Defence Housing Australia (DHA) has received the EnviroDevelopment green tick of approval from the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) for its new residential development located in Largs North, South Australia. [ + ]

The End of Life Plastics 2014 conference will be held from 16-18 June in Düsseldorf, Germany. The event will provide a forum to debate the optimum environmental solutions for managing end-of-life polymer materials and the market reality and economics of each option. [ + ]

IDTechEx's Energy Harvesting & Storage and Printed Electronics Europe will this year be co-located in Berlin from 1-2 April. The joint event will feature several presentations on the topic of photovoltaics. [ + ]

The Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, has announced a ministerial working group set up to identify new infrastructure projects that can deliver on Australia's water supply needs in the future. [ + ]

Researchers from Murdoch University have found that the carbon footprint of mine site villages can be significantly improved without affecting the bottom line. [ + ]

Emerson Process Management, an Emerson business, has opened a manufacturing and service facility in Melbourne to serve the process industry in Australia and New Zealand. [ + ]

Energy-efficiency program CitySwitch has recruited its 500th member. The service is a partnership between business, state and local government across Australia, supporting commercial office tenants to improve their energy efficiency. [ + ]

In partnership with software provider Autodesk, McGraw Hill Construction has released the SmartMarket report 'The Business Value of BIM [building information modelling] in Australia and New Zealand'. [ + ]

Frost & Sullivan has released the report 'Solid Waste Management Market in Australia'. Covering waste collection, waste recovery and waste disposal services, the study finds that the SWM market earned revenues of $6.80 billion in 2013 and estimates this wil reach $8.21 billion in 2018. [ + ]

A student from the Wellington Institute of Technology has won the Ray Meyer medal for Excellence in Student Design from the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ). Anthony Muir designed a water attenuation system that manages peak stormwater flows from extreme rain events. [ + ]

Investment manager Australian Ethical has announced the appointment of Dr Stewart Palmer as its new head of ethics. Dr Palmer has recently championed business consulting, leadership and educational programs at the St James Ethics Centre, advising companies on the implementation of ethical frameworks within their business practices. [ + ]

RMIT University has announced the Sustainable Urban Precincts Project (SUPP) - a $98 million plan to slash energy and water use in 90 buildings across three campuses. [ + ]

Auckland War Memorial Museum has announced that the organisation has reduced its carbon emissions by 50%, or nearly 1000 tonnes per annum, since it began monitoring its footprint three years ago. [ + ]

The National Packaging Covenant Industry Association (NPCIA) has partnered with Keep Australia Beautiful to launch Australia's Litter Action Plan. The $50 million, 10-year program aims to reduce the overall litter rate volume across the country by 20% by 2025. [ + ]

Portuguese researchers are developing methods for purifying biofuels without the use of water. [ + ]