO2-utsläpp i de studerade byggnaderna visar, att ju högre energibesparingen är, desto lägre blir primärenergianvändningen, och vise versa. Med lika mycket energibesparing, resulterar värmesystemet med högre primärenergifaktor i högre primärenergianvändning. Sett från CO2-utsläppssynvinkel, är de energieffektiviseringsåtgärdspaket, som kan hjälpa byggnader anslutna till ett kraftvärmebaserat fjärrvärmesystem att minska energianvändningen eller LCC, inte effektiva, eftersom dessa åtgärdspaket kommer att minska fjärrvärmeanvändningen. Detta leder till att mängden producerad el i ett kraftvärmeverk också kommer att minskas. När biobränsle betraktas som en begränsad resurs, är åtgärder som investering i en biobränslepanna inte energieffektiva från en CO2-utsläppssynvikel. Den aktuella studien visar också att kombinationen av byggnadskategorisering och LCC-optimering kommer att hjälpa byggnadssektorn att minska sin energianvändning, primärenergianvändning och CO2-utsläpp på ett systematiskt och strategiskt sätt.

There is concern about the indoor environment in aircraft but few stud-ies exist on self-rated health (SRH) and respiratory symptoms among pilots. Occupational and non-occupational risk factors for SRH, respira-tory symptoms and other symptoms among commercial pilots were investigated in this thesis. One cohort study and one prevalence study were performed among pilots in one Scandinavian airline company. Fungal DNA, furry pet allergens and volatile organic compounds of microbial origin (MVOC) were measured on board. Cat (fel d1), dog (Can f1) and horse (Ecu cx) allergens were found in all dust samples and allergen levels were 27-75 times higher in aircraft with textile seats as compared to leather surfaces. The sum of MVOCs in the cabin air was 3.7 times higher than in homes in Uppsala and 2-methyl-1-butanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol concentrations were 15-17 times higher. Asper-gillus/Penicillium DNA and Aspergillus versicolor DNA were more common in aircraft with textile seats. One fifth reported SRH as poor or fair, 62% had fatigue, 46% overweight/obesity and 71% insomnia. Poor or fair SRH was associated with overweight/obesity, lack of exercise, insomnia, low sense of coherence (SOC) and high work demand. Re-covery from work was worse among those with insomnia and low social support at work. Fatigue was more common among young or female pilots and related to insomnia and high work demand. Pilots flying MD80 or Saab 2000 aircraft had less fatigue. Pilots exposed to environmental tobacco (ETS) on board had more eye symptoms and fatigue which were reduced after the ban of smoking (in 1997). Pilots with increased work demand developed more rhinitis, dermal symptoms and fartigue and those with decreased work control developed more eye symptoms. The incidence of doctors’ diagnosed asthma and atopy were 2.4 and 16.6 per 1000 person years, respectively. Pilots changing type of flight got more airway infections. Those reporting decreased work control had a higher incidence of atopy. Risk factors in the home environment included ETS, dampness or mould, window pane condensation in winter and living in houses built after 1975. In conclusion, SRH and respiratory health among pilots are associated with specific occupational and non-occupational risk factors.

