Crowding in dwellings is an important public health issue. We hypothesize that overcrowding may cause indirect health effects by adversely affecting the dwelling itself, for example, by increasing dampness leading to mold. We therefore performed a systematic search and a scoping review on overcrowding leading to dwelling condition characteristics of relevance for health. A literature search was performed using the PubMed and Scopus databases up to 5 March 2021. The search yielded 100 records with relevant information. We found that overcrowding is defined in numerous ways and often address “socially deprived” populations. Six studies report associations of overcrowding with at least one dwelling condition characteristic, namely lead, cadmium, microorganism distribution, dust mite and cockroach allergens in dust, cockroach infestation, peeling paint, and mold. One of the studies reports associations between several characteristics, e.g., association of mold with cleanliness and rodent infestation, and points out the common use of pesticides. Additional characteristics were extracted from the remaining 94 records, without data on statistical associations with overcrowding. Our review suggests that multiple potentially hazardous dwelling condition characteristics often coincide in overcrowded dwellings. The epidemiological attribution of health effects to any characteristic is therefore difficult. Causal relationships are even more difficult to establish, as overcrowding is also associated with a range of social and other circumstances that may affect health. The complexity should be considered by scientists and practitioners dealing with overcrowding in dwellings. © 2022 by the authors.

The project aim was to develop knowledge about the energy performance of different door solutions. The door types that we have focused on are automatic sliding doors and revolving doors. Losses through a door depend on its U-value, infiltration leakage through the seal when closed and unintended air exchange when the door is open and in use. It is the last factor, the unintended air exchange when in use, which is mostly addressed in this report and it is also the most significant part when it comes to energy losses through entrance doors.

To achieve environmental targets, energy use in buildings must be reduced. There is a gap regarding knowledge about the energy losses through the entrances and how it affects the total energy use of the building. The problems regarding entrances are neglected in calculations of low energy buildings, even though they in many cases may have a large impact on the energy use. Meanwhile, the unintended air exchange through the doors is a parameter that has a large uncertainty and that is difficult to predict in energy calculations. To achieve a better accuracy in calculated energy performance, better methods and estimations regarding the unintentional air exchange through the entrances is needed.

In the project we measured air exchange rates through a revolving door and investigated the effect of temperature difference and door rotation speed in our laboratory, based on a reduced scale revolving door with the scaling 1:2.  Both temperature measurements and tracer gas measurements were performed, and the temperature measurements gave more stable results. The measured air exchange rate was affected more by the door rotation speed than the temperature difference, within the measuring ranges that was tested.

Further, we have also analyzed and applied existing calculation models for entrance doors. Calculations for estimating the energy losses for a door was made for a simple case study of an office building in Gothenburg, based on a number of different calculation models for sliding doors and revolving doors. The calculation results for this specific study show that the revolving door can prevent up to 60-90% of the losses compared to a sliding door depending on which air flow scenario, i.e., single sided- or cross ventilation, is considered for the sliding door. Better knowledge is needed to understand the actual air flow profile of real cases when the sliding door is installed in a building. Furthermore, additional studies are needed for the revolving door to ensure the results from this study by e.g., extended laboratory measurements and also field tests. Also, how other parameters such as wind (magnitude, direction and incidence angle) and door usage affecting air exchange through a revolving door is needed to be investigated further. Next step to develop a reliable model for revolving doors is to repeat the measurements performed in this project on a full scale revolving door and with a larger test range.

The share of electricity generation from renewable resources (e.g. wind and solar) is increasing, as a consequence of environmental targets, to avoid the imminent risks of climate change. Renewable generation is less predictable and controllable than conventional generation, which introduces new challenges for the energy system as a whole. Consequently, demand side management is gaining increased attention for its conceivable potential of providing

needed operational flexibility to the energy system. However, little is still known about the size, accessibility and cost of

using demand side flexibility on a broader scale. To attain better knowledge, this paper proposes a conceptual framework for how a forecasting tool, previously developed for California, could be adapted in a Swedish demand response potential study. This tool would enable prediction of the demand response potential on a system wide scale. The tool can then be used by researchers and policy makers in order to understand the size of the resource, prioritize research needs and to support policymaking.

The building sector accounts for approximately 40 percent of our energy use. To reach existing environmental targets energy use will have to be reduced in all building types. At the European level, the main legislative instrument for improving the energy efficiency of the building stock is the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The EPBD requires all member states to implement the directive in the building code and it also requires energy declarations to be performed at the building level.

The first objective of this thesis is to describe energy use in shopping malls in Sweden and to suggest how this energy use can be reduced. The second objective is to determine whether current regulatory requirements are effective in promoting energy efficiency measures in Swedish shopping malls. Only limited background information was found from national energy statistics and scientific papers that deal specifically with energy use in shopping malls. The data available are difficult to analyse and compare due to inconsistencies in terminology regarding nomenclature and system boundaries. An improved terminology is presented in the thesis, with a distinction between organisationally and functionally divided energy, to facilitate future studies. Furthermore, when it comes to designing shopping malls and evaluating their energy use, correct input data are required. For calculations and simulations of energy demand in buildings, internal and external load patterns are important input data. The thesis provides occupancy, lighting and infiltration load data for shopping malls.

Energy use in one shopping mall was investigated in detail and resulted in a validated calculation model for the prediction of energy use. To develop the calculation model an iterative empirical-theoretical methodology was used. It involved cross-checking measured data, assumptions related to operational and technical data, and model calculation results. The calculation model was then used for a more general analysis of energy efficiency measures and an evaluation of regulatory requirements. The thesis illustrates how the current building code and energy declarations are implemented in shopping malls today together with associated strengths and weaknesses.

Det övergripande syftet med uppdraget är att få en detaljerad bild över byggnaders energiprestanda i Sverige. Den första etappen, förstudien, går ut på att beskriva metoden för hur denna analys ska göras. Som etapp 2 genomförs själva nulägesanalysen och slut¬ligen i etapp 3 analyseras resultat och slutsatser presenteras. I denna rapport redogörs för etapp 1, dvs metodbeskrivningen för nulägesanalysen. Nulägesanalysen ska senare kunna användas för att följa upp hur satsningar på Näranoll¬energibyggnader (NNE) påverkar energianvändningen i hela byggnadsbeståndet, inte bara i de faktiska demonstrationsprojekt som beviljas stöd och där uppföljning är betydligt enklare. Resultatet av nulägesanalysen, och den uppföljande analysen (planerad till 2015), ska i förlängningen kunna vara ett stöd när de nationella målnivåerna för näranollenergi-byggnader bestäms. I denna rapport redogörs för etapp 1, dvs metodbeskrivningen för nulägesanalysen. Rapporten beskriver vilka statistikkällor som finns idag samt en metod för hur dessa kan bidra till en mer detaljerad bild av byggnaders energiprestanda under ett valt referensår.

In this study, a multizone model of an existing shopping mall is developed in IDA Indoor Climate and Energy (IDA ICE). The model is validated using field measurements regarding use of energy for heating, sum of cooling and ventilation, operational electricity and tenant electricity. In addition, other input data used are energy use, operation hours, customer frequency, lighting, building envelope, HVAC system and control strategies. In this study, a parameter analysis regarding the building orientation, glazed façade area ratio and lighting is conducted. Results show that the shops' lighting powers dominate the cooling demand and imply that current internal loads decreases the sensitivity regarding energy demand of moderate changes in the glazed façades and building orientation.