Sweden has a large multifamily housing stock that was built between 1960 and 1975. An important current issue is how this stock can be renovated in a sustainable way. The article analyses a strategy used by a suburban municipal housing company that had clear social ambitions and offered the tenants three options of renovation: Mini, Midi and Maxi. Most tenants chose the Mini alternative which meant that they could afford to stay and that there was no increase in costs for the social authorities. An investment analysis showed that the Mini alternative had a positive net present value, but that the Midi and Maxi alternatives were more profitable. Even though there was no clear environmental focus in the renovation, energy use was reduced by 8%. As a conclusion, the study shows that a sustainable renovation is possible but that there are a number of conflicts between the different dimensions of sustainability.

is paper reports the results from a study that attempts to identify factors that characterize housing firms with particularly ambitious approaches to energy efficiency in connection to renovation. The aim of the study was to identify factors that correlate with ambitious firms and the market they operate in. The study builds on previous results that identified four ideal types among Swedish housing firms, ranging from not ambitious to very ambitious with regards to energy efficiency. Based on the ideal types, this paper uses three levels of ambition and focuses on the more ambitious levels to see if there are factors that co-vary with an ambitious approach.

Six hypotheses were formulated; ambitious firms were believed to be municipal, to be operating in markets with high and/or volatile energy prices, to be operating in strong markets, to have building portfolios in need of renovation, to be large and to have an expert employee who champions energy efficiency issues.

Using web survey results from housing firms, an ordered probit model was used to test if level of ambition as the independent variable and a number of firm and market specific factors as dependent variables The results indicate support for some of the hypotheses; the probability of being ambitious increases if firms are municipally owned, have a building portfolio in need of renovation and have an employee who champions the energy efficiency issues. There were no indications that high/volatile energy prices, strong markets or firm size influence the probability of being more ambitious.

This thesis summarizes the results from several studies with connection to sustainability in construction and management of real estate. Here, the concept sustainability includes environmental, social and economic dimensions and focus is on the actors with the best possibilities to impact real estate, namely the real estate owners and the developers. The thesis consists of six papers. Real estate owners’ perception of and incentives and strategies for sustainability was studied in four ways: incentives for energy efficiency and other sustainability issues in connection to renovation (papers I and II), factors that characterize firms with an ambitious approach to energy efficiency (paper V) and economic incentives for energy efficiency (paper VI). Developers’ behavior and impact on sustainability was studied in two ways: how developers’ planning and construction methods may influence energy consumption for future residents (paper III) and how developers relate to requirements for building environmental certification levels (paper IV).

The first paper aims to clarify how housing firms see and treat energy efficiency matters in connection to renovation of multi-family buildings constructed during the 1960’s and 70’s. Interviews with housing firms resulted in four ideal housing firm types illustrating that housing firms have more or less incentives to improve energy efficiency. The second paper aimed to study a model for renovation of buildings in a residential area in peripheral Stockholm and to assess how it considers environmental, social and economic sustainability as well as technical concerns.

Paper V builds on the results in paper I and aims to identify factors, on a firm level as well as in the surroundings of the firm, that characterize housing firms who own multi-family buildings from the 1960’s and 70’s and who have an ambitious approach to energy efficiency.

Paper VI uses information from energy performance certificates to study whether better energy performance increases the selling price of single-family homes, which would increase owners’ incentives to improve energy efficiency.

Paper III takes its starting point in an indicated shift in developers’ planning and construction practices for laundry facilities in owner-occupied multi-family buildings. The paper aims to clarify whether a shift has actually occurred from communal laundry rooms to in-unit laundry appliances and to illuminate the impact this could have on residents’ energy consumption for laundry. Paper IV reports the study of how developers who have adopted the environmental certification system LEED relate to the requirements for specific certification levels and how updated requirements risk undermining developers’ incentives for sustainable construction.

Den här avhandlingen sammanfattar arbetet från flera studier med koppling till hållbarhet inom bygg och förvaltning av fastigheter. Begreppet hållbarhet omfattar här tre dimensioner: miljömässig, social och ekonomisk hållbarhet, och fokus ligger på de aktörer som har mest möjlighet att påverka fastigheterna, nämligen fastighetsägare och projektutvecklare. I avhandlingen ingår sex uppsatser. Fastighetsägares uppfattning av och incitament och strategier för hållbarhet undersöktes på fyra olika sätt: incitament för energieffektivisering och andra hållbarhetsfrågor i samband med renovering (uppsats I och II), faktorer som karaktäriserar företag med ett ambitiöst förhållningssätt i energieffektiviseringsfrågor (uppsats V) samt ekonomiska incitament för energieffektivisering (uppsats VI). Projektutvecklares beteende och påverkan på hållbarhet undersöktes på två sätt: hur projektutvecklares planering och byggmetoder kan påverka energianvändningen för framtida boende (uppsats III) och hur projektutvecklare förhåller sig till kravnivåer i miljöcertifiering av byggnader (uppsats IV).

Den första uppsatsen syftar till att belysa hur bostadsföretag ser på och behandlar energieffektiviseringsfrågor i samband med renovering av flerbostadshus byggda under miljonprogrammet. Baserat på intervjuer med bostadsföretag resulterade den explorativa studien i konstruktionen av fyra idealtyper av bostadsföretag med mer eller mindre incitament för att energieffektivisera. Den andra uppsatsen syftade till att undersöka en modell för renovering av miljonprogramshus i ett bostadsområde i Stockholms ytterområden och bedöma hur den tar hänsyn till miljömässig, social och ekonomisk hållbarhet tillsammans med tekniska överväganden.

Uppsats V bygger på resultaten i uppsats I och syftar till att urskilja faktorer, såväl på företagsnivå som i företagets omgivning, som karaktäriserar bostadsföretag som äger flerbostadshus från miljonprogramsåren och som har en ambitiös hållning i energieffektiviseringsfrågor.

