Final Report: The Effectiveness of Energy Generating Exercise Equipment for Energy Conservation Education

Objective:

SU833153The Effectiveness of Energy Generating Exercise Equipment for Energy Conservation EducationMay 14, 2007 through June 1, 2008$10,000P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2006) RFA Text

The Calories to Kilowatts (C2K) program presented an innovative solution for energy consumption problems in the United States. C2K was developed at Albion College as an energy education and fitness center targeting college age students. Recycled exercise machines were reconstructed into devices that converted human energy into electricity using manual generators and storage batteries. The program resulted in a self-sustaining workout center.

In order to produce efficient exercise machines and an effective educational program, Calories to Kilowatts established several objectives. First, the researchers intended to redesign the stationary bicycle prototype to improve electricity generating capabilities by 1000%. Next, a rowing machine was to be evaluated for electrical production capacity. To compare energy expended by the human body and the electrical output of the machines, human calories were converted to watts and contrasted with the watt output of the exercise machines. In addition, Calories to Kilowatts was implemented as an educational program in conjunction with the workout facility, utilizing “Conservation Pledges” and dormitory room Energy Audits to enhance the energy consumption awareness of participants. Lastly, environmental knowledge was evaluated in pre-use and post-use surveys.

Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):

In regards to machine efficiency, the outputs of the two newly designed bicycles were 120 watts and 96 watts, while the elliptical ran at 78 watts. This shows an increase in output compared to the 49 watt output of the prototype. However, when compared with caloric output, it was found that the two bicycles utilized just 8% of the caloric output, while the elliptical utilized 6%. The cost of building the modified elliptical machine was $592.59. The bicycles each cost $527.33. This price was comparable to new exercise equipment currently on the market. Overall, 57.5% of the projects expenditures have been related to the cost of materials.

The comparison of pre and post surveys indicated how Calories to Kilowatts met energy education goals, in terms of general energy knowledge and consciousness. In the data analysis of 47 pre-surveys and 28 post-surveys, significant increases were found in the area of identifying renewable energy resources from nonrenewable energy resources. Data from six out of the eight measured behaviors of participants showed trends towards environmentally consciousness decision-making. Lastly, the pre and post-surveys showed that among participants, reducing global warming was the strongest reason for energy conservation, while saving money was the least important reason.

The environmental impact of this study was best quantified through the decrease in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through energy savings. When participants came to the C2K gym, they were in essence already conserving energy. The machines at Albion College’s standard workout center use 15-25 watts even when they are not in use. Assuming coal to be Albion College’s electricity source, the Calories to Kilowatts was found to reduce GHG emissions by 768.3 pounds of carbon dioxide.

Conclusions:

Calories to Kilowatts succeeded as an educational and energy efficient exercise facility at Albion College. Its benefits toward the sustainability of people, prosperity, and the planet were achieved by striving to exceed its objectives.

People: The survey data demonstrated the significant improvement that Calories to Kilowatts had on peoples’ understandings of renewable energy sources. They also showed that the program increased percentages of participants engaging in positive environmental behavior. Thus, C2K contributed to the building of a sustainable society. The long term life cycle of the machines remains to be seen, but it is predicted that because the machines were constructed from recycled equipment and utilized clean energy, the life cycle would reduce negative impacts on the environment. The exercise component of the program also contributed to general human health benefits.

Prosperity: The expenditures for the project showed the final cost of each machine was comparable to standard exercise machines. The program was economically feasible to implement as a replacement for standard equipment and would be sustainable as an educational and fitness program in other institutions.

Planet: Although the efficiency of the stationary bike design did not increase to the 10 fold level of our objectives, it did increase to more than twice the efficiency of the prototype. The impact of these efficiencies coupled with the educational program demonstrated a savings on carbon dioxide emissions. The program also demonstrated that college students’ most important reason for conserving energy was to reduce the effects of global warming. This is an interesting assessment for the environmental concerns of a college-aged generation. Therefore, in addition to functioning as an environmental education tool, the program could be used to gather information on public opinion of certain environmental issues.

