Showing papers by "Mária Kozlovská published in 2018"

Houses Based on Wood as an Ecological and Sustainable Housing Alternative—Case Study

Abstract: Sustainability of cities is currently a much-debated topic. The trend in Central Europe we witness nowadays is that people are going back from the impersonal and restrictive conditions of tower blocks to the more natural and relaxed conditions of family houses. New approaches to urbanization in the context of the sustainability of cities can be characterized by their use of innovative technologies and energetically efficient and ecologically acceptable construction materials. Companies have substantially responded to this trend, meeting the demand by offering a wide range of solutions. Alongside the traditional and long-established construction materials (brick, concrete), including wood, companies are introducing modern, innovative, and viable construction alternatives. Modern methods of construction (MMC), to which modern houses based on wood belong, promote the idea and application of environmentally and energetically efficient constructions. Just as the construction process itself significantly contributes to the depletion of natural resources, the production of construction materials contributes to significant environmental pollution and greenhouse emissions (particularly CO2). Sustainability assessments of construction projects increasingly involve the use of methodologies which assess sustainability criteria throughout a product’s Life-cycle. For our analysis of suburban housing clusters designed to serve as family houses, we chose an actual family house construction completed using a modern construction system based on wood. For the sake of comparing the modern construction method, we created an alternative model of a construction based on a traditional masonry construction system. The main objective of this contribution is to analyze selected variants of constructions in terms of environmental and economic sustainability characteristics, as part of a broader assessment of permanent sustainability, by applying the life-cycle assessment (LCA) and life-cycle cost (LCC) methodologies within specified assessment boundaries. A partial objective of this contribution is to point towards the ways of applying the LCA and LCC assessment methodologies, such as in the decision-making processes involved in alternative investment strategies for the construction of urban clusters in the context of sustainability.

Analysis of Selected Building Constructions Used in Industrial Construction in Terms of Sustainability Benefits

Abstract: Enormous development of technology over the past two centuries has been associated with a considerable drawdown of non-renewable raw materials and an increase in the amount of harmful emissions. Thus, building direction in the field of construction implies a significant implementation of sustainability. The preference for environmentally friendly technology solutions is the right way to meet the sustainability trend. The main aim of this study was to analyze and verify selected construction systems of buildings designed for agricultural primary production in terms of their environmental impacts. The supporting construction systems of the comparative design variants was designed from a variety of material bases (concrete, steel, and wood). To evaluate environmental construction systems, the LCA methodology in mode “Cradle to Gate” was used. Parameters of sustainability related to the environmental impact were analyzed. These results could be a useful tool for the evaluation and comparison to an appropriate choice of the design option for an industrial building designed for agricultural primary production in terms of environmental impact.

Perception of User Criteria in the Context of Sustainability of Modern Methods of Construction Based on Wood

Abstract: Recent developments in the construction industry have brought more efficient and sustainable technologies, technological procedures, and materials An example of this are modern methods of construction, which offer larger production volumes with a higher quality and shorter procurement time The goal of those methods is to improve construction sustainability through quality improvement, customer satisfaction, shortened construction time, and reduced environmental impact The main goal of this research is to demonstrate, by means of theoretical assumptions, surveys, and analyses, the sustainability of modern methods of construction based on wood The work focuses on identifying the user criteria for construction sustainability Selected user criteria of construction sustainability are applied in a socio-economic survey whose purpose is to determine how users perceive the efficiency of selected construction systems We evaluate certain user parameters in the context of sustainability by relying on the users of buildings (family houses) which have already been built and compare the results with declared design parameters

Biomonitoring the indoor environment of agricultural buildings.

Abstract: Introduction Agricultural hygiene and biomonitoring helps protect people, livestock and crops from pests and disease, including insects, parasites, pathogens and weeds. Optimising the health of animals and crops increases productivity, minimises animal suffering, and ultimately protects human health by ensuring that foodstuffs are safe for consumption. A healthy farm environment also protects the health of the agricultural workers. Ensuring hygiene and health protection is one of the basic construction requirements. Such requirements are examined when commissioning new constructions and examining defects in constructions already in use. One substantial defect is biocorrosion which represents a synergistic process with a complex variety of factors, caused by biochemical manifestations of various micro-organisms micromycetes). Micromycetes producing mycotoxins therefore play an important role regarding the so-called 'Sick Building Syndrome' (SBS) that has become a global problem nowadays. Therefore, agricultural hygiene and biomonitoring aims to minimise the introduction of additional pathogens and pests, as well as the spread of pathogens and pests in farm environments; this helps protect the safety of foodstuffs further down the supply chain. Objective The aim of the presented study is to point out the need to address indoor environment monitoring, summarizing the most commonly used methods for monitoring biological factors, and characterizing the negative effects of biological agents on humans and animals exposed to their negative effects.

Quality Parameters Perception of Modern Methods of Construction Based on Wood in the Context of Sustainability

Abstract: Quality parameters are important for achieving sustainability and prosperity. A range of new and innovative construction systems is currently being developed, presented as modern methods of construction (MMC), which have an ambition to improve the performance parameters of buildings throughout their life cycle. As for the implementation of modern methods of construction in Slovakia, assembled buildings based on wood seem to be the most preferred construction system. In the study presented in the paper, we searched for already built and occupied wood-based family houses. The residents’ attitudes towards such a type of buildings in the context with declared design and qualitative parameters of efficiency and sustainability are overlooked. The methodology of the research study is based on a socio-economic survey. Due to the large amounts of data collected through a questionnaire, only selected parts of the survey results are evaluated and discussed in the paper. The presented parts of the survey focus on two research questions. The first is aimed at determining the preferred parameters of wooden structures with future users and the second is aimed at evaluating the quality of buildings in view of users of existing wooden buildings. An expectations survey aims the determine the attitudes of users during their use of wooden buildings as one of the innovative technologies, MMC, and their view of the quality of construction and comfort while living in them.

Surface temperature analysis of the board with built-in infrared heating

Abstract: The paper presents partial results of research and develops of innovative board with built-in infrared heating film. The base of technical solution of innovative board is enclosed by the infrared h...