Uppsats VI använder information från energideklarationer för att undersöka om bättre energiprestanda ökar försäljningspriset på småhus, något som skulle öka ägarens incitament för energieffektivisering.

Uppsats III utgår från en indikerad förändring i projektutvecklares planering och byggmetoder av tvättinrättningar i flerbostadshus med bostadsrätt. Uppsatsen syftar till att klarlägga om en förändring har skett från gemensam tvättstuga till tvättmöjligheter i den egna bostaden och belysa vilken effekt det skulle kunna ha på de boendes energianvändning för tvätt. I uppsats IV klarläggs hur projektutvecklare som bygger enligt miljöcertifieringssystemet LEED förhåller sig till kraven för att uppnå nivåerna för att klassificeras och hur uppdaterade kravnivåer riskerar att undergräva projektutvecklarnas incitament för att bygga hållbart.

The way in which we plan and produce buildings today will influence our energy consumption in the future. This paper explores how the types of laundry facilities provided in owner-occupied multi-family buildings in Sweden have changed since the 1990s and seeks to draw attention to how this may impact energy consumption for laundry. Three factors are analyzed that influence energy consumption: the number of laundry appliances, energy performance in laundry appliances and user demand for laundry. The results indicate that there has been a change in building practices, from the domination of communal laundry rooms towards in-unit laundry facilities. The findings imply that the changes in provision of laundry facilities increase the number of appliances but do not necessarily increase energy consumption during the usage phase depending on energy performance and user behavior. Thus, developers should consider laundry facility organization when designing multi-family buildings in order to optimize the use of space and resources, given user demand and building regulations. This paper is exploratory in nature and indicates a shift in building practices that up until now has been undocumented in a research context which in turn opens up for many new research questions related to resource use but also related to the economics of developers, housing firms and households.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the notion of sustainability and research reporting price premiums for LEED-certified buildings. Design/methodology/approach: This paper explores the notion of sustainability and research reporting price premiums for LEED-certified buildings. The durability of certification levels is explored by converting projects developed under the initial NC2-series system to a new vintage rating adopted in 2009. This conversion is made by applying Lagrangian multipliers to model stochastic impacts. Findings: The study reveals that 18 percent of 591 projects developed under the NC2-Series were "misclassified" in terms of certification levels when converted to new NCv2009 standards. To the extent the market has pursued LEED certification levels, the unanticipated changes may have led to the adoption short-term solutions that are inappropriate due to the long-term nature of real estate assets. Research limitations/implications: Given the complexity of the LEED rating system, it is unknown how the market will react to the lack of durability and approach pricing over the long-term. Practical implications: The results indicate market participants should adopt a proactive approach to LEED certification. Originality/value: The study identifies significant dynamics in the LEED certification system for new construction and behavioural responses that have not been reported in the literature.

Purpose: This study aims to test whether energy performance effects single-family home sale prices. It also examines whether recommendations for supposedly cost-effective energy efficiency measures, by intervention category (construction, installation or operation/control technical measures), are perceived as untapped potential - a real option - that effects sale prices. Design/methodology/approach: The energy performance measurement and dummy variables for three categories of improvement recommendations are included as explanatory variables in a hedonic regression analysis using transaction data and energy performance certificates data for 1,073 observations. Findings: Results indicate that better energy performance effects selling prices positively. Energy efficiency recommendations seem to have an impact on sale price; home buyers seem to require a larger "discount" for more complex types of measures. Research limitations/implications: The sample only includes houses in the Stockholm; so-called sustainable buildings have not been specifically studied; and the heating source has not been accounted for. Originality/value: The EU energy performance certificates provide new information and measure energy performance more exactly than many earlier (proxy) variables. This is one of the first studies to test the effect of this information, and the first one using Swedish data.

Energy efficiency is an important question to society as well as to individuals and firms. Improving energy efficiency in the building sector is considered an important means to climate mitigation. For real estate owners energy is also a central expenditure item and reducing energy consumption may directly reduce operation costs while at the same time serve as insurance against future energy price increases. Since new buildings only add a few percent annually to the building stock, the potential to reduce total energy consumption primarily lies within the existing building stock. The building stock is ageing and the post-war part of the stock that is in need of renovation is growing. This has been suggested as a window of opportunity to improve energy efficiency, but so far the results have been few. Several factors have been put forward to explain the so called energy efficiency gap – the difference between actual and optimal energy efficiency – one of which is split incentives. What adds to complexity in this case is that distinct differences have been observed in the level of ambition between the real estate companies that have renovated so far. Some companies have undertaken extensive renovation and energy efficiency measures, whereas other companies have done little more than urgent maintenance measures. It seems that real estate owners in general don´t have strong economic incentives to improve energy efficiency in connection to renovation – but what can then explain the differences between strategies?

This licentiate thesis examines the incentives among real estate owners to improve energy efficiency, particularly in post-war, multi-family buildings in need of renovation. The purpose is to add knowledge about decisions concerning measures that improve energy efficiency - in terms of incentives, barriers and different motives for real estate owners’ strategies and actions.

Results show that real estate owners lack strong economic incentives to invest in energy efficiency in multi-family buildings and the level of investment is dependent on the different motivations, grouped in three levels of ambition, that real estate companies have. One important conclusion is that the heterogeneity between companies that was exposed in the interviews and survey implies that they will not respond similarly to policy stimuli. The heterogeneity should thus be considered when designing policy measures so that public and company resources can be allocated as efficiently as possible, as there are many challenges facing owners of post-war residential buildings. Another conclusion is that from an economic point of view it is important to take the interaction between different measures into account, e.g. between physical measures and measures focusing on changing household behavior.