Get a Great Workout—and Be Green!

By Ed Martinez

Published in the Fall 2009 issue of MyTekLife Magazine

A friendly neighborhood gym is running on some of its own power by generating it in a unique way. Adam Boesel is the owner of The Green Microgym in Portland, Ore., which utilizes human-powered electricity. “I always knew I wanted to have my own gym someday,” Adam shares with me. He was living in Seattle at the time and wanted to move to Portland. “There was a strong focus on the ecosystem and being green,” adds Adam. He thought what a perfect way to pursue his interests by helping others live a healthy life through exercise, and by helping the environment through an eco-friendly concept. He began researching ways to make it happen. “I read about a gym in Hong Kong that was experimenting with getting electricity from exercise machines,” exclaims Adam. He decided to “give it a try and see what would happen.” Adam really did not have experience with electrical concepts, so he started researching technology that could fulfill his objective.

“I found a device on the Internet called pedal-a-watt,” adds Adam. The pedal-a-watt device is a stand that connects to the back wheel of a bicycle. The idea behind it is that electricity can be created from human effort and then stored in batteries. After buying a pedal-a-watt device, he said he “quickly found out that although this is a nice machine for a bicycle, it’s not going to work in a gym setting.” Adam was concerned that the device would not withstand regular usage and could be cumbersome to operate for gym members. He determined that the motor inside could potentially work, but not with a regular bicycle. “I needed to use regular gym equipment and retrofit it—so there was no change for the user,” notes Adam.

Adam’s gym can generate an average of 8 kilowatts per day.

Adam decided to retrofit spin bikes and put them into action. The retrofit is a simple and sturdy design. The spin bike sits on the stand, which keeps it in place. “When you get on the bike and ride, the wheels start spinning, and the electricity goes right into a 12-volt power pack—you can easily unplug it and use it for other things,” he adds.

Recently, Adam found a 250-watt grid tie inverter and received approval from the power company and the city to use it with his equipment on a test basis. The inverter, intended for use with solar panels he has installed on the walls outside the gym and small wind turbines, is unique. It plugs into normal wall outlets to feed electricity back to the grid. This is much more affordable and simple than the traditional method of hardwiring an inverter into a building’s circuit box.

Adam also has an elliptical machine connected to a power pack and has figured out a way to operate treadmills using 30 percent less electricity. “I figured out a way for them to be used in what I call ‘power-less’ mode, which basically turns off so the motor is disengaged—and then you can walk on it to get it started again.”

Adam notes that there is much more to being green than just generating electricity. His focus expands to the conservation of energy as well. He purchases used and refurbished equipment, and the installed solar panels on the walls outside the gym can collectively generate an average of 8 kilowatts per day. In addition, his gym utilizes compact fluorescent lights, recycled rubber, marmoleum, and eco-friendly cork flooring.

The Green Microgym opened its doors in September 2008 and currently has about 120 members. If you are ever in the Portland Alberta Arts neighborhood area, make sure you stop by and visit Adam’s innovative gym.