Pitkin County, CO | GHG Inventories and Regional Summaries
County and Municipal-level Community-Wide GHG Inventories and Regional Summaries
Lotus developed 2019 and 2020 community GHG emissions inventories for Pitkin County, the City of Aspen, Snowmass Village, the Town of Basalt, and Unincorporated Pitkin County. In 2024, Lotus worked with Pitkin County again to update the County-wide greenhouse gas inventory as well as the Aspen municipal inventory. Lotus worked with CLEER to write summary reports with findings from the updated inventory. Lotus also completed a 2024 municipal GHG emissions inventory for Pitkin County, following the Local Government Operations Protocol. Lotus managed the data collection and workbook creation for the inventory. An inventory management plan detailing methodology was also created for the client. Lotus and Pitkin County are collaborating with ICLEI to pilot ICLEI’s ClearPath 2.0 software to help train the County on the software and to provide process and technical improvement feedback to ICLEI.
City and County of Denver | Refrigerants Impact Study
Refrigerants Impact Study
Lotus conducted detailed policy and emissions impacts analyses to better understand the impacts of increased refrigerant use in residential settings as a result of replacing fossil-based heating and the replacement of existing cooling systems or installation of new cooling systems. Lotus worked with the CASR team to identify potential scenarios of changing fossil fuel and heat pump technology for both existing and future residential buildings. Deliverables included a final model that could be adjusted to account for future changes, documentation of methods and assumptions, and a final report. The project was completed on-time and within budget.
Town of Vail | Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Greenhouse gas inventory
Lotus worked with the Town of Vail to complete a 2023 greenhouse gas inventory for the community, as well as reconcile and update previous inventories to demonstrate progress on emission reductions. The 2023 inventory work was complemented by the development of a business-as-usual forecast of emissions. Using those combined data products, Lotus engaged Town staff to develop policies and strategies to model and estimate future emission reductions. Finally, Lotus provided support for Town staff to develop and update presentations and briefings for the Town Manager and Town Council.
JSI | Sustainability Plan
JSI | Sustainability Plan
Lotus partnered with JSI for a phased scope of work to support climate action initiatives for their eight offices in the United States. This internal Climate Action Program, will help JSI identify their carbon footprint, solidify their commitment to climate action, and clearly communicate their commitments to its funders (specifically government funding). It will also assist the client in proactively addressing risks (i.e., future regulations), ramping up a robust climate action strategy that was delayed by COVID, retain existing talent, and recruit new talent.
Lotus’s work will ultimately move JSI towards greater climate action in its United States operations over the coming years. Lotus recognizes that JSI has not developed or implemented an official sustainability program to date, but there is significant interest among the company in climate action. The scope of work includes focus groups with JSI administration, interviews with funders and partners, greenhouse gas inventory replete with an Inventory Management Plan, climate mitigation strategies, and implementation plan.
Boulder, Colorado | Open Space & Mountain Parks Department
Greenhouse gas inventories
Lotus worked with the OSMP department to create department-specific greenhouse gas emissions inventories, a business-as-usual GHG model, and a GHG reduction strategy model for 10 top strategies. In addition to the data work, Lotus also created a dashboard and storymap in ArcGIS online to communicate the results of the data work and to highlight the sustainability work that the department is undertaking. A final report was also written to provide more detail on results of the data work and to expand on the top GHG reduction strategies that were recommended to the department.
Trailhead Materials Embodied Carbon and Visitor Behavior Analysis
Lotus worked with the OSMP department to complete a two-phase analysis. The first phase analyzed the embodied carbon of frequently used materials at the department’s trailheads. Lotus also developed a matrix with metrics such as durability, resilience to fires and floods, and other qualities to help the department make well-informed decisions on material choices when doing maintenance and construction at trailheads. The second phase analyzed strategies that are available to help reduce the emissions associated with visitor travel and waste production. A matrix was developed that rates strategies on metrics including cost, greenhouse gas impact, success of implementation, etc. One strategy that OSMP implemented was to install cameras at high traffic trailheads in order to reduce the high amount of vehicular transportation emissions during trailhead commuting and prevent trail deterioration. Trailhead cameras allow the public to view parking space availability at trailheads ahead of time and plan accordingly.
The trailhead cameras are publicly available here.
“Lotus’ work was essential in creating an approach for Climate Ready Trailheads. Their work has helped us to reconsider how we design trailheads, how we get visitors to the trailhead, and how we maintain our trailheads and access points.”
