From the phase of architectural studies, the building process goes through steady changes. The expert "forecast" of the thermal behaviour of these buildings will almost always be hampered by the lack of input data. However, even in such cases there are ways to provide valuable information about future features of the project. The information doesn't need to be always accurate. For example, if we asked if the building will be low-energy, it would be enough to know, among other things, if the resulting heat needed for heating will not exceed a certain threshold. We are able to identify this already at the stage where we have a clear idea about, for example, the properties of windows or the exact shape of the building. In this case, it is appropriate to extend the standard calculation procedures to be able to describe not only one chosen object, but a number of variations that may occur depending on what the we know about the building at a given moment. This presents a method for design and estimation of thermal-technical properties of family houses with very low energy requirements. The method uses the creating of variants with the Monte Carlo simulation applied to the parametric model house (monthly calculation according to EN ISO 13790 and 730329 DESERT). The results show the influence of individual characteristics of the building on the heat balance and makes it possible to optimise the overall building.

We kindly invite you to the international conference Energetics and biomass 2010 held under auspices of the Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at CTU in Prague prof. Ing. František Hrdlička, CSc., on 10. - 12. February 2010.

We can observe in the Czech press a significantly higher frequency of expressions suchs as passive house or energy-efficient construction, specially in connection with the subsidy program “Zelená Úsporám”. However, the reality is that the number of passive houses built is very low, moreover, in some of the so called passive houses there can certainly be doubts about their actual properties.

Alternative energy sources are gradually taking a growing share in the worldwide production of electricity. Solar power is perhaps the easiest to implement and least expensive, its use is not too complicated and can you can easily experiment with it even in a small scale. It is easily accessible to anyone interested in environmentally friendly production of energy. To get started with it, it is just enough to buy one solar panel with a few additional components, and place it on a sufficiently sun-lit place and the production of energy can begin. Certainly, an interesting idea for users is that after the initial investment the system for several years basically doesn't have any requirements, and that it will produce energy for free.
A solar panel (photovoltaic panel or module) is a part of several interconnected solar units with a usual output of around 300W, which generated an voltage corresponding to the multiple voltages of the interconnected individual units. The source of higher outputs consisting of several interconnected solar panels is usually referred to as a solar power plant.

The interpretation of the concept of sustainability in the construction industry has developed these twenty years. In the first phase the problem of limited resources, especially energy had to be addressed as well as minimising the environmental impact of buildings and constructions processes. The next phase focused on the technical design of structures, particularly the choice of materials, building components, construction technologies and building design in order to increase their energy efficiency. Currently, the "soft" aspects of sustainability are gaining importance. They are generally regarded as crucial for a sustainable development in construction. The study results show that the traditional evaluation of projects can not dequately and comprehensively reflect effects of the environment and therefore, does not meet the principles of sustainable development. The work was created as part of the research project "Management of sustainable development, life cycle of buildings, construction firms and territories" (MSM 6840770006) funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports at the Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Civil Engineering, and offers not only evaluation but also new options and Trends.

Energy Regulatory Office (ERÚ) announced „adequate“ feed-in-tarif (FiT) for photovoltaic electricity. Based on actual situation on Czech PV market it is recommended to reduce FiT for systems below 30 kWp to 11 200 CZK/Wp and for systems above 30 kWp to 9 000 CZK/Wp (actual exchange rate is 25,785 CZK/EUR, see this site).
The recommended values of FiT correspond with actual situation on Czech PV market. Unfortunately exchange rate of Czech koruna (CZK) to Euro is instable. Exchange rate of Czech koruna to Euro oscillate in wide range from about 28 in beginning of 2008 to about 23 in August 2008 and back to about 29 in February 2009. In case the exchange rate will be on upper level the growth of photovoltaic installations will cease. On lower level FiT will be very profitable again.
On other hand future prices of PV modules are unpredictable. Actual rapid fall of prices is mostly based on decrease of price of Silicon as raw material. If the price of Silicon will rise after financial crisis will end, the prices of PV modules will rise too. The prices of modules will probably never exceed last year level, however prices high above 2 €/Wp are possible. According to those uncertainties the FiT could become either excessively profitable or purely restrictive.

The application potential for solar energy use in buildings lies in supply of thermal and electric energy and natural daylighting. To use incident solar energy from building envelope effectively, multi-functional construction elements combining several purposes should be introduced as a standard part of building construction. Examples of such concepts are presented: hybrid air/liquid collectors for heating and ventilation purposes, hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T) collectors for combined thermal and electric energy supply (glazed, unglazed, air/water cooled), linear Fresnell lenses collectors for removal of heat load from direct component of solar irradiation to thermal storage and allowing the natural diffuse daylighting.

Even wind power plants need means of transportation to take service crews to their workplaces. At the moment, there is no European standard for this kind of equipment – though it is prepared, so let's have a look through the eyes of the author of this article at how this issue is seen in North America, and what was exhibited related to it at the trade fair in Chicago.

Guaranteed solar results concept introduces a way how to assure the energy savings of realizied solar systems, the economics of installations and declared reduction of emissions. Guarantee of savings creates a pressure on system supplier to deliver the best quality automatically and provides a surety bond for investor at the same time.