Resilient and durable infrastructure is predicated on its designers and managers having a solid understanding of the conditions that it will face over its useful life, which is typically from 20 to over 100 years.

Methane gas from Glenfield Sewage Treatment Plant is being converted to green energy under new technology being rolled out at sewage treatment plants across Greater Sydney, NSW Minister for Water, Phil Costa has announced.

Maintaining rainwater tanks and other storages used for drinking water in a good healthy condition is important in removing the risk of outbreaks of dengue fever - a mosquito-borne viral disease which is often symptom-less but can create fatal consequences.

ABB has announced that the recently developed S800PV circuit breakers have been used successfully in solar power applications in Australian schools. Designed specifically for the photovoltaic (PV) industry, ABB’s S800PV high-performance miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) and IP65 enclosures are protecting Australian schools’ investment in green energy, including the recently installed 6 kW solar power system at Wenona girls school in Sydney.

Crowne Plaza Melbourne is a 4.5 star hotel which is now recognised internationally with ‘Green Globe Bronze’, a worldwide benchmarking and certification program which facilitates sustainable management and operations. Green Globe certification standards cover: environment and energy (70%), conservation (10%) and corporate social responsibility (20%). The hotel is now working to achieve ‘Green Globe Silver’ status.

Werribee City Council recently completed the upgrading of the lighting in the car parks and roadways of the Wyndham Civic Centre in Victoria. After careful consideration of the available energy-efficient lighting options, including T5 and CFL options, the council chose a Pecan Lighting Grid Tied Solar Public Lighting (GTSPL) system using Beta-LED LEDway luminaires. The supplier, Lateral Technology, worked with the council’s engineering consultants to provide technical and historical information on the system.

Yarra Valley Water (YVW) recently awarded Innoflow Australia/Orenco Systems with the contract to supply interceptor tanks and effluent filtration/pump packages for the community septic tank effluent pumped (STEP) wastewater collection system, for the Kinglake West Sewerage project.

Grundfos Pumps’s head office, located in Regency Park, South Australia, has recently completed the installation of a rainwater harvesting system. The system comprises three 50,000 L tanks that collect rainwater from 1,500 m2 of roof catchment area.

Black & Veatch has confirmed that the company will be part of the Eastern Tertiary Alliance that will deliver the tertiary upgrade of the Eastern Treatment Plant in Melbourne, the largest activated sludge plant in the country. This follows the success of Stage 1 of the project, where Black & Veatch was asked to lead a series of technology trials to determine the preferred treatment technology to be used.

There’s been an exciting shift in sustainability in the past five years - businesses have realised there’s no disconnect between good environmental management and business performance. We help these businesses integrate environmental and other business activities to reap productivity increases and reduced costs - all the while improving our sustainability.

Cummins designs, manufactures, distributes and services engines and related technologies, including fuel systems, controls, air handling, filtration, emission solutions and electrical power generation systems. Cummins serves customers in approximately 190 countries and territories through a network of more than 500 company-owned and independent distributor locations and approximately 5200 dealer locations.

With a trend towards economic incentives to reduce air pollution, Australian companies need to look to the future when it comes to balancing the risk of their emissions with their bottom line.

Gerard van Rijswijk presents his opinions on how the planned Australian Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) may impact the recycling industry. It is a summary of one of his presentations from the recent EcoForum conference in Sydney.

There is a subtle but pervasive challenge in working as a climate change practitioner, namely, dealing with sceptics. When one works day to day in helping to mobilise the immense global effort which is required to claw back human-induced climate change, it is easy to forget not everybody’s ‘on board’.

Electricity smart meters promise many benefits, including improved user service (through faster supply restoration and supply problem resolution), better network utilisation, as well as creating opportunities for new user products and services.