Now we identify the second wave: 

The necessity for health clubs to be green.

.

Selling Health and Fitness For Your Body And Environment
Committing to a healthy lifestyle includes both a healthy body and a healthy environment. Twenty five years ago, when health clubs were gyms and participants were body builders, it was not unusual to find both alcohol and cigarettes being sold in gyms. In this day and age, no health club allows smoking on the premises.

Shifting To Wellness Means Going Green
The shifting pro green culture in Northern Europe and North America is leading a wave that will further separate our industry into wellness centers and gyms. In a few years joining a non green club will be like joining a health club now that allows smoking.

Green Sales Problem and Promise
Members and prospects may avoid clubs who say they are interested in your health and longevity but do not have a strong green position. This means clubs promoting a wellness or health brand must be significantly greener.  A truely green health club is in a green building using green cleaners, conserving water and energy.  They walk their environmentally friendly talk.

The sales green impact is clear - prospects get to participate in this eco value the moment they join the health club.

Price Premium And Family Clubs
Club’s with higher fees and those serving families have the highest benefit in greening as it enables further competitive differentiation. And this does not mean superficial ‘greenwashing.’

A Good Place To Start
Learn more about green marketing at The Green Marketing Conference held in the Fall in the U.S.  Visit goodandgreen.biz. They promise thousands of dollars worth of instruction on improving your green marketing ROI; real world, case studies, resources and techniques to build market share and sales.

In the next post we’ll examine the third green wave - health club communities.

Will Phillips is the President and founder of REX. He has over 30 years of practical experience as a management consultant.

In the past fifteen years his work has focused on broad scale organizational change projects and developing internal change agents.

It consists of five green “waves”.  They have not yet come together - but are on a collision course.

The Green “Opporthreat”
When these five green trends collide then form a super wave which is an “opporthreat” to the clubs industry.

An “opporthreat” turns into an opportunity or a threat depending on how you as a club owner and how the club industry associations respond to it.

These five green waves are:

• Wave One: Corporate Green Commitment
• Wave Two: Green Necessity For Health Clubs
• Wave Three: Health Club Communities
• Wave Four: Health Clubs Leading Communities
• Wave Five: Clubs As A Natural Distribution System For Green

They will be an extraordinary opportunity for some clubs and a devastating threat to others. The response of leading industry associations may tip the balance one way or the other.

The First Green Wave-Corporate Green Commitment
Over the last two years, every major business magazine in the English speaking world, in every issue is talking Green, as are the journals from the major business schools.

Peter Drucker, the deepest and most prolific business writer, said only way a responsible manager can plan for the future is to be aware of the trends that are now happening which have not been fully capitalized on, and to then strategize how to take advantage of them to ride their energy. ‘How will we be green?’ is on the planning agenda of business thinkers everywhere.

Green Means Profit
All major building construction in every major U.S. city will be seeking full Green Building Certification. The investors rationale is that non Green Certified buildings will have a lower multiple of value in any future sale. Green-certified buildings produce an 8.5 % increase in effective rent.  The incremental value of a green structure is an estimated $5.1 million more than an ordinary building.

Investing In Green
Silicon Valley venture capitalists left silicon for green about five years ago. Venture capitalists are pouring $2 billion into 96 companies in Europe, North America, China and India in the 2nd quarter of 2008.

The non club corporate world has three reasons for going green- first, it is a marketing imperative: second, it can be profitable; and thirdly, it you build non green buildings , products and services they will likely have a reduced value.

Clubs Are Starting To Green
New clubs are beginning to catch on and build green. The Eco Fit club in Brazil an excellent example of a sustainable club.  Architectural firms specializing in clubs have produced useful materials for any club going green, for example Fabiano Designs in New Jersey.

What About You?
Is your club prepared to go green?  The next post in this series will address why going green is becoming a necessity for health clubs.

Will Phillips is the President and founder of REX. He has over 30 years of practical experience as a management consultant.

In the past fifteen years his work has focused on broad scale organizational change projects and developing internal change agents.

GHC:  Please tell us about your background.

DM:  I’m a former Australian rated professional boxer.  I’ve worked in the fitness industry since 2001 as a PT and group fitness instructor.  I’ve been owner and operator of Surry Hills Boxing since January 2007.  The boxing studio was retrofitted to become green friendly in January 2008.

GHC:  Do you have a green mission statement or philosophy for your gym?

DM:  The obesity epidemic and climate change are the issues we want to address.   First, we eat too much food and move less due to technology and we become obese.  Second, we use too much fossil fuel to power all the stuff we don’t really need and so we have negative climate change.

