Senior Airman Scott Saldukas
47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
4/6/2012 – LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) — The Losano Fitness Center here recently began harnessing power by using elliptical machines and a new state-of-the-art technology called ReRev.
After the 47th Civil Engineer Squadron converted five of the machines, each creates electricity while people use them during a workout.
During a 30-minute workout on one of the updated machines, the ReRev system will generate around 50 watts of power, said 2nd Lt. Christian Ocasio, of the 47th CES. That power feeds the main power panel for the facility and is used instantly throughout the facility.
“That is enough to run a laptop for one hour or a desktop computer for 30 minutes,” Ocasio said. “The power produced is proportional to the resistance and speed at which the elliptical is used. So if you really want to produce some electricity, you’ve got to crank up the resistance. All of this energy adds up with the machines’ continued use, thereby creating some serious power.”
The idea of producing energy with the elliptical machines came about during a light-hearted discussion between David Morin, the 47th CES acting chief of asset optimization, and a coworker. They were brainstorming ways to produce energy and ended up searching the web for a product that would actually produce electricity from workouts.
Check out an AF video representing Earth Day 2012 around the web.
Morin explained how this is only one way Laughlin is trying to reduce their energy footprint.
“This is part of our ongoing efforts to find ways to offset our energy consumption and provide creative ways to get conservation in people’s minds,” Morin said. “Since many people who make exercising a habit are also conscious of the environment, it is a perfect fit. I make a habit of going to the fitness center at lunch to use them, and I find myself exercising a little harder now that I know I am producing electricity.”
The energy conservation initiative came after executive orders were put in place to reduce energy consumption by 3 percent annually until 2020.