Clifton Sanitation District | Climate Action Plan
Clifton Sanitation district, CO
Clifton Sanitation District (CSD) contracted with Lotus Engineering and Sustainability, LLC (Lotus) to create its first greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory and Climate Action Plan. Lotus created the GHG inventory utilizing custom inventory analysis spreadsheet tools that are compliant with the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC) and the Local Government Operations (LGO) Protocol. Once the team reviewed, analyzed, and leveraged the available data, Lotus conducted a quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) on collected data to ensure that it aligned with best practices and industry knowledge.
CSD’s goal with this project was to complete a baseline GHG emission inventory to:
● Understand its climate action potential;
● Measure progress on sustainability investments and initiatives;
● Create an internal climate action report for board members and operational staff to use as a guide for implementation;
● Demonstrate which areas of CSD’s emissions have the most impact on the climate, and;
● Identify strategies to reduce these emissions.
The inventory results were then used to set targets for emissions reduction and mitigation strategies to meet the goal of a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030, mainly centered around energy efficiency.
This report integrates the GHG inventory data with emissions and reduction pathways. It includes identified GHG reduction goals that are science-based and time-bound along with a prioritized list of strategies that Clifton Sanitation District can take immediately.
Missoula | GHG Inventories
Missoula, Montana
Lotus built off of the great work from previous greenhouse gas inventories at the City of Missoula to conduct a municipal and a community-wide greenhouse gas inventory for the year 2023. Along with these inventories, Lotus created an inventory management plan (IMP) documenting all data sources and methods used in the inventory. The IMP also included instructions for updating inventories enabling Missoula to develop their own inventories in the future.
Winter Park, Colorado | GHG Inventories and Climate Action Planning
Town of Winter Park, Colorado
Lotus worked with the Town of Winter Park to complete the first ever greenhouse gas emissions inventories for the town government and the community. In addition to creating these inventories, Lotus developed a business-as-usual emissions model and is modeling several emissions reductions strategies to aid in the Town’s development of its first Climate Action Plan. Due to the small size of the Town, many innovative methods were used to collect and manipulate data to make it relevant to the Town, such as working closely with Winter Park Resort and utilizing Streetlight vehicle miles traveled data.
Lotus also worked with the Town to complete its first ever Climate Action Plan. This will involve the development of a climate risk and vulnerability assessment, additional GHG emissions reduction strategy modeling, cost modeling, and strategy prioritization. Prioritization of the strategies will take into account factors such as cost to implement, GHG emissions impact, funding sources/availability, and equity impacts.
Aspen, Colorado | C&D Waste Audit
Aspen, Colorado | Construction & Demolition Waste Audit
Construction and Demolition (C&D) debris management can be a considerable challenge for communities with limited landfill space and/or concerns about methane production in their landfill. Much of C&D debris is often bulky, heavy, and most importantly can be diverted from the landfill to be recycled or repurposed. The city of Aspen has taken this challenge head-on.
In January 2022, the Aspen City Council set a Science Based Target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 63% by 2030 and net zero by 2050. They also set waste reduction targets to reduce organic material going to landfill by 25% by 2025 and 100% by 2050, and a reduction of all waste going to the landfill by 70% by 2050. While a typical landfill fee approach is to weigh the items going into a landfill, Aspen wanted to better calculate fees based on the environmental impact of C&D materials that should be diverted, but arrive at the landfill unsorted. Using a dataset of Embodied Carbon for materials and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Social Cost of Carbon, Lotus quantified the present cost of future environmental damage from the material’s life cycle of extraction, production, transportation, and ultimately disposal. Aspen is currently in the process of applying this metric to C&D debris that originates within the City of Aspen.
Edmond, Oklahoma | Resiliency Plan
City of Edmond Resiliency Plan
Lotus worked with the City of Edmond to create the city’s first Resilience Action Plan. The plan centers city-level action around improving on current initiatives and incorporating new strategies that the city can implement to improve resiliency over the next five years. Informational interviews and dozens of focus groups helped inform existing conditions, resources, and programming in Edmond, as well as the desired future conditions for the city. All strategies were vetted and prioritized by Edmond staff. The final plan is a public-facing dashboard that will be regularly and easily updated via a google sheet that tracks KPIs. These metrics will ensure that Edmond knows it is on the right track to meet its goals.
