Syftet med examensarbetet är att bidra med ökad kunskap om hur plastanvändningen ser ut i dagens  byggande och vad den har för miljö- och hälsomässiga konsekvenser. Målet med studien är även att kunna visa på hur plastanvändningen kan förändras på ett hållbart sätt. Föratt kunna uppnå examensarbetets syfte och mål har tre stycken frågeställningar formulerats.

• Hur mycket och vilken typ av plast förekommer i en nybyggd villa idag?
• Vilka miljö- och hälsomässiga konsekvenser medför den plast som används i dagens byggande?
• Vad finns det för alternativa material, produkter och metoder?

För att svara på dessa frågor har en grundläggande litteraturstudie gjorts kompletterat men enkvantitativ fallstudie. Fallstudien utgår från en villa som är typisk för hur nybyggda villor byggsidag,  år  2018.  Objektet  som  valts  för  fallstudien  är  en  nyproducerad  enplansvilla  på  170kvadratmeter boyta. Plastprodukter har inventerats i stommaterial, installationer, emballageoch förpackningar.

Resultatet  av  inventeringen  visar på att  3181 kg plastprodukter inventerats i villan vilket betyder att nästan 19 kilogram plast går åt för varje kvadratmeter boyta. Viktmässigt återfanns85 procent av plasten i stommaterial, 11 procent i installationer och 4 procent till emballageoch förpackningar. Sammanställningen visar även att en övervägande del av plasten utgörs avpolystyren (PS). Därefter är polyvinylklorid (PVC), polyeten (PE) och polypropen (PP) de mestf örekommande plasterna.

Plasterna har även bedömts ur ett miljö- och hälsoperspektiv. Bedömningen utgår ifrån trekategorier; toxicitet, klimatpåverkan och avfall. Resultatet av miljö- och hälsobedömningenvisar att polyeten (PE) och polypropen (PP) är de mest skonsamma plasterna för miljö ochhälsa,  bortsett  från  biobaserade  plaster.  Den  farligaste  plasten  är  enligt  denna  studiepolyuretan (PUR) tätt följt av polyvinylklorid (PVC), polykarbonat (PC) och polystyren (PS).

Miljö- och hälsobedömningen av olika plasttyper visar på att det är viktigt att plast inte ses somett material utan en grupp av många olika material med olika egenskaper som är mer ellermindre  problematiska  för  hälsa  och  miljö.  Analysen  visar  även  att  flera  plastprodukter  i byggnadens stomme kan ersättas med alternativa material och på så sätt reducera inte baramängden plast utan även de miljö- och hälsokonsekvenser som plasten medför.

För installationsplast är det bästa alternativet i dagsläget att byta PVC-plast till bättre plast såsom PE och PP. Detta för att minska påverkan på miljö och hälsa både vid tillverkning ochåtervinning. För emballage- och förpackningsplast gäller det främst att minska engångsanvändningen och öka återanvändningen av förpackningsplasten.

För vidare studier kan det undersökas med vilka medel kan man hjälpa beslutsfattare inombyggbranschen att välja mer hållbara material, och studera hur stor påverkan den ekonomiskaaspekten har när material ska väljas. Ett annat förslag är att titta på hur plastanvändningenskiljer sig åt för olika typer av byggnader; flerbostadshus, offentliga byggnader, fritidshus.

The industrialized house-building movement has emerged as aresponse to recurring criticism of the construction sector. It seeks toemulate management practices prevalent in manufacturing industries,including the use of standardized work processes and building systems.This approach does, however, make industrialized house-buildingcontractors susceptible to unpredictable variations. Swedish localplanning authorities have a legal and democratic mandate to regulatethe built environment within its borders and views variations betweendifferent municipalities as a desirable consequence of a functional localdemocratic system. Meanwhile, industrialized house-buildingcontractors have highlighted variations in regulation of the builtenvironment as obstructive to their intended methods of managing thebuilding process. The aim of this thesis is to increase understanding ofhow local planning authorities make interpretations when regulatingthe built environment and how those interpretations influenceindustrialized house-building contractors and to, within the ongoingresearch process, identify theoretical perspectives suitable for describingtensions in the interface between industrialized house-building andlocal planning authorities. The theoretical frame of reference for thisthesis consists of two major streams of organizational literature:organizational coordination, operationalized though the concept ofcoordination mechanisms, and neo-institutional theory, operationalizedthrough institutional logics and institutional complexity. Theoverarching research strategy is best described as a case study approachinvestigating cases of institutional complexity in regulation of theSwedish built environment. The design consists of one multi-casestudy relying on interviews with representatives of industrializedhouse-building contractors and local planning authorities and onesingle-case study investigating a longitudinal land development processusing a combination of interviews, direct observations and documentanalysis. Findings indicate that local planning authorities faceinstitutional complexity stemming from three semi-compatibleinstitutional logics that each prescribe different roles for planningpractitioners and expectations for their behaviour. As some planningpractitioners are more attuned to particular logics than others, it is difficult to predict, for each given situation, which logic will beactivated. Furthermore, findings indicate that institutional logics can beviewed as coordination mechanisms, thereby highlighting afundamental tension between the coordination preferences ofindustrialized house-building contractors and local planning authorities.This tension causes a lack of accountability, predictability and commonunderstanding resulting in an inability for industrialized house-buildingcontractors and local planning authorities to coordinate theircontributions in the planning and building process. The findings implythat industrialized house-building contractors and local planningauthorities should attempt to acknowledge each other’s participation inand contributions to the planning and building process. The findingsalso highlight the importance of interpretations for regulation of thebuilt environment, which implies that not all sector-wide problems canor need be solved through legislative action.

