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
Boulder Housing Partners Behavioral Change Program
In concert with two other consulting firms, Lotus helped Boulder Housing Partners reach their goal of becoming the nation's first net-zero energy housing authority through an innovative occupant engagement program. The project involved outreach and education to BHP residents regarding energy consumption and energy efficiency and included in-depth work on behavioral change models that can be effective to reduce energy use.
“Hillary and Emily were amazing to work with. They jumped into a project that had been delayed several times due to a number of obstacles. They were able to resurrect the project and get it done on time and under budget. They were thoughtful, efficient and helpful on all phases of our project. I would highly recommend their services for any sustainability project.”
City and County of Denver | Energize Denver Equity Priority Buildings Facilitation Services
Energize Denver Equity Priority Buildings Facilitation Services
Lotus worked with the Energize Denver at the City and County of Denver to engage equity priority building owners. The purpose of engagement efforts was to inform building owners about forthcoming regulations and requirements for small buildings through the Energize Denver program and gather insight into specific tools, resources, and other supports Denver may be able to offer to support building owners in meeting the requirements. Lotus conducted a detailed analysis of stakeholders and built relationships with local community-based organizations and cultural brokers to plan engagement activities and share these opportunities with the intended audiences.
Lotus facilitated a number of engagements, including in-person focus groups, virtual focus groups, informational interviews, and listening sessions. All engagements were planned with a focus on equity, including providing participant stipends, food, and childcare while ensuring all materials and presentations were translated and interpreted into languages most appropriate for the audiences. Lotus developed a final report summarizing engagements and providing recommendations and guidance to Denver on opportunities to improve services and resources for equity priority building owners to better compel compliance with Energize Denver requirements. Denver is currently implementing many of the recommendations in A final report.
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.
Lafayette, Colorado | Sustainability Report
2021 Sustainability Report
Lotus wrote Lafayette’s 2021 Sustainability Report, communicating the progress Lafayette has made on the goals laid out in the City’s 2021 Sustainability Plan. This work included informational interviews with several Lafayette community members involved in sustainability work. Additionally data to track the progress toward each goal were collected, organized, and analyzed. The final report was designed to be data visualization and graphic heavy to effectively communicate results.
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.
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.”
Denver International Airport | Net Zero Emissions Plan
Net Zero Emissions Plan
Lotus completed a full QA/QC analysis of all past DEN greenhouse gas inventories. This work cumulated in a deeper understanding of recent reductions and increases in emissions and the creation of a process improvement plan to identify gaps and improve data collection. Alongside this work, Lotus completed research and interviewed staff to identify gaps, opportunities, and current and future successes. The result was a list of recommended strategies (High Impact Actions) to achieve our proposed science-based targets including:
Identifying possible activities and associated emissions reductions.
Identifying potential barriers including such as estimated costs; awareness/attitudes; countervailing priorities/projects; technology/scale limitations; areas outside of DEN control (Electric supply limitations); and areas where DEN has partial control (vendors).
Identifying potential tailwinds such as policy and regulatory changes; funding Increases; grant opportunities; partnerships; and City and County of Denver initiatives.
Alpine Bank | Annual Sustainability Audit
Annual sustainability audit
Lotus has been collaborating with Alpine Bank since 2014 to help maintain and update Alpine Bank’s Utility Tracking Database on an annual basis, calculate emissions from facilities, and normalize energy use for the weather.
Lotus performs a quality check on Alpine Bank’s energy and water use tracking spreadsheet. The tracking spreadsheet has records of monthly electricity, natural gas, and water usage at all of Alpine Bank’s locations across the state of Colorado. Once a quality check is completed, Lotus reviews the results and errors found with the project team at Alpine Bank. Finally, Lotus writes a section reviewing the emissions and activity data trends across the organization to be included in the annual report.
“Hillary was tasked with creating a new Excel-based tool that empowered Alpine Bank’s energy managers to normalize energy data for weather from 2006 moving forward. The tool, which was designed to complement our internal energy tracking spreadsheet system, not only enables us to better understand our energy usage across our 38 locations but also helps us meet ISO 14001 goals, the results of which are published in our annual Environment Report. We continue to rely on Hillary as a key technical resource for various Alpine Bank sustainability initiatives. We highly recommend Lotus’s services for comparable projects.”
Boulder County | Net Zero Codes Cohort
Lotus provided project management and facilitation for the Boulder County Net Zero Codes Cohort, later renamed to the Northwest Metropolitan Regional Energy Code Cohort. The project included two phases: the first reviewed and adopted the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) with regional consistent strengthening amendments, and the second created a regional roadmap for reaching 100% net zero new construction by 2030.
Phase 1
For Phase 1 of the project, Lotus facilitated a series of five meetings with eight community partners in the Northwest Metropolitan region of Denver to co-create consistent energy code amendments that could be adopted alongside the 2021 IECC to support local and regional climate goals. Equity, GHG reductions, and the needs of individual communities were discussed within the cohort while the group reached a consensus for the recommended code package. Phase 1 included code package development along with individualized community support to help each partner community with their code adoption process. Lotus worked with consultant partners Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) and Shums Coda throughout the project to develop the code package for the region along with supporting materials such as fact sheets, customized presentations, training materials, and other individualized support requested by each community. Lotus and the consultant team attended council meetings and study sessions with staff to ensure the code package was understood and could be adopted by each leadership council. The results of Phase 1 code adoptions for the region can be seen in the table to the left (as of February 2023).
