The landscape character protection is nowadays widely used term within the nature and countryside protection processes that influences the architectonic and urban forms of many construction intentions. It represents some limitations for large construction intentions and also for the single building constructions. It is applied on the landscape protected territories and also on the already settled areas or directly in towns. This article presents different cases when the knowledge of this landscape and nature protection instrument is very important for the architect and shows us the examples when the knowledge can anticipate some unpleasant surprises during the approval process of different construction intentions.

The paper presents the design and construction of the wooden roof structure covering the Penny market building, which is located in the Czech Republic and was built in the summer of 2013. The building of the roof structure was based on the 26 m long elements consisting of 2 or 3 trusses assembled with punched metal plate fasteners and bracing members. The design philosophy, details and descriptions of choosen methods used in the roof design are part of the paper.

The article deals with the properties of concrete with two natural zeolites as a the supplementary cementitious material. The determined parameters bring the findings of basic mechanical propeties and frost resistance of aerated concretes with zeolites. The results of properties of concrete with two different kind of zeolite are compared to reference concrete without zeolite. Concrete with zeolite Z2 showed worse properties due to finer particles.

Stairs are part of construction. It is important to solve geometrical tolerances of stairs as of other parts of constructions. The most important tolerances of stairs which should be measured are steps (their high and width), because their dimensions could affect safety of stairs.

The paper summarizes important information related to the field of design of wooden buildings from the point of view of the sound reduction index. The text is focused on wooden structures (both massive wood systems and wood frame systems) as well as on particularities of an acoustic behaviour of wooden floor structures with fillings. General principles are described which may serve as useful hints for architects and project engineers when designing structures with wooden elements. Emphasis is primarily put on the specific acoustic behaviour of wooden buildings in comparison with masonry and concrete structures.

The article describes sensor system for increased moisture detection in construction materials, especially in the wood. The assumption is that a sensor network is built-in into the construction elements of the building and it is connected to a central unit. The goal is to develop a sensor suitable for permanent installation in the construction during realization of the building. The sensor network enables early warning and fast detection of increasing moisture in the building and alert building owner or operator. The sensors will be placed at critical building’s locations with high risk of plumbing accidents. Using the installed sensor system it is possible approximately locate the place of failure, shorten detection time and substantially reduce damage and reconstruction costs.

The main purpose of this paper is to show how the different structural details affect the airborne sound insulation of lightweight building elements. The sound reduction index of such structures depends on several phenomena like the cavity attenuation, the mass-air-mass resonance, standing waves resonance, sound transmission via sound bridges etc. This paper describes their effect on sound insulation and gives the initiative information for optimized acoustic design.

There is a significant possibility of improving the load bearing capacities calculated according to the existing Standards of spatial connections with thin walled metal nailing plates. The reason is that the design of these connecting elements has inadequate support in the existing Standards and Technical Reports. The improvement can make them more consistent with the results from tests. Therefore, research has been called to improve this state of the art. The paper presents the whole experimental study of angle brackets which consists of full-scale experiments, numerical models of the connections, current analytical calculation approaches and proposals how to improve them.

A test of frost resistance of a building material belongs to standard methods of an evaluation of its durability, it expresses a resistance of a building material to a substantial change of temperature and an influence of atmospheric effects regarding to its functionality and utilization in a long-term horizon. The test of frost resistance is time demanding as well as it lays demands on a test equipment of a testing laboratory. This paper describes results of a project, which evaluated a possibility of using a quick indicative test enabling a quick evaluation of a tested concrete regarding its frost resistance. The used indicative test is derived from the standard ČSN 73 73 25 Determination of frost resistance by shorten tests, which has been cancelled without refundation. This method could be beneficial for a quick evaluation of a new designed concrete mixture non-proven in a laboratory. This paper was elaborated with the institutional support for long-term development of research organizations by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic.

Many various physical, mechanical and deformation properties have to be designed, tested and observed during life of concrete because of possible failures in given service load and climatic conditions. Apart from basic strength characteristics, it is necessary to keep in view water tightness, capillarity, water absorbing capacity, frost resistance, volumetric changes or thermal expansion. Preventing of these failures during the whole life of concrete structures in various exposure classes is the basic condition of achieving required long-term durability. The text below describes several important properties of concrete connected with flaws and failures.
The crucial mechanical properties of concrete are compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, tensile strength, tensile bending strength and shear strength. Deformation properties are connected with volumetric changes and action of external and internal strength; the characteristic mechanical property is defined by static or dynamic elasticity modulus. As regards durability of concrete, the concept is relative and limited depending on the time of action of physical and chemical influences. Corrosion of concrete is the process leading to disintegration of the material by means of chemical processes or physical influences. Durability also includes fire resistance, frost resistance and abrasive quality of concrete.