Försörjningskedjan i byggprojekt konvergerar materialflödet mot byggarbetsplatsen. Där byggs materialet ihop till en enskild produkt. Materialhanteringen är en av de viktigaste faktorerna för hur byggprojekt presterar gällande kostnad, tid, säkerhet i planeringen och arbetsplatsolyckor. Att flera olika materialflöden hanteras i projektspecifika miljöer av projektspecifika organisationer innebär en komplicerad logistikhantering. Trots det är byggbranschen jämförelsevis dålig på att utnyttja expertis och moderna tekniker för att förbättra materialhanteringen.

Ett effektivt informationsflöde är väsentligt för att kunna upprätthålla ett effektivt materialflöde. Men byggprojekt har många olika källor till information med olika nivåer av detaljrikedom. Det leder till bristande kommunikation vilket får flera negativa effekter.

Tidigare studier (Xue, Wang, Shen & Yu, 2007; Donyavi & Flanagan 2009) har visat att det finns ett behov av digitala verktyg för styrning av försörjningskedjan till byggprojekt. Andra studier (Olsson, 2000; Samuelson & Björk, 2014; Blanco, Mullin, Pandya & Sribdhar, 2017) har visat att det sällan är en helt friktionsfri process att implementera nya rutiner och digitala verktyg i byggbranschen. Därför finns ett behov av att studera hur företag kan lyckas med implementering av digitala verktyg för materialhantering.

Målen med studien är att undersöka framgångsfaktorer för implementering av digitala verktyg för materialhantering i husbyggnadsprojekt och vilka effekter lyckad implementering kan leda till. Syftet är att öka effektiviteten i materialflöden i byggproduktion.

Den här studien har utförts som en flerfallsstudie på flerbostadsprojekt där ett digitalt verktyg för materialhantering använts. Fallstudien består av ett primärt fall och ett jämförande fall. I det primära fallet har en långsiktig implementering av det digitala verktyget misslyckats, till skillnad från i det jämförande fallet. Det digitala verktyget som ingår i fallstudien är Myloc Construction och det används bland annat för att koordinera transporter till byggarbetsplatsen. Fallstudien genomfördes som en intervjustudie. Utöver respondenter från de olika byggprojekten inkluderas även respondenter från utvecklaren av det digitala verktyget.

Det digitala verktyget tillgängliggör information om bland annat leveranser och förflyttningar påbyggarbetsplatsen. Detta förenklar koordineringen av materialflödet på byggarbetsplatsen och på så sätt kan det bidra till ökad samordning, färre störningar, minskad trängsel och effektivare godsmottagning. Dessutom finns ett bokningssystem för lyftresurser vilket gör det enklare att anpassa materialflödet efter resurstillgången eller vice versa. Studien har identifierat tre nyckelfaktorer för implementeringen av digitala verktyg för materialhantering:

• Planering - Förutsättningarna i produktionen måste anpassas efter hur logistiken och det digitala verktyget är tänkt att fungera.
• Resurser – En enhet som driver implementeringen av det digitala verktyget bör ägna sig åt att öka följsamheten och att driva igenom förbättringar i hanteringen av det digitalaverktyget. Hur mycket resurser som krävs för detta beror på logistikuppläggets komplexitet.
• Riktlinjer – Det krävs riktlinjer för hur det digitala verktyget ska hanteras. Dessa bör till stor del anpassas efter projektets förutsättningar. En riktlinje som är viktig oberoende av projektets utformning är att bestämma med vilken framförhållning som information ska matas in. Riktlinjerna kan antingen förmedlas via projektspecifika instruktioner eller via avtal.

Två tidigare studier (Olsson, 2000; Sullivan, Barthorpe och Robbins, 2010) har beskrivit att byggentreprenörer inte är vana vid att lägga resurser på att förbättra logistiken. Den här studien har bekräftat att det till viss del fortfarande är så, men studien tyder också på att detta är något som håller på att bli bättre. Dessutom bekräftar studien att användarna generellt är positivt inställda till att testa ny teknik för att utveckla sitt arbete.

En studie (Aloini, Dulmin, Mininno & Ponticelli, 2012) har visat att sen inblandning av aktörer, brist på samordnad utformning och bristfälligt urval av leverantörer är riskfaktorer för implementering av ett logistikkoncept som kallas Supply Chain Management. Studien som gjorts i detta examensarbete kunde identifiera att dessa riskfaktorer även hindrat implementeringen av det digitala verktyget för materialhantering.

To achieve continuous growth in society, a way forward is to ensure increased efficiency and productivity, the same applies to the construction industry. Some reports show that productivity in the construction sector has been stagnant for 80 years. Furthermore, some measurements even show that there has been a consistent decline in the construction industry's productivity. The construction industry has thus had weak growth in productivity.

Studies have shown that there are several factors that could theoretically have an impact on productivity, these are Effectiveness, Efficiency, Quality, Working Quality and Innovation. These factors have been described based on several known theories. The theories have mainly dealt with two areas, Wage forms and Motivation and driving forces. In the construction sector, piecework wages have long been used as a wage system to regulate the wages of skilled workers. A discussion that may therefore be interesting is about the impact of piecework wages on productivity.

