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Stocktons Self-Powered Gym

Project Proposal

Cristina Alvarado and Jessica Maliszewski

SUST 2100 Environmental Sustainability
The Richard Stockton College of NJ
Fall 2014

Table of Contents
I.

Mission Statement..3

II.

Abstract...3

III.

Statement of Need..3

IV.

Rational...4

V.

Detailed Project Description.5

VI.

Sustainability..6

VII.

References...7

VIII.

Appendix...8-11

I.

Mission Statement: Our mission is to persuade Stockton College to invest in workout

equipment that will harness the energy students generate while using those machines, and
turn it into electricity, which can be used power certain things on campus. A gym
environment is the ideal setting to capture large amounts of kinetics in an efficient and
cost-effective way and convert it into renewable energy.

II.

Abstract: Our objective for this project is to transition Stockton College, soon to be
university, into a self-powered facility, by using energy generated by students who work
out using equipment at the gym, such as treadmills, ellipticals, or stair-steppers. In which
that energy is harnessed and turned into electricity. There are currently twenty-five other
colleges across the country also implementing this idea. Two of which, Tennessee Tech
University and Chapman University are currently in battle to see who can harvest the
most energy using a system called the Green System Inverter. Drexel, which we have
visited, uses ReRev, another green company that creates workout machines that harvest
the students energy. The line of machines used at their gym is called The Recreation
Center of Tomorrow.
The Green System Inverter consists of a pod of cardio machines attached to an inverter
that channels human energy from exercise and feeds it back into the power grid as usable
power. Equipment such as ellipticals and stationary bikes can be linked to the Green
System Inverter, which is then connected to the gyms electrical system.
We visited Drexel University and got to experience first hand how their school worked to
turn their energy into electricity. Kinetic energy from the students workout is converted
to direct current, which is sent to the converter. The ReRev device then converts the
direct current into a form of energy used by homes and businesses. The electricity can
then be used to power anything on the grid.

III.

Statement of Need: Stockton College, along with other institutions, spend millions of
dollars annually on electricity. Using self-powered gym equipment can help lower those

costs. Students are going to work out regardless, so why not turn their sweat into
electricity? We spoke with a few students who hit the gym regularly, and they said that if
they were using workout machines that transferred their energy into electricity to power
their school that they would feel a sense of pride. Also, they mentioned that they would
be more encouraged to go to the gym if they knew they were helping their school, as well
as helping the environment. I think its cool knowing that not only am I helping myself
but Im also helping out the community. I feel like itll motivate other students as well
knowing that the energy we are putting in is also being put towards something else. A
self-powered gym will save our school money as well as lower carbon emissions.

IV.

Rational:
A. Save Electricity! Richard Stockton is getting more and more students which means
more electricity will be generated; therefore it would only be fitting to propose an
idea that would help the institution save electricity. Some interesting facts that were
mentioned in Drexels gym were that a typical thirty-minute workout produces fiftywatt hours of clean carbon-free electricity. Which is enough electricity to run a laptop
computer for thirty minutes, a desktop computer for fifteen minutes, a television for
seven minutes, an incandescent bulb for twenty two minutes, and a CLF bulb for one
hour and fifteen minutes.
B. Save Money! Stockton spends a great deal of money annually on electricity. Since
our new status as a university will soon be instated, we will be getting more and more
students enrolled at our institution, which means there will need to be a bigger and
better facility and new machines. Athletics plans to get rid of the ten treadmills and
get twelve new ones, get rid of the eight cross trainers and get eight new ones, get rid
of the eight bikes and get seven new ones, and get rid of the four steppers and get
three new power mills. Although those machines will be costly, if we get selfpowered machines with companies such as ReRev or the Green System Inverter, they
would pay for themselves over time; along with a lower electricity bill.

C. Freshmen Fifteen! Students will be more encouraged to go to the gym knowing that
they would be helping their school save money and produce electricity. This is a great
way to fight off the freshmen fifteen!
D. Go Greener! Richard Stockton is known as New Jerseys green college, so it would
make sense to implement more ideas that would make our college, soon to be
university, more green. A self-powered gym would be a great addition to our already
green school, which has solar panels and a geothermal system. We spoke to Christian
Allen, fitness program coordinator of Stockton College, and he informed us that
Rowan University has also considered using self-powered green technology in their
campus gym. Stockton has been getting more attention, because of recent events
involving efforts of becoming a university and interest in purchasing The Showboat
Casino. With our recent recognition, if more institutions see that simply harnessing
the energy students produce while working out can save energy, money, electricity,
and reduce carbon emissions, maybe they will think of adapting the same system. As
more and more colleges and universities around the country adapt this idea, there will
be less greenhouse gas emission, which will slowly but surely make the world
greener.

