Miljömedvetenheten och ökat intresse för energieffektiva hus har gjort att byggnader isoleras som aldrig förr. Oftast är det på lång sikt ganska så lätt att räkna hem en ökad isoleringsmängd och det är just den ekonomiska vinsten som brukar lyftas fram som det främsta argument varför en beställare bör välja den tjockare isoleringen. För en beställare av hyresfastigheter är det oftast ekonomin som avgör ifall ett projekt ska påbörjas eller inte och denna studie ska därför vara en hjälp till att välja den mest ekonomiska isoleringstjockleken i väggar. Syftet med denna studie är att utreda var den optimala väggisoleringstjocken hamnar på en hyresfastighet med flerfamiljsbostäder som byggs på en begränsad byggyta. Inte sällan finns det krav på maximal byggyta från kommunen och då innebär det att ju tjockare isoleringen är desto mindre blir den uthyrningsbara boytan. Kvalitativa intervjuer låg till grund för att bestämma några vanligt förekommande ytterväggskonstruktioner som isoleringen sedan skulle optimeras på. Dessa ytterväggar placerades på en teoretisk referensbyggnad som därefter energiberäknades med hjälp av handberäkningar där matematiska uttryck för en varierande isoleringstjocklek användes. De teoretiska ytterväggarna kalkylerades därefter med hjälp av kalkylprogrammet Sektionsdata.  En livscykelkostnadsanalys utfördes sedan där historisk statistik på hyror, energipriser och räntor utnyttjades. Slutligen kunde en optimal isoleringstjocklek hittas för varje väggtyp. Väggkonstruktionerna som valts var två betongväggar och två träregelväggar, båda med puts respektive tegel. Optimal isoleringstjocklek för väggkonstruktionen betongstomme med tegel hamnade på 84mm. För väggkonstruktionen betongstomme med puts hamnade optimal isoleringstjocklek på 88mm. För väggkonstruktionerna med trästomme kunde en optimal isoleringstjocklek inte hittas eftersom väggarnas uppbyggnad med två respektive tre isoleringsskikt gjorde att väggarna förblev överisolerade i ett ekonomiskt perspektiv även vid minsta möjliga tjocklek på isoleringsskiktet som skulle optimeras.  Studien visar på att det med dagens byggregler ger en stor vinst att hålla nere på väggisoleringstjockleken på flerfamiljsbostäder som byggs på en begränsad byggyta. / Environmental awareness and increased interest in energy-efficient housing have made the buildings more insulated in Sweden. Usually, it is quite easy to calculate a profit from a greater amount of insulation, in the long term. This is usually the seller’s main argument to why the client should choose the thicker insulation. For a client that wants to build a rental property, it is usually the economy that determines whether a project should be started or not. Hopefully this study will be a help to choose the most economic insulation thickness in walls. The purpose of this study is to investigate where the optimum of wall insulation thickness is in an apartment building for renting which is built on a limited area. Quite often there are requirements for a maximum building area from the municipality, which means that the rentable living space will come smaller when the insulation gets thicker. Qualitative interviews were used to determinate the common wall constructions which the insulation would be optimized for. These walls were placed in a theoretical reference building in which the energy use were estimated using hand calculations where mathematical expressions of a variety of insulation thickness were used. Thereafter, the prices of the walls were calculated using a spreadsheet program called Sektionsdata. A life cycle cost analysis was performed in which the historical statistics on rents, energy prices and interest rates were used. Finally, the optimal insulation thickness was found for each wall type. The wall types chosen were a wall of concrete and brick, a wall of concrete and rendering, a wall of wood and brick and a wall of wood and rendering. Optimal insulation thickness of the wall with concrete and brick ended up at 84mm. For the wall of rendered concrete, the optimal insulation thickness ended up at 88mm. The optimal insulation thickness of the walls of wood could not be found as the wall structure with two and three insulation layers made the walls too isolated in an economic perspective even at a minimal thickness of the layer that was going to be optimized. The study shows that with current building codes in Sweden it is profitable to keep down the wall insulation thickness in an apartment building for renting, built on a limited area.

