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Thermal conductivity plays a crucial role in the design of external walls of buildings. This paper is focused on measuring the thermal conductivity coefficient of blocks made of structural lightweight waste aggregate concrete. The concrete mixture contained waste red ceramics fine aggregate and artificial expanded clay coarse aggregate. Replacing conventional aggregates with waste aggregates is one of the possibilities for the sustainable design of concrete construction today. A nondestructive method using the ISO...

In response to the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus, many countries adopted control and mitigation measures (e.g., lockdown, social distancing, intermittent attendance, etc.) that significantly increase the amount of time people spend inside the built environment. Nevertheless, the need to resume activities in attendance and ensure the continuity of businesses that cannot be stopped has led to the adoption of measures to reduce the risk of contagion, mainly involving increased ventilation of indoor environmen...

The construction sector is one of the major consumers of non-renewable energy and natural resources, but also an important factor in increasing global warming and climate change by producing greenhouse gases. In Europe, around 30% of CO2 emissions and 36% of total greenhouse gases are a direct or indirect consequence of the construction sector. At EU level it is estimated that 40% of energy consumption is due to public / private sector buildings. All EU policies regarding climate, energy efficiency and the use of ...

Buildings, including public sector buildings, are the largest consumers of energy re-sources. The aim of the work was to assess the energy saving potential of state consum-ers of the municipal territory in order to determine the efficiency of energy consumption in individual buildings and to determine the directions of the most profitable investment to improve energy efficiency. An analysis of the specific consumption of 23 buildings managed by the municipality of Yakovlevsky district of the Belgorod region (Russi...

Nowadays, along with creating materials with enhanced mechanical characteristics, it became important in the light of ecological problems, to design eco-friendly materials capable to disappear with time after fulfilling functions, in other words to develop biodegradable mechanically strong materials. The chemistry and technology of biodegradable polymers is one of the most important and rapidly developing fields of modern polymer science. A lot of biodegradibel polymers (BPs) were created mostly for medical applic...

Walking is the oldest way of transporting a person from place to place. Nevertheless, in the last decades, insufficient emphasis has been placed on it when planning the development and renewal of settlements in the Czech Republic. In recent decades, public space has been purposefully adapted to car traffic, which degrades it aesthetically, functionally, and air quality. This approach has been gradually changing in recent years. Large cities are once again turning to walk as a basic way of transporting people and a...

One of the circular economy’s principals is to «keep products and materials in use». Geopolymerization technology is promising enough to support this principle as it exploits wastes and by-products as alternative raw materials streams. However, the challenge that must be overcome to commercialize geopolymers is the substitution of the caustic alkaline solution that activates the aluminosilicate raw material. The introduction of solid activators in the process has given great results. This paper deals with the synt...

The carbon fiber composite plate is finding their increasing importance as structural material in civil building, construction equipment, aviation and marine applications. Most often, reinforced concrete structures are strengthened due to internal reinforcement corrosion, freeze-thaw action or weak original design. The carbon fibers composite plate is used in strengthen and to improve the structure's load-bearing capacity, stiffness, and service life. But despite the good reinforcing properties of composite materi...

Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), a cheap carbon-based material with large surface-to-volume ratio, are currently broadly investigated as a promising reinforcement for composite materials in building industry to enhance particularly their mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. However, the uniform dispersion of GNPs in composite material is a crucial factor to fully manifest their superior properties. This study is aimed at the design of environmentally friendly composite material based on magnesium oxychlor...

Investigation object: The paper describes the influence of the use of highly effective superplasticizer on the conductivity of cement paste. The paper shows the possibility of improvement the electrical and technological properties of electrically conductive concrete by modifying them with polycarboxylate superplasticizers. Electrically conductive concretes can be used to obtain resistive heaters for snow and ice melting, which are more ecological, then the use of chemical reagents, traditionally used for deicing....

Rice production is highly important for economy of Brazil. The residual husk of rice production is usually burned and causes a worthless ash for agriculture. Rice husk ash has high silica content. As silica is one of the most used pozzolanas in construction industry, rice husk ash is expected to develop pozzolanic activity in concrete. Considering the specific case of Montes Claros region in Brazil, an exploratory study with the goal to check the effect in the concrete properties when cement is partially replaced ...

Magnesia based cement is known for over 150 years. Compared to Portland cement (PC), magnesium potassium cement (MPC) is more environmentally friendly material, because of its high carbonation capability and a lower environmental impact on the overall ecosystem quality and resources than PC. Fast setting connected with high early strength leads to the satisfying parameters achieved after a few hours. Therefore, MPC finds use as the concrete repair material for buildings, roads or concreting runways, etc. In the pr...

Polycrystalline photovoltaic (PV) panels of various orientations were installed in Riga, Latvia, for long-term monitoring and determination of the efficiency in real operation conditions depending on the environmental parameters. Results of the first couple of years of monitoring are summarised in this paper. Analysis of the available energy and environmental data allows for the quantitative estimation of actual efficiency depending on spatial orientation and following comparison with manufacturer?s values. The cl...

The European mining industry is an active sector. Mining operations disturb large volumes of land and produce huge quantities of waste. The tailings dams of the mining industry occupy large areas representing a huge cost in terms of operation/maintenance, health, safety, environment and economy. This paper is an overview of the possible sustainable waste management strategies that are targeted on the reuse of residues as secondary resources. Therefore, it is focused on restoring mine tailings as inert materials to...

The European mining industry is an active sector. Mining operations disturb large volumes of land and produce huge quantities of waste. The tailings dams of the mining industry occupy large areas representing a huge cost in terms of operation/maintenance, health, safety, environment and economy. This paper is an overview of the possible sustainable waste management strategies that are targeted on the reuse of residues as secondary resources. Therefore, it is focused on restoring mine tailings as inert materials to...