 The overall aim of the project is to seek production-related descriptions of what may explain why productivity in the construction industry has a low development. The degree project, therefore, seeks explanations for which factors are considered in construction management to have an impact on productivity. Furthermore, it is investigated whether and what effect the piecework wages have on productivity.

 The degree project has been based on three studies. Initially, a literature study was carried out which aimed to both create a theoretical basis and create a reference based on scientific articles, journals and literature that can be used to analyze the results against. The second study was a web-based survey sent out to 390 site managers to create an idea of what factors people in construction management consider contributing to increased productivity, and to capture site managers' perception on the piecework wages has an impact on productivity. Besides, productivity and piecework wages were also described and defined by site managers. The response rate was 35%. Finally, an in-depth survey was conducted. The in-depth survey is a result of the analysis carried out on the first survey. The in-depth survey was sent to 10 site managers. The response rate was 60%.

 The study shows that:

• About 80 % of respondents believe that productivity has remained unchanged or decreased over the past 10 years. 80 % of the respondents also see a correlation between the piecework system and productivity in construction management. Furthermore, about 75 % believe that piecework contributes positively to productivity.
• Respondents believe that commitment is the most important factor in increasing productivity.
• Innovation and industrialization are undervalued when it comes to increasing productivity.
• The results also indicate that the construction industry today does not agree on the definition of the concept of productivity.

Adopting energy efficiency strategies in residential buildings are beneficial as these not only improve the energy performance but also improves the indoor thermal climate and minimizes the greenhouse gas emissions. There exist numerous studies on energy efficiency strategies and their influence on indoor thermal climate in residential buildings in cold climates. However, there is a lack of documented and systematic studies that explicitly investigated the selection of appropriate energy efficiency strategies and their impact on the indoor thermal climate in residential buildings in a subarctic climate. Moreover, the impact of such energy efficiency strategies on the life cycle energy use of buildings has not been given appropriate attention in the existing literature. Due to the extreme climate conditions in a subarctic climate – severe cold and dark winter with heavy snow and mild short summer – buildings require a considerable amount of heating energy to maintain a comfortable temperature indoors. Therefore, it is important to adopt energy efficiency strategies that can help obtain operational and life cycle energy savings along with a better indoor thermal climate.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of different energy efficiency strategies on energy use and thermal indoor climate of three selected case study residential buildings in a subarctic climate. Three research questions were formulated: (1) What is the impact of evaluated energy‐efficiency strategies on the operational energy use?, (2) What is the impact of evaluated energy‐efficiency strategies on the life‐cycle energy use?, and (3) What is the impact of evaluated energy‐efficiency strategies on the thermal indoor climate? To address research questions 1 and 3, implemented energy‐efficiency strategies in two low‐energy buildings were evaluated using measured energy data and dynamic building energy and indoor climate simulations. To address research question 2, different combinations of energy efficiency strategies were explored using a multiobjective optimization method to identify optimal retrofitting solutions in terms of life cycle energy savings for a 1980s building.

Results show that besides an airtight and highly insulated building envelope, a well‐functioning heating system is important to achieve low operational energy use. Findings highlight that the role of occupants is vital both in regard to the proper functioning of the heating system and to reduce the need for active heating in an airtight and highly insulated building. The occupants are also important in terms of maintaining a comfortable indoor thermal climate, especially during summer since manual airing and shading can help moderate temperatures indoors. Furthermore, findings show that applying glazed balconies is not necessarily a favorable strategy in terms of operational energy use and indoor thermal climate for a building in a subarctic climate. In comparison, using double instead of single pane balcony glazing and lowering the window to wall ratio improved the operational energy and indoor thermal climate performance. A combination of energy efficiency strategies including the addition of insulation on walls and roofs, there placement of windows from double pane to triple pane ones and the installation of heat recovery ventilation were found optimal to achieve considerable savings in both operational and life cycle energy use. In many cases, the fundamental aim of adopting energy efficiency strategies is to reduce operational energy use, while impacts on life cycle energy use and indoor thermal climate are less prioritized. The findings illustrate the importance of considering impacts on operational energy use, life cycle energy use and indoor thermal climate simultaneously to select energy efficiency strategies that ensure a better and more sustainable built environment.

As the operational energy use in buildings contributes highly to the total energy used and greenhouse gases emitted in the cold climate regions of Europe, buildings which are more energy-efficient and less carbon-intensive during operation are key to meet sustainability objectives in these regions. Yet, research shows that the practice of passive or low-energy buildings in the sub-arctic climate of northern Sweden is comparatively less than in the southern region. Moreover, previous studies did not explicitly examine the performance of low energy buildings in sub-arctic climate in relation to established building energy efficiency standards. Consequently, knowledge regarding the energy performance of low-energy buildings in such climate is limited. Therefore, the aim is to evaluate the performance, in terms of indoor temperature and energy use for heating, domestic hot water and electricity of a new-built passive house titled “Sjunde Huset” in the sub-arctic town of Kiruna. It is Sweden’s northernmost house designed to fulfil the Swedish passive-house criteria of a maximum heat loss factor of 17 W/m2 and a maximum annual energy use of 63 kWh/m2. The implemented passive design strategies include a highly insulated, compact and airtight building envelope with a vestibule, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and renewable energy production through photovoltaic solar cells. The house is connected to district heating and is equipped with energy-efficient appliances to allow low occupant energy use. Ongoing performance evaluation is based on building simulation and measurements of energy and temperature in different zones of the building. Energy performance deviations between occupied and non-occupied zones are explored through internal heat gain evaluations. The indoor temperature is also evaluated to assess the temperature variations throughout the year. The ongoing research further evaluate a comparative simulated and measured energy analysis of heating, hot water and electricity based on both the international passive house standard and the Swedish passive house criteria “Feby 12”.

