Green Living Consulting speaks with Athletic Business magazine
Green Living Consulting was recently interviewed by Athletic Business magazine regarding the green movement in health clubs. As Andrew Cohen, author of the article “Eco Logical”, points out that health clubs, and many business in general, started focusing on green practices and the marketing of their green efforts a few years ago. “Then came the global economic meltdown, and going green immediately took a backseat to staying in the black.” The article mentions our work with two of DC’s health clubs – VIDA Fitness at the Verizon Center and CycleLife USA in Georgetown.
One thing we’d like to emphasize that was not clear in the article is that we do support LEED (which is a little misleading from the author’s statement that green consultants sometimes dismiss LEED because of its cost). Where we see a bridge in our services and rating system with what LEED provides is the tranistion from construction and design to the everyday operations. We look at some of the interior design and infrastructure to assess at what point a committment was made to integrate “green” – whether in building design, furniture, wall and flooring selection, etc, to practices and products used to support the services once open for business. For example, in a health club, we like to see a committment to good air quality considering that people are coming to a club to get in shape and improve health. If a club member is inhaling VOCs (volatile organic compounds often found in paints, carpeting and other synthetic materials) while exercising, they could be increasing their risk of cancer or other illnesses as those toxins are exposed to their body. There are a number of ways to improve air quality post-construction and design, including ensuring adequate ventilation, adding air purifying plants, and using non-toxic cleaning products on all surfaces and machines.
There’s much more to the green side than good air quality, and so we target a number of areas that create a overall sustainable operation. For health clubs, integrating green practices is a way to cut operating costs as well as create a healthy environment good for people and the planet.
be well. live green.
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green living at home, at work, and on-the-go 