In the area of transport infrastructures, spontaneous vegetation is exposed to a considerable safety risk and combated by chemical or mechanical means [1]. Glyphosate is one of the most widely used agents worldwide. Glyphosate is harmful to the environment and to health; As a result, alternative and environmentally friendly solutions are being researched in many places [2]. As part of the research project Green Logix of the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, an analysis of the plant growth with different ro...

Biofilms on exterior plasters deserve an attention as they affect not only the aesthetical appearance of buildings, but also their hygric and thermal performance that can subsequently results in an initiation of degradation processes. Understanding of biofilms growth mechanisms can be therefore efficiently exploited to avoid such conditions that are convenient for their propagation. This paper therefore combines experimental and computational techniques to predict the biofilms growth rate on lime plasters when exp...

The magnesium oxychloride cement (MOC) as an alternative to commonly used Portland cement (PC) has been intensively studied in the past decade. Compared to PC it is more environmentally sustainable and it can be considered as CO2-neutral due to the low calcination temperature of the raw materials and its ability to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. The objective of this paper was to develop a composite material based on MOC, containing partially oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (partially oxidized MWCNTs) in o...

The diagnosis of existing structures determines the current state of the selected object. In order to diagnose structures as accurately as possible, it is necessary to choose reliable and effective survey methods, which are used to achieve objective and reliable results. When choosing destructive physical analysis, which includes, for example, concrete cores, accurate and appropriate results are obtained. However, the disadvantage of these methods is that they result in irreversible damage to the structure. For th...

The interiors of buildings are often overheated in summer. The integration of Phase Change Material (PCM) into the building structure can reduce the temperature in the interior because PCMs are able to store latent heat at normal indoor air temperatures. This paper presents the results of the research of mechanical and thermal properties of interior plasters with an increasing proportion of PCM. These plasters were made of gypsum, and microencapsulated PCM Micronal DS 5008 X was used. Two sets of samples with an i...

The stone industry is one of the most essential industries in the Alpine region. This research aims to evaluate the possibility of reusing secondary waste materials produced by the quarry sector as aggregates in Ultra-High-Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC). The secondary materials involved were Diabase Sand, Diabase Powder, Dolomite Sand and Dolomite Gravel from crushed stone quarries from the regions of Carinthia and Tyrol in Austria, as well as Limestone Powder from the preparation and production of...

Natural zeolites having a structure with a large number of cavities allow design lightweight plasters with improved thermal insulation parameters. Focusing on the assessment of plasters’ durability, their resistance to salt damage should to be taken into consideration, especially in case of their application in repair of salt laden masonry. Although the crystallization of salts in plasters presents a serious problem, there is as yet no standard procedure for its evaluation. To predict salt damage of lime-based pla...

The rising global average temperature was the main topic at the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference in Glasgow during the climate summit in 2021 (COP26). The meeting aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and to discuss the transfer of funds to developing countries. The Europen Green Deal has the same goals. The European Commission aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Climate change has a negative impact on environmental biodiversity, the occurrence of natural disasters, and human health...

One of the significant problems in terms of the mining impact on environment is abandoned (due to various factors) deposits and tailings accumulated on landfills. In addition, one of the most important resources for the development of mining is the inclusion of raw materials (as non-industrial stocks) in the economy. There are two ways to solve these problems: a) to achieve economic profitability of the deposit by improving the technologies of extraction and processing of basic raw materials, and b) to develop inn...

The paper presents some aspects of an experimental research in which basic recipes have been designed in order to obtain innovative products to be used in construction as finishing coatings. Starting from sunflower seed shells, considered a waste rather a by-product resulting from the industry of edible sunflower oil, and also from rough sheep wool, an animal waste from the zootechnical field, and also from the specific thermal insulating characteristics of theese two waste materials, a serie of basic recipes was ...

Among its activities, the construction industry has a significant impact on the environment. In recent years, therefore, emphasis has been placed on the sustainability of building structures and materials, and ways and means are being sought to achieve this. Specifically, it is about reducing emissions and using the waste produced by recycling materials, e.g. aggregate. The motivation for using recycled aggregates is also to reduce dependence on natural resources, which are declining. The article deals with the as...

The use of information and communication technologies has many benefits. Based on many studies, their level is not sufficient. This can be caused by several factors and obstacles. Communication and ICT competencies are one of the key factors for the active use of advanced technologies for the management of sustainable construction projects. This digital age requirements systematic communication and project management. In this pandemic time, it can be considered an even more important requirement. It is the level o...

The reduction of fuel consumption in the engine was experimentally investigated in cogeneration system with the participation of 1:4000 vol. CeO2 concentrate (Bluediesel): diesel fuel. CeO2 concentrate purifies combustion chamber and after burns hydrocarbons which in turn affects lowering the fuel consumption. This work was carried out with the engine load at the level of 0-4000W and it shows that in the presence of the Bluediesel concentrate, fuel consumption is 5-7 wt. % lower than in case of diesel oil consumpt...

Current sources of energy used to power motor vehicles are fuels produced on the basis of crude oil (gasoline, diesel oil). In the near future, these fuels must be replaced with other substances with similar properties that enable them to power the engines of motor vehicles. The amount of conventional fuels is limited and with the ever-growing demand for this raw material, implying, among others, price increase, it is necessary to look for alternative fuels - for traditional mixtures. According to the assumptions ...

processes and stages carried out to achieve imposed performance objectives. The activities involved in the construction process are characterized by their own level of importance and each must comply with the established monitoring and execution plan, respecting the required specifications, especially in the case of concealed works. According to theoretical research, concealed works are those works or construction elements, which, once completed, can be viewed or inspected with the help of special intervention mea...