Urban Villages and APARIUM Hotel Group | Populus Hotel GHG Emissions Dashboard
Populus Hotel GHG Emissions Dashboard
Lotus worked with Urban Villages and the APARIUM Hotel Group to create a public greenhouse gas emissions tracking dashboard in Microsoft PowerBI for the Populus Hotel. The dashboard tracks real and predicted greenhouse gas emissions and offset activities from the construction and operations of the hotel over time. The dashboard includes functionality that allows for easy data updates, transparency for specific operations (waste diversion, water, energy, etc.), and tracks whether Populus has achieved their carbon positive goal. Lotus also developed back-end calculations for the quantification of greenhouse gas emissions and documenting methods and assumptions for all calculations in a user guide.
preview of the Populus Hotel GHG Emissions Dashboard
Cheyenne, Wyoming | Comprehensive Climate Action Plan
City of Cheyenne Comprehensive Climate Action Plan
Lotus is currently working with the City of Cheyenne to fulfill the requirements of their awarded Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Lotus’ role is to complete the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) including a community and local government greenhouse gas inventory, business-as-usual forecast, emission projections, and strategy prioritization and modeling. Lotus will also conduct community engagement, develop partnerships with surrounding communities, and more.
To date, Lotus has led and facilitated multiple community and partner engagements and is developing a “sustained engagement” plan for the City of Cheyenne to utilize once the grant funds are expended. Lotus has also connected with community interests around clean water and resource conservation, aligning with the requirements of the grant to maintain community connections and buy-in to the planning process.
Blaine County, Idaho | County-Wide GHG Inventory
County-Wide GHG Inventory
Lotus worked with Blaine County, Idaho to complete a 2023 county-wide greenhouse gas emissions inventory. The inventory includes breakout tabs for the following communities: Hailey, Ketchum, Sun Valley, and Bellevue. The project updated previous inventories for the multiple communities and aligned methods and data sources across each community. The workbook also included a tab with activity and emissions data to be imported into ArcGIS Online allowing for easy creation of an interactive online dashboard to show the results of the inventory.
City and County of Denver | 80 x 50 Climate Action Plan & Annual GHG Inventory
80 x 50 Climate Action Plan & Annual GHG Inventory
The City and County of Denver’s 80x50 Climate Goal: Stakeholder Report establishes a path to reduce community-wide GHG emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050. Lotus led the development of Denver’s 80x50 Plan by conducting a review of processes and plans already established by the City; conducting a needs assessment; working with a diverse network of over 80 stakeholders and community experts in the fields of energy and transportation to identify the most relevant and impactful strategies for Denver to pursue; modeling the impacts of stakeholder-identified emissions reduction strategies; and drafting a CAP that will support the City in achieving its goals. Additionally, Lotus completed Denver’s community GHG inventories for calendar years 2018-2022.
City and County of Denver | Renewable Heating and Cooling Plan (Building Electrification)
Renewable Heating and Cooling Plan (Building Electrification)
Lotus led the development of the City and County of Denver’s Renewable Heating and Cooling Plan, a roadmap for beneficial electrification in existing buildings. As part of this process, Lotus convened stakeholders from across the metro area and the State to understand the impacts of electrification on the workforce, disproportionately impacted communities, building owners of all sizes, homeowners, equipment manufacturers, and other stakeholders.
Lotus managed a variety of engagement activities ranging from surveys and one-on-one interviews, to large focus groups and workshops. In addition to the public input that helped to shape the plan, Lotus worked with subcontractors to complete a building stock and technology transition analysis and a grid and cost impact analysis. The final plan includes not only details on the technical components of electrification, but also the various levers (i.e., policy, financial, incentive, programmatic, and communications) that can be triggered to support full electrification of Denver’s applicable building stock over the coming decades.
Lotus has been lucky enough to consistently work with the City and County of Denver since 2016. Other work Lotus has completed for the City and County of Denver includes:
-Completed GPC-compliant GHG emissions inventories every year since 2017, CDP Reporting, and developed Denver’s first municipal operations inventory (2020).
-Completed a life-cycle GHG analysis for waste.
-Completed an embodied carbon analysis for buildings. (see below)
Lotus developed the maps below to use data to inform Denver’s Electrification plan. The maps showed inequities and helped identify vulnerable populations.
“Lotus partnered with Denver to create our Renewable Heating and Cooling Plan. The plan was practical and achievable yet pushed the boundary of what is possible. They excelled at project management, keeping the project partners on task. They led fun, engaging discussions with a variety of stakeholders whose insight helped shape the plan. Once all the quantitative and qualitative data was collected and analyzed, they synthesized the findings into a plan that could be understood by the public, and not just limited to those with an electrification background. We are thrilled with their work and would recommend them for future projects!”
