ABB flowmeters have enabled a US university to cut steam losses in its generation plant and recover more than $1.25 million a year in lost revenues. The solution has also created a campus-wide awareness of the need for energy efficiency.

Mars Petcare Australia has implemented a customised compressed-air system from Champion Compressors, optimising production, reliability and energy efficiency.

Commercial products and services can now gain Australia-wide recognition for their water saving attributes through Australia’s water saving scheme, Smart Approved WaterMark, which has broadened its parameters to assess commercially oriented claims.

Ormiston Road Senior College in Auckland, due for completion in October 2010, was recently awarded a 5 Star Green Star rating by the independent Green Building Council of New Zealand. A total of 68 points were achieved overall, six points shy of a 6 Star rating. The use of Windcatchers allowed the college to secure one point for Green Star Innovation.

Adelaide-based GTL Energy (GTLE) has announced the completion of construction and commissioning of its coal upgrading plant module near South Heart, North Dakota in the US. The GTLE Dakota plant is a single-module, commercial-scale plant which has been designed to provide proof of the GTLE technology for coal consumers and producers. The company intends to increase both the length and volumes of production runs through the remainder of 2010.

Adelaide Resource Recovery (ARR) operates from Adelaide’s Wingfield Recycling Centre and is receiving regular enquiries from businesses in Hong Kong and China that are keen to buy SA’s waste plastic.

The latest addition to Melbourne’s thriving arts precinct in Southbank, Triptych, is setting a benchmark for apartment living by delivering innovation in green space and dedication to high-end environmentally sustainable design.

Plasback is a product stewardship program that is run by Tapex, a supplier of fodder conservation plastics. The program currently recycles waste silage wrap, pit covers, grain tubes and twine for farmers. It works with partner recyclers in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney that reprocess the plastic waste and give it a second use as plastic pellets which can be remoulded into plywood sheets called Tuffboard and Tuffdeck.

RSL Care’s Sunset Ridge Retirement Community in Zilzie, near Rockhampton, is securing a sustainable environment for its residents by installing one of the first Aquacell greywater treatment plants in Queensland.

With south-east Queensland schools reeling from recent double-digit water price hikes, many school business managers are looking for a way to help ‘futureproof’ their facilities against similar water price rises in subsequent years.

If you own or lease office space, then you need to know about the new Commercial Building Disclosure scheme (CBD) beginning 1 November this year. CBD will require office buildings to disclose their NABERS Energy ratings when they are offered for sale or lease.

A leading Australian materials scientists who invented a zero waste technology for the plastics and car industry has been awarded the prestigious 2010 Victoria Prize. Associate Professor Wojciech Gutowski’s work addressed the waste problem faced by the car industry which uses 9.68 million litres of paints a year in car manufacturing - with all solvents used in the process becoming airborne and 2.5 million litres of solids going to landfill.

Monitoring and controlling the amount of organic matter in our streams and waterways is critical for environmental protection. Total organic carbon (TOC) is the amount of carbon present in an organic compound and measuring it provides a fast and convenient way to determine water quality. This article looks at the different methods now available for analysing TOC.

Cling wrap that captures CO₂ and a recycling technique for pig waste are two of the research discoveries in this year’s Fresh Science competition. The national competition identifies new and interesting research being done by early-career scientists from around the country and then helps them present their research to the public.

Sustainability and mining are two words that don’t quite seem to fit together. But with evolving social expectations, and under increasing public and media scrutiny, the past decade has seen the mining industry put in a huge effort into sustainable development in order to maintain its ‘social licence to operate’.