As part of the EPILOT project, the CAMEB National Competence Center, funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, researchers of the AdMaS Center develop and test energy piles – thermally activated foundation piles, which are located under buildings and ensure the stability of buildings. Experts from the AdMaS Center (Advanced Materials, Structures and Technologies) and the Department of Geotechnics, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Brno University of Technology are working on this project.

The required temperature inside buildings is between 20-26 ° C all year round. “If we were to draw heat from the outside air in the winter, we would have to transform it, for example, from minus 10 ° C to plus 40 ° C for heating purposes. However, the soil has a stable 9 ° C in our climatic conditions. It is much more economical to collect heat from the ground than from the air, because such an amount of energy is not consumed for its transformation in a heat pump, “describes doc. Šikula.

Even more effective is the use of subfloor temperature in the summer months. “With the help of an energy pilot, we draw coldness from the ground and use it to cool a flat building. We don’t even need a heat pump, we only pump cold through an exchanger, which lowers the water temperature in the building’s cooling circuits. The whole thing is extremely cheap and energy-efficient, “he describes.

Link to whole article: https://vedavyzkum.cz/inovace/inovace/brnensti-odbornici-testuji-novou-technologii-vytapeni?fbclid=IwAR3m-wK2SveZXQvdgIvhv4hZYAa4u7pPz6I9XfZoRIm-a1mr5oqYtVH

From 20 to 22 June 2022, the event “Come with us to create the world around us” took place in the area of the AdMaS Center, the purpose of which was to increase the popularity of the Faculty of Civil Engineering among high school and grammar school students. The event was attended by about 300 students. The students were divided into small groups, which were accompanied throughout by group leaders from among our colleagues. At each stand, two groups always competed against each other, and the group that completed the task gained a better point. The group of students with the highest total number of points earned received a bag with items reminiscent of this event.

The event was organized by the director of the AdMaS Center, dr. Krejza and his team in cooperation with a team from the Department of Internal and External Relations, which also included the faculty mascot Beaver. Representatives of several departments of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at BUT took care of the students’ entertaining and educational program at 8 locations. At the 1st site, the Institute of Architecture provided activities connected with the presentation of the principles of urban planning and a demonstration of the obstacles of handicapped people in everyday life. At the 2nd site, the Institute of Geotechnics presented the importance of the basic conditions for the long-term stability of the building and prepared a practical demonstration of rock recognition and determination of their origin. At the 3rd site, the Institute of Construction Testing demonstrated the meaning of the serviceability limit state and prepared a practical demonstration of the effect of loading on the deformation of horizontal structures. At the 4th station, the Institute of Construction Economics and Management prepared for students a managerial call connected with the project management of the lego construction. The task of the students was to ensure the construction of the building according to the model as cheaply as possible and in the shortest possible time. At the 5th site, the Institute of Geodesy presented the possibilities of using modern GPS devices to find the exact position in the field, which is a prerequisite for each demarcation of the object before construction begins. At the 6th station, the Institute of Technology of Building Materials and Components bothered students with determining the bulk density of various materials, which at the same time had to be identified only by touch. At the 7th site, the Institute of Civil Engineering prepared a model of a housing unit, which students had to equip as efficiently as possible, find the best orientation of the housing unit towards the world and, as a bonus, students had to think about the functionality of individual layers of green roofs. At the 8th station, the Institute of Municipal Water Management made students think about the consumption of drinking water in the household and how the used water is drained outside the building.

The anonymous voting of the students showed that the most entertaining activities were project management of the Lega building, finding the exact location using a GPS device and demonstrating the obstacles of handicapped people in everyday life.

Due to the positive feedback from high school and grammar school students and their teachers, we are already thinking today about how to improve the whole event for next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.