Wood in all its forms and versatility of its use is closely linked with the existence and development of human society. Interest in building timber structures is increasing nowadays. Structures are designed from both traditional timber and from new wood-based materials and connectors. This trend is positively reflected, among other things, in the growing numbers of students choosing timber and wood-based structures for their high-quality bachelor and diploma theses.
One of the most vital criteria in assessing any building structure is monitoring their real behaviour during a long-term use. The aim of the paper is to review data and conclusions from the monitoring in some types of building structures that the authors designed either themselves or participated in their design and development.

The corrosion of steel reinforcement is the most important factor in degradation of the concrete structures. The use of the new composite materials as reinforcement in concrete structures has expanded in recent years. These concrete structures are often exposed to extreme environmental loads. The fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) materials are an alternative to the steel reinforcement. It is a durable material, which has corrosion resistance, high tensile strength and low density. The manufacturers use various kinds of fibers in the FRP reinforcement, especially carbon (CFRP), glass (GFRP), aramid (AFRP) and basalt (BFRP). The present article describes the application of the FRP reinforcement as a replacement of the steel reinforcement in new structures, respectively for strengthening of existing concrete structures.

In early September, the administration building Aviatica was inaugurated and officially unveiled, which is the flagship of a large development in the former factory Walter in Prague. Use of abandoned industrial sites, called Brownfields has been the great theme of Planning and Development during the last few years. Vast territories with dilapidated buildings have a negative impact on their environment, in terms of the degradation of the environment, environmental stress, negative social phenomena or reduction of the economic potential of the site. These lucrative localities are connected to existing technical and transport infrastructure. The transformation has a positive impact on the surrounding areas and instead of spatial expansion of cities into the countryside is one of the ways to exploit their intrinsic potential.

The paper presents a methodological procedure and results of acoustic detection of wood-destroying insect larvae in the buildings of the Wallachian Open Air Museum in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. Using the Acoustic Pack acoustic system, the activity was monitored at 112 positions of wooden trusses of framing on the house of Prlov and Rožnov Town Hall as structures considered for the performance of a preservation measure. Based on the obtained results, the actual status of active infestation of wooden elements was defined with the graphic output of activity and sound records which will be used for designing efficient preservation of the structures.

In October 2015, it was one year from when the new polyfunctional building Quadrio in the center of Prague above the metro station Národní třída was opened. It incorporates not only business and office space, but also residential building, a public passage and exit from the metro station. After almost thirty years a big scar of the historic city was healed. It was caused by the construction of the metro station Národní třída, which was accompanied by the demolition of the original buildings and the replacement with single-storey ground lobbies that suit rather to the suburb than the city center. At the same time a new public urban space was created, a stone plaza, which is in the case of similar projects rather rare exception than the rule.

Methods of cost allocation in apartment buildings have undergone significant changes in recent years. The article offers a comprehensive overview of cost allocation methods in multi-dwelling units according to applicable regulations. It is intended mainly for owners of residential units, board members of homeowners associations, managers of housing cooperatives or individuals and companies managing residential buildings.
Cost allocation in apartment buildings is currently governed by two laws: Act No. 67/2013 Coll. and the new Civil Code No. 89/2012 Coll. These laws governed cost allocation in calendar year 2014 and apply also for 2015. The heating and hot water supply costs in MDUs from 2016 onwards will be allocated pursuant to the new decree No. 269/2015 Coll. and the amended Act No. 67/2013 Coll.

The second part of the article describes specific aspects of the construction as the subject of the Contract for work and materials. It looks into ownership issues of the construction – the subject, the execution of the construction and its possible defects. It carries on to contextually analyze specific problems, like the transfer of risk of damage, right to invoice, inspection of subject progress, hidden obstructions and construction handover and acceptance. It also outlines the issue of joint responsibility of a subcontractor for construction defects.

This paper proposes statistical methods for evaluation quantitative performance determinated by tests of building products for objective decision during conformity assessment / certification in a fire protection field. The procedure is applicable for other types of products, and research / development of new material products.

