Students who like to watch TV while they work out at the Southeast Recreational Facility have a new incentive to work harder.
With new “green” equipment installed at the SERF, students can generate energy to power the TV monitors in front of them as part of an initiative to help the building save energy and promote the Green Initiative on campus.
The new equipment can be used to regenerate energy and prevent wasteful energy at the SERF, Lori Devine, Director of Fitness and Group Exercise for Recreational Sports at University of Wisconsin said.
The person using the green equipment generates energy by using the machine, Devine said. Small box converters flow the energy from the green equipment to converters connected to a nearby wall, she said.
The equipment is used as part of the university’s energy system, instead of using energy from the power grid and taking up usable energy, John Horn, director of Rec Sports said.
“The energy that is created by the equipment used by an individual using it can be used to generate energy to power lights or power the television,” Horn said.
The green equipment can convert 72 percent of the energy used to run the machines into reusable energy for various things in the power grid, Devine said.
The SERF now has six pieces of green equipment: two elliptical machines, two recumbent stationary bikes and two upright stationary bikes from Sports Art company, Devine said.
The new equipment is part of a continuing trend of green equipment in the fitness industry, Devine said. Over the past 10 years, the fitness industry has gravitated toward making green equipment that can regenerate energy for buildings or homes, she said.
“Every time you get on an elliptical, many don’t plug in to the floor anymore, when you get on and start using it, you start generating that energy to power [the system], so there has been sustainable energy around for a long time,” Devine said.
The equipment, programmed by a software system called EcoFit, can also show how much wattage a user is putting out, or how many calories or miles one is running, and can show a user how much they are competing with anyone in the country, Devine said.
The new green equipment cannot be used at the Natatorium because the power grid there is more complex and there are only so many power outlets at the facility, Devine said. The infrastructure at the building is too old to be able to implement this type of equipment at this time, she said.
As more and more green equipment pops up, Rec Sports would like to educate the campus and show that the SERF is a sustainable building that can help generate energy and help the system, Horn said.
Horn said he’s seen positive feedback so far, adding that Rec Sports hopes to incorporate more equipment like this in the future.
