Planet Fitness, 52 locations
Retrofit Team
Energy-efficiency Services Company: Save Energy Systems, Westborough, Mass.
Materials
Maintaining a perfect climate in any fitness center is difficult. The combination of highly active occupants, electrical equipment, bright lighting and rooms of differing temperature requirements (workout versus stretching versus locker rooms, for example) pose unique challenges for a traditional HVAC approach.
For each Planet Fitness location, Save Energy Systems upgraded the HVAC control system to include its patented demand-limiting controller (DLC), an intelligent networked system that automatically manages HVAC energy consumption, including demand, kWh use and overall HVAC load during peak hours.
More than just a programmable thermostat or a monitoring system, the DLC system precisely controls the operation of all HVAC units at any location. It prevents all units from running simultaneously while independently managing each unit’s fan and compressor to maintain a comfortable temperature in each location’s different zones.
Save Energy Systems also networked each location into a central hub, providing an Internet of things (IoT) approach that enables facilities managers at the franchise headquarters to monitor each location and receive alerts when any HVAC unit is operating outside of a defined range.
DLC Developer: Save Energy Systems
The Retrofit
By installing its patented DlC to control the HVAC system in each location, Save Energy Systems reduced the energy bill of each planet Fitness location by an average of 18 percent, shaving $450,000 from the chain’s energy bill.
Alan Buell, who oversees construction at planet Fitness’ head office, appreciates the benefits of centralized control and diagnostics that the DLC system offers: “What I’m hearing from our locations around the country is that the internal climate is now consistently precise with little variation from the set point. this is good for our members and good for our bottom line.”
IMAGES: Save Energy Systems