As part of the Fletcher Building Group (FBU), the Laminex New Zealand plant in Hamilton is committed to improving energy efficiency and reducing CO₂ emissions by 10% by 2020. But finding and implementing improvements in a busy 24/7 manufacturing operation has its challenges. [ + ]

A single advanced building control now in development could slash 18% - tens of thousands of dollars - off the overall annual energy bill of the average large office building, with no loss of comfort, according to a report by researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. [ + ]

Western Sydney builder Neil Turrell has created an online marketplace that is changing the way in which Australians purchase, sell and dispose of unwanted building products. The BuildBITS app and online market allows people to sell excess building products that would typically be thrown in skip bins and contribute to landfill. [ + ]

Human waste could be used to combat climate change, helping to lock up our carbon emissions and build more fertile soils. This is according to Professor Nanthi Bolan of CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE) and University of South Australia. [ + ]

A Siemens control system is providing free-range hens with more comfort and also reducing their risk of infection. The system automatically controls the daily routine - eg, feeding, lighting changes and chicken release onto pastures - in transportable chicken coops. [ + ]

Business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan has completed the study 'Voice of Customer' on the Australian industrial waste management industry. Its findings are based on in-depth interviews with a sample of environmental managers and directors, as well as operations managers at industrial companies across the country. [ + ]

Australian scientists have developed a new type of water filter that combines microalgae with bacteria taken from soil contaminated with heavy metals. The technology could prove an effective, cheap and safe way to clean up the potentially deadly arsenic that pollutes the drinking water of tens of millions of people around the world. [ + ]

Recreational drugs could become a major source of Australian urban water contamination, scientists warn. [ + ]

One option for businesses tackling the e-waste challenge is to partner with an existing program that can deliver environmental benefits, staff engagement, reportable results and show how the program might also benefit the wider community outside of the business. Such a program is MobileMuster, the Australian mobile phone industry's official product stewardship program. [ + ]

In 2006, Coopers Brewery introduced a program to recycle materials such as cardboard, glass, aluminium and old machinery that were being disposed of at a cost. Since then, recycling has raised more than $380,000 for the Coopers Brewery Foundation. [ + ]

Research by UWA, in collaboration with the DAFWA and grower groups, has found that many surface soils in Western Australia are already storing as much carbon as they can. However, there is the potential for the lower layers to store more carbon - particularly if management practices change. [ + ]

Researchers at Murdoch University are working with the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination Australia (NCEDA) on a project to secure water supplies in desert communities. [ + ]

In this article, Executive Director and founder of Energetics Jonathan Jutsen predicts some key trends in energy management over the next three years. [ + ]

The NSW Government's Energy Savings Scheme (ESS) assists businesses to be more sustainable through various energy-saving activities. To be eligible under the scheme, applicants must be a business located in NSW and create genuine energy savings through one of the scheme's approved activities. [ + ]

The Multitrode system has been used in a recent project for Hydrasyst for a heavy- and light-vehicle truck wash and recycling plant at a mine site in Blackwater, Queensland. [ + ]