Researchers of the AdMaS Center of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Brno University of Technology (BUT) led by prof. Petr Hlavínek, at the beginning of 2022 they received an annual project financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic entitled “Use of biochar as materially transformed waste for extensive green roofs” from the program Strengthening the capacity of public universities in developing countries.

The first working trip to the University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina took place on 9-11 May 2022. As part of the international project, experimental green roof modules were installed, a “kick-off” meeting of the international project was held with the participation of the management of the Faculty of Agronomy and the current activities of the AdMaS center were presented. At the same time, the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Brno University of Technology was introduced and the possibilities of further cooperation were presented.

The currently solved project serves mainly to get to know both educational and research institutions, in the coming years it is expected to submit applications for another grant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, the subject of which should be program.

The Technology Agency of the Czech Republic noticed the interesting outputs of the REVOZIM project – “Water and waste recycling within the green infrastructure of cities”. The REVOZIM project responds to the need, especially for smaller towns and municipalities, to comprehensively address water management and improve the quality of life in accordance with the principles of Smart City and the principles of circular economy in municipalities of up to ten thousand inhabitants. The AdMaS Center participates in the research in a fundamental way, because it is on AdMaS that experimental modules of green roofs are installed, the substrate of which is prepared from the mentioned recycled materials.

The University Center for Energy Efficient Buildings of the Czech Technical University, Sedum Top Solution and GreenVille service also collaborated on the research project with the AdMaS FAST BUT Center. It was financially supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR) within Programu Národní centra kompetence.

Výzkumníci proměnili suť a kal v materiál pro střechy či koberce | BusinessInfo.cz

The project “For healthier and better water in Brno” implemented in cooperation with Brno Waterworks and Sewerage, a.s. and ALS Czech Republic s.r.o. In accordance with the assignment, the project team led by Prof. Hlavínek focused on monitoring the sources of drinking water for Brno and at the same time monitoring the wastewater produced in the city of Brno. As part of the annual campaign, the researchers of the AdMaS Center focused on the content of pesticides, drugs, hormones, microplastics in drinking water and came to a positive conclusion that both treated drinking water and surface and underground drinking water sources for Brno are high quality non-life-threatening micropollutants, hormones, narcotics.

In addition, during wastewater monitoring, they focused on the presence of industrial substances and heavy metals and found that wastewater is polluted as expected and, based on the monitored indicators, contains microplastics, pesticides, but also narcotics and other monitored substances (heavy metals, etc. .). Experts point out that technologies for the removal of micro-pollution in wastewater already exist. However, these are not yet widespread in practice, partly because the legislation of the Czech Republic does not require this.

On March 29, 2022, Professor Lina Sakalauskiené, Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering from Vilnius University of Applied Engineering Sciences, visited the AdMaS Center together with Erasmus Coordinator Inga Piščikiené. Director dr. Krejza introduced the AdMaS Center and presented the centre’s research activities. As part of the guided tour of the center, the Dean was interested in the technical equipment and opportunities for research cooperation in a number of construction areas. At the end of the tour of the center, the Dean actively participated in the recycling of unused plastic filaments from 3D printers, from which the equipment of the rest room for students of the Faculty of Civil Engineering in building Z is created.

The tendency to expand green areas in cities also brings news in the area of ​​parking spaces. Experts from the AdMaS science center, led by Ing. Tomáš Chorazy Ph.D., decided to test three types of parking spaces in the new experimental car park. The so-called Sewer gratings, which are common to all three types of parking spaces, allow the rainwater to be drained into the soil instead of the classic drainage, thus helping to combat drought. In addition, the researchers placed biochar under one parking space, which helps to remove heavy metals, pesticides and also cleans rainwater. Modern cities and urban development use biochar for the regeneration of green areas, the construction of green roofs or tree planting, or just to build the aforementioned green parking lots. Now the testing will be transferred from the laboratories directly to the experimental car park. In addition, for example, dynamic impact tests are planned for monitoring the load-bearing capacity within long-term use or monitoring the effectiveness of seepage, etc. The staff of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at BUT cooperated with ASIO NEW, spol. s r.o.

