NATIONAL REPORT—According to the 2018 lodging survey released earlier this year, 75 percent of respondents indicated their properties have an exercise room or health/fitness facility. For the many years these millions of square feet of exercise rooms have been around, they have taken energy from the grid and not given it back. That is beginning to change thanks to at least one supplier of cardio fitness equipment—SportsArt.
SportsArt is making it easy for hotel guests to generate AC power and send it back to the grid while exercising. The company’s ECO-POWR line includes a treadmill, cross trainer, elliptical machine, upright cycle, recumbent cycle, and indoor cycle.
“We have the only cardio line in this industry that generates power when you are working out,” says Ruben Mejia, SportsArt’s CTO. The ECO-POWR machines can generate up to 250 watt-hours per unit. They begin generating power within the first couple of seconds of using the machines. The machines capture 74 percent of energy per workout.
Cost Comparable to Similar Equipment
“The equipment looks and feels like other exercise equipment,” says Jeff Hoff, Business Developer, Regional Sales of SportsArt’s Hospitality market. “They are saving energy on their overall footprint and the cost is comparable to other cardio equipment.”
The ECO-POWR machines include SA WELL+ technology which allows the user of a machine to see how much power he or she is generating.
One gym using ECO-POWR machines along with solar panels and a battery wall saw its monthly electricity bill drop from $680 a month to $30 a month.
One More Way to Demonstrate Eco Commitment
Mejia says the ECO-POWR cardio line is ideal for attracting travelers who are environmentally conscious.
“It is just starting to gain some ground,” Hoff says. “It is fairly new to the market. Right now, we are working with some major hotel chains. Hotels are using it to market their sustainability.”
To help hotel guests understand what is different about the ECO-POWR cardio line, SportsArt provides different types of printed material. At larger gyms, attendants explain the machines.
Aside from their ability to generate electricity, the machines are more efficient than previous versions when pulling power from the grid.
“Our motorized treadmill has a motor that is 30 percent more efficient than the rest,” Mejia says.
In addition to its ECO-POWR cardio line, SportsArt also offers an ECO-NATURAL line that is cordless and non-motorized.
Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
Very cool idea. It would be especially interesting to me as a guest if I could see how much energy I am generating with my workout and how that compares to how much energy is required on average per guest per day at the hotel.