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500 Boston Post Rd.
Orange, CT
203-795-5733
As featured on WTNH, GoGreen Fitness is ON!
Spin classes generate electricity as riders work up a sweat
at gym
ORANGE — Go Green Fitness aims to give people a more “power”-ful
workout.
The new gym at 500 Boston Post Road, which opened about two weeks
ago, features a room with 24 exercise bikes where riders pedal
during Spin class and generate electricity that is used to power
the building.
“We’ve made it into an experience,” Go Green Fitness owner Robert
Kravitz said of the gym. “This is a very unique room.”
The fitness center caters to users of all ages and skill levels,
he said. During Spin classes, participants pedal stationary bikes
— led by an instructor — and a device on the bike tracks how
many watts of electricity are generated during the workout.
The watts travel to a converter box in the back of the room,
which feeds the energy into the building’s electric meter, where
it is used to power various aspects of the business. Kravitz
estimates the fitness center, which uses the slogan “Powered
by the People,” generates enough power to meet up to 72 percent
of its own electricity needs.
If participants generate more power than the business needs,
any excess will go to the regional power grid, he said.
“There are people out there who want to contribute,” he said,
adding that initial reaction from customers to the green theme
has been positive. “People realize that they want to be a part
of that, which is very exhilarating.”
Go Green Fitness will hold an open house at 10 a.m. today to
showcase its site and services.
The bikes use technology made by The Green Revolution Inc., a
Ridgefield-based company that makes the monitors to track and
convert the generated electricity.
“It’s great for us that (Kravitz) embraces the entire environmental
movement,” said James Whelan Jr., chief executive officer of
The Green Revolution.
The Spin class room also has a flat-screen television at the
front, which shows images of nature throughout each class, LED
lights that change color, and a floor and walls that are intended
to be as hypo-allergenic and clean as possible, Kravitz said.
The walls are coated with antibacterial paint, he said.
The music, lights and visual effects, combined with the environmental
impact, boost the “fun factor” of Spin classes, said Karl Baumgart,
the company’s chief energy officer. “People love to do it,” he
said.
Kravitz and several business partners own the shopping plaza
at 500 Boston Post Road, and until 2002, he and his sister, Debbie
McNulty, owned Neil Roberts School Uniform Co., a tenant in the
building.
After selling that business seven years ago, Kravitz turned some
of his attention to a nearby property, 391 Boston Post Road,
turning it into one of the area’s first green commercial plazas,
he said.
Almost eight years later, Go Green Fitness uses even more advanced
green technology. “This is a renaissance,” he said of the renovations
done to 500 Boston Post Road.
The space occupied by Go Green Fitness previously was home to
a paint store for many years, but most recently was vacant before
the gym moved in. Kravitz had been searching for the right tenant
for the 1,000-square-foot space when he had the idea to start
the fitness center.
He chose to launch the company during one of the worst economies
in recent memory, but said he was driven to start the business
despite the downturn.
“I had to do something, and I had to do something positive,”
he said, adding that the business will bring jobs to Orange.
Kravitz is seeking to hire Spin instructors and plans to grow
the business to include nutritional counseling, personal training
and other services. He also hopes to grow Go Green Fitness into
a franchise.