While different elements of the program were evaluated to determine its success, the overall implementation and impact of the program received very positive feedback from participants and professors at Albion College. Most of the objective goals were met with exclusion of the targeted efficiency goal. The sustainability scope of Calories to Kilowatts proved substantial during its implementation. Through exercise and clean energy, it provided improved quality of life for participants. In relation to air quality and environmental impact, the program has significant potential for reducing the environmental impact of college and university workout centers in developed nations. For example, if each of the four-year institutions in the United States replaced a standard exercise facility equivalent to Albion College’s with the Calories to Kilowatts program, 904 tons of carbon dioxide could be prevented from being emitted into the atmosphere. This would also prevent thousands of pieces of exercise equipment from entering landfills.

Although bikes had previously been designed to generate electricity, Calories to Kilowatts expanded these concepts into innovative designs for elliptical and rowing machines. The C2K program adapted previously known concepts to a creative educational approach. This approach may be broadly applicable across institutions of developed nations, but also as an educational approach to understanding renewable energy for developing nations. The focus of this study’s educational program was on reducing energy consumption but could easily be adapted in developing countries to target efficient energy generation and usage.

Proposed Phase II Objectives and Strategies:

Phase II of the P3 grant will extend Calories to Kilowatts’ applicability to developed and developing nations alike. Five institutions in the Great Lakes Region (Notre Dame, Michigan Technological University, Oberlin College, Loyola University of Chicago, and Lawrence Technological University) will participate in the educational program. Each school will have a faculty advisor managing students who will facilitate the implementation of Calories to Kilowatts. Four machines, including two stationary bicycles, one elliptical, and one rowing machine, will be allocated to each of the five participating institutions. The co-investigators at Albion College will facilitate a competition between the schools to further improve the efficiency of the exercise equipment’s design. The competition will run until December of 2007, and the winning design will be incorporated into the programs at the other participating schools.

Each school will also implement and manage an improved version of the Calories to Kilowatts education program designed at Albion College during Phase I. Prior to machine use each participant will pledge to use only as much energy as they generate through the exercise program. This pledge will be enacted on the appliance of their choice following the conclusion of a five week term. Energy audits will continue to be significant indicators of energy use per appliance. Each school will also incorporate an onsite education exhibit with two Energy Star appliances available to for the use of the participants. Lastly, because of the positive reviews by faculty at Albion College, each school has committed to the application of Calories to Kilowatts machines into three of their classroom curriculums.

Calories to Kilowatts will expand its program to the village of Batchingou, Cameroon, in an effort to expand its positive impact to the developing world. This will occur in partnership with the Nwagni Project at Albion College. Nwagni will be rebuilding a grade school in Batchingou in January of 2008, and Calories to Kilowatts will provide several exercise machines for the school as electricity sources for lighting and a computer. Three Calories to Kilowatts representatives will travel with the Nwagni project to assemble the equipment and teach the villagers how to maintain and operate it. While energy consumption will be the focus of Calories to Kilowatts in the United States, the educational program in Cameroon will focus on students’ understanding of energy from an elementary level science and fitness perspective.

The results of each branch of Phase II will determine the success of the program. The competition between colleges is intended to improve the current efficiency of the exercise equipment by 50%. We also intend to find significant increases of participating students’ energy knowledge and behaviors through surveys. In Cameroon, success will be determined by the feedback from teachers evaluating the machines for their educational potential. Efforts will be made to log energy consumption so an analysis between energy needs in Cameroon and the United States can be compared.

The ultimate goal of the project after one year’s time will be the establishment of a solid energy education program for developed and developing nations using the energy generating exercise equipment. With success on both of these fronts, Calories to Kilowatts will be very marketable as a sustainable not-for-profit organization.

Supplemental Keywords:

, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Sustainable Industry/Business, POLLUTION PREVENTION, Sustainable Environment, Energy, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Environmental Engineering, energy conservation, education, environmental sustainability, exercise, energy efficiency, energy technology, alternative energy source, energy storage, environmental education

Relevant Websites:

http://www.albion.edu/c2k/ Exit

Progress and Final Reports: