Known for its excellent fitness club programs and facilities, Equinox has been named the best in America by Fitness Magazine. For 14 years running, New York Magazine has awarded the club its highest honor as “Best of New York.”

Nationwide, Equinox (www.equinoxfitness.com) has more than 40 clubs dotting the landscape, and its upscale facilities are a familiar sight in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Miami and, now, Manhattan.

Environmental products and strategies such as FGS PermaShine, L&M Construction Chemicals’ patented dry concrete floor polishing process, have helped put the latest Equinox club in Manhattan, West Chelsea, on solid footing.

Green Specifications

The new club is housed at ground level within The Caledonia, a 26-story residential complex directly across the street from the fabled Chelsea Market and a quarter-mile from the Hudson River. When it came to putting down roots in Chelsea, Equinox knew just what it was after — a spacious, elegant, user-friendly facility that would draw raves from patrons and develop a well-deserved following through word-of-mouth.

And, it had to be green.

To that end, Equinox assembled a team, a lineup that included its senior director of construction, Khidir Abdalla; the architectural firm of Platt Byard Dovell White; the general contractor, Plaza Construction Corporation; and FGS installer, Matt Johnson and his team at Savaspace, the concrete flooring solutions company located in Westchester, N.Y.

Johnson and Savaspace were entrusted with the look and feel of the club and responsible for the placement, dying and installation on the 8,500 square feet of polished concrete floor that greets visitors when they walk through the door.

“It’s all part of making a good impression,” Johnson said. “I don’t think they left anything to chance. For the floors — for the entire project — they wanted a real Chelsea feel to it. They were looking for something with a sense of history. I think we got it just right.”

Equinox made its green intentions clear up front, setting out to design a project with sustainable features from top to bottom. Johnson was thinking along those same lines, as well, having recently established the Green Earth Floor Company, whose motto is “Changing the world, one floor at a time.”

To change the world at Equinox, Johnson went with FGS PermaShine, topped off by L&M’s Vivid Dye Concrete Coloring System.

“It’s tried, true and tested,” Johnson said of the system. “Equinox wanted to create an ambience to harmonize with their philosophy; they didn’t want to use anything hazardous. They, like Savaspace, are very environmentally conscious. So, PermaShine was perfect for the project. It worked out well; our clients are always pleased with how it turns out.”

And Equinox was no exception.

“We’ve gotten nothing but positive feedback,” said Equinox’s Abdalla. “We were very particular about what we were looking for in the floor finish and this fit the bill. It was just what we were looking for.”

Polishing, Coloring and Maintaining the Floor

The PermaShine system starts with a “dry” diamond grinding process of the floors, followed in turn by a high-performance vacuum system that all but eliminates airborne dust throughout both the grinding and polishing stages.

After grinding and polishing, the surface, while appearing shiny, has become quite porous. In order to protect the surface, the floor must be chemically hardened. L&M’s FGS Hardener Plus, an odorless and non-toxic solution, hardens and densifies the polished concrete. It chemically reacts with weaker concrete ingredients and forms a strong, durable crystalline formation that provides the concrete its added strength and long-term wear resistance.

Maintaining the floor over its lifetime is relatively simple when combining the FGS Hardener Plus with Joint Tite 750, L&M’s rapid-setting polyurea joint material, and FGS Concrete Conditioner. Joint Tite 750 prevents deterioration of unfilled joint edges, providing a clean and safe joint edge, while FGS Concrete Conditioner ensures a low-cost, easy-to-maintain floor surface. Routine maintenance is managed with FGS Concrete Conditioner, which delivers a leading-edge degreaser and cleaning agent while simultaneously reinforcing the floor’s strength with the additional protection of its proprietary chemical hardening agents.

Johnson and his Savaspace team came in on schedule at Equinox, grinding and polishing the main floor and a second, slightly higher elevation three feet above the first.

The floors were then colored with the L&M Vivid Concrete Dye, a post-hardening concrete coloration system that’s both practical and visually compelling. L&M currently offers 24 separate translucent colors in the vivid dye system with intensities ranging from 25 to 100 percent, which offers a myriad of color possibilities.

Vivid Concrete Dye is formulated to use a fast-drying, VOC-exempt solvent (acetone). The acetone present during the application of Vivid Dye products evaporates within minutes of spraying and does not contribute to urban smog conditions, the company reports. This formula complies with South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Rule #1168 and does not exceed the VOC content limits established in SCAQMD Rule #1113, Architectural Coatings.

Sustainable Results

Bill McGrath of New York’s Plaza Construction Corporation was the project director on Equinox overseeing the 18 weeks of construction for the general contractor. He’s understandably proud of the final result.

“The floor turned out beautifully,” McGrath said. “It has a nice overall look and feel to it, something we can all be proud of. It’s all part of the bigger, greener picture.”

Plaza Construction itself has long been an industry leader on the green front. From start to finish, Equinox was a model of sustainable design, built with an eye toward energy and water savings, and a healthy overall environment.

Equinox comes equipped with low-energy, high-output lights outfitted with smart panels and controls. The heat pumps, which help control the temperature, are hydrochlorofluorocarbon-free. Flow-reducing controls decrease water usage by 80 percent compared with similar facilities.

Air quality is addressed in a number of ways. Wood products are formaldehyde free, and all paints, sealants and chemicals emit no toxic fumes. Carbon monoxide detectors and filters also contribute to the overall health of the club.

One of Equinox’s most striking features is its “Living Wall” of green vegetation that converts carbon dioxide into oxygen and acts as a natural sound barrier.

Every little bit helps according to Equinox’s Abdalla.

“You can’t do things the old way,” Abdalla said. “This is the future. Everybody better get on board. This is how things are going to be done from now on. And, as they say, if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”