“Lotus has been an exceptional partner in the development of a key technical roadmap that will lead to strong policy implementation. They are helping us address all the challenges and opportunities regarding building electrification in existing buildings.”
Adams 12 Five Star Schools | GHG Inventory And Related Work
GHG Inventory And Related Work
Lotus developed the first GHG emissions inventory for Adams 12 Five Star Schools for activities in 2017, which included a measurement of emissions generated from energy use, fleet activities, industrial product use (i.e., refrigerants), waste, wastewater treatment, and consumption-based sources (i.e., paper, food, and fertilizer). Lotus developed the tool to align with the Sustainability Indicator Management and Analysis Platform (SIMAP) so that the district could compare its emissions with other school districts using SIMAP. Along with the GHG inventory, Lotus provided a summary report and an Inventory Management Plan (IMP) so that Adams 12 staff could complete this work in-house in future years. Following the completion of the GHG inventory, Lotus assisted Adams 12 in auditing the district's 2018 inventory (completed in-house with the guidance set forth in the IMP) and also created a modeling tool to measure the impact of the district's sustainability goals on GHG emissions.
Albuquerque | Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Data Consultant
Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Data Consultant
Lotus is working with the City of Albuquerque, New Mexico to complete several data-related projects to support the City’s Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) as a part of Albuquerque’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG). Data related work for this CCAP includes the creation of a four county-wide community greenhouse gas and co-pollutant emissions inventory, a business as usual model, and greenhouse gas emissions reductions forecasting for all measures included in the City’s CCAP. Lotus will also support Albuquerque in developing several other deliverables necessary for the CCAP, including a workforce analysis and a cost analysis for the measures included in the CCAP.
Lafayette, Colorado | GHG Inventory
2019 GHG Inventory and infographic
Lotus developed Lafayette’s 2019 community GHG inventory, wrote a final report, and created an infographic to communicate the results of the inventory and highlight progress toward the City’s climate goals. Lotus also created an Inventory Management Plan (IMP) to document all data sources and methodology used in the inventory.
YMCA of the Rockies | Sustainability Action Plan And Cost-Analysis
Sustainability Action Plan And Cost-Analysis
Lotus worked with YMCA of the Rockies to support the development of a Sustainability Action Plan that addressed the sustainability objectives of the YMCA of the Rockies strategic plan. The project actively engaged YMCA of the Rockies staff to foster a culture of sustainability within the organization and facilitate the implementation of effective climate action strategies. To support this work, Lotus conducted a comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions inventory of both campus locations, as well as emissions modeling of sustainability strategies to gain insights into YMCA of the Rockies' environmental footprint and which strategies would be most impactful. Furthermore, Lotus developed a cost evaluation of carbon emission reduction strategies for the YMCA of the Rockies. The strategies evaluated for implementation costs were also those that were modeled by the Lotus team for their anticipated carbon reduction impact. To ensure holistic implementation of the Sustainability Action Plan, Lotus worked with guest-facing staff to develop a Best Practice Guide and Lesson Plan for guest engagement in sustainability initiatives.
Finally, Lotus worked strategically with YMCA staff to bring forward a GHG reduction goal to the YMCA Board of Directors and Senior Leadership to ensure the plan and associated goal were aligned with the mission and values of YMCA of the Rockies and that the Board understood the responsibilities associated with setting a GHG target for the organization.
“Over the past year, YMCA of the Rockies has had the pleasure of working with Lotus on the creation of our comprehensive sustainability action plan. Through this process, Lotus has helped us to create a plan that aligns with our needs as a mission-based organization. Their thoughtful approach to creating a plan that encompasses all aspects of our needs has ensured that we are setting goals we feel confident in. From understanding our unique needs as a non-profit, to facilitating meaningful conversations with stakeholders of varying climate expertise, Lotus has successfully navigated through the process of developing a plan molded specifically to who we are as an organization. We are glad we chose to work with Lotus on such an important aspect of our mission.”
Dubuque, Iowa | GHG Inventory and BAU Project
GHG Inventory and BAU Project
Lotus worked with the City of Dubuque to estimate the city’s 2022 community-wide greenhouse gas emissions. The city was looking for a consultant to verify their inventory and methodology as it had been done previously by student volunteers at the University of Northern Iowa. Lotus compared previous inventories to the standard GPC protocol and was able to suggest new emissions sources that can be included in the inventory and also wrote an inventory management plan so city staff can update the inventory workbook in the future. Lotus also updated the City’s business-as-usual model with the latest emissions and projections. The project was capped off with a presentation to the Dubuque City Council and a final report.
