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Technogym | Fit Tech promotion
features

CV equipment: People power

Can human energy realistically be converted into electricity to run your club, or do we still have some way to go before clubs can run on people power alone? Kath Hudson reports

Published in Health Club Management 2014 issue 2

With all those people pedalling, rowing, running and stepping in clubs, it seems logical that expended human energy could be captured and put to good use – namely, being used to power equipment, or even the club itself.

Most manufacturers either have been, or are currently, active in the area of energy-efficient equipment to some degree. All of Keiser’s M Series equipment is self-powered, for example, as is Woodway’s treadmill and the majority of Matrix products. Life Fitness offers a hybrid energy-saving feature on some cross-trainers and exercise bikes, switching from electric to self-generated power when a user reaches a certain intensity level in the workout. And Star Trac’s Spinner Blade ION uses the power generated by the rider to drive the strain gauge technology and computer, doing away with the reliance on batteries. The company’s senior director of marketing and product development, Jeff Dilts, says it will be pursuing more energy-efficient and energy-free products in the future.

Integrated technology
Some manufacturers have gone further, developing technology that converts human energy into electricity that’s captured and used to help power the whole club, so reducing energy bills.

SportsArt Netherlands claims it was the first company to produce electricity-generating cardio fitness equipment – the Go Green range of recumbent bikes, upright bikes and elliptical trainers. It also sells the ECO-POWR treadmill, which uses 32 per cent less power than standard treadmills.

“Ten hours’ use of a piece of fitness equipment fitted with our green technology yields approximately 2,000 watts – enough to power 100 energy-saving lightbulbs a day,” says Vincent Hoogwerf of SportsArt Netherlands.

Calculating return on investment is hard, as is assessing by how much energy costs can be reduced, as energy unit costs can vary significantly depending on the energy supplier and type of contract. However, Koster Sports Clubs in the Netherlands is achieving positive initial results (see case study, right), while in the UK, the Spectrum Leisure Centre in Willington was recently recognised in the County Durham Environmental Awards after implementing a range of measures – including the installation of 10 pieces of the Go Green equipment in November 2012 – which led to a 35 per cent fall in its energy usage.

“Utility bills only ever increase. If we can reduce ours, then we have more money to invest in improving our facilities,” explains Ian Hirst, chief executive at the Spectrum.

Go Green equipment also motivates users to get involved in generating energy via their workouts by allowing them to earn reward points, which can be redeemed in-club on coffee and such like.

Technogym, meanwhile, has pushed the boundaries with its new ARTIS range of cardio equipment – launched at IHRSA in March 2012 – which harnesses human energy and feeds it directly into the facility’s grid power system. The company is as yet unable to release figures about exactly how much energy could be captured by using this equipment, and what impact this could have on a club’s bottom line in terms of reduced energy costs and return on investment. However, it’s in the process of measuring this at Cadbury House in Somerset, UK, which installed 42 pieces of ARTIS equipment late last year and is currently monitoring the equipment to get accurate figures.

The system also links up with UNITY, Technogym’s interactive web-based platform, to give users the opportunity to track the energy value they generate as they work out. The touchscreen shows the watts produced and brings this to life by showing a picture of the household appliances this level of wattage could power, such as a kettle or light bulb. Members are also motivated to work harder by being shown images of appliances they could power were they to increase their intensity.

Third party gadgets
However, while some have persisted, other companies have put energy-capturing technology on the back-burner. Everyone wants to be greener, as long as it doesn’t cost significantly more or cause them too much inconvenience – which is one of the snags, because sometimes it does cost more.

Indeed, equipment manufacturer Precor cites cost as the main reason for pulling out of an exploratory collaboration with US company ReRev in early 2010. ReRev retrofits cardio equipment with a device to re-route the energy that’s being emitted as a heat by-product. Instead of the equipment raising temperatures inside the facility, causing air conditioning units to work harder, the energy is delivered to a central unit which converts human power to utility grade electricity. An elliptical machine in regular use can generate an hour of electricity every two days – enough to run a laptop for 24 hours.

Jonathan Griffiths, UK marketing manager for Precor, says: “It’s an exciting product, but unfortunately the ROI makes it less attractive to most facilities. Although we care about energy efficiency and want to support these types of power regeneration products, at present the figures simply don’t make sense for us as manufacturers, or as a viable long-term solution for operators.”

However, Taiwanese company Rhymebus believes its gadget – known as R-Rider – can bring about substantial cost savings in the long run. Although it can be retrofitted to ellipticals and bikes, Rhymebus is keen to talk to equipment manufacturers about getting it installed into equipment at the factory stage.

When fitted, R-Rider converts kinetic energy into electricity that can be fed back into the grid. It can be used with a bike, elliptical trainer, stepper or rowing machine, allowing an adult to generate about 150 watts an hour – enough to power a typical lightbulb for 10 hours.

Senior executive of R-Rider, Jay Huang, gives an optimistic projection of what this can save a club: “If a club has 50 pieces of equipment fitted with R-Rider, it may be able to do away with the need to buy energy and even allow the club to sell energy back to the power company. Done on a daily basis, the R-Rider’s return on investment is less than two years.” However, it should be pointed out that this theory has yet to be put into practice by any health club.