Research has shown that glazed buildings can have higher energy use and are more prone to overheating than other types of buildings. However, few studies have explored the performance of glazed buildings in cold climates. This article aims to evaluate the energy and indoor thermal performance of a high-rise residential building with glazed façades and balconies under Nordic climatic conditions, through a parametric study. Dynamic, whole-year simulations are used to evaluate the impact of four design parameters (with and without glazed balconies, type of balcony glazing, window to wall ratio, and building location within the Nordic region) on the energy and indoor thermal performance of the building. The results show that the building without glazed balconies outperformed that with glazed balconies. Changing from single- to double-pane glazing also helped to reduce energy use and overheating, as did lowering the window-to-wall ratio. Overheating of apartments was found to occur during the summer in five of the six locations simulated, which suggests that solar control strategies might be needed for glazed buildings even in a Nordic climate. This study highlights the importance of further research on glazed residential buildings, which are becoming more common in contexts subject to such climates.

People living in the coastal regions of Bangladesh suffer extremely due to floods. Every year 20% of the land mass (∼27,000 km2) and 30 million inhabitants are exposed to flooding that triggers casualties, infrastructural damage, and deprived access to basic needs. Many policies and strategies already exist for managing flood-related disasters. Flood-shelters save lives but rarely equipped with sufficient food, clean water, sanitation, and electricity. New strategies are required to provide resilience in flood prone areas. This conceptual paper presents an innovative and integrated approach for up-scaling and enhancement of resilience in the flood prone regions of Bangladesh. The paper shows a conceptual design for a floating house with six innovation techniques for self-sufficiency and durability. The techniques include wind and flood tolerant structure, vertical gardening, rainwater harvesting, poultry and bio-digester unit, cage fishing, and renewable energy implementation. The techniques are low-tech and cost-efficient. Use of locally available materials enhances the resilience before and after flood. The design presents equality, balance and immense opportunities for the inhabitants. The 3R strategy (reduce, reuse and recycle) is one of the fundamental concepts of this floating house design. The design explores the possibilities of food security, waste management and energy challenge.

Projektet syftar till att arbeta fram en modell för hur modularisering kan utnyttjas praktiskt i byggsammanhang. Specifikt handlar det om att definiera och avgränsa moduler samt att redogöra för hur en teknisk plattform kan skapas som stöds av en individuell utveckling av moduler för tekniska installationer. Medverkande parter Universitet: Luleå tekniska universitet (LTU) Företag: Lindbäcks Bygg AB Norvag Byggsystem AB Moelven ByggModul AB Setra Group AB Martinsons Byggsystem AB

The usage phase of a building accounts for a significant part of the Swedish real estate sector's environmental impact, which makes existing properties an important area to work with to establish the climate footprint of the real estate sector. Various policy instruments have been developed in line with this, of which the environmental certification system has become widespread, but mainly for newly constructed buildings. By conducting a literature study and an interview study directed at representatives of a selection of Swedish real estate companies, the current study aims to answer the following two questions: 

-       What are the driving forces and motives for real estate companies to invest in environmental certification of existing buildings?

-       What added values and challenges do expert representatives from real estate companies see regarding environmental certification of buildings during the usage phase?

The respondents in the interview study are all active at Swedish real estate companies and represent different professional roles and expertise in the areas of environment, investment or property management. 

The interview study confirms several of the motives, driving forces, added values and challenges that have been pointed out in the literature, but also shows that differences exist between respondents and within different areas of expertise. Overall, there was a positive picture of implementing environmental certification systems for existing buildings. The respondents’ common motive for applying environmental certifications for existing buildings was the demand from tenants. The certification work in existing buildings generates an added value of control and quality assurance as well as a communicative value to the tenant, according to the interviews. The main challenges with the certification work was the increased workload and need for access to internal resources in terms of manpower and time, the extent of which vary with the varying state of the buildings. There was a number of identified added values, for instance how the certification cost for an existing property was perceived as less expensive compared to that of certifying a new building. The author interprets that the main driving force behind the implementation was the growing interest in environmentally certified buildings among tenants, and that this is a powerful impact that could be further utilized.

In conclusion, there are several underlying motives and driving forces for real estate companies to apply environmental certification systems for existing buildings, but the perceived utility depends on who is consulted and their professional role. The literature study and the empirical evidence show that ecological and economic benefits exist, but also that environmental certifications of existing buildings contribute to practical and administrative benefits. While the certification systems were associated with a number of practical and economic challenges, their extent was lower than expected. From an academic perspective, the study is important as new information about the use of environmental certification systems has been discovered, which may affect future development of the systems. Outside the academic perspective, the study can be used as a guide for, for example, real estate companies and consultants prior to environmental certification of existing buildings, which is important as it can mean savings of internal resources.

