SportsArt: 10 hours on a piece of its equipment can yield enough watts to power 100 lightbulbs a day
which uses 32 per cent less power than standard treadmills. “Ten hours’ use of a piece of fi tness
equipment fi tted 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 signifi cantly 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
February 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
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 fi gures 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 fi gures. 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
KOSTER SPORTS CLUBS, HOLLAND
Koster Sports Clubs operates three health clubs in Delft, the Netherlands, one of which offers the Go Green range from SportsArt – including cross-trainers and bikes. The club currently has 20 pieces of Go Green equipment: if they are all in use for around seven hours a day, the club’s total €5,000 monthly energy bill is reduced by €300. Bob Koster, head of the three clubs,
says: “The equipment won’t generate enough electricity to run the club, and the cost savings aren’t enough for me to replace other equipment ahead of time” – the company’s ethos is to be more green with all of its practices, including waste disposal and lightbulbs, so more and more of the
Go Green range will now be acquired as equipment needs replacing across the three clubs. “However, it’s still a useful saving and
a good marketing tool. Customers also like that they can earn reward points on the equipment while exercising, which they redeem in the club on cold drinks, coffees or T-shirts.” Koster says the Go Green range
is about 15 per cent more expensive to buy than regular equipment, but it has proved reliable and durable, with minimal servicing and maintenance costs. ROI has yet to be quantifi ed, but for Koster the benefi ts go beyond the immediate bottom line: “Members like the green aspect. However, they’re not willing to pay more for it.”
Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 75
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