“Our goal is to achieve a 6 percent decrease in energy use and a 10 percent reduction in solid waste by December 2010,” Schietinger says. “It's been a process because trying to do all the things you want to do in a week or two, you're just not going to do it that well.”

An energy audit can highlight inefficiencies in areas such as insulation, air sealing and lighting, all of which are significant contributors to a club's electric bill, Politzer says.

Smart Lighting

Gary Graham, co-founder of Graham/Meus Inc. architects in Boston, says lighting in a club can account for almost a quarter of its electricity use, so cost savings in this area can be dramatic. Some energy companies may provide rebates to businesses who re-lamp their clubs, he notes.

Politzer compares incandescent light bulbs to gas-guzzling Lincoln Town Cars. He says the majority of energy leaves incandescent bulbs as heat, not energy, and only 15 percent of that energy is used for light. He recommends upgrading incandescent bulbs with light-emitting diodes or compact fluorescent bulbs. Older clubs with fluorescent tube lights can save energy by switching from thicker T-12 tubes to T-8 tubes.

The lighting choices for health clubs are important, says Philip Racicot, founding partner of Summit Health & Fitness in Bedford, MA, whose club opened from a build-out in 2006.

“If you're building or remodeling a gym, you really need to consider everything from lighting choices to the type of sheetrock you use,” Racicot says. “With lighting, we used 99.99 percent fluorescent and used the most energy-efficient fixtures we could find at the time.”

Simply turning off lights in rooms not being used also cuts energy costs. To manage electricity use at its 19-acre facility, management at The Claremont Club in Claremont, CA, installed an energy management system (EMS) to regulate the facility's usage from a desktop computer.

“We have a whole online monitoring system for the air conditioning system and boilers,” says Mike Boos, facilities director for The Claremont Club. “In places like our yoga room that's not used all the time, we can schedule the air conditioner to come on before a class and turn off when there's no occupancy. It's an elegantly designed system that helps us manage our energy usage.”

The Claremont Club hired an energy consultant, Franz Kurth of Energy Systems, to orchestrate its EMS system. Kurth says the club's EMS system controls everything from light bulbs to pool pumps.

“It all starts with energy management,” Kurth says. “It's computerized, so you can control every function in a club with EMS. It's very efficient.”

Cogeneration Systems

To address The Claremont Club's energy usage and heat its two large swimming pools, Kurth recommended that the club install a CHP, or cogeneration, system that uses natural gas to produce energy and heat water.

CHP and district energy systems can achieve efficiencies of 80 percent, compared to 45 percent efficiency for conventional heat and power production, per a recent release from the U.S. Department of Energy.

CHP technology has been scaled down for smaller scale use in recent years, and it offers a significant return on investment, Phillips says.

“The possibilities for savings are spectacular for single clubs, particularly if they have a pool,” Phillips says. “Savings range in the thousands of dollars a month in real savings, and it's paid off faster than expected.”

Since The Claremont Club has a one million-gallon Olympic-sized pool in addition to an 80,000-gallon family pool, it was a prime candidate for a CHP system, Kurth says.

“Claremont uses a cogeneration system which takes natural gas energy to drive a high-powered generator, but all of the heat generated in the process is captured in hot water — 50 percent is heat and 50 percent is power,” Kurth says. “You burn natural gas to produce power and heat at the same time.”

The heat is kept as stored hot water, which heats the pools. Since natural gas is cheaper to buy than electricity, the CHP system saves on utility bills, plus natural gas has virtually no emissions, he notes.

“The local utility charges 25 cents per kilowatt-hour of power. We produce it at 11 cents. That makes a huge difference in the annual power cost,” Kurth says.

Although the upfront costs for a CHP system are high, Kurth says that The Claremont Club had a fairly short return on investment.

“The club management was farsighted in that they were able to convince the board to spend $50,000 to $100,000 for long-term benefits that have had a payback of three years,” he says.

Local utility companies provided rebates for the project. Since the electric company benefited from the club's reduced energy load to the grid, it provided the largest contribution, he says.

“Each project is different, but generally we find we get one-third to two-thirds of the cost of the system as a contribution,” Kurth says. “If you look at the benefits to produce energy as opposed to burning coal, it reduces your energy load, so they also may give you a preferential rate. It's a two-way street. Gas companies love us. You increase your natural gas bills and decrease electric bills.”

Even though rebate incentives vary by state, an energy consultant can help file the right paperwork, Kurth says. Information also is available online (see sidebar at right).

Some club owners also are working with companies that install and maintain the CHP system, then sell the power to the club at lower costs than local utility companies.

Laury Hammel, founder and owner of The Longfellow Clubs in Natick, MA, said by working with a CHP rental company, his clubs had no upfront costs to install the system, which has reduced its utility bills.

“We've increased our purchasing of natural gas, which is what creates the electricity more inexpensively, reduces our carbon footprint and creates the byproduct of heat that is used to heat our pools and showers,” Hammel says. “We haven't used our pool heater for a year now. We've reduced our purchasing of electricity. We are thrilled with this arrangement and highly recommend it to other health clubs.”

With increased rebates and incentives, as well as advances in technology and financing options, energy-efficient projects for clubs are becoming more affordable. And as members expect health clubs to become stewards for a healthier environment, many people in the industry consider energy-efficient projects a win-win investment.

RELATED ARTICLES

• “University of Arizona Will Use Solar Power to Heat Pools”

• “Chelsea Piers Launches Green Initiative”

• “Utility Players”

Online Energy Resources

• CHP Systems Guide
  

• National Renewable Energy Laboratory
  

• Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency
  

• Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency
  

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