Common Ground - Power to the Gym Rats

Common Ground posted this short by cool article on Adam Boesel’s new Green Microgym, which helps convert people-power into electricity. Very "green" that we can turn those hours in the gym into power for the grid. Portland continues to be the place for excellent new ideas -- must be all the coffee they drink.

Power To The Gym Rats

If you’re gonna workout to burn calories, why not power up the grid while you’re at it? That’s the premise behind Portland’s Green Microgym, a new power-from-the-people eco-facility created by fitness trainer Adam Boesel. This 3,000-square-foot gym is tricked out with energy-efficient treadmills, non-motorized elliptical machines and spin bikes that convert human power into electricity.

That extra human energy — plus the gym’s solar arrays and other eco features — means that the Green Microgym uses only about half the energy of conventional gyms, in Boesel’s estimation. Exact figures aren’t available since the gym hasn’t even received its first electric bill yet, but Boesel already plans to get his elliptical machines hooked up to generators next month. His ultimate goal is to bring the net electric bill down to zero.

The Green Microgym is already finding fans in its eco-conscious neighborhood, whose denizens walk or bike over to sweat it out atop the facility’s cork and recycled rubber flooring. The members are even good about turning off fans and lights when they’re not in use. “Everyone [in this neighborhood] is green-friendly at least,” Boesel says. “And it’s very simple for people to do.” The idea is such a no-brainer, hopefully it catches on in other cities soon.

— Siel

Tags: Common Ground, Power to the Gym Rats, Environment, energy, fitness, Health, Green Microgym, Adam Boesel