Concrete exposed to high temperature considerably changes its properties down to total destruction. The paper describes renovation of concrete floor damaged by a fire of a factory building. Individual steps of determination of damage of concrete floor structures caused by high temperatures are described. Structure of damaged floor was technically analyzed, redevelopment was designed and renovation works were carried out.

Research, development and testing of materials and safety features used to protect civilians and armed forces against terrorist or military attacks are more than desirable nowadays. Therefore, our work is aimed at absorption materials that can temper impact energy and shockwave energy originating in explosive blast.
Out of many materials potentially suitable for experiments, two groups of fillers were chosen – macro fillers and micro fillers – and a two component polyurethane binder. In this article, the resulting physico-mechanical characteristics are summarized: bulk density, flexural, compression and impact strength. The crucial test for determination impact energy absorption was the Split-Hopkinson pressure bar test, conducted with most samples.

Revision of ETAG 004 brought a change in the assessment of noise protection external thermal insulation composite systems (ETICS). Under this revision ETICS may have positive or negative influence on airborne sound insulation of wall on which was applied. The article deals with calculation method of airborne sound insulation, including concrete calculations, and measurements on ETICS with mineral wool.

Buildings which are issued to natural changes of atmospheric temperature, should be divided to parts that can act independently. If not, the structure itself will be split up according to the general laws of physics and the internal and external form and material properties of the structure. The article describes failures of expansion joints of constructions.

The article gives information on the requirements of sunlight in buildings in the European Union and gives a brief historical overview of the normalization of sunlight in our country. On the concrete realization of the residential complex built around 2000 in a closed blocks line is demonstrated the satisfactory insolation in these conditions. From this perspective provides a comment on current events about the preparations of Prague building regulations.

This article deals about tropical hardwood species used for commercial purposes. These kinds of wood have more advantages like better natural durability against bio-degradation caused by high amount of extractives and good mechanical and physical properties. But their using is also connected with some questions – ecological and economical aspects and stability of supposed properties for each delivery. Not solved problem is protection against weathering and mainly decreasing of colour changes of tropical wood surfaces in the exterior till now.

Wilful attack targeted on strategic buildings and critical infrastructure can pose significant thread to property and human lives. By modification of the material traditionally used in building industry, in particular by addition of randomly dispersed fibre reinforcement in currently most spread building material – concrete, the enhancement of the blast and ballistic resistance can be effectively achieved without high additional costs. Within the research works presented in this article, the influence of several types of fibre reinforcement on the blast resistance of the concrete panel was assessed. The results of real blast tests indicates, that incorporation of any type of fibre brings enhancement of the blast resistance of the concrete, but the level is highly affected by strength and shape characteristics of the fibre.

The thermal performance of any building component is the result not only of its thermo-physical properties but also of a way of final installation and connections altogether of their all elements. In addition, thermal leakage and bridging in buildings can eventually contribute to a multitude of problems. The thermal bridge is the place in the building envelope through which heat transfer has a multi-dimensional nature. That is why in recent studies, the issue of heat transfer phenomena in the building components has been taken as a multi-dimensional into account more frequently. One of the specific details that create thermal leakage is located in balcony slabs. This paper is focused on advanced analysis of thermal performance of thermal break element applied in balcony slab with parametric correlation to the thermal properties of wall building envelope. Particular cases of commonly used balcony systems in buildings are observed related to multi-dimensional and parametric approach of modeling. Finally a finding of many aspects, such as building geometry, thermal properties variation and structural type importance are observed as certain influence to thermal bridges magnitude and final thermal performance of balcony slab detail.

A former brickyard was filled up with diverse waste after extraction of soil. The resulting 20 m high slope was in the crown and in a toe build up without taking into account the possibility of its landsliding. The causes and consequences of the accident and remediation measures are described.

The article is a summary of proposals from acoustic experts from European countries participating in COST TU0901 “Harmonizing Sound Insulation Aspects” It includes detailed building acoustic data and their comparisons from the countries involved in the project.