Future growth
It seems much of this technology has yet to prove its ROI potential. Nevertheless, with increasing appetite for green solutions from operators, this sort of technology is likely to become more widespread going forward.

Andrea Bianchi, MD of Technogym UK, says: “We’ve certainly seen a growth in the number of clubs looking for energy-saving products. Reducing a facility’s carbon footprint is a growing priority: all local authorities now have energy-saving targets, and private companies are able to apply for grants to help them reduce energy consumption.”

As natural energy resources continue to be depleted, there’ll be growing pressure from both consumers and the government for clubs to become greener. Matrix sees investment in this direction as morally the right thing to do, as product director Rob Knox explains: “We continue to invest in R&D to improve efficiency in treadmill motor output, as we believe this is not only the responsible thing to do, but it also aligns with the market’s future.”

Sign up here to get Fit Tech's weekly ezine and every issue of Fit Tech magazine free on digital.
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features

CV equipment: People power

Can human energy realistically be converted into electricity to run your club, or do we still have some way to go before clubs can run on people power alone? Kath Hudson reports

Published in Health Club Management 2014 issue 2

With all those people pedalling, rowing, running and stepping in clubs, it seems logical that expended human energy could be captured and put to good use – namely, being used to power equipment, or even the club itself.

Most manufacturers either have been, or are currently, active in the area of energy-efficient equipment to some degree. All of Keiser’s M Series equipment is self-powered, for example, as is Woodway’s treadmill and the majority of Matrix products. Life Fitness offers a hybrid energy-saving feature on some cross-trainers and exercise bikes, switching from electric to self-generated power when a user reaches a certain intensity level in the workout. And Star Trac’s Spinner Blade ION uses the power generated by the rider to drive the strain gauge technology and computer, doing away with the reliance on batteries. The company’s senior director of marketing and product development, Jeff Dilts, says it will be pursuing more energy-efficient and energy-free products in the future.

Integrated technology
Some manufacturers have gone further, developing technology that converts human energy into electricity that’s captured and used to help power the whole club, so reducing energy bills.

SportsArt Netherlands claims it was the first company to produce electricity-generating cardio fitness equipment – the Go Green range of recumbent bikes, upright bikes and elliptical trainers. It also sells the ECO-POWR treadmill, which uses 32 per cent less power than standard treadmills.

“Ten hours’ use of a piece of fitness equipment fitted with our green technology yields approximately 2,000 watts – enough to power 100 energy-saving lightbulbs a day,” says Vincent Hoogwerf of SportsArt Netherlands.

Calculating return on investment is hard, as is assessing by how much energy costs can be reduced, as energy unit costs can vary significantly depending on the energy supplier and type of contract. However, Koster Sports Clubs in the Netherlands is achieving positive initial results (see case study, right), while in the UK, the Spectrum Leisure Centre in Willington was recently recognised in the County Durham Environmental Awards after implementing a range of measures – including the installation of 10 pieces of the Go Green equipment in November 2012 – which led to a 35 per cent fall in its energy usage.

“Utility bills only ever increase. If we can reduce ours, then we have more money to invest in improving our facilities,” explains Ian Hirst, chief executive at the Spectrum.

Go Green equipment also motivates users to get involved in generating energy via their workouts by allowing them to earn reward points, which can be redeemed in-club on coffee and such like.

Technogym, meanwhile, has pushed the boundaries with its new ARTIS range of cardio equipment – launched at IHRSA in March 2012 – which harnesses human energy and feeds it directly into the facility’s grid power system. The company is as yet unable to release figures about exactly how much energy could be captured by using this equipment, and what impact this could have on a club’s bottom line in terms of reduced energy costs and return on investment. However, it’s in the process of measuring this at Cadbury House in Somerset, UK, which installed 42 pieces of ARTIS equipment late last year and is currently monitoring the equipment to get accurate figures.

The system also links up with UNITY, Technogym’s interactive web-based platform, to give users the opportunity to track the energy value they generate as they work out. The touchscreen shows the watts produced and brings this to life by showing a picture of the household appliances this level of wattage could power, such as a kettle or light bulb. Members are also motivated to work harder by being shown images of appliances they could power were they to increase their intensity.

Third party gadgets
However, while some have persisted, other companies have put energy-capturing technology on the back-burner. Everyone wants to be greener, as long as it doesn’t cost significantly more or cause them too much inconvenience – which is one of the snags, because sometimes it does cost more.

Indeed, equipment manufacturer Precor cites cost as the main reason for pulling out of an exploratory collaboration with US company ReRev in early 2010. ReRev retrofits cardio equipment with a device to re-route the energy that’s being emitted as a heat by-product. Instead of the equipment raising temperatures inside the facility, causing air conditioning units to work harder, the energy is delivered to a central unit which converts human power to utility grade electricity. An elliptical machine in regular use can generate an hour of electricity every two days – enough to run a laptop for 24 hours.

