Effective lighting has always been a key component of store design. Abercrombie & Fitch might have made its A+F and Hollister stores stand out by turning down the lights to create a nightclub vibe, but the arrival of LED technology creates more opportunities. [ + ]

Four years after agreeing to develop a national licensing system, the Council of Australian Government recently decided to abandon the reform. Most states identified a number of concerns with the model and a decision was made to investigate other approaches that would increase labour mobility and deliver net benefits for businesses and governments. [ + ]

A number of Australian companies provide electrical product safety, environmental, EMC and calibration services. While most of these laboratories are accredited, some have no accreditations or expertise required. Some of these non-accredited testing facilities attempt to exploit buyers' lack of knowledge by providing non-accredited testing - often failing to disclose their reports lack the endorsement of NATA, A2LA, IANZ, CNAS or other accreditation bodies. [ + ]

When Parramatta Council commissioned an energy audit, it found that three of its four multilevel car parks were in the council's top 10 energy-using sites. Council commissioned electrical contractors Argyle Electrical to help eliminate this lighting waste. [ + ]

Solar Max, through its installation partner, Ygrene Energy, has provided six 15 kW 15MT2 grid connected inverters and one 10 kW 10MT2 inverter for Yass Valley Aged Care (YVAC) facility's solar PV system. [ + ]

Registered cablers who intend carrying out specialised cabling after 1 July 2014 are reminded that the ACMA's rule changes for specialised (such as structured, coaxial and optical fibre) cabling come into force on that date. [ + ]

In February 2013, NABERS announced the new NABERS Energy rating tools for data centres, which enable data centre owners, operators and tenants to obtain ratings for their data centre infrastructure, IT equipment, or both. [ + ]

IP video cameras are comparable to full-fledged PCs to which other devices can be connected. The video camera is a PC equipped with optics and a Linux operating system, which is nowadays used in mobile phones, tablets, PCs, consoles, mainframes, supercomputers and servers. [ + ]

Against the backdrop of a rapidly progressive technology market, increasing consumer demands and economic fluctuations, companies are recognising the need to develop strategic measures in field service mobility. Optimising field service processes can help businesses cut costs, achieve operational efficiency, and improve productivity and customer satisfaction. [ + ]

Thermal ageing of polymer cables can lead to serious safety, performance and cost issues. Bob Merrick, Commercial Manager - Technical, Prysmian Cables, discusses thermal testing and operating temperature ranges for general-market PVC cables. [ + ]

For many electrical contracting businesses, 2013 has undoubtedly been a difficult year for economic growth. But despite this, many businesses have been able to weather the storm; and I’m pleased to say the outlook for 2014 is on the up. [ + ]

At the recent Retrofit & Refurb Conference & Expo held in Sydney, AE Smith's National Sustainability Engineer and accredited NABERS assessor David Odd shared his experience of achieving and maintaining high NABERS ratings in existing buildings. [ + ]

REC is supplying solar panels for two large-scale solar energy installations in Singapore. One of the rooftop installations - for supermarket giant Sheng Siong Group - is the country's largest solar installation to date. [ + ]

The West Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum has reported a significant incident in which a short-circuit fault in a variable speed drive resulted in fire, arcing and equipment damage. [ + ]

The ATO has medium-sized businesses and wealthy individuals in its sights for 2013-14. Unsurprisingly, in a revenue constrained economy with a persistent government fiscal deficit, the ATO plans to conduct more tax compliance reviews and audits this year. [ + ]