Engaging Student Bodies

You can’t ignore the benefits these facilities provide for students. Research has long shown a correlation between exercise and energy, mental clarity, and emotional well-being. Engagement with campus recreation facilities also receives high marks when it comes to overall health, fitness level, stress management, self-confidence and concentration, among other benefits.*

As for grades, a growing area of study is consistently showing a link between engagement with campus recreation programs and GPA. For example, one study found that frequent campus rec users were 3.1 times more likely to have a high GPA at or exceeding 3.80 versus non-frequent users.**

With such wide-reaching implications for both universities and students, it is more critical than ever to find more ways to engage students. SportsArt, a leader in fitness for more than 47 years, continues to add new and exciting solutions that align with student values, including ECO-POWR™™, the world’s first line of cardo equipment that harnesses up to 74 percent of human energy exerted and convert it into clean, reusable energy for the facility.

“In the past couple of years, I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with more and more students who have a passion for sustainability,” says Ruben Mejia, SportsArt EVP, Americas. “It’s no secret the new generation of college students are thinking green. Professionals in this industry are aware that today’s students arrive and college ready to be connected to a cause they care about.” According to the Pew Research Center, 37 percent of Generation Zers consider climate change a “top concern.”

With SportsArt and ECO-POWR™, rec centers can align campus sustainability goals with student lifestyles and fitness expectations. Student-run environmental initiatives could even help offset the cost, making it easier and more affordable to bring ECO-POWR™ to you campus. “These students have a genuine interest in our company, our values and our eco-friendly products; some of these students are even gathering information for proposals to get funding for our projects,” Mejia says.

POWRing a Movement

Campuses can embrace this enthusiasm by exploring how sustainable fitness equipment can not only benefit the health and well-being of your students but also contribute to the overall sustainability initiatives of your university. By promoting activities that align with campus sustainability goals, you can create a healthier and more eco-friendly environment for everyone on campus by making a positive impact on both the physical and environmental health of your university.

Consider designing challenges like an “Earth Day Energy,” “Break a Sweat for the Environment,” “How long can you power a lightbulb?” or “How many watts can your team generate?” Student groups might also create their own events.

Meanwhile, SportsArt recently laid down a challenge of their own. From January 1 to March 15, 2024, SportsArt celebrated its inaugural Campus Challenge, which inspired college students in communities across the nation to step up their sustainability practices.

With a simple TikTok post, students explained how they planned to promote a healthier environment using the mantra “Challenge Accepted.” The posts entered students to win one of three ECO-POWR™ sustainable cardio equipment packages totaling $140,000 for their campus recreation center, which was announced at NIRSA.

Entries of sustainable practices went beyond recycling, cutting down on plastic use and turning out lights after use. They included the use of reusable water bottles, taking notes on laptops, composting, rooftop gardens, and using energy-saving bulbs and alternative transportation such as bicycles, buses and ride sharing. The Campus Challenge will be back in 2025, even bigger and better.

Giving Back with ECO-POWR™

Using ECO-POWR™, with every movement a student makes, energy is being generated. ECO-POWR™ products harness that energy to produce on average 16 watt-hours (Wh) of electricity. The innovative technology behind this is a patented micro-inverter. Human movement is captured by a generator and the micro-inverter transforms the energy into utility-grade electricity that can be fed directly back into the circuit for immediate use, creating an overall reduction in a property’s carbon footprint.

When initially turned on, ECO-POWR™ products draw a small amount of electricity, like standard appliances. As a workout begins, the units almost instantaneously stop consuming electricity, and within seconds produce enough energy to power the unit and send excess electricity back into the facility’s grid through a standard outlet. That energy is then used to power other machines and devices within the facility, offsetting the power needed from the utility company.

It not only helps power the machine and the grid, it also helps power devices plugged into the unit. “Whenever I’m using the treadmill, I can just pop my phone in and it’s cool to know that I’m the one charging it,” says a student from York University. Color-changing LED lights on the G516 Indoor Cycle and the G260 Rower even indicate watts being generated in real time, providing insight and potential coaching cues.

Getting More Energy Out of Every Workout

With the introduction of ECO-POWR™, SportsArt changed what could be accomplished through movement. Now they’ve added another industry first: The G660 Tredmill, which generates about 1,280 Wh of energy of the course of a typical eight-hour day of use.

To provide tangible support for these environmental efforts, SportsArt recently had the carbon footprint of the G660 Treadmill independently verified by the British Standards Institution (BSI), a trusted voice in carbon-footprint certifications. They measured the entire footprint of the G660, including acquisition of materials, assembly and transportation of materials. This showed that before it’s even used, it’s beneficial to the environment.

Based on BSI certified carbon footprint and the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s equivalency figures, the G660 has the potential to be carbon negative at just under five years (2,336 Wh) and through the rest of its expected lifecycle. That means it produces enough clean energy to not only offset its own carbon footprint but make an overall net positive impact for the facility.

Delivering an intuitive and effective workout experience, the G660 features a unique non-motorized technology and smart braking system. It has a slat-belt design, run and push workout modes, and all the necessary readouts—including “human watts.” The only thing missing is the carbon footprint.

Inspired Performance for our Shared World

Sustainable living is more than just shutting off lights in empty rooms and recycling—it’s leaving the planet a little better than you found it. With ECO-POWR™ equipment, fitness facilities can transform into miniature power plants that offset their building’s electrical costs, earn points toward LEED certification, qualify for government initiatives and more.

In a university recreation landscape that is constantly evolving, SportsArt isn’t simply meeting a growing list of needs—they’re proactively advancing to deliver the right mix of effective and engaging fitness solutions in ways that others can’t. For those who share their passion for serving others, looking forward and meeting challenges head-on, SportsArt makes sure that every workout inspires performance for universities, students and our shared world.

As stated by Elina Pipe, a Brown University student who successfully drafted a proposal to bring SportsArt into her campus rec center, “Students will realize that they can implement sustainability in their lives and be environmentally conscious without even trying, because they’re just doing what they did before, but using a substitute that is just as good, if not better.”

Works Cited

*Forrester, S. (2014). The Benefits of Campus Recreation. Corvallis, OR: NIRSA

**Exploring the Relationship between Usage of Collegiate Recreation Facilities and Academic Achievement. https://journals.sagepub .com/doi/10.1177/1558866120982982