Chicago Pneumatic Division is a division in the Atlas Copco Group consisting of five acquisitions now operating together. Due to the number of recent acquisitions by Chicago Pneumatic Division, the number of distribution centres has increased, making its structure more complex. The main question studied are how many distribution centres the division should operate and how the product companies best will supply the distribution centres, today as well as in the future. Four distribution models are created, with consideration to goods flow as well as financial and environmental aspects, both in present and future situation. The thesis also includes bench-marking with Atlas Copco Tools and Assembly Systems, Electrolux and Dell. The analysis showed that the division should operate three distribution centres, carrying inventory of products from all production companies. This model is also sustainable environmentally and brings the benefit of one consolidated shipment to the customers.

The perpetual structural pavement design is currently being explored for usage in Canada and worldwide. This thick structural design can provide many potential benefits but it also has associated costs. Cold Canadian winters and warm summers impact pavement performance and make pavement design challenging. This is further complicated by a heavy dependence on trucks to transport imports and exports. Consequently, most Canadian roads are subjected to rapid deterioration due to high fatigue stresses and rapid growth of the traffic loads. The concept of a perpetual pavement design was raised to overcome the limitation of structural capacity of the conventional pavement designs. The concept of perpetual pavement was explained and introduced in this thesis and the benefits behind the perpetual pavement construction were studied. The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) and the Centre for Pavement and Transportation Technology (CPATT) joined their efforts in partnership with Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Ontario Hot Mix Producers Association (OHMPA), Stantec Consultant, McAsphalt and others to construct three test sections on the Highway 401. The goal was to monitor and evaluate the performance of three different pavement structural designs. Performance evaluation of test section was performed by evaluating the expected ability of pavement section to withstand the traffic loads and climate impact throughout the design life of that pavement section with minimum damage. The minimum damage is expressed as low vertical pressure on top of subgrade, low shear stresses in the surface course and low tensile strain at the bottom of asphalt layers. Perpetual pavement design with Rich Bottom Mix (RBM) layer, perpetual pavement design without RBM and a conventional pavement design were constructed and instrumented with various types of sensors. These are capable of monitoring the tensile strain in asphalt layers, vertical pressure on the subgrade surface, moisture in the subgrade material and the temperature profile in the pavement sections. The test section construction, sensor installation and preliminary modeling are all part of this thesis. Preliminary structural evaluation was performed by analyzing the three designs using a Mechanistic Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) model representing the three pavement designs constructed on the Highway 401. In addition, the WESLEA for Windows software was used to validate the long life performance of the perpetual pavement design. Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) was also performed for the perpetual and conventional pavement designs to evaluate the cost benefits associated with pavement designs for 70 year analysis period. In addition, the perpetual Pavement design philosophy for moderate and low traffic volume roads was also examined in this research. This pavement design involved creating a complete comparison and validation of the benefits of using perpetual asphalt pavements versus the conventional pavements in all road types and traffic categories. Structural evaluation of the pavement sections in moderate and low traffic volume roads was performed. In addition, LCCA was implemented to validate the perpetual and conventional structural pavement designs in moderate and low traffic volume roads.

Although the issue of uncertainties in cost model parameters has been recognized as an important aspect of life-cycle cost analysis, it is often ignored or not well treated in cost estimating. A simulation approach employing kernel estimation techniques and their asymptotic properties in the development of the probability distribution functions (PDFs) of cost estimates is proposed. This eliminates the guess work inherent in current simulation based cost estimating procedures, reduces the amount of data sampled and makes it easier to specify the accuracy desired in the estimated distribution. Building energy costs can be reduced considerably if air duct systems are designed for the least life-cycle cost. The IPS-Method, a simple approach to HVAC air duct design is suggested. The Diameter and Enhanced Friction Charts are also developed. These are charts that implicitly incorporate the LCC and are better than the existing Friction Chart for the selection of duct sizes. Through illustrative examples, the ease and effectiveness of these are demonstrated. For more complex designs, a Segregated Genetic Algorithm (SGA) is recommend. A sample problem with variable time-of-day operating conditions and utility rates is used to illustrate its capabilities. The results are compared to those obtained using weighted average flow rates and utility rates to show the life-cycle cost savings possible by using this approach. Although life-cycle cost savings may be only between 0.4% and 8.3% for some simple designs, much larger savings may occur with more complex designs and operating constraints. The SGA is combined with probabilistic cost estimating to optimize HVAC air duct systems with uncertainties in the model parameters. The designs based on the SGA method tended to be less sensitive to typical variations in the component physical parameters and, therefore, are expected to result in lower balancing and operating costs.

