This article discusses an integrated concept of sustainable building and of Building Information Modelling (BIM) by means of implementation of the Green BIM management method. Apart from presenting this innovative project management method with particular attention paid to solutions applied by Scandinavian enterprises, the article aims at analysing institutional conditions regarding application of the Green BIM within Polish construction companies. Arguments presented in the article are based on results of a scientific review and industry specific publications. Moreover, the article discusses case studies of projects completed with the implementation of the Green BlM method.

The purpose of this paper is to present and analyse the decision-making problem faced by a future house owner - selection of the optimal solution of building thermal insulation in relation to the selected criteria, both related to costs and future benefits. The problem of selecting the best solutions in the construction sector is widely discussed in the science literature. In this paper, the authors decided to solve the raised problem by using the Entropy method.

Knowledge of the uncertainty of measurement of testing results is important when results have to be compared with limits and specifications. In the measurement of sound insulation following standards ISO 140-4 and 140-5 the uncertainty of the final magnitude is mainly associated to the average sound pressure levels L1 and L2 measured. However, the study of sound fields in enclosed spaces is very difficult: there are a wide variety of rooms with different sound fields depending on factors as volume, geometry and materials. A parameter what allows us to quantify the spatial variation of the sound pressure level is the standard deviation of the pressure levels measured at the different positions of the room. Based on the analysis of this parameter some results have been pointed out: we show examples on the influence of the microphone positions and the wall characteristics on the uncertainty of the final magnitudes mainly at the low frequencies regime. In this line, we propose a theoretical calculus of the standard deviation as a combined uncertainty of the standard deviation already proposed in the literature focused in the room geometry and the standard deviation associated to the wall vibrational field.

Hamburg with the quantity of about 18 mlns m2 is, alongside with Berlin and Munich, the biggest office centre in Germany. The large-scale planning and urban operations with the aim of location this function in the centre have been carried out since the beginning of the '60s. The policy of deployment the ofiice sites has beez modified since then, from isolating the monofunctional area of the Modernism's spirit, to multifunctional structures interplaying with the other sites when it comes to activities' potentiality with the expansion of the large-scale urban structures. Many recent realisations abound with significant buildings that bring the avant-garde approach to the idea of an office building. The high level of building technology and the importance of ecological aspects are the important distinction. The mentioned realizations has been noticed by the architectural critics and mentioned in professional press. The pride of place belongs to the works of BRT (Bothe-Richter-Teherani), that has created many innovatory office buildings.

Since the ’70 Vienna has taken up the political, economic and planning actions heading to make the city the significant European business centre. The mentioned above has been realised by development of the modern workplaces connected with generating, transforming, distributing and commercialising information, it is to say by developing the office and conferencing functions. The first was built the Uno-City, then it was recreated into the multifunctional business plot with the office function as the main, namely the Donau-City. With the business area of more than 11mln squaremetres, Vienna is the biggest centre of this type in the eastern part of the European Union, and within the limits of Donau-City there have been risen many interesting architectural objects. The six of them are presented in the article.

The article aims to evaluate the Portuguese building stock energy policies and strategy for energy saving in buildings among the EU members. It was found out the average heat transfer coefficients of the main structural elements of Portuguese Buildings and analyzed the U-values of this elements considering different time periods.

The fundamentals of this study were funded by the Agency for Development and Innovation (ADI) and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) through the Operational Program for Competitiveness Factors (POFC) assigned to the Building Physics and Construction Technology Laboratory with the reference SB Tool SPT_2011_4.

Currently, a worldwide dynamic rise of interest in using soil as a construction material can be observed. This trend is evident in the rapid rise of the amount of standards that deal with soil techniques. In 2012 the number of standards was larger by one third than five years prior. To create a full standardization of the rammed earth technique it is necessary to take into account the diversity of used soil and stabilizing additives. The proportion of the components, the process of element production and the research methods must also be made uniform. The article describes the results of research on the compressive strength of rammed earth samples that differed from each other with regards to the type of loam used for the mixture and the amount of the stabilizer. The stabilizer used was Portland cement CEM I 42.5R. The research and the analysis of the results were based on foreign publications, the New Zealand standard NZS 4298:1998, the American Standard NMAC14.7.4 and archival Polish Standards from the 1960’s that dealt with earth material.