I dagens upphandlingar av projekt konkurrerar byggföretag både om att bygga billigt men också om att bygga snabbt. Därför är god byggbarhet viktigt för en effektiv planering. För att utföra ett byggprojekt gäller det att alla delar i ett projekt samverkar. Alla människor i ett projekt sitter på erfarenheter som kan hjälpa för att undvika att misstag upprepas. Erfarenheter och kunskap är informationhållare som bör spridas mellan alla aktörer i ett projekt för en god byggbarhet och planering. Att utvärdera vad som går bra men också mindre bra är viktigt för förbättringsarbete av arbetsmoment och processer.

Arbetets studie är att granska följande delar på några projekt hos Skanska Sverige Hus Stockholm.

• Granska hur erfarenhetsåterföring används för att förbättra byggbarhet och planering inom kommersiell byggproduktion.

• Granska hur organisatoriskt lärande och erfarenhetsåterföring sker mellan strategisk nivå till operationell nivå.

• Granska hur olika former för organisatoriskt lärande mellan projekt kan utvecklas för god byggbarhet och planering.

Fokus ligger på yrkesarbetarna, grunden i ett byggföretaget, som ofta inte sitter i beslutsfattande positioner.

Studien lyfter i vilka faktorer som främjas av organisatoriskt lärande och vad det innebär med kunskap både som individ och som en organisation. Med hjälp av erfarenheter kan en organisation växa. En organisation är uppbyggt av sina anställda och deras erfarenheter bör ses som en resurs. Byggbarhet beskrivs vara det element som kan effektiviserar projekt och kan förändras i tidigt skede genom att få in erfarenheter om fungerande eller inte fungerande arbetsmoment eller byggnadsmaterial. De personer som sitter på denna kunskap är dem som praktiskt arbetar med det varje dag, det vill säga yrkesarbetarna.

I dagsläget är det ofta projektledningens olika medlemmar som tar beslut på egen hand, utan en praktisk kunskap. Detta framkommer i både observationerna och intervjuerna. Projektledningen har en begränsad praktisk kunskap och yrkesarbetarna känner ett utanförskap. Yrkesarbetarna har åsikter men de vet inte vem de ska vända sig till. I vissa fall antar yrkesarbetarna att ingen bryr sig om deras åsikter ändå. Det är en tråkig inställning som tyder att det organisatoriska lärandet inte märks av i organisationens grund. Däremot säger organisationens mål och visioner att arbete för att dela erfarenheter är viktigt. Detta arbete mot organisationens mål sker till största del bara på strategisk nivå och har inte nått till yrkesarbetarna på operationell nivå.

Resultates grundstenar i detta arbete är att börja prata och lyssna på varandra. För att förstå varandra behövs information och erfarenheter spridas mellan alla anställda i organisationen. Studien visar att det behövs strukturella medel för spridning av information, dokumentation och implementering. Det måste visas från organisationens strategiska sida att all kunskap är lika värd och alla bör känna att deras erfarenhet är viktig. I dagsläget har den operationella nivån svårt att veta hur den kan påverka och resultaten visar tydligt att YA har liten påverkan i beslut för bättre byggbarhet och planering

Bioeconomy helps to move towards a renewable, fossil-free future. The environmental impact is significantly reduced when replacing fossil-based products with bio-based alternatives. In a bioeconomy, all products are made from renewable and biogenic resources. In the building sector examples for biogenic sources are traditionally wooden building structures, while green roofs are becoming more popular. The goal of the present project was to assess the amount of biogenic carbon stored in green roofs and wooden buildings overall. The question is whether green roofs are improving the biogenic carbon usage of buildings and find out how that can be improved. The methods used are based on construction modelling, life cycle assessment and standardised environmental product declaration (EPD). The results indicate that wooden building structures are not enough for a complete biogenic building to move to a renewable, fossil-free future. Furthermore, the green roofs do add more biogenic carbon to the building than conventional roofs, while seen over the whole building these benefits are negligible. The results are presented as renewable and nonrenewable energy as well as biogenic carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. These are compared with conventional roofing based on non-renewable standard roofs in Sweden.

Municipalities in Sweden govern construction projects on municipal land through requirements that sometimes go beyond national building regulations in order to advance sustainable building practices. The purpose of this paper is to explore the process of negotiating such project specific requirements for construction projects built by private housing developers on municipal land. The paper builds on a case study of an innovative urban development programme in Stockholm where interviews with private housing developers and municipal representatives and observations of meetings, seminars and forums were conducted. Emerging negotiations between the municipality and private housing developers over project specific requirements set by the municipality were explored and analysed using the concepts of product and process innovation. Findings reveal that housing developers try to remove or change those requirements that are considered to increase costs, increase risks and decrease the value of their final product. This paper illustrates how project requirements for construction projects on municipal land are dependent upon early phase negotiations between the municipality and housing developer.

Swedish municipalities are taking an active role in shaping and implementing sustainability-related policies in urban development by initiating and governing sustainability-profiled district developments on municipally owned land. To drive sustainable development and innovation in these districts and develop future policies, municipalities use land allocation agreements to set project-specific sustainability requirements on housing development projects that go beyond the current national building regulations. Developers play a key role in implementing these municipal sustainability requirements. The purpose of this paper is to explore housing developers’ perceived barriers to implementing municipal sustainability requirements in their projects, which ultimately constrain possibilities for municipalities to drive sustainable development. Findings are based on case studies of two sustainability-profiled district developments in different Swedish municipalities. Main barriers perceived by the developers could be categorized into: (1) increased costs when adapting to unforeseen changes that constrain project budgets and (2) conflicting interests and objectives between interdependent actors. These barriers are contextualised within the relationship between the developers and municipalities. Contributions are made to literature on developers’ roles and perspectives in sustainability-oriented urban development. We illustrate how conflicting short-term and long-term interests between developers and municipalities complicate and impede problem solving in housing development projects. This calls for more research on these actors’ interests, and how they align and conflict in these types of projects. Findings also illustrate how developers resolve issues through interactions with municipalities, indicating collaborative problem solving processes to investigate further.