The cost of design, construction and maintenance of facilities is on continual rise. The demand is to construct facilities which have been designed by apply life cycle costing principles. These principles have already given strong decision making power to the manufacturing industry. The need to satisfy the environmental sustainability requirements, improve operational effectiveness of buildings and apply value engineering principles has increased the dependency on life cycle costing analysis. The objective is to obtain economically viable solutions by analyzing the alternatives during the design of a building. Though the LCCA process is able to give the desired results, it does have some problems which have stood as hindrances to the more widespread use of the LCCA concept and method. The literature study has highlighted that the problem areas are the lack of frameworks or mechanisms for collecting and storing data and the complexity of LCCA exercise, which involves the analysis of a thousand of building elements and a number of construction-type options and maintenance activities for each building element at detailed design stages. Building Information Modeling has been able to repeatedly answer the questions raised by the AEC industry. The aim of this study is to identify the areas where BIM can be effectively applied to the LCCA process and become a part of the workflow. In this study, initially four LCCA case studies are read and evaluated from the point of view of understanding the method in which the life cycle costing principles have been applied. The purpose, the type alternatives examined, the process of analysis, the type of software used and the results are understood. An attempt has been carried out to understand the workflow of the LCCA process. There is a confidence that Building Information Modeling is capable of handling changes during the design, construction and maintenance phases of the project. Since applying changes to any kind of information of the building during LCC analysis forms the core, it has become necessary to use computer building models for examining these changes. The building modeling softwares are enumerated. The case studies have highlighted that the evaluation of the alternatives are primarily to achieve energy efficient solutions for the buildings. Applying these solutions involves high initial costs. The return on investment is the means by which these solutions become viable to the owners of the facilities. This is where the LCCA has been applied. Two of the important cost elements of the LCC analysis are initial costs and the operating costs of the building. The collaboration of these modeling tools with other estimating software where the initial costs of the building can be generated is studied. The functions of the quantity take-off tools and estimating tools along with the interoperability between these tools are analyzed. The operating costs are generated from the software that focuses on sustainability. And the currently used tools for performing the calculations of the life cycle costing analysis are also observed. The objective is to identify if the currently available BIM tools and software can help in obtaining LCCA results and are able to offset the hindrances of the process. Therefore, the software are studied from the point of view of ease of handling data and the type of data that can be generated. Possible BIM workflows are suggested depending on the functions of the software and the relationship between them. The study has aimed at taking a snapshot the current tools available which can aid the LCCA process. The research is of significance to the construction industry as it forms a precursor to the application of Building Information Modeling to the LCCA process as it shows that it has the capacity of overcoming the obstacles for life cycle costing. This opens a window to the possibility of applying BIM to LCCA and furthering this study.

