Lots of energy saving projects of public swimming pools were realised during last few years in Germany and Austria. Some of them were realised by the EPC method (Energy Performance Contracting). This paper shows two of them.

Over 5000 buildings in Austria have been constructed in the passive standard. In the future, a considerable part of new constructions should be build in the passive standard. The goal is to have all subsidised residential buildings built in the passive standard by 2015. The aim of the study was to learn from the first residential complexes of passive buildings. The main questions were: Do the passive buildings meet the ambitious expetations of the project? How satisfied are the people living in them? What additional construction costs can be expected and what are the actual energy savings compared to conventional residential complexes?

As in other countries, in Norway energy remediation is carried out mostly on an average level. For a decade, this has blocked highly effective energy saving measures in public housing because better energy remediation measures pay off only after a long time. Myhrerenga is the first block of flats in Norway renovated according a passive house concept.

One of the way how to recognize quality of buildings are methods for sustainable buildings classification. SBToolCZ is a certification method for complex building quality classification according to sustainable buildings principles – including environmental, social and economic criterions. The SBToolCZ method is based on the international SBTool system. Criterions and requirements are being modified according to standards development on the international level. SBToolCZ was developed on Faculty of civil engineering (Czech Technical University Prague), CIDEAS centre.

Subsidy programs to promote the reduction of energy consumption and to increase the use of renewable energy sources are available not only in the Czech Republic but also in our neighbouring countries. Let's have a look at the possibilities of financial support are available in Germany field of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.

Low energy (LEB) and passive buildings (PB) are becoming standard for new constructions in EU countries. They aren't experiments anymore, but absolutely ordinary mass production of sophisticated residential buildings. Only in Germany, Austria and Switzerland there are already thousands of buildings that meet the passive standard and their number doubles every year. The cost of passive buildings is only 5-7 % higher than those of conventional ones, and yet, their consumption of energy and heating is up to 90 % lower!

Author raises discussion and proposed changes in the rules of the energy audit. Draws attention to the criteria for evaluating alternatives and to small requirements for variability solutions. Read controversy of the author and reviewer who considers the methodology as sufficient and sees a problem in processing audits.

The group of twelve residential passive houses and school facilities in Koberovy can be characterised as the first mass project of experimental construction based on energy efficient wooden structures carried out in the Czech Republic. The construction is located on a plot of land oriented to the South. The concept respects the regulations for the protected area Czech Paradise within urban communities, which require saddle roof, entrance through the longer part of the façade, limited glazing areas, among others. The concept does not result in a monotonous terraced construction. The new housing estate is logically related to the current character of the surrounding buildings in the village.

Protection against lightning is something other than a lightning conductor. Lightning conductor is for capturing a flash, for safely the grounding system. It is for the prevent injury of people and protection against fire house. If it is all what we will do, we can say goodbye to all the electronics.

Indicative target of renewable electricity share in gross final energy consumption for the Czech Republic is 8 % in 2010. All the time before it was announced by Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) the target is unrealistic. Despite of that it is expected the target will be reached this year.

Designing solar systems so they will produce the the most heat during the year or electricity at the lowest cost is quite a complex matter. A number of factors should be considered when calculating the solar systems, especially the intensity of the solar radiation in individual locations throughout the year. Without a simulation software that can work with this variable data, the calculation can only be very approximate. If we want to get more accurate results and fast, using sofware is esential.

The physical properties of heat transfer fluids affect the design of all the components of heating systems, which in practice are in most cases dimensioned for water flow, which is later replaced by another liquid for which designers do not have the necessary data.

Heat released in biomass combustion can be effectively stored in an accumulation tank. Traditionally, water is used as a main heat transfer medium. However, progressive materials, such as Phase Change Materials (PCM´s), offer better heat storage capacities. The materials work on principle of sensible and latent heat accumulation / release. While the phase change material takes up the heat, during the reversed process the stored latent heat is released. In our work the following materials were studied: paraffinic waxes, fatty acids and their eutectic mixtures. These materials provide higher heat potential per unit volume. Therefore, PCM´s can prolong the lifetime of biomass-fired systems.

A revised version of the directive was issued in 2010 under the title 2010/31/EU. In part, it is a modification of the original. In it, there are have been defined new administrative tools to increase the energy performance of buildings - among others, it includes the concept of "building with almost 0 energy consumption".

One of ways how to utilise higher amount of energy from solar irradiation is conversion of energy of incident photons to a level close to band gap of the semiconductor material. This is the main idea of thermophotovoltaics. Light from the Sun (or heat from another source) is absorbed in emitter which is heated to a temperature much lower then the temperature of the surface of the Sun. Heated emitter then emits photons with lower energy. The goal is to manufacture selective emitter which emits photons in narrow band only slightly above to bandap of used photovoltaic cell.

Currently in the Czech Republic we observe relatively large development of energy efficiency projects including energy production from RES, in particular electricity. This development is interconnected with the current legislative framework for such support in the Czech Republic and related support mechanism in the form of investment and operating subsidies for electricity production from RES. Current status of implementation of these projects is particularly affected by our membership in the EU and the subsequent implementation of the EU respective directives into national legislation. Furthermore, the Czech Republic has achieved a significant success in international emissions trading (IET International Emission Trading) by selling its surplus CO2 emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. In comparison with other EU countries the Czech Republic belongs to the frontrunners in terms of implementation of energy efficiency projects, mainly in the context of recent strong development of photovoltaic power installations. The article presents a basic overview of Operational Programmes financed by SCF EU, under which energy saving and RES projects in the private and public sector are supported, the Green Savings programme, designed for household sector and financed by selling CO2 emission surplus, and the system of feed in tariffs for RES electricity production. Based on currently available ex-ante evaluation of the supported projects the article quantifies the anticipated benefits of these projects in terms of savings in the final energy consumption and in terms of increase in energy production from RES.

Currently in the Czech Republic we observe relatively large development of energy efficiency projects including energy production from RES, in particular electricity. This development is interconnected with the current legislative framework for such support in the Czech Republic and related support mechanism in the form of investment and operating subsidies for electricity production from RES. Current status of implementation of these projects is particularly affected by our membership in the EU and the subsequent implementation of the EU respective directives into national legislation. Furthermore, the Czech Republic has achieved a significant success in international emissions trading (IET International Emission Trading) by selling its surplus CO2 emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. In comparison with other EU countries the Czech Republic belongs to the frontrunners in terms of implementation of energy efficiency projects, mainly in the context of recent strong development of photovoltaic power installations. The article presents a basic overview of Operational Programmes financed by SCF EU, under which energy saving and RES projects in the private and public sector are supported, the Green Savings programme, designed for household sector and financed by selling CO2 emission surplus, and the system of feed in tariffs for RES electricity production. Based on currently available ex-ante evaluation of the supported projects the article quantifies the anticipated benefits of these projects in terms of savings in the final energy consumption and in terms of increase in energy production from RES.

Elementary principles of the most significant and the most perspective types of fuel cells are presented (AFC, PEFC/PEMFC, PAFC, DMFC, MCFC, SOFC). For every of the fuel cells the main operational characteristics, chemical reactions, advantages and disadvantages are presented.