Purpose

This paper aims to provide decision support for precast concrete contractors about both precastconcrete supply chain strategies and construction configurations.

Design/Methodology/Approach

This paper proposes a simulation-based optimisation for supplychain and construction (SOSC) during the planning phase of PC building projects. The discrete eventsimulation is used to capture the characteristics of supply chain and construction processes, and calculate construction objectives under different plans. Particle swarm optimisation is combined with simulation tofind optimal supply chain strategies and construction configurations.

Findings

The efficiency of SOSC is compared with the parametric simulation approach. Over 70 per centof time and effort used to simulate and compare alternative plans is saved owing to SOSC.

Research Limitations/Implications

Building simulation model costs a lot of time and effort. The data requirement of the proposed method is high.

Practical Implications

The proposed SOSC approach can provide decision support for PC contractorsby optimising supply chain strategies and construction configurations.

Originality/Value

This paper has two contributions: one is in providing a decision support tool SOSC tooptimise both supply chain strategies and construction configurations, while the other is in building aprototype of SOSC and testing it in a case study.

The production and transportation capabilities of a precast concrete (PC) component supplier have great impact on the construction of a PC building project. In China, the production and transportation capabilities of different PC suppliers can vary greatly, which will influence contractors’ selection of PC supply chain strategies. However, previous studies often considered the capabilities of PC suppliers to be ideal and failed to compare different PC supply chain strategies under different levels of suppliers capabilities. This study collects detailed data from a PC building project and uses discrete event simulation (DES) to compare different supply chain strategies under different production and transportation capability levels of PC suppliers. Construction duration, construction cost, and greenhouse gas emissions are selected as indicators to compare three different supply chain strategies: just-in-time, on-site storage, and off-site storage. The strengths and weaknesses of each strategy under different capabilities of PC suppliers are found. The results provides guidance for contractors in selecting supply chain strategies when considering PC suppliers’ production and transportation capabilities.  

In many cold regions around the world, such as northern China and the Nordic countries,on‐site concrete is often cured in cold weather conditions. To protect the concrete from freezing or excessively long maturation during the hardening process, contractors use curing measures. Different types of curing measures have different effects on construction duration, cost, and greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, to maximize their sustainability and financial benefits, contractors need to select the appropriate curing measures against different weather conditions. However, there is still a lack of efficient decision support tools for selecting the optimal curing measures, considering the temperature conditions and effects on construction performance. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a Modeling‐Automation‐Decision Support (MADS) framework and tool to help contractors select curing measures to optimize performance in terms of duration, cost, and CO₂ emissions under prevailing temperatures. The developed framework combines a concrete maturity analysis (CMA) tool, a discrete event simulation (DES), and a decision support module to select the best curing measures. The CMA tool calculates the duration of concrete curing needed to reach the required strength, based on the chosen curing measures and anticipated weather conditions. The DES simulates all construction activities to provide input for the CMA and uses the CMA results to evaluate construction performance. To analyze the effectiveness of the proposed framework, a software prototype was developed and tested on a case study in Sweden. The results show that the developed framework can efficiently propose solutions that significantlyreduce curing duration and CO₂ emissions.

The climate transition in the infrastructure and construction industry requires development of innovation. The development of climate and environmental innovation can be driven by an increased demand for sustainable solutions. Public clients account for a significant share of the demand in the built environment sector and can thus create a demand for markets. Demand could be driven by procurement strategies that could consider lead markets. Lead markets are those where innovation has proven to be successful before it has become established globally and can be described by seven factors that increase the probability that an innovation could be successful in a specific market in a country or region. The seven factors are price, demand, market structure, transfer, export, regulatory and technological advantages. The purpose of the study is therefore to study how comprehensive strategies could be used by public clients to create conditions for lead markets for climate and environmental innovations in supplier markets in the built environment sector in Sweden. The study consists of two case studies that consider public procurement at both national and municipal level with the clients: Trafikverket and Stockholms Stad. The study shows that the seven success factors of a lead market could be used by public clients as part of an overall procurement strategy to promote innovation on the supplier side, where regulatory advantages are most widely used while export advantages have the greatest potential to spread innovation to an industry level.  

The purpose of this paper is to take a critical, analytical approach to the concepts of waste and value in the leanliterature and how the concepts are applied in organisations’ lean efforts and the ambiguity surrounding theconcept of value.A review of the literature of lean was undertaken with a specific focus of the definitions of waste and value. Inaddition, it is illustrated how four case companies work with waste and value within a lean context. Theliterature review revealed that there have been significantly more frequent and exhaustive discussions of wastethan of value. Waste is often related to the seven wastes, but value is rarely clearly defined. The cases show anexclusive focus on waste reduction, which we argue can result in a loss of value.This paper provides a critical review of the relationship between waste and value and some of the consequencescaused by the actions taken by companies regarding solely focusing on waste. This paper demonstrates the orderwinner and order qualifier dimensions should be regarded in the analysis of waste and value, and incorporated inthe lean toolbox. In the lean research literature there is lack of discussion of the actual value for the customer. Weargue that finding a special concept of value in the lean literature would be desirable, and elaborating on value asa specific tool in the lean toolbox, since the concept of ‘waste’ cannot replace the concept of ‘value’.

