Miljöbyggnad, a value of GOLD?

During the past few years an increased attention has been paid to environmental issues in the construction and property sector in Sweden. In order to simplify the work with these issues a Swedish environmental certification system for buildings called Miljöbyggnad has been developed. This thesis aims to investigate the opinion of a selected number of selected property owners of Miljöbyggnad. From that basis recommendations and actions for the future work with the system will be presented. The investigation has been conducted through personal interviews with five property owners. The main issues that the interviews have been based on are their purpose, experiences, perceived complications and future prospects in terms of certification using Miljöbyggnad. The system intends to be cost-effective, simple and to offer a relevant environmental assessment of buildings and the result from the report indicates that this is largely fulfilled. All respondents believe that Miljöbyggnad offers a relevant environmental assessment. All of them also believe that the system is simple except for some complications and 80 % believe that the system is cost-effective. In terms of the future, all interviewed property owners will most likely certify buildings under Miljöbyggnad, some to a greater extent than others. The conclusion from this investigation is that the system needs to be dynamic. Adaption to the social, environmental, technical, economical and legal conditions that prevail is vital. However, it is recommended that Miljöbyggnad retains its simplicity and avoid growing to become too comprehensive