Wheat Ridge, Colorado | Climate Action Plan Update
Climate action plan update
Lotus worked with the City of Wheat Ridge to update and formally adopt their Sustainability Action Plan. The community was the impetus for the first Plan, which was created in 2018. Lotus led the strategic analysis of the 2018 plan, which involved a comprehensive review of relevant City plans, as well as regional, state, and federal plans and initiatives. This review allowed the client to utilize existing collaborations and funding to force-multiply their sustainability efforts. Lotus also engaged City staff and key stakeholders to contextualize the 2024 plan update and identify critical opportunities, and guided community engagement to garner community input on sustainability priorities and strategies. Lotus sought to capture the grassroots, community-driven spirit of the plan and ground the plan update in the key implementation details that City staff would champion.
Birmingham, Alabama | Sustainability Action Plan
Sustainability Action Plan
Lotus, alongside Hummingbird, are partnering to produce a Sustainability Plan that will promote efforts to adopt best practices that address equity, social justice, environmental justice, air quality, soil contamination, water quality and efficiency, water quantity, energy and resource use, placemaking and equitable land use, and community health. The plan will be grounded in sustainability that balances the triple bottom line of economic, social and environmental aspects
The work involves three tasks: 1) an inventory of existing conditions (socio-economic and energy efficiency and resource management inventories); 2) the development of a sustainability action plan and; 3) the development of tools to monitor progress and evaluate results of implementing the action plan.
All this work will be supported by an in-depth engagement plan including facilitating a Steering and Implementation Team composed of internal City stakeholders and external community stakeholders and a significant level of public outreach including town hall–style meetings, focus groups, and a website set up for public comment.
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.
Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) | Climate Pollution Reduction Grant
Climate Pollution Reduction Grant
DRCOG was awarded a $1 million Climate Pollution Reduction Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency and hired Lotus as the sole contractor to fulfill the requirements of the grant including a Priority Climate Action Plan and Comprehensive Climate Action Plan. To date Lotus has led and facilitated multiple community and stakeholder engagements, facilitated an equity subcommittee, and completed 12 separate county-level GHG inventories for the region. The PCAP also included strategy GHG emissions reductions and cost modeling and an all-day implementation details workshop that brought together representatives from communities all across the 12 county region to plan out implementation details for the 8 PCAP strategies. Work is now underway for the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan, which will include strategies for all sectors of the GHG emissions inventory, as well as additional cost and GHG modeling and stakeholder and community engagement.
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.”
Larimer County | Climate Smart and Future Ready Implementation Plan
Climate Smart and Future Ready implementation plan
Lotus supported the development of the Larimer County Climate Smart and Future Ready implementation plan. This detailed roadmap will define how the County and its partners across the region will work towards climate mitigation and resiliency over the coming years. The implementation planning process includes collaborating with entities across Larimer County through topical working groups, completing a series of GHG inventories to ensure that decisions are backed by data, and conducting public outreach through a website, videos, and other channels. The final roadmap will be completed in Spring of 2024 and will serve as a jumping off point to make significant progress to reduce GHG emissions, improve resiliency, and enhance the quality of life across Larimer County.
View the Social Pinpoint Site HERE.
“The Lotus Engineering & Sustainability team has been one of the most professional, most responsive, most flexible, and most positive consulting firms I have worked with. Sustainability and climate related projects are some of the most controversial and problematic to work on. Lotus was able to combine their proactive approach, really listening to me, the client, and the community partners, with technical expertise to make our project successful.”
Mission, Kansas | Community-Wide and Municipal GHG Emissions Inventories; Climate Action Task Force Facilitation
Community-Wide and Municipal GHG Emissions Inventories; Climate Action Task Force Facilitation
Lotus worked with the City of Mission, Kansas to complete the City’s 2022 community-wide and municipal operations greenhouse gas emissions inventories. Additionally, Lotus was tasked with creating inventory management plans for each inventory for the City to use in updating the inventories in future years. Lotus summarized the results of both inventories in a final report and developed a Storymap to communicate the results of the inventories to the wider community. Rachel also presented the results to the City Council and helped facilitate a community meeting aimed at gathering input from community members about sustainability efforts in the City and greater Kansas City region.
Additionally, Mission contracted with Lotus to help assist the newly hired City Administrator with updates to the greenhouse gas emissions inventories as well as to facilitate the City’s Climate Action Plan Task Force. The Task Force is charged with helping City officials to prioritize and implement actions within the City’s climate action plan. Lotus facilitated 4 meetings with the Task Force and assisted the Task Force in developing a Prioritization Matrix for the City’s climate action strategies.