Digitalization in industries, such as construction consulting affects the business models. This necessitates a deeper understanding of business model elements, including value creation and capturing. Business model innovation is essential for developing new models that ensure the change and alignment of various business elements to adapt effectively to these changes. This study examines the elements of value creation and capture by taking into account recommendations for business model innovation, referred to as asset-dominant logic, in the context of digitalization within the Swedish construction consulting industry. It focuses on how firms adapt to new approaches for creating and capturing value. Driven by digital technologies, such as design automation tools, the industry faces the challenge of shifting from project-based approaches to product- and service-based ones. This shift underscores the need to reassess value capturing, including current revenue models, to align with emerging value creation approaches.

 This thesis is derived from one published paper and one conference paper. It identifies recommendations for business model innovation through qualitative analysis, including a case study, structured and unstructured interviews, focus group discussions, and examination of internal documents and processes of the case firm. The research addresses a gap, considering what construction consulting firms need to account for when conducting business model innovation. It examines emerging market trends, such as productization and servitization, and explores their roles as new value-creation approaches impacting value capture within the industry. This study elaborates on asset-dominant logic as a collection of recommendations for business model innovation in the Swedish construction consulting industry in a digital era, including shifting value creation and adaption in the value-capturing approaches. 

 To elaborate on asset-dominant logic, the new business model approaches to value creation should be product-based, service-based, and digital-based. There is evidence that some parts of the construction consulting industry are starting to shift from a project-based approach to a product-based approach, referred to as productization. Regarding value-capturing recommendations, the study introduces a framework for identifying, selecting, and evaluating alternative revenue models that align with new value-creation approaches. Regarding other recommendations, it is essential to identify different target markets for each specific digital tool, with distinct revenue models tailored for each market. Also, maintaining a diverse portfolio of revenue models is vital to provide to a broad range of clients. Furthermore, the level and objectives of digitalization are essential factors to consider in both value creation and capture.

 The asset-dominant logic, which includes a collection of recommendations for business model innovation that should be expanded in future studies, enables firms to maintain a competitive edge by adopting new business models in the digital era. This adaptability allows construction consulting firms to meet client expectations, navigate digitalization challenges, such as the digitalization paradox and return on investment, and align with the digital landscape.

Tall timber buildings are built around the world and the development is moving forward. Tall timber buildings are sensitive to wind-induced vibration and can cause discomfort for humans. In this report is the results from a dynamic analysis preformed on a cross-laminated buildings system presented. Size and placement of openings and floor plans have been investigated using finite element analysis and dynamic modal analyses. The results show that asymmetric placement of openings and asymmetric floor plans may affect the dynamic behaviour of tall timber buildings. Asymmetry can cause modes with a tendency to rotate and even diagonal modes. Timber buildings may have problem to fulfil the comfort criteria already at a slenderness of 1.5-2.1.

Engineers face new challenges as taller timber buildings are constructed. According to Eurocode 1-4, both horizontal deformations from static wind and acceleration levels shall be limited. Due to the low self-weight of wood, dynamic vibrations and acceleration levels cancause problems. The current knowledge in the field is limited and there is a need for increasing the understanding of dynamic properties in tall timber buildings. This research project has been a collaboration between Luleå Technical University and Sweco Structures AB, where the author has gained practical experience as a designer in parallel to the research studies.

The purpose of this research is to understand and describe the dynamic behaviour of tall timber buildings using FE-simulations , studying their dynamic properties, and comparing acceleration levels to comfort criteria. By varying different parameters, dynamic properties have been studied and compared with assumptions and recommendations in Eurocode 1-4.

In this study, buildings with cross-laminated timber panels (CLT) have been studied but also post-and-beam systems with trusses. Depending on the shape, layout and materials of the building, the dynamic properties of the building will vary: natural frequency, mode shape, modal mass, and modal stiffness. To assess the comfort of the building, the standard ISO 10137 has been used evaluating the natural frequency of the building and its peak acceleration. Simulations have been performed using finite element (FE) software where modal analyses have been performed. Over 250 simulations have been performed in this study.

Adding mass reduces the natural frequency and the acceleration level of the building, which is an appropriate measure if the building has a frequency below 1 Hz. Increased stiffness increases the natural frequency and reduces the acceleration level, which is suitable for buildings with a natural frequency over 2 Hz.

The empirical expression f = 46 / h should be used with caution as it is based onmeasurements of concrete and steel buildings. The recommendation is to perform FEsimulations until the empirical knowledge base is sufficient for timber buildings.

The placement of the stabilizing system is important for creating a balanced (symmetrical) system resulting in pure translation modes. Eurocode 1-4 presupposes 2D modes in the plane while asymmetry can create diagonal and even torsional modes, which Eurocode 1-4 cannot handle. Openings and asymmetry in the floor plan affect the dynamic properties of the building. The assumption that the building can be modelled as a homogeneous beam where the mass is evenly distributed can result in an over- or underestimation of the equivalent mass, which in turn can lead to an underestimation of the acceleration level, around 20% - 30%. It is recommended that the equivalent mass is calculated from FE generated modal mass and mode shapes.