Jonathan Griffiths, UK marketing manager for Precor, says: “It’s an exciting product, but unfortunately the ROI makes it less attractive to most facilities. Although we care about energy efficiency and want to support these types of power regeneration products, at present the figures simply don’t make sense for us as manufacturers, or as a viable long-term solution for operators.”

However, Taiwanese company Rhymebus believes its gadget – known as R-Rider – can bring about substantial cost savings in the long run. Although it can be retrofitted to ellipticals and bikes, Rhymebus is keen to talk to equipment manufacturers about getting it installed into equipment at the factory stage.

When fitted, R-Rider converts kinetic energy into electricity that can be fed back into the grid. It can be used with a bike, elliptical trainer, stepper or rowing machine, allowing an adult to generate about 150 watts an hour – enough to power a typical lightbulb for 10 hours.

Senior executive of R-Rider, Jay Huang, gives an optimistic projection of what this can save a club: “If a club has 50 pieces of equipment fitted with R-Rider, it may be able to do away with the need to buy energy and even allow the club to sell energy back to the power company. Done on a daily basis, the R-Rider’s return on investment is less than two years.” However, it should be pointed out that this theory has yet to be put into practice by any health club.

Future growth
It seems much of this technology has yet to prove its ROI potential. Nevertheless, with increasing appetite for green solutions from operators, this sort of technology is likely to become more widespread going forward.

Andrea Bianchi, MD of Technogym UK, says: “We’ve certainly seen a growth in the number of clubs looking for energy-saving products. Reducing a facility’s carbon footprint is a growing priority: all local authorities now have energy-saving targets, and private companies are able to apply for grants to help them reduce energy consumption.”

As natural energy resources continue to be depleted, there’ll be growing pressure from both consumers and the government for clubs to become greener. Matrix sees investment in this direction as morally the right thing to do, as product director Rob Knox explains: “We continue to invest in R&D to improve efficiency in treadmill motor output, as we believe this is not only the responsible thing to do, but it also aligns with the market’s future.”

Sign up here to get Fit Tech's weekly ezine and every issue of Fit Tech magazine free on digital.
Gallery
More features
Editor's letter

Into the fitaverse

Fitness is already among the top three markets in the metaverse, with new technology and partnerships driving real growth and consumer engagement that looks likely to spill over into health clubs, gyms and studios
Fit Tech people

Ali Jawad

Paralympic powerlifter and founder, Accessercise
Users can easily identify which facilities in the UK are accessible to the disabled community
Fit Tech people

Hannes Sjöblad

MD, DSruptive
We want to give our users an implantable tool that allows them to collect their health data at any time and in any setting
Fit Tech people

Jamie Buck

Co-founder, Active in Time
We created a solution called AiT Voice, which turns digital data into a spoken audio timetable that connects to phone systems
Profile

Fahad Alhagbani: reinventing fitness

Let’s live in the future to improve today
Opinion

Building on the blockchain

For small sports teams looking to compete with giants, blockchain can be a secret weapon explains Lars Rensing, CEO of Protokol
Innovation

Bold move

We ended up raising US$7m in venture capital from incredible investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Primetime Partners, and GingerBread Capital
App analysis

Check your form

Sency’s motion analysis technology is allowing users to check their technique as they exercise. Co-founder and CEO Gal Rotman explains how
Profile

New reality

Sam Cole, CEO of FitXR, talks to Fit Tech about taking digital workouts to the next level, with an immersive, virtual reality fitness club
Profile

Sohail Rashid

My vision was to create a platform that could improve the sport for lifters at all levels and attract more people, similar to how Strava, Peloton and Zwift have in other sports
Ageing

Reverse Ageing

Many apps help people track their health, but Humanity founders Peter Ward and Michael Geer have put the focus on ageing, to help users to see the direct repercussions of their habits. They talk to Steph Eaves
App analysis

Going hybrid

Workout Anytime created its app in partnership with Virtuagym. Workout Anytime’s Greg Maurer and Virtuagym’s Hugo Braam explain the process behind its creation
Research

Physical activity monitors boost activity levels

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have conducted a meta analysis of all relevant research and found that the body of evidence shows an impact
Editor's letter

Two-way coaching

Content providers have been hugely active in the fit tech market since the start of the pandemic. We expect the industry to move on from delivering these services on a ‘broadcast-only’ basis as two-way coaching becomes the new USP
Fit Tech People

Laurent Petit

Co-founder, Active Giving
The future of sports and fitness are dependent on the climate. Our goal is to positively influence the future of our planet by instilling a global vision of wellbeing and a sense of collective action
Fit Tech People

Adam Zeitsiff

CEO, Intelivideo
We don’t just create the technology and bail – we support our clients’ ongoing hybridisation efforts
Fit Tech People

Anantharaman Pattabiraman

CEO and co-founder, Auro
When you’re undertaking fitness activities, unless you’re on a stationary bike, in most cases it’s not safe or necessary to be tied to a screen, especially a small screen
Fit Tech People

Mike Hansen

Managing partner, Endorphinz
We noticed a big gap in the market – customers needed better insights but also recommendations on what to do, whether that be customer acquisition, content creation, marketing and more
More features