I want Surrey Hills Boxing Gym to help people rethink the way we live in this inter connected world because we are an embodiment of the living breathing earth we inhabit.

GHC: Please explain how your gym generates electricity from exercise:

DM:  The five spin bikes in my studio have been modified to generate electricity when pedaled.  A small generator attached to the front of the bike sends electricity directly back into the power grid through an inverter. The setup does not affect the performance of the bike.

A person of average fitness can maintain between 50-100 watts when exercising at a moderate pace.  The system is OHS (occupational health and safety) and energy Australia approved.

GHC:  What other green initiatives do you employ?

DM: We use energy efficient lighting and recycled and natural products. I do speaking engagements and currently in the process of setting up a consultancy that will show gyms and businesses how to become environmentally friendly.

GHC: How have you used your green initiatives in your sales or marketing efforts?  Have they helped?

DM: I’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response from the public.  Being environmentally friendly has given my studio a unique selling point that I have pushed in my marketing campaign.  The gym has also been featured on the national news and in the Sydney Morning Herald.

GHC: Was implementing your green initiatives expensive?

DM:  Building the system for my bikes was expensive due to the research and development involved, building prototypes etc.   I am in the process of commercializing the equipment.

Link: Surrey Hills Boxing Gym

Discovery Communications - “Ecotainment’ with Planet Green

Health clubs have long been interested in providing ‘exertainment’ to keep members engaged and sell memberships.  Adding green content that attracts advertising dollars and entertains viewers is the motivation behind Discovery’s bet on the power of “ecotainment”.

They recently launched an entire channel dedicated to sustainable living.  Ruters reports…

“Planet Green will launch with more than 250 hours of original programming, featuring a range of name talent in front of and behind the camera, including Leonardo DiCaprio, celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, rocker Tommy Lee and rapper Ludacris.

It officially kicks off at 6 p.m. with the entertainment newsmagazine “Hollywood Green With Maria Menounos,” followed by the Tom Bergeron-hosted “Supper Club.”Planet Green president and GM Eileen O’Neill said it’s the perfect time to launch an eco-friendly channel.

“Now is a critical time in our planet’s health,” she said. “There is a rally cry out there, and now we’re really going to bring it into viewers’ own homes to be the inspiration for them to make changes around their household and lifestyle.”

O’Neill brushed aside any concerns about the network’s ability to reach those viewers who have yet to jump on the green bandwagon.

“Ecotainment is a new genre, and we have a lot of great content that’s very diverse,” she said. “We’re bringing green into the mainstream. We need to reach even more people so they see the entertainment value but also the green message.

EcoExertainment For Health Clubs?
What if health clubs bundled an element of green into their exercise offerings?  I propose an “EcoExertainment” offering would draw the media to your club like a magnet.    Any ideas?  Leave a comment…

Pizza Fusion - Saving The Planet One Pizza At A Time

What happens when you take a highly competitive, low margin, commodity like pizza and add green to the business model?  You get Pizza Fusion.  They provide an interesting example of marketing and differentiating a franchise brand with green.

Green Branding
Franchising success is built on the strength of the franchiser’s brand.  And the brand is only as strong as the story, promise, systems and distinctiveness behind it.  It seems the green unique selling proposition behind the Pizza Fusion brand is working.  The company reports first year results of selling 63 franchises in 10 states.

Here’s how Pizza Fusion positions their brand - in their own words…

Based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Pizza Fusion is a new take on America’s favorite food.  We proudly serve up delicious, gourmet pizza in its purest form - untainted by artificial additives, like preservatives, growth hormones, pesticides, nitrates and trans fats (to name a few).

While we’re famous for our pizza, our 75% organic menu features an eclectic variety of gourmet sandwiches, salads, desserts, beer and wine.  Additionally, we proudly offer health conscious alternatives for our friends with selective diets and food allergies, such as our delicious gluten-free pizza, brownies and beer and our tasty vegan selections.

Born from a desire to make a difference, every detail of our operations is continuously evaluated from an environmental perspective in an effort to further minimize our ecological footprint.

From delivering our food in company owned hybrid vehicles and offsetting 100% of our power consumption with the purchase of renewable wind energy certificates to building LEED certified restaurants, we are committed to being a leader in not only the pizza industry, but in a better quality of life. Through our spirited philosophy and principled leadership, Pizza Fusion will redefine the fast casual restaurant industry.

