Fraternity brothers spot each other lifting weights. Sorority girls wait for Zumba class to start. Sweaty college students run on the treadmills.

Yet how many of these people think about  how much energy the Aztec Recreation Center uses to maintain the facility for them?

Lights in the weight room allow the fraternity boys to see. Air conditioning in the multipurpose room keeps the girls cool. Televisions in the cardio room entertain members while they workout. These seemingly little energy uses began to add up and caused massive energy expenditure for the ARC.

The 26,000 square foot building is filled with a variety of energy sucking technologies. The entrance into the facility has six TVs, a Nintendo Wii and X-Box, six computers, two vending machines, and a Samsung mobile charging station.

Further down into the ARC, the cardio room has nine TVs that gym goers can view while they use one of the 36 treadmills, 25 elliptical trainers or nine Stairmaster machines. Moving into the women’s locker room and bathroom, there are 15 electric outlets and 13 hair dryers. While these are the typical energy-users by gym members, there is still energy use by the employees.

The ARC houses several offices for employees. Office equipment that the ARC uses includes printers, copiers and additional computers. According to the US Department of Energy, even if these appliances are turned “off” they still draw a small amount of energy. In addition, there is always energy being used by everyone like lighting and air conditioning. This combined energy usage added up to a $125,000 annual electric bill, said Ronald Pascual Building Service Coordinator at the ARC.

Green Love, a division of Associated Students, implemented the solar power panel project for the ARC to reduce the costs associated with high-energy usage. Green Love installed solar panels for the new student center building and received a rebate, explained Pascual. With that rebate they were able to hire Sullivan Solar Power to install the panels, worth $1.2 million. In April of 2012, after six months, the project was complete.

Since then, the ARC has greatly benefited from the solar panels. The ARC’s electricity bill was cut in half, said Pascual, and they receive $10,000-$12,000 in credits from SDG&E a month. Credit is earned when the panels provide more energy than the building needs, said Linda Halabi Associate Program Manager for California Solar Initiative, SDG&E uses that energy and credits the ARC back when they pull electricity from the company’s grid.

Another benefit of the solar panels is that they create clean energy by not relying on fossil fuels, which emit Greenhouse gases. The solar panels’ data acquisition system, by Fat Spaniel Technologies, measures how much energy the solar panels produce and the amount of Greenhouse gases avoided. Since April, the solar panels have generated 247,997 kWh of clean energy, which is the same amount of energy to operate a TV for 1,1723,579 hours. By relying on this clean energy, they have avoided over 400,000 lb. of Greenhouse gas emissions.

Inspired by the solar panels, the ARC has taken on other “green” projects. In efforts to further reduce energy, the ARC installed energy-efficient appliances like hair and hand dryers, cut air conditioning use by installing large ceiling fans and white roof, and switched from incandescent lighting to fluorescent.

“Overall they (ARC) reduce the amount of energy they need with energy efficient products, so they pay less to the utility and the solar that they have on their roof goes a longer way if they don’t have as huge of an energy requirement,” explained Halabi. The newest “green” project at the ARC is incorporating energy-free treadmills into the cardio room.

“They almost have a hamster-wheel effect in that once you start running they’ll continue to move, so you don’t have to use energy,” explained Jessica O’Leary Building Service Assistant at the ARC.

Of course, the ARC can further improve on its energy use.  O’ Leary suggests turning off TVs during slow hours, keeping the Wii and X-Box shut off until someone plays them, and educating members on energy conservation.

Overall, the ARC has made huge strides toward going “green” by reducing their energy use. The biggest stride, which inspired even more changes, was the installation of solar panels. These panels benefit the ARC by saving it thousands of dollars. Yet, those directly impacted by the solar panels seem to be happiest about taking care of the environment by reducing Greenhouse gases and creating clean energy.

“Were saving mother nature,” said Pascual.