Acceleration levels vary over the building height depending on the mode shape. Timber buildings with a slenderness <3.9 have more or less a pure shear mode and with increasing height it shifts to a linear mode. For timber buildings, it is recommended to use the generated mode shape from FE simulations, and not those prescribed in Eurocode 1-4 as these can underestimate the acceleration levels, around 30 %.

Incorrect prediction of dynamic properties of tall buildings can lead to discomfort for humans. It is therefore important to understand the dynamic characteristics such as natural frequency, mode shape and damping and the influence they have on acceleration levels. The aim of this study is to compare two timber building system, one with cross laminated panels and one with post-and-beam elements with diagonals for stabilisation. Empirical formulae for predicting the natural frequency and mode shape are compared to measured and numerical results. Tall building assumptions such as ‘line-like’ behaviour and lumped mass at certain points were evaluated for both systems. The post-and-beam system showed a stiffer behaviour than the cross laminated system where more shear deformation occurred. Empirical formulae should be used with care until more data is collected.  For the post-and-beam systems an assumption of linearity may be appropriate, but for cross laminated systems the approximation can give results on the unsafe side. Finally, the relationship between stiffness and mass for cross laminated timber systems and its effect on dynamic properties needs to be further investigated.

A current trend (2016) to construct high-rise timber buildings is seen. In order to understand the limitations posed by the timber material, wind-induced dynamic behaviour causing vibrations in the serviceability limit state has to be studied. The aim of this research is to calculate the natural frequency and acceleration levels of timber buildings having a cross-laminated timber structure to further the understanding of its behaviour and how a change in parameters affects building performance as reflected against comfort criteria. The results were calculated through finite element modelling using commercial software and by performing a modal analysis. The parameters under scrutiny were material stiffness, wall density, damping ratio, building height, and building footprint. The results show that even at moderate building heights (12-14 storeys), the comfort criteria are not fulfilled. Furthermore, the interaction between stiffness and mass for timber buildings needs to be explored further. And since the change of building footprint has a strong influence on the dynamic behaviour, the interplay between architectural and structural design becomes more important. Finally, more data on measurements of damping in timber buildings need to be collected to further validate simulation models.

As a part of supply chain management (SCM) initiatives to improve performance and productivity in construction projects, the use of construction logistics setups (CLSs) operated by third-party logistics (TPL) providers have increased. CLSs are often used in complex multi-project contexts, such as urban development districts, where extensive coordination of actors, resources, and activities is needed. The purpose of this paper is twofold: to investigate how main contractors engage in horizontal relationships with each other when coordinating activities and resources within and across projects in a multi-project context, and to investigate what role a TPL provider assumes when engaging in relationships with main contractors in a multi-project context. The findings are based on a case study of an urban development district with a mandatory TPL-operated CLS, and we apply the industrial network approach. In this multi-project context, the main contractors engage in coopetitive relationships, coordinating activities and resources within and across projects. The TPL provider coordinates actors, resources, and activities, facilitating smoother production by managing logistics and mediating coopetitive relationships. This can be understood as a multi-project coordination role and extends the role SCM can play in construction. In that role, a TPL provider can minimise tensions between coopetitive actors across a multitude of horizontal relationships and projects.

Client-contractor communication is vital for achieving project goals but also for adopting innovations. However, this type of communication does not take place across just one interface but across several. In the present study, barriers to client-contractor communication were addressed with the intention of specifically highlighting the potential impact of the project-based setting. A case study of a building project where process innovation was to be implemented provided the data. The analysis focused on meaning-making by different participants during progression of the project until its completion. Although the project was successfully completed, some of the aims of the process innovation were not realised as planned due to emerging meaning-making problems. A main suggestion from the reported findings was that the predominant project logic in construction may be a key barrier to client-contractor communication in implementing innovations presented by actors on the supply-side

Offentlig redovisning av licantiatuppsats. Lic.examen Jarkko Erikshammar, Träbyggnad, 20 dec kl 14.00 i F1031. Opponent Erik Sandberg LiU, Institutionen för ekonomisk och industriell utveckling, 581 83 Linköping, www.iei.liu.se

En kort sammanfattning om arbetet som doktorand och BACs framtida strategi och behov av unga välutbildade människor

Introduktion till Lean och jämförelse med Industrin

Design Management

Emneord: Lean, Värdeflödesanalys

Presentation av doktorsavhandling på School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading. 5th June 13.00-13.30

Visiting lecturer at M7014T Product Development Processes (7,5 Hp/ECTS)

Föreläsning om träbyggnadssystem inom industriellt byggandeFöreläsning om träbyggnadssystem inom industriellt byggande på University of Reading.

Vid Luleå tekniska universitet har parterna, dvs arbetsgivaren, Seko, SACO och Fackförbundet ST kommit överens om att avsätta kompetensutvecklingsmedel. Som institution/avdelning/enhet inbjuds att ansöka om medel för kompetensutveckling som gynnar individens eller gruppens arbetsmiljö och yrkesroll.

Som lärare eller doktorand vid Luleå tekniska universitet kan du få bidrag för att undervisa vid ett partneruniversitet i Europa via Education and Culture Lifelong Learning Programme. Som undervisning räknas all typ av undervisning av studenter, såsom föreläsningar, seminarier, individuell handledning, examination, etc.

Construction Management and Economics (December 2011) 29, 1247–1257