Cities require a change in the design of medium and high-density housing to increase green infrastructure (GI). GI provides ecosystem services: including better air quality, removal of carbon dioxide, urban heat island attenuation, biodiversity, attenuation of stormwater runoff, and space for people to have social interaction and engagement. However, GI requires investment by developers. To be worthwhile, such investment must make developments more attractive to residential buyers, increasing their interest to buy. To date, no research has explored if that is the case, and if so, to what extent, by disentangling how such interest may arise. This paper explores the causal process and assesses to what extent investments in developmental GI influence people's Interest in apartments for sale in developments, which is expected, in turn, to influence their willingness to pay for an apartment. This is done by developing a causal structural model and testing it in two experimental studies carried out on random national samples of apartment speculators in Sweden in 2021 (n = 421) and in 2022 (n = 401), under two different property market conditions. Using an innovative research design with virtual reality, 5 versions of a courtyard in a medium density residential development were developed. One of these was then randomly shown to each research participant. The experiments showed that investment in the GI had a positive effect on the assessment of the courtyard, which increased the interest in the development and the apartments for sale. The increased interest from investments in GI should thus motivate developers to such investments.

This study investigates the integration of Virtual Reality (VR) with participatory co-design methods to develop spatial innovations for sustainable and inclusive university campus environments. The research employed a multi-phase methodology: initially, 68 students from three Swedish university cities participated in workshops with architects to co-create spatial concepts focused on sustainability and inclusivity. These concepts were subsequently translated into interactive 3D virtual environments. In the second phase, these VR environments were evaluated by a diverse group of 42 stakeholders, including students, campus developers, educators, and architects. Data on user experience, including Quality of Experience (QoE) metrics such as immersion, interactivity, and comfort, along with perceptions of design relevance to sustainability and inclusivity, were collected through pre- and post-test surveys. Quantitative engagement patterns (time spent, interactions, navigation) and qualitative feedback (preferences, user-generated ideas, usability issues) were analyzed. Results indicated that VR effectively facilitated stakeholder engagement and understanding of the co-designed spaces. Distinct engagement patterns were observed across different stakeholder groups. Usability challenges, including navigation difficulties and isolated instances of cybersickness, were also identified. This study contributes empirical evidence on a hybrid VR co-design process, highlighting its potential to foster more democratic and user-centered campus planning while underscoring the importance of a mixed-methods approach to evaluation and iterative design.

Incorporating green spaces, green roofs and walls, trees, and grassy areas in cities can significantly improve the climate. It has been shown that green areas absorb more intense rainfall, facilitating the management of large water volumes and protecting against flooding (Alexander et al., 2019). In densely developed urban areas, green roofs, facades, and walls, as well as a general enhancement of urban biodiversity, contribute to improved air quality and the creation of spaces for social interaction and relaxation (Derkzen et al., 2017).

The overarching aim of this study is to explore if, and how, green infrastructure, which is often understood as greenness surrounding residential development, influences potential buyers’ appraisal of the development and, if that has an effect on the buyers’ willingness to pay price. In this study we have specifically focused on following:

 •           the potential buyers’ interest in an apartment for sale in a development, and;

•             the initial willingness to pay (WTP) for such an apartment, before entering the bidding process,

•              aiming to isolate the effect which the level of greenness may have on the buyers’ perception, and the direct and indirect effect on the interest and the price buyer is willing to pay.

To answer these research questions, we developed two hypothetical structural causal models. We have identified factors which effect the decision-making process and the price the customer is willingness to pay for a dwelling. We have stated several hypotheses, which we then tested, to increase our understanding of customer preferences regarding green infrastructure in a residential development. In order to test the model and the hypothesis, we designed a survey with an embedded experiment. We collected data in Sweden and in Australia from 2020 to 2022. This report presents results and summaries findings from the study