V.

Detailed Project Description:

A. Goals: Our ultimate goal is to help Richard Stockton become greener by saving
electricity, money, and reducing carbon emissions.
B. Proposed activity: After talking to the fitness program coordinator of Stockton
College, there is talk about building a new fitness facility with additional exercise
equipment. So why not invest in equipment that costs a little more but saves the
institution money in the long run?
C. Resources:
1. Cost: According to Christian Allen, twelve new treadmills would cost about
$4900, eight new cross-trainers would cost about $3700, seven new bikes would
cost about $2500, and three new power mills would cost about $18,000;
altogether the new machines would cost $29,100. According to the green savings

calculator on www.green.sportsamerica.com, although the machines will initially

cost more, we would save $1,914.50 per year by using the Green System Inverter.
In the long run, the machines will end up paying for themselves, along with
reducing carbon emissions.
2. Timeline: Once we become a University, a new gym facility will most likely be
created. Once this happens, new equipment will be needed, and that is when we
would purchase the self-powered gym equipment instead of regular workout
equipment. After a few years of the using the green equipment, the institution will
be able to see a change in the electricity bill, as well as reduced carbon emissions.
3. Evaluation of success: The effectiveness will be easy to evaluate just by
observing and comparing the electricity bill before and after using the Green
System Inverter. Also, every semester we can send out a surrey via email to the
students asking for their opinions on the new machines.
VI.

Sustainability: According to epa.gov, electricity generates the largest share of

greenhouse gas emissions electricity generated 32% of green house gas emissions in
2012. Therefore, using the Green System Inverter or ReRev, Stockton would be reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.

VII.

References:
1. Edmonds, Lizzie. "World's First Self-powering Gym Uses Energy from Your
WORKOUT to Keep the Lights on (so Don't Take a Break!)." Mail Online. Associated
Newspapers, 24 Sept. 2013. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2430771/Worlds-self-powering-gym-usesenergy-WORKOUT-lights-dont-break.html
2. Anthony, Nathan. "Could Universities Lead the Way to a Self-Powered Gym?" Next
City. Next City, 21 June 2011. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/could-universities-lead-the-way-to-a-self-powered-gym
3. "Green SportsArt Fitness - What Is ECO-POWR?" Green SportsArt Fitness - What Is
ECO-POWR? N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
http://green.sportsartamerica.com/ECO-POWR.aspx
4. "Green SportsArt Fitness - Calculate Your Savings With ECO-POWR and Green
System." Green SportsArt Fitness - Calculate Your Savings With ECO-POWR and
Green System. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
http://green.sportsartamerica.com/Calculate.aspx
5. "Sources." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 20 Aug. 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/sources.html
6. "ReRev . A Renewable Energy Revolution." ReRev . A Renewable Energy Revolution.
N.p., 2011. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
http://rerev.com

VIII.

Appendix:

Figure 1: ReRev machines

at Drexel University

Figure 2: ReRev current converter at

Drexel University

Figure 3: A poster of how Drexels

ReRev system works

Figure 4: Jessica turning sweat into

electricity!

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Figures 5-7: Some of the PowerPoint slides taken from our presentation given to Stocktons
fitness program coordinator, Christian Allen.

Figure 5:

How it works (Green System Inverter)

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The system consists of a pod of cardio machines

attached to an inverter that channels human energy
from exercise and feeds it back into the power grid
as usable power

About 75% of energy generated by exercisers is

converted to usable power using the Green System
Inverter

Equipment such as ellipticals and stationary bikes

can be linked to a Green System Inverter which is
then connected to the gyms electrical system

As students workout, the energy they produce is

harnessed and transferred to the power grid, which
cuts down the overall power consumption

When ten machines are hooked up and running they

can produce roughly 2000 Watts of energy per hour
(how much do ten machines use now?)

Figure 6:

Green Savings Calculator

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http://green.sportsartamerica.com/Calculate.aspx

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Figure 7:

Where to find the machines

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Green System Inverter-

http://green.sportsartamerica.com/ECO-POWR.aspx