A substantial number of patients undergoing cardiac surgery are on dual anti-platelet treatment with clopidogrel and aspirin. A disadvantage with this treatment is increased risk of bleeding. Bleeding is a complication of major concern associated with adverse outcome for the patient and increased hospital resource utilization. Great variability in individual response to clopidogrel has been reported. If in vitro measurements of platelet reactivity would correlate with clinical bleeding parameters, potential bleeders could be identified preoperatively. The aims of this thesis were: (1) to describe the degree of pre-operative platelet inhibition in patients scheduled for primary isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery; (2) to prospectively investigate whether the pre-operative platelet inhibition correlated with intra- and postoperative bleeding and transfusion requirements; and (3) to test the ability of clinically relevant risk factors to predict re-exploration for bleeding. (4) In addition, a cost analysis was performed on patients re-explored for bleeding, to analyse the magnitude of added resource utilization and costs. Based on this, a cost model of prophylactic treatment with haemostatic drugs was calculated. Platelet function tests investigated were: (1) flow cytometry, (2) VASP, (3) VerifyNowSystem, (4) PlateletMapping (a modified TEG), and (5) PFA-100. Clinical risk factors for re-exploration and the influence of antiplatelet and antifibrinolytic therapy were evaluated in a retrospective analysis. Cost analysis at three cardiothoracic centres was performed in a case-control study. In conclusion, there was no clinically useful correlation between preoperative assessment of platelet inhibition and blood loss or transfusion requirements during coronary artery bypass surgery. Furthermore, there was only modest agreement between the methods evaluating ADP-receptor blockade. Pre-operative treatment with the P2Y12-receptor inhibitor clopidogrel was an essential risk factor for re-exploration due to bleeding. Except for clopidogrel, no strong clinical factor to predict the risk of re-exploration was identified. The resource utilisation costs were 47% higher in patients requiring re-exploration due to bleeding than in those not requiring re-exploration. Prolonged stay in the ICU and recovery ward accounted for half of the added cost, a third was due to the costs of surgery, one fifth due to increased cost of transfusions, and <2% was due to haemostatic drug treatment.

Anthropogenic disturbances to Alberta’s landscape have resulted in the widespread removal of indigenous plant communities. Steep slopes and limited topsoil are often barriers when trying to reestablish vegetation; however, native rhizomatous grass species have a number of traits that make them ideally suited to revegetate challenging sites. A field study evaluated the establishment of three species of native perennial rhizomatous grasses (Calamagrostis canadensis, Calamovilfa longifolia, and Hierochloe odorata) from three propagation methods. Initial results suggest that these species were able to establish and survive on these sites despite poor soil conditions. Establishment was poor in seeded plots (24.1%), but improved with root cuttings (75.9%) and nursery-grown plugs (96.3%). The use of vegetative establishment methods could increase the successful application of native grass species, and encourage their use in landscape design and restoration projects. / Thank you to Imperial Oil and the Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation for providing financial and material support for this project.

Wireless access networks today consume 0.5 percent of the global energy. Rapidly growing demand for new services and ubiqutious connectivity, will further increase the energy consumption. This situation imposes a big challenge for mobile operators not only due to soaring cost of energy, but also increasing concern for global warming and sustainable development. This thesis focuses on the energy efficiency issue at the system level and studies how to incorporate energy-awareness into the design of future wireless access networks. The main contributions have been given in the areas of energy efficiency assessment, architectural and operational solutions, and total cost of investment analysis. The precise evaluation of energy efficiency is the first essential step to determine optimized solutions where metrics and models constitute the two key elements.We show that maximizing energy efficiency is not always equivalent to minimizing energy consumption which is one of the main reasons behind the presented contradictory and disputable conclusions in the literature. Further we indicate that in order to avoid the debatable directions, energy efficient network design problems should be formulated with well defined coverage and capacity requirements. Moreover, we propose novel backhaul power consumption models considering various technology and architectural options relevant for urban and rural environments and show that backhaul will potentially become a bottleneck in future ultra-high capacity wireless access networks. Second, we focus on clean-slate network deployment solutions satisfying different quality of service requirements in a more energy efficient manner. We identify that the ratio between idle- and transmit power dependent power consumption of a base station as well as the network capacity requirement are the two key parameters that affect the energy-optimum design.While results show that macro cellular systems are the most energy efficient solution for moderate average traffic density, Hetnet solutions prevail homogeneous deployment due to their