Globally, extreme weather events are occurring more often, with increased intensity due to anthropogenic climate change. For example, in July 2022, monthly average temperature in Spain was 2.7 C above average, and UK has recorded temperatures above 40 degrees for the first time. It has been proven that implementation of green spaces in cities helps to address environmental, social, and even economic problems by providing ecological services, reducing temperature, and attenuating the heat island effect, providing aesthetic enjoyment, recreational opportunities and decreased stress levels. However, green infrastructure is rarely prioritised by developers. It has been argued that, due to space constraints, green infrastructures are an inefficient land use, costly to maintain, and that there is uncertainty if green infrastructures are valued by the market. This paper reports on results from a study examining the attractiveness and the effect of green spaces on housing market customer' perceptions. To analyse the impact of green spaces, we worked with landscape architects and residential housing developers designing a multi apartment building with a courtyard. The courtyard area was designed accordance to The Green Area Factor resulting in five courtyard designs, each with a different level of greenery. All five designs were presented in dynamic virtual views and embedded in a survey questionnaire. Maintenance costs of all five green spaces were calculated. The findings shows that greenery does effect the perceived attractiveness of residential development. Maintenance costs for the courtyards, with lowest and highest level of greenery, differ by approximately 10 percent of the total maintenance costs. These findings are applicable in the context of new housing construction and renovation projects.

As climate-related issues are important and concern all aspects of the built environment, there is a need to better understand the motives underlying household recycling behavior. The purpose of the present study is twofold: to investigate factors important for explaining the recycling behavior of young people and to explore respondents' own ideas regarding barriers to recycling. This paper reports on a survey conducted from 2020 to 2021 among residents of student housing in Stockholm, Sweden. Eight hypotheses were formulated based on earlier research and a model was constructed. Answers from 1202 respondents were first analyzed by logistic regression to test factors affecting respondents' self-reported recycling of paper, plastic, glass, and metal. Results show that the full model containing all predictors was statistically significant. The results showed that only four of the hypotheses were confirmed. Positive attitude toward recycling, personal norms, perceived behavioral control, and perceived convenience of recycling are positively affecting recycling behavior. In addition, 673 open answers were analyzed to provide information on unforeseen factors of importance for recycling behavior. This study adds to research by testing factors affecting recycling behaviors in a national context and by identifying new possible factors of importance. The results are also of benefit to business practitioners within the construction sector or within facility management in identifying activities that would add to sustainable development.

I den här studien har vi kartlagt några av de viktigaste nätverken inom digitalisering med koppling till fastighetsförvaltning, både nyare samarbeten och sådana som har funnits länge. Vi har undersökt aktörer, drivkrafter, syften, arbetsformer och finansiering. Andra frågor rör utmaningar, utveckling över tid och hur nätverken relaterar till varandra. Studien baseras på forskning om innovationsekosystem och innovation i samverkan. Syftet har varit att under­söka vilken betydelse sådan samverkan kan ha för utvecklingen inom digitalisering inom fastighetsförvaltning samt att skapa kunskap om framgångsfaktorer och hinder för en effektiv samverkan.

Slutsatserna av studien är:

Varför man samverkar· Samverkan är viktigt i en sektor där utvecklingsresurserna inom företagen är små, särskilt inom ett område som digitalisering där utvecklingen går fort och den interna kunskapen är låg. Utöver att dela på resurser och risker deltar företag i ekosystem för att kunna erbjuda anställda kunskap och kontakter inom digitalisering och för att det ger synlighet åt företaget. Nätverk kan startas på basis av personliga relationer och individer som bidrar med sin tid. Men för att skriva avtal och ta in externa medel behövs en juridisk person, och ofta startas en förening. 

Vilka som deltar·Många av de ekosystem som vi har studerat består enbart eller huvudsakligen av fastighetsägare, alltså inte typiskt av aktörer med olika kompetenser som ekosystem beskrivs i litteraturen. Detta kan bero på att syftet med samarbetet ofta är att påverka andra aktörer, framför allt leverantörer, genom att samla flera beställare bakom krav på standarder eller öppna filformat. Det är också främst ägare av lokaler och sam­hällsfastigheter som deltar, eftersom de upplever fördelar av digitalisering. Företag med större intern egen kompetens har lättare att dra nytta av sin medverkan.·      

Fastighetsägare har ingen stark tradition av samverkan i utvecklingsarbete. Att etablera nätverk med andra fastighetsägare som inte upplevs som konkurrenter kan då vara ett första steg. Steget till att samverka med systemleverantörer är större, men eftersom leverantörerna står för viktig kunskap och behöver integreras i utvecklings­arbetet för att realisera potentialen med digitalisering har även de börjat involveras. Det förefaller dock finnas vissa barriärer mellan nätverk för digitalisering med bas i byggandet och nätverk med bas i fastighetsförvaltning.

