Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present defects reported by cooperative owners, and to determine the relationship between building characteristics, developer’s/contractor’s company size and defect type. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is based on defects reported by board members of cooperatives in Sweden through a survey questionnaire. The 1,563 questionnaires were posted by regular mail to the boards of cooperatives for buildings. The current research presents results from analysis of responses from 394 regular residential projects constructed between 2006 and 2013. The responses represent owners’ experience from a total 1,107 buildings. Findings Findings presented in this study indicate that building quality might be one of the factors contributing to the energy gap. The analysis indicates that the most severe problems reported by cooperatives are issues related to building envelope, particularly shortcomings in the function of windows, issues related to the function of the balcony and cracks in the facade and leakage caused by rain water. The results show that the building quality differs depending on developers’ size, measured by number of employees. The authors have also found a significant relationship between reported defects and location expressed by size of the city/municipality. Originality/value The discussion on newly constructed residential buildings has been dominated by the perspective of professionals (inspectors) and contractors (or developers) rather than of the owners/users themselves. This study presents findings from the owners’ perspective, thus contributing the owners’ viewpoint to the debate on building quality.

PurposeDespite 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/approachThis 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.FindingsThe 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/implicationsThis 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 implicationsIf 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/valueThe 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.

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.