Deer Valley Resort | Climate Action Plan
Climate Action Plan
Lotus partnered with Deer Valley Resort to develop a climate action plan for their resort operations. The Deer Valley Climate Action Plan will help the resort address their operational carbon footprint, prioritize implementation strategies, and clearly communicate their climate action commitments to their visitors and staff. Lotus’s approach walked the client through the crafting of a set of prioritization metrics through which the resort can assess its next steps: from proactively addressing climate risks to tackling critical opportunities in their infrastructure to empowering staff to solve problems.
Lotus’s expertise in adapting climate plans to fit a specific culture, environment, and circumstance shines in this resort climate action plan. The scope of work includes workshops with the Senior Leadership Team, focus groups and informational interviews with staff, a site visit to meet with all resort departments, a business-as-usual emissions forecast, climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, and a designed climate action plan document.
City of Las Cruces | Climate Action Plan
Lotus completed the City of Las Cruces’ 2018 GHG inventory and supported the development of GHG strategies to reduce emissions to 80 percent of 2018 levels by 2050. This work included the development of both a community and municipal inventory, in-person and remote stakeholder facilitation for two workshops to select GHG reduction strategies with a focus on equity and resilience, high-level modeling of strategy impacts, and drafting the final plan.
The inventory and strategies will help the City to understand its carbon footprint, identify and implement ways to reduce its carbon footprint, gain community buy-in, and inform future policy and programs.
In 2024, Las Cruces contracted with Lotus to update the City’s business-as-usual GHG emissions model as well as to complete calendar year 2023 greenhouse emissions inventories for the community and local government operations.
“The Council was so impressed with Lotus’ work - the report, the strength of the data, and the equity-centered approach. I will be putting forward the 9 strategies, targets, and co-benefits to adopt as a resolution. The actions in the CAP will be used as a foundation for deeper dives so I can get even more community involvement”
Denver Public Schools | Climate Action Plan
climate action plan
Our work supporting Denver Public Schools and their students was recently highlighted by Vice President Kamala Harris as a model for others to follow.
Lotus worked with Denver Public Schools (DPS) to develop new goals and programs focused on GHG emissions reductions, renewable electricity, environmental justice and education, and resource management. The plan was be co-created with DPS stakeholders and included a strong focus on equity and accessibility as well as a fun, interactive, and engaging process. The new plan outlined a roadmap for achieving the goals laid forth in the recent DPS Climate Change Resolution. These goals included reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent of 2010 levels by 2050, prioritizing sustainability actions in schools and communities facing greater environmental injustice, and making sustainability a core value of DPS. Lotus also fully reworked the DPS website to drastically increase engagement with students, staff, and general public.
Lastly, Lotus created a program to help empower students to lead this effort to ensure that this work continues long after we are gone.
You can view the plan in Spanish here. Este plan es disponible en español AQUI.
“Lotus was pivotal in supporting us in the creation of a transparent, clear, and relatable climate action plan that will engage our greater community for years to come. Their ability to engage our stakeholders throughout the development was invaluable.”
“Vice President Kamala Harris says Denver students’ climate plan is a model for others to follow.”
Georgia Tech | Climate Action and Sustainability Projects
The Offices of Sustainability and Innovation at Georgia Tech contracted with Lotus to review, reorganize, and rewrite their existing sustainability action plan. Lotus synthesized the existing work to identify opportunities to increase clarity and streamline the narratives, goals, and strategies while ensuring the plan connects seamlessly with Georgia Tech’s overall guiding strategic plan. Through this review process, Lotus produced a revamped and designed plan that effectively communicates Georgia Tech’s sustainability goals and forthcoming work to internal and external stakeholders.
The Georgia Tech Sustainability Team also contracted Lotus to lead the creation of a Climate Action Plan. Lotus reviewed all materials to consolidate them into one plan that connects focus areas with the existing strategic plans through the narrative, as well as designing a plan that would work in conjunction with the Sustainability Next Plan. As part of this plan, Lotus developed a business-as-usual (BAU) forecast through 2050 to show projected emission changes that are relevant to the Georgia Tech campus and population. The BAU forecast was then used to model the impacts from a list of key GHG reduction strategies.
Lotus also completed a QA/QC of Georgia Tech’s greenhouse gas inventories going back to 2008. After this work was completed, Lotus created a new GHG inventory template for the FY2022 inventory that will be used in future years.
