The article deals with the possibilities of generation of fires based on analysis carried out after liquidation, whether indoors or outdoors. These are primarily signs on wood, metal and glass, but also to eliminate false indicators of fire. These factors may help in investigating the source of the fire, how it spread, or its duration. This assessment is impossible without years of experience, acumen and knowledge of how materials behave when on fire.

The concept of use the ceiling radiant cooling with accumulation in the building structure (so called concrete activation (slab cooling)) in the newly built National Technical Library is presented in the article. There were verified temperatures in the library under different modes of operation of the concrete activation with use of the computer simulation. The process of simulation is specified on the basis of the model construction, solution of glazing parameters, indoor heat gains and the model of the ceiling cooling structure. There are presented results of the simulation and recommended operation modes. The article is briefly supplemented with first results ensued from the building commissioning.

Overview of the contents and recommendations to the appendix in a purchase contract and contract for work. The issue of windows and balconies – windows and doors - is very extensive and contains many requirements. This resulted in the manual “Technical conditions for the purchase and installation of windows”, which seeks a simple, yet all-encompassing for to describe the requirements for the windows, so less sophisticated techniques could apply to suppliers. The article is the introductory text of this guide, which is available for download. This is purely a technical manual that tries to cover all the usual cases of windows, requiring them, their evaluation, classification and their density. The manual does not replace or otherwise alter the forthcoming standard dealing with the requirements for windows and doors in buildings. The manual is completely independent and does not know about what is included the upcoming standard.

In the first half of this year new came in force new standards that define new requirements for the design of thermo insulation systems in buildings. They are ČSN 73 0810 - Fire safety of buildings - Common provisions (April 2009) and ČSN 73 0802 - Fire safety of buildings- Non industrial buildings. The changes in these standards bring a number of major innovations. Let's have a look with them with the aid of images.From the result it is evident that the implementation of external thermal insulation systems for buildings with final approval before 200, and new buildings must follow the additional requirements listed in the articles of the standards ČSN 73 0810 and ČSN 73 0802, particularly in relation to the classification of types of components on the DP1, DP2, DP3. The implementation of additional insulation requires good design, preferably done by a specialist, the application of comprehensive quality and the choice of contractors with certifiable good references.

The article reacts on changes that were made in program "Zelená úsporám" in recent days. Previous article described how to reach required standards for successful subsidy application in two ways. Following text focuses on changes in this approach both from subsidy amount and possibility of subsidy itself viewpoints. In general, portfolio of potential subsidy applicants has been extended, but necessary quality of subsidized measures has been kept.

The examination method Blower-Door test (fan pressurisation method) is used for measurements of air permeability of buildings and is also used for leakage detection. The result of the measurement is air leakage rate at the pressure differential across the building envelope of 50 Pa. The article points out leaky details which often appear at constructions. The article shows the possibility of using infrared camera and anemometer for leakage detection.

Solar collector is designed to obtain part of heating requirements of the buildings from the sun. Air-type collector that use air as the heat transfer medium is one of the simplest methods of solar heating. This solar heating technique can be made part of house design and construction.

New Czech technical standard ČSN 73 0810 Fire protection of buildings - General requirements was issued in April 2009. This standard replaced the standard of the same title issued in June 2005. New standard has expanded or changed some of the paragraphs. Important changes are defined in the article.

The development of the implementation of open track diffusion is influenced by the availability of certain construction materials and it is also subject to the management of technological processes and the overcoming of ingrained stereotypes.

Growing interest insulation very often results in choosing companies with low price for materials and installation, without considering whether technological standards are observed. The analysis of defects occurring in contact insulation systems should warn investors on how to proceed when choosing a supplier, so as to avoid claims for the resulting defects, or in a extreme case, so the insulation will not have to be replaced. It also wants to draw the attention of suppliers and designers towards those major faults when installing the contact insulation, and bring awareness to the general public about deficiencies that could arise, in particular with the implementation of contracts with no technical supervision.

The article deals with the influence of the floor area of house energy supplied to the hot water. Mutually compare three methods of calculation and one of them use in the calculation of delivered energy for hot water system, through which energy class is designed for local consumption - the warm water.

Newly established program “Green Savings” based on income from CO₂-emissions trade (Green Investment Scheme) brings several variants how to apply for subsidy for energy efficient building/renovation. Following text describes possible approaches to renovation with use of both thermal insulation of exterior constructions and change of windows/doors. Two examples of typical family houses are being described, each house in two variants of insulation (based on subsidy program criterion).
Important result is that almost all family houses that can be insulated with use of “partial insulation” subsidy, could gain higher subsidy with use of “complex insulation” criterion as well. Previous practice shows that majority of family houses can reach the higher subsidy (“complex insulation”).

Different prediction methods for the Sound Reduction Index of single building structures in laboratory conditions and for the Apparent Sound Reduction Index in buildings are presented in following paper. A short discussion of methods is done regarding to input data, assumptions of calculations etc. The main part of this paper is focused on a comparison between predicted and measured results, which leads to evaluation of methods´ accuracy. This paper is based on author´s PhD thesis.