Organisation, ledning och finansiering - Den långsiktiga finansieringen är osäker för flera av ekosystemen. En hög andel extern projektfinansiering gör det svårt att planera strategiskt. Även initiativ som finansieras helt och hållet av aktörernas interna resurser tenderar att förknippas med osäkerhet, då på grund av att man blir beroende av enskilda individers engagemang. ·      

Det finns en trend att ekosystemen inom digitalisering fokuserar mer på implemen­tering och nyttiggörande och mindre på teknikutveckling. Medverkan i nätverk blir då mer av en företagsledningsfråga och mindre grundat i individuella experters intressen och drivkrafter, även om dessa drivkrafter också kan samverka. Detta innebär att för­väntningarna ökar på att nätverken ska leverera värde. Att koordinera ett ekosystem är en kompetens i sig och vi ser en ökad mognad och professionalisering. Ett kansli och långsiktig resursbas är en stor fördel, särskilt om en stor andel av medlemmarna inte har stark egen kompetens inom digitalisering och har svårt att själva se vilka behov och möjligheter de har.

Ekosystemet på branschnivå· Det är viktigt att även förstå de enskilda ekosystemen i relation till det större eko­systemet på branschnivå. Här finns olika typer av aktörer med olika syften och olika livslängd.  Det ska finnas en viss förnyelse både i det större ekosystemet och i enskilda ekosystem, så att det finns ett inflöde av nya aktörer med nya typer av resurser. Men det kan också vara effektivt att minska fragmentiseringen genom sammanslagningar för att öka den kritiska massan och möjliggöra mer effektiv administration och kommunikation. Nya ekosystem kan tillkomma till följd av projektfinansiering, men de bygger ofta på existerande relationer mellan långsiktiga aktörer. De existerande ekosystemen hanterar konkurrensen genom att bli medlemmar i de nya samman­hangen. Långsiktiga, större och väl kända aktörer och ekosystem är avgörande för att säkra kontinuitet i utvecklingen och lotsa nya aktörer rätt i systemet. ·      

Stöd till forskningsprojekt och innovationsekosystem behöver baseras på en kunskap om förhållanden på systemnivå. Framför allt är det viktigt med en balans mellan projektbaserad finansiering och ett ändamålsenligt långsiktigt stöd. Detta förutsätter att det finns en förståelse på nationell nivå av vilka roller som olika typer av aktörer har i ett övergripande ekosystem och av vilka luckor som kan behöva fyllas av statliga stödstrukturer. 

Purpose: Despite awareness of climate change for over 3 decades, per capita energy and water consumption increase and environmental impacts grow. The built environment contributes around 40% of total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; action is vital. Whilst building code standards have increased, rating tools and technology to reduce energy and water consumption are developed; environmental impact grows because of human behaviour. In the tertiary education sector, student accommodation constitutes a large part of the property portfolio, contributing significant amounts of GHG emissions and environmental impact. Property Managers can educate and install systems and technologies to improve behaviour if they understand it. Design/methodology/approach: This exploratory study used a questionnaire survey to explore how student's worldviews vary and the possible limitations to behaviour in respect of climate change. In total, 71 responses from international university students living in residential accommodation on campuses in Stockholm were analysed. Findings: The results show different perceptions about the environment and actions that are needed, and this leads to different behaviours. Limited knowledge and inability to relate environmental consequences to one's own actions, effective communication and risk averse behaviour, are critical in mitigating climate change. A deeper understanding of participants worldviews and the different resulting behaviours was achieved. Research limitations/implications: This pilot study involved a small number of participants and future studies should expand participant numbers, including those with more varied backgrounds, education levels and age groups. Practical implications: If property managers gain a deeper understanding the different behaviours of their residents, they can develop effective strategies to facilitate action that will lower the environment impact and GHG emissions of student accommodation. Originality/value: The knowledge gained about environmental attitudes and human behaviour can help property and facility managers, policy makers and regulators to develop more effective strategies to deliver improved sustainability outcomes.