The Offices of Sustainability and Innovation at Georgia Tech also contracted with Lotus to create a Tableau dashboard that mimics the full functionality of the Impact Summary tab of the GHG modeling Excel tool developed for their Climate Action Plan. This dashboard includes the ability to turn strategies on and off and select key parameters for each strategy such as implementation dates and target values. Lotus created individual parameters for each strategy that allows users to adjust modeled emissions with full flexibility.
“The creation of this our university strategic sustainability plan was presented with many challenges including a wide variety of stakeholders, difficult timelines, and working within state institutional regulations. The team at Lotus stepped up to each challenge and worked with our needs to create a beautiful and engaging document. We are truly proud to be able to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability efforts by sharing our plan with the campus community and with the world.”
Routt County and City of Steamboat Springs | GHG Emissions Inventory and Climate Action Plan
GHG Emissions inventory and climate action plan
Lotus has been hired twice by Routt County (with the support of Steamboat Springs) to complete sustainability projects. In 2019, Lotus worked with Routt County and Steamboat Springs to complete a 2018 GHG emissions inventory that was GPC-compliant. Lotus performed all data collection and analysis, developed a City- and County-specific emissions reporting tool, backcasted (until 2005) and forecasted (until 2050) emissions, developed an inventory management tool, and wrote an inventory summary report. In 2020/2021,
Lotus led the development of Routt County’s Climate and Adaptation Action Plan which included leading an informed stakeholder engagement process considering equity, modeling the impact of emission reduction strategies, and developing an aspirational yet achievable Climate Action Plan for the County and each municipality located within the community. Lotus also helped design a public-facing website to assist with community engagement.
You can track the progress in implementing the plan HERE.
Summit County, CO | Climate Action Plan & Climate Equity Plan
The jurisdictions, municipalities, ski areas, and institutions in Summit County, convened by High Country Conservation Center (HC3), contracted with Lotus to create a Climate Action Plan for the community. Lotus guided and supported the entire development process, which included conducting Summit County’s first GHG emissions inventory. Lotus facilitated and led the stakeholder engagement process that informed the development of Summit County’s Climate Action Plan in collaboration with the High Country Conservation Center. Our team convened meetings of stakeholders and experts, provided education and background on climate change, and facilitated conversations to develop strategies that will reduce emissions and achieve the goals of the Climate Action Plan for this mountain community. The development process also included modeling the impacts of stakeholder-selected strategies to determine emissions reductions, energy use, and other benefits; forecasting a business-as-usual case scenario; and providing the community with a final Climate Action Plan that defines aspirational targets for climate mitigation and resiliency and establishes a path towards achieving these goals.
Lotus ultimately developed a Comprehensive GHG Inventory and an aspirational yet achievable Climate Action Plan for the County.
Since completing the County’s Climate Action Plan, the jurisdictions in Summit County embarked on implementation work. Lotus worked with the High Country Conservation Center to update the County’s GHG inventory with 2021 data and develop a Climate Equity Plan that specifically details projects and programs to enhance equity in the community through the implementation of climate action work. Lotus facilitated an equity steering committee that included representatives from local community-based organizations, local governments, and agencies serving disproportionately impacted communities in Summit County. The Steering Committee advised on the development of a tri-lingual public survey, listening sessions, and informational interviews to guide the development of climate equity strategies that will supplement the existing climate action work. During the implementation of this work, HC3 will continue to work with Steering Committee members through the strong relationships that were built in this process to ensure that climate equity strategies meet their intended goals in supporting benefits for all Summit County residents.
Below is a presentation on Summit County’s Climate Equity Plan from Mountain Towns 2030.
“Lotus’ expertise was instrumental in developing our community’s climate action goals and understanding what it will take to meet them. Their depth of knowledge and nimble facilitation skills were a tremendous asset to our planning process.”
Town of Mountain Village | GHG Emissions Inventory and Climate Action Plan
Lotus worked with the Town of Mountain Village to complete a 2019 greenhouse gas emissions inventory and the Town’s first-ever Climate Action Plan! This effort was necessary in order to understand the specific emissions sources and impacts that the Town could influence, as well as modeling the status-quo emission projections over the coming years. The resulting Climate Action Plan (CAP) for Mountain Village presents the framework for achieving significant emissions reductions in the community between 2020 and 2050. Lotus then developed Mountain Village’s 2020 community GHG inventory and 2020 municipal GHG inventory. Additionally, Lotus modeled the impact of various current and proposed incentive programs on GHG emissions through 2030.
2020 Community GHG inventory Results Summary, Community and Municipal GHG Emissions Inventory Results Memos.