<p>The principal aim was to study selected aspects of indoor environment in dwellings and their association with symptoms compatible with the sick building syndrome (SBS). A validated questionnaire was developed specifically for residential indoor investigations, using sociological principles and test procedures. The questionnaire was mailed to 14,243 multi-family dwellings in Stockholm, selected by stratified random sampling. Females, subjects with a history of atopy, those above 65 y, and those in new buildings reported more symptoms. Subjects owning their own dwelling had less symptoms. A multiple regression model was developed, to identify residential buildings with a higher than expected occurrence of SBS. In total, 28.5% reported at least one sign of building dampness in their home (condensation on windows, humidity in the bathroom, mouldy odour, water leakage). All indicators of dampness were related to symptoms, even when adjusting for demographic data, and other building characteristics (OR=2.9-6.0). Associations between symptoms and other building data was evaluated in older houses, built before 1961. Subjects in older buildings with a mechanical ventilation system had fewer symptoms. Heating by electric radiators, and wood heating was associated with an increase of most types of symptoms (OR=1.2-5.0). Multiple sealing measures (OR=1.3), and major reconstruction (OR=1.1-1.9), was associated with an increase of symptoms. The effect of seasonal adapted ventilation (SAV) was studied in a small experimental study. A 20% reduction of ventilation flow from 0.5-0.8 ac/h to 0.4-0.5 ACH during the heating season increased the perception of poor indoor air quality in the dwelling in general, and in the bedroom. In conclusion, low building age, and building dampness in the dwelling are associated with SBS. In older houses, mechanical ventilation is beneficial. The thesis did not support the view that energy saving measures in general is an important risk factor for SBS, but major reconstruction and multiple sealing measures can be risk factor for symptoms. Reducing the outdoor ventilation flow below the current Swedish ventilation standard (0.5 ACH) may increase the perception of impaired air quality. </p>

The principal aim was to study selected aspects of indoor environment in dwellings and their association with symptoms compatible with the sick building syndrome (SBS). A validated questionnaire was developed specifically for residential indoor investigations, using sociological principles and test procedures. The questionnaire was mailed to 14,243 multi-family dwellings in Stockholm, selected by stratified random sampling. Females, subjects with a history of atopy, those above 65 y, and those in new buildings reported more symptoms. Subjects owning their own dwelling had less symptoms. A multiple regression model was developed, to identify residential buildings with a higher than expected occurrence of SBS. In total, 28.5% reported at least one sign of building dampness in their home (condensation on windows, humidity in the bathroom, mouldy odour, water leakage). All indicators of dampness were related to symptoms, even when adjusting for demographic data, and other building characteristics (OR=2.9-6.0). Associations between symptoms and other building data was evaluated in older houses, built before 1961. Subjects in older buildings with a mechanical ventilation system had fewer symptoms. Heating by electric radiators, and wood heating was associated with an increase of most types of symptoms (OR=1.2-5.0). Multiple sealing measures (OR=1.3), and major reconstruction (OR=1.1-1.9), was associated with an increase of symptoms. The effect of seasonal adapted ventilation (SAV) was studied in a small experimental study. A 20% reduction of ventilation flow from 0.5-0.8 ac/h to 0.4-0.5 ACH during the heating season increased the perception of poor indoor air quality in the dwelling in general, and in the bedroom. In conclusion, low building age, and building dampness in the dwelling are associated with SBS. In older houses, mechanical ventilation is beneficial. The thesis did not support the view that energy saving measures in general is an important risk factor for SBS, but major reconstruction and multiple sealing measures can be risk factor for symptoms. Reducing the outdoor ventilation flow below the current Swedish ventilation standard (0.5 ACH) may increase the perception of impaired air quality.

This thesis has been carried out on behalf of IV Produkt AB and intends to set an average ratio of thermal energy losses in apartment buildings that were built during the 1960-1990. This shall be derived by analyzing the total district energy consumption that has been divided into three parts: heat energy losses (the actual heating requirements), the heating of domestic hot water and heating energy consumption for the controlled ventilation. Three different residential areas that were built during the years 1962-1966 and one that was built in 1993 has been analyzed. All residential areas are located in Växjö urban and contains between four and six apartment buildings. The analyzed objects have a mechanical exhaust ventilation systems and district heating as the heating method. No own laboratory work or experiments have been done in this thesis, the calculations have been done on the basis of parameters from VEAB, interviews with property managers, and literature studies. By calculations, we have got a result that is reported in Chapter 6. The result is given as a thermal energy loss as a percentage of the total heat consumption. In this thesis there has also been a review of the rules on requirements for the specific energy consumptions in buildings, indoor environment and indoor temperature from the National Board of Housing and the National Board of Health and Welfare.