Takeaways For Green Health Clubs

As the founder and past president of the national fitness franchise StrollerFit®,  I gained a healthy respect for the power of building and leveraging a strong brand and systems.   I believe studying and applying the best practices of successful franchise organizations in any industry can be a great benefit to health club owners looking to increase their profits.

Why?  Because franchisers approach their businesses from a different prospective.  They have to deliver marketing, sales and operations systems that work for both the franchisee and the customer.  These systems also have to be easy to learn and use by others.   Plus, they must have the ability to replicate and scale results over time in different market environments.  So how does this apply to the greening of your health club?

Green Insights From Pizza
The Pizza Fusion example offers some great indirect lessons to help health clubs position their products and services.  From their brand messaging, systems and service - it’s all about showing how your business simultaneously helps the customer while helping the environment.

Here’s my recommended short course for health clubs looking for ways to get more green:

1. Study their franchise video.  Not only does it provide information on how they applied green to their business, the video design itself offers a great example of using , testimonials, third party endorsements and just basic story telling to create a simple video that supports and sells their brand.

What would your club’s video look like?

2.  Study their online press room.  Get a first hand look on how they use the media’s insatable need to report on all things green to help them market their company.  Also note the messaging in their press kit.

What would be in your club’s media kit?

3. Read their environmental mission and saving the earth messaging.  It’s good inspiration for creating your own green messaging.

How does your club’s green mission and value statement read?

But as you’ll see from his 60 minutes interview,  the heart of his success is a simple slideshow. He did two things that turned it into a mega public relations tool.

1) He adjusts some of the slides to align with the orientation of the people listening to it.
2) He trains other people to deliver the slideshow.

His approach provides lessons to health clubs looking for ways to inspire and help their communities get more green.  And he’s making the process easier for health clubs by raising public awareness

Recent 60 Minutes Video
The 60 minutes video below provides a window into the system Gore uses.  Watching it raises two questions:  What would your club’s green slide show look like?  Are you going to use Al Gore’s $30,000,000.00 advertising investment to help launch your club’s green initiatives?

Many commercial grade exercise bikes already use a member’s energy to power their electronic display panels. In this simple system, the machine loses power when the member stops pedaling.

But what if your member’s energy output could be stored and used to provide electric power for your club?  Imagine the reduction to your fixed costs and the benefits to the environment.  Now a company called MotorWave is getting closer to making this dream a reality.

The “Powered By You” Concept
MotorWave is working with California Fitness to capture, store and use the energy exercisers produce by working out.  From their website:

In December we connected 5 elliptical machines and 8 steppers .We found that the elliptical machines are the most suitable for electricity production .The system uses the full body weight of the user and due to the high torque generated the output power and the output voltage a strong user can quite easily produce 80 to 100 watts .

The steppers are different because in the design of the machine the energy is converted into mechanical energy (through a powerful spring ) the generator delivers low voltage output in the range of 10 to 12 volts with a low current. To become efficient ,the steppers have to be structurally modified.

Out of the 16 hours of gym opening hours the machines are being used in average 6 to 8 hours a day . We therefore save approx. 50% of the lighting cost and we save the other 50% by producing the electricity needed.

The Technology Breaks Even in One To Three Years
According to the company it will “take approx. 3 years to pay back the installation in $$ terms with actual machines.  If we exclude the lighting installation cost and if machines are modified at the manufacturer level then the payback time can be of less than a year.”

See video of Lucien Gambarota explaining the invention.

Here are some of the upcoming features to be released into the beta version of the site:

Health Club Membership Section

• Member Accounts & Green Profile - Members will be able to create, login to and out of their GHC account.
• Member Profile Management - Members will be able to edit and add new Green Initiative Categories and sub-categories to their Green Profiles.
• Members will be able to upload / Download files, documents and spreadsheets.
• Members will be able to search Green Initiative Categories for associated resources, downloads, member contacts and suppliers associated with the initiative.
• Interactive member community scorecard allows visitors to provide their comments, feedback and rating on how green the member’s club is. (To prevent spam and invalid scores, this section only allows comments and scoring from visitors who fully identify themselves and register with their e-mail address)

Supplier Directory

• Approved suppliers will have a listing within the GHC directory which can be searched by company,category, geography, product type, rating and more.
• Listings are dynamic and will appear in Green Initiative search results.
• Supplier listings include interactive section to leave and read supplier specific comments and ratings score.

Green Resources & Matters Sections

• Content integrated with Green Initiative elements of the site.

If you have additional functionality requests pls leave them as comments.