The study presents the summary of the knowledge of energy-active segments of steel buildings adapted to obtain electrical energy (EE) and thermal energy (TE) from solar radiation, and to transport and store TE. The study shows a general concept of the design of energy-active segments, which are separated from conventional segments in the way that allows the equipment installation and replacement. Exemplary solutions for the design of energy-active segments, optimised with respect to the principle of minimum thermal strain and maximum structural capacity and reliability were given [34]. The following options of the building covers were considered: 1) regular structure, 2) reduced structure, 3) basket structure, 4) structure with a tie, high-pitched to allow snow sliding down the roof to enhance TE and EE obtainment. The essential task described in the study is the optimal adaptation of energy-active segments in large-volume buildings for extraction, transportation and storage of energy from solar radiation.

The article discusses the technical condition of buildings. An attempt was made to compare the technical condition and the degree of technical wear of two multi-family residential buildings erected at the interval of 25 years. The list of such objects is intended to illustrate that even relatively young buildings may exhibit differing levels of wear and technical condition of building elements.

The break-up of the former Yugoslavia resulted in the establishment of seven states with manifestly different citizenship regimes. Relating the politics of citizenship to the dominant nation-building pro-jects, this paper argues that in the post-Yugoslav countries in which nation-building projects are con-solidated (Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia) citizenship regimes converge around ethnic inclusiveness, while in those where nation building is contested (Macedonia and Montenegro) territorial rather than ethnic attachments are articulated in citizenship policies. In the case of Kosovo, and to a certain degree Bosnia and Herzegovina, policies emphasise territory due to international involvement in the shaping of their citizenship regimes. Even though all of these states have adopted ius sanguinis as the main mechanism of citizenship attribution at birth, the different approaches to naturalisation and dual citi-zenship indicate that the politics of citizenship are inextricably linked to the questions of nation building and statehood. To explore these issues, the paper first outlines the main traits of citizenship policies in contested and consolidated states. It proceeds by looking at different naturalisation requirements in the two groups of states. It argues that extension to ethnic kin occurs only in countries in which statehood and nation building are consolidated, where it serves to project an image of national unity. In states that are challenged by several competing nation-building projects, citizenship attribution through ethnic kinship is impossible due to lack of internal unity. The paper also analyses approaches to dual citizen-ship, identifying patterns of openness and restrictiveness. By doing so, it links the politics of citizenship to the interaction of foreign policy mechanisms in post-Yugoslav countries and identifies the points where these regimes overlap or conflict with each other.

The process of historical building conservation includes the repair of mortars eroded due to material and environmental factors. Identification of old mortar constituents is necessary to enable duplicating the material. Information on the binder and aggregate types and contents can be obtained from microscopic observation used in combination with instrumental methods. This paper presents the results of microstructure and mineral composition tests of mortars collected from the walls of thirteenth century buildings. A combination of techniques was used, which included X-ray diffraction, transmitted light optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy with micro-area elemental composition analysis. The test results revealed porous lime and sand mortars with a binder-aggregate ratio often beyond the commonly adopted values. The mortars contained sand grains of up to 0.5 mm and larger pieces of limestone, flint, feldspar and brick. Transmitted light optical microscopy and scanning microscopy were found to be essential techniques for mortar characterization in existing buildings and structures.

This account examines how episodes are constructed and measured, and how Peirce’s Index informs and even hastens the advancement of this process—from binding spatial features, to the awareness of participant roles and temporal sequencing. It provides semiotic rationale for how episodes develop from static single pictures (dependent on verbatim memory) to events whose frames reflect a deictic and sequential character—superseding the consciousness inherent in autonoesis. Empirical evidence will trace children’s event memory—first iconic and static, and later characteristic of increasingly more complex interpretants which specify directional and logical relations, and memory sources. The signs which promote episodic thought are indexical in nature, given their largely relational character. They incorporate deictic projections of the self in diverse orientations, entering into different participant slots inherent to the event. Notice of the latter entails the influence of index to apprehend the spatial, participatory, and temporal directionality within and across event frames. This progression requires a rudimentary consciousness of aspectual features (telicity, dynamicity), as well as an appreciation for the events’ purposes/goals. Anticipating how, where, and when events conclude is critical to realizing the event’s purpose/goal, since, according to Bauer 2006: 384, it constitutes the basis upon which episodes are constructed.