Fair Work Building and Construction (FWBC), the new regulator of workplace laws in the building and construction industry, begins operations today. FWBC was created by the Fair Work (Building) Act 2012 (FW Building Act). The agency is headed by the Acting Chief Executive, Leigh Johns, who was appointed by Bill Shorten MP, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, on 30 May 2012. [ + ]

The Energy Networks Association (ENA) has said electricity pricing reform and investment in smart metering will be required for a smooth transition to electric vehicles. [ + ]

Researchers have discovered a breakthrough in solar panel technology using dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) that improves the panels’ efficiency by at least 30%. [ + ]

The National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA) has found new placements for 60 out of 80 apprentices that had been placed with the Hastie Group. [ + ]

Solar leasing company Ingenero has launched its Energy Access solar lease, signing up its first customer in Queensland. [ + ]

Solar product manufacturer Jinko Solar has announced that its mono- and multicrystalline solar modules achieved high-yield performance results in Photon Laboratory’s outdoor field tests in January 2012. [ + ]

The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) Victorian Branch has urged Fair Work Australia to reverse the standdown of electrical workers by Watters Electrical, part of the Hastie Group that recently entered into voluntary administration. [ + ]

The Clean Energy Council has called on the Australian Parliament to establish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) “as soon as possible”. The peak body for Australia’s renewable energy industry urged the government to pass laws establishing the $10 billion CEFC so new clean energy technologies can access support. [ + ]

Sydney Water has selected NYSE-listed Elster as one of its suppliers to deliver V100 volumetric water meters and Helix water meters over the next three years, commencing 1 July 2012. These meters will help Sydney Water to manage its water resources more efficiently, by providing accurate measurement of water usage and control over water leakage and wastage. [ + ]

Metronode, a subsidiary of Leighton Contractors, has signed a $182m contract with the New South Wales Government under the Data Centre Reform project for the provision of two managed data centres in NSW.  The company will build two new large-scale, energy-efficient data centres in NSW - one located in Sydney’s inner west at Silverwater and the other in the Illawarra region at Wollongong’s southern suburb of Unanderra - as a part of the contract. When fully developed, each data centre will be capable of supporting up to 9 MW of IT load. [ + ]

Rittal launched its Data Centre Container (DCC) yesterday at CeBIT, with Senator Kate Lundy cutting the ribbon to officially open the DCC. [ + ]

Schneider Electric has announced a partnership with Krohne that the companies say will provide customers with a complete automation and instrumentation solution, which will include Schneider’s PlantStruxure process automation architecture and Krohne’s instrumentation offer. [ + ]

Finepoint’s 19th Annual Circuit Breaker Test & Maintenance Training Conference will be held over 1-5 October in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [ + ]

In a speech at a Mainstream Maintenance and Reliability Networking Conference in Perth, Senator Chris Evans said that, rather than a skills shortage, Australia is facing a "skills opportunity". [ + ]

The federal government has pledged over $20 million in grants to help small and medium businesses and community groups improve energy efficiency. [ + ]