This paper deals with the reconstruction of the historical building of the cinema “Varšava” in Liberec, Czech Republic. The building designed and built in the 1920s by the german Liberec architects Effenberger and Noppes is both valuable architectural and constructional monument. However, it has suffered from faulty partial reconstructions done during the 20^th century and during 8 years of closure of the building in 2008. For salvation of the building, a a new civic association “Save kino Varšava” was established in 2012. Now, it tries to halt further decay of the valuable monument at start a process which would convert the old cinema to a modern multifuctional hall of the 21^th century in the future. Recently, the foyer is reconstructed and minor reconstructions in the hall are taking place. This paper deals mostly with restoration of the original ventilation system and dry rot fungus treatment.

Prague building regulations currently represent debated and controversial topic among both professionals and the public. This is a new concept of law to which they are greatly implemented basic knowledge of urban theory and practice. The article summarizes the basic principles of the new regulation in the field of building requirements.

Loggias and balconies are external structures designed for recreation and other activities, which increase the value and the surface of the property. They are positioned as part of the cladding of the building. Actually, these structures are perhaps the most exposed components of a building's cladding, and for this reason, the most degraded. This is why the repairing of these structures should certainly be included in any comprehensive renovation of a building, even though it might not have any financial effect for the owners and tenants, unlike, for example, changing fillings or additional insulation.

Construction waste is a by-product of any construction activity. This needs to be stored somewhere, some way evaluate, respectively. Further construction technology to recycle. Building construction is the engine of the economy of any country. It satisfies demand for basic human needs, adapting to production environmental, economic, technical and design conditions demand. It is a sector in which we can most see the development of science and technically, the progress of modern technologies and building materials. Despite the progress and modernization construction, however, construction industry is still environmentally harmful through production of building materials and products (energy consumption in mining and manufacturing), traffic intensity (weight and intensity of transported material), site (noise, dust, debris) and long-term use of buildings. The theme of waste management is still very actual. This paper among other things provides case studies from different areas of construction with the different method of waste management on construction site. The aim is to detect the most common form of waste management on construction site.

Railings are a safety feature in buildings. They should prevent the fall of people. Their requirements are not only architectural and aesthetic, but also of mechanical resistance and stability. The current designs for the construction of railings include their anchoring to adjacent structures, which have the same requirements as the very structure of the railings. The tests on heat pumps are connected to an article on the tests of solar collectors. The basic operating principles of a heat pump is that it gathers heat from the surrounding environment and then transfers it to a higher temperature level and supplies to according the whether it will be used for heating or hot water. The advantage over collectors is that it works even if the sun is not shining.

Underground spaces in buildings are now often designed and executed as watertight concrete structures. The paper presents selected requirements and concepts for design and execution of “white tanks”.

The industrial waste materials arise during the rocks mining and treating. No suitable utilization was found for it yet. These materials are stored in pond now. The aim of this work was developing low-energy hydraulic binders using these waste materials as raw component.

Described as the greenest commercial building in the world, the Bullitt Center in Seattle, Washington pushes the envelope in urban sustainability. The six-story, 52,000-square-foot structure is designed to meet stringent requirements of the Living Building Challenge (LBC)—using photovoltaic cells to generate enough electricity to sustain the needs of its tenants, recycling its own water and waste, and reducing energy use by more than 80 percent compared to an average office building.
LBC requirements stipulated that the Bullitt Center meet a number of criteria, including responsible site selection, 100 percent on-site renewable energy generation, 100 percent of water needs provided by harvested rainwater, and on-site waste management.
The aim is to lower CO₂ emissions and reduce the environmental footprint of the building. Target life cycle 250-year is a key part of that goal.

Prague building regulations currently represent debated and controversial topic among both professionals and the public. This is a new concept of law to which they are greatly implemented basic knowledge of urban theory and practice. The article summarizes the basic principles of the new regulation in the field of territorial requirements.

In the last few years the engineered building product cross laminated timber (CLT) has become very common in timber engineering applications. CLT is a cost-competitive wood-based solution that complements the existing light and heavy-frame options, and is a suitable substitute for some applications which currently use concrete, masonry and steel. This contribution deals with the analysis and design of CLT, used as floor elements. Different calculation procedures for plates loaded out-of-plane are discussed.