The European building automation market earned revenues of US$1.8bn in 2012 and is expected to reach US$2.1bn in 2017, according to new analysis, European Building Automation Systems Market, from consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. [ + ]

The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has opened the EoI process for the Green Star - Performance rating tool, said Robert Milagre, Acting Manager, GBCA, at the Total Facilities Expo. [ + ]

Can lighting design have a social, environmental and cultural impact? Motoko Ishii believes it can. [ + ]

The European Commission has decided to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of solar panels, cells and wafers from China. [ + ]

ISO 50001 can help organisations of all types - public sector, governmental, corporations, small or medium-sized businesses across all sectors and countries - save money by reducing their energy costs. [ + ]

Telecom cable systems company Prysmian Group has achieved “substantial completion” of the underground and submarine power link between New York City and the New Jersey transmission grid known as the ‘Hudson Project’. The link is now in commercial operation. [ + ]

Australia has the highest per capita rate of asbestos-related disease in the world. We have a long relationship with the silicate material initially lauded for its superior insulation qualities. Asbestos mining began in here in the 1880s and continued well into the 20th century, and it was only around the mid-point of the 1900s that we began to suspect that something noxious was contained within those fibres. [ + ]

Cable manufacturer Olex, in partnership with CSIRO, has developed a new technology for making fire-resistant electrical cables. [ + ]

Researchers are using organic materials to develop a new generation of photovoltaic cells that produce more power and cost less to manufacture than what’s available today. [ + ]

The electrical industry is constantly evolving. With new products popping up on the market and ever-changing energy-efficient options, the industry is always looking for the next big thing. This means businesses need to constantly be improving to keep up with the rapidly growing industry. [ + ]

At the recent BICSI Conference in Melbourne, ICT engineering consultant Lawrence McKenna stressed the costly ramifications of inadequately skilled ICT cabling designers in Australia, calling for the industry to ‘raise the bar’ or suffer further financial losses. [ + ]

A major milestone in tackling the growing problem of noncompliant product in the electrical industry was reached recently when the Electrical Equipment Safety System (EESS) was launched in Queensland. [ + ]

Have you ever seen an arc flash incident? Feel the unbelievable force and potential destructive power firsthand? I have. It was in a controlled, protected setting, from a safe distance, but I never met anyone who experienced one live and in person until I met an electrical contractor after one of my recent arc flash information presentations. [ + ]

Philips’ latest Hue upgrade adds geofencing functionality, which means your smart device can detect when you or your family are approaching and trigger bulbs to turn on/off, change colour or change the light setting accordingly. [ + ]

Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire. By accelerating electrons to near light speed, Diamond generates brilliant beams of light from infrared to X-rays which are used for academic and industry research. [ + ]