?One of the largest cost-savings from doing a green building or an energy-efficiency retrofit is that the health and productivity of the people that use the building increases dramatically,? said Nicholas Heap, climate and energy policy analyst for the David Suzuki Foundation.

?What I think is important is that universities invest wholeheartedly in energy efficiency and upgrades because of the cost-savings that result,? he added.

The University of Ottawa recently changed residence lights to energy-efficient bulbs, cutting down on wasted electricity.

Jonathan Rausseo, sustainable development co-ordinator at the U of O, says the money spent on the ?lightbulb swap? was made back in a matter of months.

?The payback is almost instantaneous,? he said. ?It was incredible.?

The University of Ottawa also has a green residence committee where each residence building has a green representative. This committee is responsible for brainstorming and carrying out proposals to make residence buildings more environmentally stable and sustainable.

A number of incentives are taking place to make residences at the University of Calgary more environmentally friendly.

So far, the U of C has replaced lighting systems within all residence buildings, thereby using less energy.

The university is also in the process of installing low-flow programs by metering the amount of water usage within residence buildings.

As well, they have started a new recycling program in residence that includes composting.

?We want to be more environmentally conscious . . . reduce the footprint of campus and residency buildings,? said Randy Maus, the U of C’s associate director of housing and residence education.

The University of Victoria residence has a sustainability team made up of students who live on campus. These students work together to endorse environmental sustainability through events such as movie nights, and a clothing swap that saw about 400 students exchange clothes to reduce the amount of items being thrown out.

In 2008, UVic started a program giving free access to the Victoria car-share co-op to students who gave up their parking permits.

?The concept is instead of owning and operating your own vehicle, you borrow or rent vehicles from the co-op and you have access to 16 vehicles in the city, and four that are on campus,? said Sarah Webb, UVic’s sustainability officer.

Webb says this provides incentive for people to stop using their vehicles and rewards those who have already gone car-free.

UVic is also looking at getting carbon footprint calculators on campus and initiating bring-your-own-bottle events.

WINNIPEG (CUP) — The Copyright Board of Canada is considering a law that would tax websites for distributing music and other media?a move that could be harmful for small-time podcasters and campus radio stations.

The tariff was introduced by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), and would only tax sites that distribute or use SOCAN-licensed material.

An earlier version of the tariff, which sought to tax Internet service providers, was rejected in 1995.

?SOCAN restructured the tariff by identifying an extensive list of online uses of music, including on-demand streaming, webcasting, music streaming on gaming sites, and other services that potentially include podcasting,” said Michael Giest, a University of Ottawa prof who holds a research chair in Internet and E-commerce law.

The legislation would tax sites 25 per cent of their gross revenue, or 25 per cent of their gross operating expenses, with a minimum monthly fee of $200.
Jared McKetiak, station manager at University of Manitoba’s 101.5 FM, says the Tariff is bad for campus radio.

?Last year we made $19,883.3, and giving up $5,000 (roughly 25 per cent) . . . stations need that money to survive,? he said. ?It’s going to get to a point where campus radio stations are going to have to close down because they cannot continue to do business, not because the cost of doing business is expensive, but because It’s getting taxed.?

The new tariff, if passed, will make it mandatory for people who communicate music to the public to have a licence for doing so. Mark Blevis, editor of Canadapodcast.ca, says even though this licence will be enforced, it will not affect people who podcast as a hobby.

?For those who have the budget, $200 a month is nothing, but for those who don’t, it is a lot of money,? said Blevis. ?It’s a little pricey for people who are doing this from their basement just because they love it.?

But Blevis believes the licence will have ?zero affect? on the podcasting community.

?People who are already established will continue their podcasts without the licence,? he said.

According to Blevis, SOCAN is taking a huge step. But he notes the tariff only takes into consideration performance rights, and ignores the mechanical rights and publishing rights that go along with using music.

?What this really shows is that SOCAN is ready to come to the table,? said Blevis. ?But right now, It’s lip service.?