The University Centre of Energy Efficient Buildings is a newly established interdisciplinary research institute of Czech Technical University focused to energy efficient buildings having the healthy indoor environment that, at the same time, are environmentally friendly. The main objective for the Centre establishment is the development of technologies for the energy demand reduction and the efficient improvement of natural sources concerning new constructions and reconstructions of existing buildings. The objective is to be achieved by the holistic approach, the expert knowledge concentration from the field of architecture, construction, mechanical engineering, information technologies, and hygiene of indoor environment and the top instrument equipment of the Centre.

In relation with the implementation of the revised EU Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings are currently changing some of Czech legal regulations and new methodology for energy performance assessment is introduced . This article focuses on an example rating the standard family house with conventional solution of building envelope and technical systems, using the new evaluation method. For this object will be also an obligation to issue an energy performance certificate as required by the Consolidated Act No. 406/2000 Coll., as amended.

Net metering is a way of trading electricity from renewable sources. It also works as an effective incentive to purchase renewable energy source and represents an alternative to other forms of support. In the easiest way it can be described as “turning the meter in both directions”.

Other important aspects of wind conditions over the area of the Czech Republic are discussed in the second part of the article. This include the distribution of wind speed and prevailing wind direction, which, can vary significantly between the sites in the Czech Republic.

While an actual map of the mean wind speed at the height of 100 m above ground (i.e. at the height of state-of-the-art "large" wind turbines) was created and published in 2007 – 2008, only less accurate older data were available for the conditions closer to the ground. This gap is filled by presented article and concurrently published map of the wind speed at the height of 10 m. Furthermore, other important aspects of wind conditions over the area of the Czech Republic are discussed. These results can form a useful tool for those interested in construction of small wind turbines.
To calculate the average wind speed at a height of 10 m above the surface the same procedure and the same input data as for “wind map” at a height of 100 m above the ground were used. The resulting wind map is a synthesis of three calculation models used for long time at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics AS CR: VAS, WAsP and PIAP.

The European Union is committed to reducing energy consumption in the built environment. Since the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) represents approximately 11% of the total electricity consumption in Europe, these systems are an important part of the commitment of the EU. In this article, we discuss two specific aspects of HVAC energy efficiency, both are based on that understanding how the commercial buildings work in real life is the first step towards reducing energy consumption.

In connection with the implementation of the revised European Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings, certain legislative provisions such as Decree No. 148/2007, Coll. Replaced by Decree No. 78/2013, Coll. are currently amending. This article is focused on the changes associated with the energy certification of buildings, the "ENB", from the perspective of changes in the evaluation ENB.

The new standard CSN 75 5409 is valid from March 1^st 2013. Technical Report on protection against Legionella will apply from May 1^st 2013. In case of conflict of energy saving and hygiene prevails hygiene. Size of the hot water tank is chosen according to the requirement of heat pump. Volume of accumulation of solar systems is about 50 l / m ² of collector area.

Czech legislation introduced special regime of responsibility and funding of recycling of the photovoltaic modules installed until 2012. The special regime was motivated by the fear that PV modules will remain in the field at the end of life as its owner will go bankrupt controlled.
For every other electronic devices their producers are responsible for recycling since 2005. For photovoltaic modules the producers responsibility in the Czech Republic starts from 2013. For the modules installed until 2012 the owners are responsible for recycling. Before June 30 2013 the owners must enter into contract with a recycling company dedicated to photovoltaic modules recycling, which must be founded by at least four manufacturers of electronic devices (not necessarily photovoltaic modules). The recycling company have to estimate a fee for recycling despite of that no company in the Czech Republic has experience with large-scale recycling of photovoltaic modules. The owners then must pay the fee between 2014 and 2019. Regarding 30-year lifetime of PV modules the recycling will only rarely occur before 2040.
There is no obligation to deposit the collected fees on a blocked account nor another restriction for its use. This implies there is fear the recycling company will go bankrupt controlled. The supposed problem was not solved it was only shifted to another level.

This report is the result of processing all the available statistical sources. Report contains just evaluation of statistical data. It cannot cover all the techno-economic issues and relations in the sectors, which go beyond the survey. The report includes data on molded fuels (briquettes and pellets) made from biomass (wood and plant), peat, coal and paper.

Energy Regulator Office is often alleged of setting feed-in-tarff (FiT) for photovoltaic of an undue advantage which later caused photovoltaic boom in 2009 and 2010. Based on comparison with FiT in Germany it is shown that the allegations are exaggregated. Probably the main cause of the photovoltaic boom was the fact that photovoltaics was ignored in the Czech Republic. In substance no discussion occurred about PV until the end of 2008, attention was focused on wind power. In addition, the development in 2009 was very rapid and it occurred at a time of political instability.

So far it was assumed that the PV systems with an east-west orientation need separate inverter for each orientation or at least inverter with two MPP trackers to avoid mismatch losses. Analysis of such system shows that with one MPP tracker losses are relatively small.

Commented explanation of several key terms of energy, especially from portfolio of renewable and non-renewable energy sources used both in current energy systems and in systems considered in the near future in the Czech Republic.

The Autor employs himself in different accesses concerning the heating and the WSW preparation for low energy houses. He provides both general recommendations and shows specific solutions with relevant energy indicators.

The paper focuses on the conditions of fire and risk connected with dust layer. The next part is about thermal degradation of biomass and heat transfer on dust layer. The next part shows test methods for flame spread. The connection of dust layer and possible secondary explosion. In the article is highlighted connection with space and equipment cleaning due to ČSN EN 60079-10-2.

Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) conducted in early 2012 regular statistical survey. On its basis it is possible to refine the estimate of the supply and installation of heat pumps in 2011. The available information indicates that in 2011 for the Czech market was delivered about 7,000 heat pumps with a total capacity of about 86 MW.

Besides the photovoltaic panels, which were already described enough, there are the second major components of photovoltaic plants - inverters. The main parameter for each inverter in terms of energy use is its efficiency. It means how much power from a DC input AC output gets.

In the past there has been several large blackouts in the world. Risk of such blackout reportedly increases with increasing of share of renewable energy sources in energy mix. In fact neither of previous blackouts were caused by renewables. Main primary causes are age of transmission system components or operator error. Frightening with several days outage caused by renewable sources is exaggerated.

The contribution describes the building and configuration of a newly built ground heat exchanger (GHE), realized under the grant No. 3206/2011/G1 provided by Universities Development Fund of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports CR. This GHE is designed as an accessory of experimental low-energy dwelling of FME BUT Brno exploited for education in the area of alternative HVAC systems. All relevant operating parameters (including temperature stratification of soil) are continuously monitored. Data acquired this way will be used for validation of recently developed numerical models as well as for later design and energy assessment of GHEs.