May 2024
Welcome to our new team members!
Lotus Engineering & Sustainability
SBA WOSB CERTIFICATION
Lotus is proud to announce national certification as a participant of the The Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program, which helps even the playing field for women-owned businesses. This certification allows Lotus to be eligible to compete for federal contracts set aside for the WOSB Program.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
Town of erie, colorado
Lotus’ Climate Mitigation, Resiliency, and Planning team developed a Sustainable Purchasing Best Management Practice Guide (SPBMP) and an Electric Vehicle (EV) Procurement Policy (EVPP) for the Town of Erie to help them achieve their sustainability goals. The SPBMP will ensure that all products purchased will meet high standards of sustainability, social well-being, and economic vitality. The EVPP will allow Erie to implement an EV-First Policy for their fleet procurement, which will help Erie electrify its fleet over the next 10 to 25 years.
fort collins, COlorado
The Lotus Communications and Engagement team is supporting the City of Fort Collins’s municipal utility in updating their Water Efficiency Plan. This plan will outline goals and strategies for the utility to improve efficiency in the community and in the City’s operations. Lotus, in partnership with Greenprint Partners, is facilitating staff and public engagement as well as developing an equity assessment for the plan’s strategies.
Denver office of CASR
The Lotus Data team is supporting Denver’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency (CASR) with greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction strategy modeling to analyze the impact of the Climate Protection Fund. Lotus has calculated the GHG emission impact and marginal carbon abatement cost of sixteen programs across CASR. The results from this project will help ensure consistency in calculating GHG impact across all programs, as well as inform decisions about what programs to scale up and what to scale back to equitably achieve Denver’s zero emissions goal by 2040.
WE HELP OUR CLIENTS PUBLICALLY DISCLOSE AND REPORT CLIMATE AND SUSTAINABILITY ACTIONS.
Many of our clients report on an annual basis to standard reporting platforms such as CDP. We’ve helped clients achieve CDP’s A-List status by preparing their greenhouse gas emissions inventories and assisting with their questionnaire. If you are considering reporting or looking to move your ranking up, send an email to hello@lotussustainability.com.
Equity Resources
Lotus Equity presentations occur monthly to expand our learning and growth. Below are resources we are Excited to share.
Energy Insecurity and Energy Justice in the Southeast
This issue exacerbates social and economic disparities and underscores the need for targeted initiatives to address energy affordability in the region.
White Supremacy Culture
White supremacy culture refers to a set of cultural/societal norms that negatively impact all members of society, no matter one’s racial identity. These norms are dominant in cultural institutions such as schools, universities, work environments, government systems, and within our social lives.
Tourism in Indonesia
Tourism boosts economies, employment, and development, but can tourism become harmful? We explored the background of Indonesia’s tourism and learned how overdevelopment in Bali is threatening the island’s environment, economy, religion, and culture.
Storymap - Over-Exposure to Tourism in Bali, Indonesia
Equity in Planning
Learning about the past helps us to understand how historical inequities impact communities today. We learned about how neighborhood construction impacts racist housing policies, urban renewal, zoning connections to pollution, homelessness, and segregation.
Storymap - Equity in Denver: How History Impacts Equity Today
Welcome to the Team!
Breann Boyle
Breann joins Lotus as a Senior Associate.
Breann grew up in the Northeast with a love for adventure and the outdoors. College internships in Alaska and on a remote island off the coast of Maine solidified her passion for environmental and sustainability work. She received a B.S. and Master of Engineering degree in Bio-Environmental Engineering from Cornell University.
Prior to joining Lotus, Breann worked in local government on stormwater management, green infrastructure, climate action planning, and energy codes in the San Francisco Bay Area, pursuing her dream of serving her community and helping make it a healthier place to live. She recently relocated to Colorado to be closer to friends, family, and the mountains. Breann is excited to apply her intimate knowledge of the challenges and opportunities that local governments face to her work with clients to help them achieve their climate goals.
kara colovich
Kara joins Lotus as a Research Associate.
Kara resides in Lander, Wyoming at the crossroads of rugged mountains, and high mountain deserts. This ecologically and culturally diverse place helped form her identity growing up, and continues to inspire her sense of exploration. Being from a rural and remote area, Kara is an advocate for elevating the needs of these communities as they search for their own path toward sustainability. The first step on this path is learning a community’s energy use and operational systems impact cost, community wellbeing, and GHG emissions. Kara has helped organizations in the nonprofit and municipal sectors quantify these impacts, research funding opportunities, and evaluate cost implications as they set their sights on implementation.
brendan mccarthy
Brendan joins Lotus as the Business Support Specialist.
Brendan grew up in Pittsburgh - a city with a rich history, many bridges, and lots of rain. Looking for sunshine, an outdoor lifestyle, and sustainability, Brendan ventured to Colorado to attend college with focuses on Strategic Communication, Marketing, and Psychology. Brendan’s background in marketing and communications led him to work for a creative advertising agency, Denver nonprofit, and a university in southern Hungary. Brendan’s passion for sustainability blossomed in college where he was part of an environmental sustainability community. The program exposed him to climate-related issues, environmental science, and sustainability initiatives. Brendan is passionate about implementing sustainable practices wherever life takes him.