ability to increase the capacity with a relatively lower energy consumption and thus enable significant energy savings in medium and high capacity demand regions. Moreover, we investigate the energy saving potential of short-term energy aware management approach, i.e., cell DTX, taking advantage of low resource utilization in the current networks arising from strict QoS requirements. With the help of developed novel quantitative method, we show that Cell DTX brings striking reduction in energy consumption and further savings are achievable if the networks are designed taking into account the fact that network deployment and operation are closely related. Finally, we develop a general framework for investigating the main cost elements and for evaluating the viability of energy efficient solutions.We first reveal the strong positive impact of spectrum on both energy and infrastructure cost and further indicate that applying sustainable solutions might also bring total cost reduction, but the viability highly depends on unit cost values as well as the indirect cost benefits of energy efficiency. Results obtained in this dissertation might provide guidelines for the network designers to achieve future high-capacity and sustainable wireless access networks. / <p>QC 20140505</p>

The routing of the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline plays an important role in the future energy security of the European Union. The natural gas pipeline is planned to run from the natural gas fields in the Caspian Sea through Turkey. This project is a case study for a Geographic Information System (GIS) least-cost route analysis of a section of the proposed pipeline in Western Turkey. The route analysis comprised of weighting multiple types of criteria in a compiled risk assessment map that was analyzed by a least-cost algorithm to display the least hazardous route through the study area. Multiple varieties of criteria were considered such as, lithology, slope of terrain, environmental and social risk factors, e.g. proximity to natural reserves and urban centers, to provide the least hazardous route through the region. The derived least cost paths were more efficient than the proposed route in the relative cost associated with each route.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate hospital costs in Kaunas Medical University Hospital (KMUH). KMUH is the largest hospital in Lithuania, having 1995 in-patient beds, 26 specialised in-patient departments, 5130 employees, and providing wide range of in-patient services. Methods. Methods, used in the study include assessment of inputs and outputs, evaluation of average cost per case, estimation of cost structure, estimation of case-mix dimensions in in-patient departments and clinical categories and assessment of impact of case-mix dimensions to cost per case, using multiple regressionanalysis. Cross-sectional study designwas used in the study, evaluating mainly cases and expenses of all 26 specialised in-patient departments of KMUH per year 2002. Five cost groups have been used and defined inmonetary terms in each in-patient department: labour costs; medication costs; laboratory, radiology and anaesthesiology costs; running costs of medical equipment supply andother costs (including in-patients’ mealcosts, transportation, laundry, communication, etc. costs). Case was defined as one treatment episode in particular in-patient department. Cases were analysed using following case-mix dimensions: sex, age, absenceor presence of surgical operation, patient separation status and in-patientservice group. Results. Average costs per case vary widely among in-patient departments, ranging from 126.01 Litas (36.52 Euro) to 3451.68 Litas (999.73 Euro) per case.During the study average cost per case were also estimated in clinical profiles – surgery – 1161.0 Litas (336.24 Euro), therapy – 1312.15 Litas (380.02 Euro),obstetrics and gynaecology –685.82 Litas (198.62 Euro), newborn and child care – 893.54 Litas (258.78 Euro) and intensive care – 1292.92 Litas (374.45 Euro). Using multiple regression analysis method, costper case ineach in-patient department and clinical category according case-mix dimensions were predicted. In all in-patient departments predicted values of average costs per case according case-mix dimensions, comparing with actual values, did not differ so much. Positive contributions to predictedvalue of cost per case, shows only one variable – IA in-patient service group. In any predicted case contributions of independent variables have notbeen observedas significant (p&gt;0.05). Conclusions. Inputs (measured in the number of beds) and outputs (measured in the number of in-patientcases and the number of bed-days) are different across in-patient departments, as well as outputs (measured inthe number of treatment episodes according to case-mix dimensions). The average costs per case vary widely across in-patient departments and clinical categories. The analysis of the structure of average costs per case demonstrated striking differences in in-patient departments. In all in-patient departments the predicted values of the average costs per case according to case-mix dimensions, do not differ so much comparing with theactual observed costs per case. Positive contributions to the predicted value of the cost per case, shows only onevariable – IA in-patient service group. The results of the study have proved the evidence that clinical casestreated within the same in-patient department of the hospital are not similar. The results of studyhave showedthe failure of use of “in-patient service groups” as proxy of International Disease Classification due to numberof reasons / <p>ISBN 91-7997-101-6</p>