Return to HomePage 

Going Green
Healthworks Fitness Centers For Women with locations in Back Bay, Brookline, Cambridge, Chestnut Hill, and Salem, Massachusetts, is a great example of a health club not only implementing green practices, but promoting them effectively to increase community value, business partnerships and revenue.

Using The Web Effectively
Healthworks has established a sub-branded portion of their website called “greener”. It offers a distinctive look and feel with an enhanced logo and dedicated navigation bar that lets viewers see different types of green information.

Positioning Themselves as a Green Resource
Healthworks is establishing itself as a green resource in its community by not only communicating what they do to go green, but by encouraging others to follow them by providing green tips. Smartly, the tips are sponsored by different organizations. It’s an exceptional business example of using the power of green to offer new value while simultaneously building additional marketing channels and potential profit streams.

Extending Green Leverage Beyond The Club
Healthworks also offers a $20.00 tee-shirt. It’s another illustration of how a club can use “green” to achieve multiple benefits including a profit. They promote it as follows:

Our special edition “real women recycle” t-shirts are 100 % organic and made with environmentally friendly dye. Not to mention they are comfortable and fit great! What better way to support Healthworks and the environment all at the same time.

Proactive Partners in Profit
Healthworks also embeds their commitment to green in another “out of the club” product. They partner with Whole Foods to sell a co-branded re-usable shopping bag. The bags sell for $5.00 and owners receive $20 credit from whole foods when they spend $100. Owners also get a nickle from whole foods every time they use the bag.

Healthworks promotes the reusable shopping bag on the website with green education:

Whole Foods Market has teamed up with Healthworks Fitness to go “Greener”.

More than one billion single-use plastic bags are handed to consumers each day and it takes a 15-year-old tree to produce just 700 grocery bags. Paper or plastic is no longer the question. Reusing shopping bags significantly reduces both emissions and waste.

All Whole Foods Market stores offer at least a nickel-per-bag refund to encourage you!

GreenHealthClubs.org congratulates Healthworks Fitness Centers on using green to make a difference to their members, their community and their bottom line!

What about you? How would your Green Health Clubs spotlight read? Drop us a comment and let us know.

Beware The Repercussions of “Green Washing”
They “spin” themselves to appear more environmentally conscious. Unfortunately this type of posturing is become so common its erned its own name - it’s a practice known as “Green Washing”. However, as consumers and the media become more knowledgable about what “green means” - there will certainly be a major backlash for companies that make false green claims.

Separate Your Club From The Bad Rap
To protect themselves, Health clubs must take care to ensure their green efforts are authentic. First step - know what tactics unscrupulous companies are using to “green wash” themselves and do the opposite. It’s really that simple. Green washing essentially boils down to six things:

1. Hidden Trade Offs
2. No Proof
3. Vagueness
4. Irrelevance
5. Fibbing
6. Lesser of Two Evils.

A series of small steps–many of which don’t cost a dime–can add up to a new way of doing business.

1. Stop throwing away money Go through your trash. You’ll get a new sense of how much it costs to buy, store, and dispose of stuff. Eliminate unnecessary photocopying and reuse packaging for shipping.

2. Get an energy audit Most local utilities offer businesses free on-site consultations on how they can reduce usage and save money. Among the frequent suggestions: Improve insulation, and install timers to turn lights off automatically.

3. Go paperless Encourage e-mailing. When paper is necessary, photocopy on both sides and use old letterhead for scratch.

4. Consider the commute Provide preferred parking for carpoolers. Offer transit passes to employees who take the bus or subway and bike racks for cyclists. Let workers telecommute.

5. Curb business travel Teleconference instead of traveling. For must-go trips, keep track of the miles driven and flown and buy “carbon offsets” from a nonprofit like Carbonfund.org to make up for the greenhouse gas emissions.

6. Buy green Tell suppliers that you’re interested in sustainable products and set specific goals for buying recycled, refurbished, or used. Make the environment, and not just price, a factor when purchasing.

7. Detox Many offices have toxic substances, such as used batteries and copier toner, on hand. Talk to suppliers about alternatives to toxics, and make sure you properly dispose of the ones you can’t avoid using.

8. Rethink transportation Consider the petroleum it takes to ship and receive products. Evaluate the impact of products you buy or sell, and find ways to mitigate those impacts.

9. Get the employees involved Create a team to lead the company’s eco-efforts and determine where you can have the biggest impact for the least amount of money.

10. Communicate Inform suppliers and customers about your efforts. And get in touch with local regulatory agencies, many of which offer financial incentives to businesses that clean up their acts.