Your members workout in it. They smell it. They even breathe it. Yet, many club owners and managers don’t deal with it. The “it” is the air inside your club, and that air has more contact and interaction with your members than your trainers and your equipment combined. If your club feels too hot, has the dreaded “gym smell,” or it just feels stagnant, the quality of the air in your club is lower than it should be. As a result, your revenues are probably showing a similar downward trend. Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) has more of an impact on member satisfaction and retention than you may realize.
Of the 15 million members that join health clubs, 12 million will eventually leave – never to return – according to the International Health Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA). Of those lost members, the number one reason they cited for leaving was: They didn’t feel like the club they joined lived up to their expectations. Poor IAQ means the premium which members pay to workout in a pleasant and healthy environment is not yielding a result.
Leading fitness business experts agree. In IHRSA’s 2006 global report on North America, Michael Levy, the chairman of the IHRSA board of directors, said, “The biggest reason people leave clubs is that they are not treated as they are promised. The sales process starts after the sale is made. It does not end with the signing up of a new member. Unless expectations are exceeded, why would anyone stay?”
Live up to the promise of a positive fitness environment by taking control of your IAQ.
About IAQ?
Now that you know poor IAQ can be a serious problem for your bottom line, you will need to know what causes it, and the physical effects it can have on your club environment. IAQ deals with the health and comfort of air inside buildings. It can be affected by contaminants like mold and bacteria and by temperature and relative humidity.
Ventilation and air exchange (trading indoor air for outdoor air on a regular basis) keeps IAQ high. Both should be incorporated into your club design and HVAC system. When there is proper ventilation and air exchange, the condensation – that encourages mold growth; causes that “gym smell,” and makes equipment deteriorate more quickly is – alleviated.
The problems can extend beyond the life of your equipment. Serious health problems, such as asthma, allergies and other respiratory illnesses, can be exacerbated by poor IAQ. Health clubs are supposed to be places to get and feel healthy, not to feel worse.
IAQ Solutions
Fans are one easy way to encourage proper ventilation. Today, health club owners and managers have the advanced technology of High-Volume / Low-Speed (HVLS) fans. Giant, six- to 24- foot-diameter, industrial-grade ceiling fans provide widespread airflow that can cover your entire facility, blowing away the spot coverage of smaller conventional fans. The gentle breeze produced by HVLS fans encourages the body’s natural evaporative cooling system – sweat evaporates off the skin – making people feel 11 to 17 degrees cooler.
The ventilation provided by HVLS fans fights condensation. Without condensation, mold cannot grow and relative humidity feels like less of a performance hindrance. Allergy and respiratory problems are also avoided.
Return on Investment
The benefits are obvious, but the return on investment is two-fold: Member satisfaction and retention rises when your facility has a high IAQ, and you can experience significant energy savings when using HVLS fans to improve IAQ in conjunction with your existing HVAC system.
Improving member retention rates, even to a very small degree, can have a very big impact on your bottom line. For example, a club with 1,000 memberships, annual revenue per membership of $800, and a net income of $100,000, can improve their membership by just 1% (10 members) and yield a net income increase of up to 8% or $8,000 dollars.
While HVLS fans may be large, they are surprisingly lightweight and require only tiny one- to two-horsepower motors to operate. The small motors use very little energy to run, resulting in penniesper- day operating costs. The real energy-saving potential comes when using the HVLS fans with HVAC systems. Air conditioning thermostat set points can be higher with no loss of comfort to members. For every degree a thermostat is raised, health clubs stand to save 5% on their energy bills. On average, using HVLS fans can allow clubs to raise their thermostats in the warmer months by three to five degrees, resulting in energy savings of 25% or more.
Higher IAQ results in higher revenues for club owners, and it delivers on the promises clubs make to their members. Take a walk through your club at peak-use times and see how your IAQ measures up. Using HVLS fans are the easiest way to boost your IAQ and your bottom line.
Heather Henley is the Public Relations Specialist with the Big Ass Fans Company. She can be contacted at 877.BIG.FANS, or by email at heather@bigassfans.com, or visit www.bigassfans.com.
