Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2003. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

This report is a life cycle assessment of a relatively newly built semidetached passive house/low energy house located in Östersund/Jämtland. The analysis concentrates on the building materials in the construction phase and the energy in the use phase for 50 years. The construction phase include frame, foundation, interior and exterior walls, ceiling and roof, middle floor structure, floor coverings, interior and exterior doors, windows, interior staircase with banisters, stove and FTX-ventilation system. The inventory to obtain the volume of each material has been made with the help of blueprints and interviews. The inventory of the use phase has been made using measurements from a parallel study by Itai Danielski of the energy use in the house (Danielski, Svensson & Fröling, 2013). The database Ecoinvent has been used to get a result for the volume and energy values. The inventory data is allocated and the characterization methods GWP, CED (cumulative energy demand) and USEtox are used. The aim of this study was to compare the construction phase with the use phase to see which phase that has the highest energy values ​​and environmental impact. Another goal was to examine which materials in the construction phase that has the highest embodied energy and environmental impact. The result shows that in a comparison between the construction phase and the use phase, and when considering the parameters included in this study, the use phase has the highest values for global warming potentials (around 54 %), cumulative energy demand (around 80 %), ecotoxicity (around 56 %), human non-carcinogenic toxicity (around 77 %) and total human toxicity (around 75 %). The construction phase has the highest values for human carcinogenic toxicity (around 57 %). Even if the use phase has the highest values in most categories the construction phase also has high values. As buildings become more energy efficient and with increasing use of renewable energy, the construction phase becomes more important from an environmental perspective. This means that the material choices which are made in passive houses become increasingly important if passive houses should be considered to be environmentally friendly also in the future. The study also shows that the FTX-ventilation system, some of the insulation materials (with cellular plastic sheets and rock wool in top), metals (with sheet metal roofing of steel in top), glued laminated timber and wood fiber boards  have some of the highest values of environmental impact and the highest embodied energy. These materials should in future buildings be considered, if possible, to be replaced with materials with less environmental impact. / Den här rapporten är en livscykelanalys av ett relativt nybyggt passivhus/lågenergihus som också är ett parhus (ett hus delat i två separata lägenheter) beläget i Östersund/Jämtland. Analysen koncentrerar sig på byggnadsmaterialen i konstruktionsfasen och energin i användningsfasen under 50 år. Konstruktionsfasen inkluderar stomme, grund, inner- och ytterväggar, inner- och yttertak, mellanbjälklag, golvbeklädnader, inner- och ytterdörrar, fönster, invändig trappa med trappräcke, kamin och FTX-ventilationssystem. Inventeringen för att få fram volymen på varje material har gjorts med hjälp av ritningar och intervjuer. Inventeringen av användningsfasen har gjorts med hjälp av mätvärden från en parallell studie av Itai Danielski på energianvändningen i huset (Danielski, Svensson & Fröling, 2013). Databasen Ecoinvent har sedan använts för att få fram ett resultat för volym- och energivärdena. Inventeringsdatan är allokerad och karaktäriseringsmetoderna GWP (globalt uppvärmingspotential), CED (kumulativt energibehov) och USEtox (toxicitet) har använts. Målet med studien är att jämföra konstruktionsfasen med användningsfasen för att kunna se vilken fas som har högst energivärden och miljöpåverkan. Målet är också att undersöka vilka material i konstruktionsfasen som har högst förkroppsligad energi och miljöpåverkan, i syftet att eventuellt kunna byta ut vissa material till miljövänligare alternativ, för att få ett miljövänligare hus i framtida liknande byggnationer. Resultaten visar att i en jämförelse mellan konstruktionsfasen och användningsfasen, och med hänsyn till de parametrar som ingår i studien, att användningsfasen har de högsta värdena för globalt uppvämingspotential (runt 54 %), kumulativt energibehov (runt 80 %), ekotoxicitet (runt 56 %), human icke-cancerogen toxicitet (runt 77 %) och total human toxicitet (runt 75 %). Konstruktionsfasen har högst värden för human cancerogen toxicitet (runt 57 %). Även om användningsfasen har högst värden i de flesta kategorierna så har även konstruktionsfasen höga värden. Ju mer energieffektiva husen blir och med en ökad användning av energi från förnyelsebara källor, desto viktigare blir konstruktionsfasen ur ett miljöperspektiv. Det betyder att materialvalen som görs i huset blir väldigt viktiga om passivhus ska fortsätta anses som miljövänliga även i framtiden. Denna studie visar också att FTX-ventilationssystemet, några av isoleringsmaterialen (med cellplasten och stenullen i topp), metallerna (med plåttaket av stål i topp), limträbalkar och träfiberskivor har några av de högsta värdena av miljöpåverkan och den högsta förkroppsligade energin. Dessa material borde i framtida byggnationer övervägas att om möjligt ersättas med andra material med mindre miljöpåverkan.

