The Hills. Award winners

Clarendon Homes, at Baulkham Hills and Landcom have won the HIA (Housing Industry Association) GreenSmart Home of the Year award for their Net Zero Emissions Display Home.

Sydney Olympic Park. Award winners

Accor’s Sydney Olympic Park Hotels, which include the Novotel, Pullman and Ibis properties, and the Commonwealth Bank, at Sydney Olympic Park, have been recognised for their commitment to sustainability as recipients of Bronze Sustainability Advantage Awards. Both organisations have taken significant measures to make real environmental improvements in their business operations to achieve this commendable accolade.

North Ryde. Honorary doctorates

Macquarie University has awarded honorary doctorates to former prime ministers, Paul Keating and John Howard

Baulkham Hills. Clarendon Homes wins award

Claredon Homes, based in Baulkham Hills, won the Resource Efficient Award for resource management, including waste avoidance and recovery during and after construction, at the Housing Industry Association and Boral awards.

Sydney Olympic Park. Reducing footprint

Sydney Olympic Park Authority and SOPA Sports Venues have been recognised as Bronze Sustainability Advantage Partners, awarded by the NSW government’s Office of Environment and Heritage, for their efforts to reduce their environmental footprint SOPA’s Sustainability Advantage Program helps businesses improve their environmental performance while reducing a company’s bottom line. It has been operating since 2009.

Parramatta. One Silver and two Bronze medals

Local business, Coleman & Grieg, has been awarded a Silver award for its outstanding results in the NSW Government’s Sustainability Advantage program. Moore Stephens Sydney West and Parramatta City Council were awarded Bronze medals by the Minister for the Environment, Robyn Parker, who described the organisations as leaders in their sectors.

Region. Four firms win awards

Four Western Sydney firms won awards at the AAAA Expo in Melbourne recently: Disc Brakes Australia, Silverwater − Winner of the Gold Award for Excellence in Manufacturing over $10 million annual turnover and winner of Best New Aftermarket Product (Performance. Nulon Products, Moorebank − Joint winner of Best New Aftermarket Product (Chemical) – Additives and Lubricants. Valvoline (Australia), Wetherill Park − Winner of Best New Aftermarket Product (Chemical) – Car Care. Gulf Western Oil, Penrith − Winner of the Best Radio Commercial. The awards, run as part of the trade expo organised by the AAAA, showcases the latest accessories, consumables, equipment, tools and services in the industry.

Bankstown. Arab business awards

The Bankstown-based Australian Arab Business Network is seeking business people of Arabic speaking background to enter its annual business awards which will be held on March 12. The categories are young entrepreneur, small business with four staff or less and businesses with four or more staff. The organisation said it seeks to encourage young people who have shown talent and innovation in business, and to bring them into focus throughout the community.

Penrith. Locals win awards

Two Penrith businesses have been named Australian Small Business Champion awards: Gina Field, of Nepean Regional Security, was named Champion Small Business Entrepreneur. and Production Automotive was been named Champion Automotive Services. The Australian Small Business Champion Awards is the only national program of its kind to recognise the achievements and performances of small businesses.

Blue Mountains. Multiple awards winner

Joe Mercieca Constructions Pty Ltd, the builder of Blue Eco Homes, has received an Excellence in Housing Award from the Master Builders Association of NSW for a project at Mt Victoria. The company also won the 2010 HIA Greensmart Award (National Winner for Water Efficiency), the MBA New South Wales Award for Contract Homes and Environmental management, and the Blue Mountains Business Advantage Environmental Best Practice Award.

Moorebank. Firm wins employer award

Finished Products Pty Ltd, at Moorebank, has won the 2010 CRS Australia NSW/ACT Employer Award for its outstanding commitment to employing people with a disability. The awards recognise employers who show exceptional commitment to providing training and employment opportunities for people with a disability, injury or health condition. Finished Products specialises in contract surface finishing for the manufacturing industry.

Ryde. Uni academic wins award

Dr Melanie Bishop, from Macquarie University’s Department of Biological Sciences, has been recognised for her work on coastal conservation from an ecosystem context, at the NSW Scientist of the Year Awards. She received her award in the Environment, Water and Climate Change Sciences category. The award, which includes a $5000 prize, was presented by NSW State Governor, Professor Marie Bashir AC. Bishop shared the award with Professor Andrew Pitman from the University of New South Wales.

Parramatta. Council wins top award

Parramatta City Council has been recognised for outstanding excellence and innovation after winning the award for Excellence in Leadership and Innovation – Metropolitan Councils, for its services review project, which commenced in late 2009 and is aimed at improving performance across all 41 of its business areas. The award was presented at the annual Local Government Management Association NSW Management Excellence Awards.

North Ryde. Uni wins Green Globe award

Macquarie University’s commitment to the environment has been recognised when it received a NSW Government Green Globe Award, which are the leading environmental awards in NSW. They showcase outstanding achievement in the sustainable use of natural resources in NSW and leadership in tackling climate change issues. The university won the Public Sector Award for 2010.

Region. Academic receives top award

Professor Michael Adams, head, school of law at the University of Western Sydney, has been awarded the Mentor of Teaching Excellence title at the LexisNexis-ALTA Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Teaching of Law. Professor Adams was presented with the award for his dedication to mentoring early career academics and staff to achieve teaching excellence, and for his significant scholarly contributions to the field of corporations law. Now in its third year, the LexisNexis-ALTA Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Teaching of Law showcases some of the best teaching being undertaken in law faculties across the region.

Region. NSW Tourism Awards

Gold medal winners in the 2009 NSW Tourism Awards were: Featherdale Wildlife Park, Doonside; NSW Caravan, Camping, 4WD and Holiday Supershow, Rosehill; Blue Mountains National Park, Katoomba; Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School, Leura; Old Leura Dairy, Leura; and the Epping Club, Epping. Phil Hammon, owner and CEO, of Scenic World, Blue Mountains, received the Contribution by an Individual Award.

Region. Two companies win awards

Two Western Sydney firms have been recognised at the Engineering Australia Awards. Peregrine Semiconductors (now renamed Sapphicon Semiconductors), at Sydney Olympic Park, won the Australian Government Engineering Excellence Award for UltraCMOS. Peregrine is a member of the Department of State and Regional Development’s Western Sydney IT Cluster. Lu Papi & Associates, at Cobbitty, won the Australian Engineering Excellence Award for The Freedom Wheelchair. Peregrine and Lu Papi & Associates are both members of the UWS Nanotechnology Network.

Penrith. Nominations for design awards

Penrith City Council has called for nominations for the Penrith Excellence in Design Awards for 2009. The awards, which seek to encourage, reward and promote quality design in the city, are open to owners and individuals or organisations that have completed buildings or design projects in the city between 2005 and 2008. Nominations may be made across a range of categories including residential, commercial and industrial, outdoor place or master plans. Entries close on May 8.

Council wins awards

The NSW division of the Australia Institute of Landscape Architects presented council with the 2007 Minister for Planning's Greenspace Award and the 2007 Special Jury Citiation for Local Government Design, at its annual awards night, held at the Museum of Contemporary Arts in the Rocks, to recognise excellence in the field of landscape architecture. Also, council received two finalists awards presented byEconomic Development Australia, at its national conference in Darling Harbour. One award was in the Strategy category for the consultation, design and production of the Parramatta Economic Development Partnership Plan, and the second was in the Promotion category for the production of the 12-page Special Report on Parramatta, which was published in "The Sydney Morning Herald, in October 2006.