• https://newtonone.newtonmedia.eu/cs-CZ/monitoring/CZ$OP-17-1439/topic/vp51/article/2021P220A14D/token/50be148f504f4037a7bcc3aedd8b69bf?tab=EClip)
• https://www.stream.cz/vecerni-zpravy-porad/prezident-zeman-v-nemocnici-cesko-po-volbach-a-konec-levice-64229062)
• https://www.komunalweb.cz/v-centru-admas-testuji-zelene-parkoviste/
• V centru AdMaS testují zelené parkoviště. Přispívá k boji se suchem – Nápady a objevy – Zprávy z VUT

On Tuesday, January 18, the Dean of the Faculty, Construction Professor Bajer, together with other representatives of construction faculties and industrial partners, signed the entrance to the platform of the National Construction Center 4.0.

This platform aims to exploit synergies in the implementation and optimization of digitization, automation and application of the principles of sustainable environmental behavior. The current major challenge for the construction industry is, among other things, the introduction of new technologies, including the use of the principles of Industry 4.0 in construction and increasing the competitiveness of the Czech Republic in this area on a European scale.

The AdMaS center plans to be one big construction testbed.

On 18 August 2021, was ceremoniously presented a new frame 3D printer in the area of the AdMaS Center of the Faculty of Civil Engineering in cooperation with the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, which enables the use of 3D printing in construction. 

A team of researchers led by Dr. David Škaroupka produced 14 parts for a parkour playground in just 10 hours. The mixture from which the obstacles are made resembles concrete, but it is not concrete because it does not contain coarse particles. The mixture is based on a combination of cement, water, aggregate and polypropylene fibers. The parkour playground will be used for leisure activities in the City District of Prague 11. The playground project meets several interesting aspects, such as the sustainability and uniqueness of 3D printing together with active spending free time. This is the first 3D construction printing project in the Czech Republic, which will serve people in public space.

Gasman from GasNet together with representatives of the AdMaS Center of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of BUT organized the first conference in the Czech Republic on 26 May 2021 on the use of LNG in transport and energy. The event took place under the auspices of the Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering professor Bajer. Associate professor Zdeněk Dufek presented a global view of the possibilities of higher use of LNG in freight transport, and the issue of fire safety in relation to Czech standards was presented by engineer Beneš.

 

On Monday, May 3, 2021, Czech Television filmed a robotic 3D printing of concrete in the construction 3D printing laboratory (3DCP)  in connection with the forthcoming Czech Television documentary with the working title “Wanderings in the Czech Future”.

An interesting feature of this laboratory is the used printing mixture, which is filled with recycled material from the construction industry.

Along with 3DCP team, 3Deposition, ERC-TECH and Master Builders Solutions also took part in the implementation of 3D printing and interviews.

 

At the end of 2020, the AdMaS Center, together with its partners, launched a solution for the project “For Healthier and Better Water in Brno”, which was commissioned by the City of Brno. The aim of the project is to gain current knowledge about the quality of drinking and wastewater in Brno with a focus on micropollutants such as medicaments, drugs, pesticides, microplastics, etc.

During December 2020, weekly monitoring of wastewater flowing into the Brno-Modřice Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) took place, which treats this wastewater from the territory of the city of Brno and its vicinity. This initial weekly “screening” provided insight into the amount and species composition of infiltrated micropollution, which was evaluated during January 2021.

The average daily value of micropollution flowing into the Brno-Modřice WWTP consists in total of: about 20 kg of medicaments (the main pharmaceutical substances were paracetamol, iomeprol and gabapentin), 0.5 kg of drugs (pervitin and THC metabolite), 1 kg of pesticides and 0.07 kg of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls. In terms of widely discussed microplastics (plastic parts smaller than 0.5 mm), their occurrence was monitored on average 267 particles per liter of wastewater

The project will now continue as long-term annual sampling campaign of quality of drinking water from the city of Brno water sources for the, wastewater sampling at the inflow and outflow of the Brno-Modřice WWTP to evaluate the effectiveness of micro-pollution removal at the treatment plant and wastewater monitoring on the sewer network busy roads.