Every artifact in this consumerism world is connected to Earth’s four ecological layers. Everything around us, air, organism, water, and soil/rock also known by the names; atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. All together form the ecosphere, the place that contains all materials and resources that we use when creating artifacts.  »Every material that we use comes from the ecosphere and eventually goes back to it.« - Ann Thorpe The way humans use, extract, manufacture and dispose of materials has concerned me for many years, long before I started this design program. It has formed my way of making as a designer, and because of my love for textiles, I have been applying it in that field of practise. I want to design textiles that function and can be used frequently, with a purpose and in the end, decompose before I do. The aim of this conducted design project is to, in a playful way, break down the barrier between maker and user. Combined with unfolding the hidden truths about garments, how they are manufactured and where those textile components originate from. This would enable me to broaden my knowledge in the field and in return I will have the opportunity to share my insights with the public. Within this project I will also put the emphasis on the impact textiles have on our bodies, reproductive health and surrounding ecosystems.  Designing with the intention to highlight topics like this, the whole life cycle of garments, creates a stronger bond between user and maker. This is something I as a designer and maker want to build my foundation on.  In order to do this I needed to pin down where this conducted design project could take place and what sustainable possibilities of change it could embed for the future.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) was first described more than 100 years ago and is today the most common cause of dementia. It is one of the progressive neurodegenerative diseases that affect 47 million people around the world between the ages of 60 and 90. One of the contributing factors to AD is extracellular amyloid – β (Aβ) plaques that form as a result of protein aggregation. These Aβ proteins are neurotoxic, leading to degeneration of brain neurons and loss of cognitive abilities. Because AD largely affects society, researchers are constantly working to find a cure, which currently does not exist. The purpose of this study was to use Drosophila melanogaster as a living organism model for the expression of two types of Aβ proteins related to AD, Arctic (Glu22Gly) and TandemAβ, and to study the survival of these AD flies when Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was added to the fly food. The hypothesis was that BSA would be effective in slowing down and/or preventing formation of toxic Aβ-aggregates. The focus was therefore to investigate whether the AD flies would live longer if they were allowed to eat Bovine serum albumin and whether the soluble/insoluble Aβ levels in these flies would decrease in comparison to the control AD flies that were not allowed to eat BSA. The effect of BSA on toxicity was evaluated using survival assay on male flies and the levels of soluble/insoluble Aβ were evaluated using Meso Scale Discovery (MSD) on female flies. In both experiments, the following six groups of flies were examined: myow1118 ± BSA; myoArctic ± BSA; myoTandemAβ ± BSA. Conclusions from the studies are that the survival of AD flies could not be extended by adding 0.61 mM BSA to the food, rather the data showed a weak but significant toxic effect in the presence of BSA in the AD flies. However, MSD data showed a reduction of insoluble Aβ aggregates and an equilibrium shift from insoluble Aβ aggregates to soluble Aβ aggregates in the presence of BSA in the AD flies. Equilibrium shifts were particularly detectable in Myo-TandemAβ flies fed with BSA. In Myo-Arctic flies fed with BSA only reduction of insoluble Aβ could be detected. This shows that it is not the amount of Aβ aggregates that is decisive for toxicity, but rather the presence of specific aggregates that have toxic properties. If BSA shows good results in further studies, it could be used in the future to improve AD symptoms in patients.