Vi är gemensamt intresserade av vad som påverkar återvinningsbeteende och har

genomfört denna enkätstudie i syfte att lära mer om studentboendes attityder till

återvinning och möjliga faktorer som påverkar de boende att avfallssortera för

återvinning. Vi har formulerat en enkät där våra frågor baserat på tidigare forskning. I

tidigare studier har olika faktorer visat sig statistiskt signifikanta när det gäller att

förklara boendes återvinningsbeteende. Vi har därför valt att använda frågebatterier

som verifierats av andra, så att vi kan anta att våra frågor mäter vad de avser mäta. Det

innebär också att vi kan jämföra våra resultat med andras. Förutom detta består

enkäten också av några bakgrundsfrågor baserade på att kön, ålder och

ämnesinriktning (studier eller arbete) har visat att dessa är statistiskt signifikanta för

val att avfallssortera. Enkäten har, administrerat av Stockholms studentbostäder, sänts

till samtliga hyresgäster i 25 studentbostadsområden i Stockholm i december 2020 –

januari 2021. Tiden sammanföll med en pandemi som sannolikt påverkat studien.

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the strategy, selection and perception of facility management (FM) services and the effect it may have on perceived building quality. Design/methodology/approach - Data was collected through a survey distributed to board members of cooperatives for newly constructed buildings in Sweden. Responses from 394 cooperative boards were included in the data set and analysed. The difference in cooperative choice of FM strategy and satisfaction with FM services was examined with non-parametrical Kruskal-Wallis tests and the effect of FM strategy and satisfaction with FM services on perceived building quality was examined with a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. Findings - The results suggest information asymmetry and indicate urgent need for an objective accreditation system for FM services, which will inform and assist housing owners in the FM selection process. The study validates the hypothesis that facilities management strategies applied by housing cooperatives have a significant effect on perception of building quality. Practical implications - The findings will assist developers, facility and property managers to understand the needs and services valued by the housing cooperative. The findings highlight the information asymmetry, restricted techniques and weak signalling methods among FM services, and advocates promoting an objective accreditation system for FM services. Originality/value - The study contributes to the discussion on the concept of building quality and the results presented provide a better understanding of facilities management strategy on perception of building quality.

This paper investigates the literature and theoretical underpinning of the concept of "willingness to pay" (WTP) for green infrastructure (GI) with consequences for residential development. The benefits of GI in urban settlements include improved air quality, attenuation of the urban heat island, thermal insulation and lower energy bills for green roofs and walls, the creation of social amenity space, a habitat for biodiversity, and stormwater water attenuation. Collectively, these benefits are termed eco-system services and enhance sustainability. The role of GI, the "lungs of the planet", is heavily correlated to atmospheric conditions; high levels of GI improve air quality, which is acknowledged widely with many cities increasing GI to make them more resilient to future predicted challenges with respect to heat and poor air quality. In addition, there is evidence that the biophilia effect enhances human well-being. There are some studies claiming that purchasers pay a premium for property with good GI. However, there is little research about the process in consumers' minds leading to such a premium-if, how, when (under what circumstances), and then to what extent are consumers willing to pay for GI. This process, if better understood, may enable sellers or policy makers to influence the amounts of GI in developments, thus making it possible to enhance the value of GI to buyers. There is some research pointing to factors to be considered when modeling such processes. For developers, knowing the optimum amount of GI would enable them to design and construct developments with maximum purchaser appeal. To do this, stakeholders need to predict the level of WTP amongst potential purchasers for which they need to understand the decision processes behind WTP. In this way, sustainability in residential property development could be optimized. The paper analyzes the literature and theories concerning WTP, focusing on dwellings and GI. Our findings are that some quantitative evidence exists that purchasers pay more for residential property with high levels of GI in some cities, but they do so without any understanding of the possible decision processes leading to those premiums (if, how, when, and then to what extent). The paper proposes a comprehensive conceptual model that may explain buyers' WTP for a dwelling based on a presumed cost-benefit analysis performed by buyers, which has been extended here to include GI and psychological factors. Thus, the paper has a consumer perspective. The model may be used to select variables and test them in empirical studies, and by integrating with other factors in the model, it can attain a more comprehensive understanding of WTP for GI in residential development.