Phase 2
Phase 2 of the project began the summer of 2022 with a goal of creating a roadmap of ranked local, achievable, affordable, and equitable policies and strategies to reach the goal of net zero new construction by 2030 for the region. For Phase 2, Lotus facilitated a series of eight meetings with ten communities to co-create a regional definition of “net zero new construction,” as well as a roadmap with a stepped approach to achieving net zero new construction by 2030. Equity and regional collaboration were strong themes throughout the discussions and the roadmap. The roadmap was written and designed by Lotus, with support from SWEEP and Shums Coda, and lays a foundation for continued regional coordination on future building code updates for each community involved.
The Boulder County Net Zero Code Cohort was funded by a Department of Local Affairs grant and created a framework in the state for regional collaboration on building codes which has been deployed in other areas of Colorado to support local communities with building code adoption.
City of Boulder | City of Boulder Annual GHG Emissions Inventories (Community and Municipal)
City of Boulder Annual GHG Emissions Inventories (Community and Municipal)
Lotus completed the City of Boulder’s community and municipal GHG inventories in 2012, and from 2015 through 2022. Since 2016, Lotus has been preparing the city of Boulder’s community GPC-compliant greenhouse gas emissions inventories. Lotus develops community and municipal GHG inventories in separate Excel-based tools which include information regarding data sources, documentation of calculation methodology, and easy-to-digest data visualizations communicating inventory results. Lotus also writes final reports for the community and municipal inventories for Boulder. Lotus updates the inventories each year and in 2018, started updating the municipal GHG emission inventories. In 2018, Lotus also provided the city with an infographic describing the results of the city’s 2018 GHG emissions inventory for use by the city’s residents.
The 2023 inventory work is currently underway.
New 2023 GHG inventory results published in Winter 2024 report that Boulder achieved an impressive 24% reduction in GHG emissions since 2018. The community continues to see declining GHG emissions as they make progress towards a resilient and sustainable future. The City’s GHG emissions reduction work has been highlighted by the press:: City of Boulder News, CBS News, Daily Camera Press Release.
“The Lotus team are greenhouse gas accounting wizards! The City of Boulder has been working with Lotus on our community and municipal GHG inventories for multiple years now, and we are endlessly impressed by the engaging, knowledgeable, helpful, and reliable team that always delivers on quality, accuracy, and customer service. The Lotus team is such a pleasure to work with and their passion and commitment to the work is evident, always seeking to find solutions to meet unique needs or requests as they arise.”
City of Commerce City | Sustainability Action Plan
Lotus led the development of sustainability and community health recommendations that are woven into the first Sustainability Action Plan for Commerce City, Colorado. An environmental justice priority community, the City wished to ensure that recommendations were derived from community input and informed by data. Lotus facilitated a citizen-led Environmental Policy Advisory Committee to develop recommendations that will result in a healthier, more sustainable community. Additional community outreach occurred in the form of community meetings, civic engagement training, a community survey, and workshops with City staff and business and industry leaders. As part of the process, Lotus also completed the City’s first GHG inventory and business-as-usual forecast, modeling the GHG impact of strategies, identified the cost impacts of strategies and funding resources, and met with City staff to develop internal sustainability recommendations. Subcontractors on the project analyzed and made recommendations specific to air and water quality issues in Commerce City, which were woven into the full recommendations report.
In addition to completing the City’s first community-wide greenhouse gas emissions inventory as a part of the Sustainability Action Plan development, Lotus developed the City’s first municipal operations greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Lotus utilized the Local Government Operations Protocol to complete the inventory. The development of this inventory will help the City government create and monitor sustainability actions outlined in the Sustainability Action Plan. Lotus continued supporting the Commerce City Department of Energy, Equity and the Environment with facilitation of the Environmental Policy Advisory Committee and designing program collateral for one year after the plan was finalized.
“Commerce City unanimously passed a Sustainability Action Plan which was the culmination of input from multiple community and business meetings. Lotus was instrumental in facilitating the process as well as preparing technical documents such as an Air Modeling Threshold Report; Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Stormwater Management Plan. The Sustainability Action Plan was translated into Spanish for increased stakeholder engagement. Lotus has provided outstanding service””
City of Longmont | GHG and Related Projects
Lotus has worked on multiple projects with the City of Longmont:
To support the City’s commitment to regularly update their greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) findings, Lotus completed a GHG inventory for the City in 2016. Lotus has calculated Longmont’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventories since 2018. Lotus built upon this work again in 2019 for an updated inventory, as well as modeling for new construction building electrification.
In 2023, Lotus worked with Longmont to write and design a GHG memo that not only told the story of the data, but also connected it to other sustainability efforts at the City. The memo was designed to captivate and inform a diverse audience. Lotus worked with the City to make the document accessible for all readers.
Lotus is currently working on updating and simplifying the current GHG reduction strategy model with more recent emissions factors, data inputs, and updated targets that align with the City’s Climate Action Recommendations Report and the recent transportation plan.
City of Longmont | Electrification Study and Communication Plan
Lotus convened and guided an Electrification Feasibility Committee to explore advantages and constraints of electrification policies and program options for the City of Longmont. Lotus also created a communications strategy and the development of a thoughtful, equitable, and phased beneficial building electrification plan that was both ambitious and realistic. Strategy development was supported by modeling completed by Group14 Engineering. The final Beneficial Electrification Plan provides Longmont with a roadmap of specific strategies and actions that can be taken to spur investment in electrification throughout the community.
Colorado Clean Energy Fund | Impact Evaluation Tool and Tool Updates
Lotus conducted an evaluation to understand the impacts of Colorado Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) funded projects on reaching the fund’s goals of mitigating climate change, advancing environmental and economic justice, and creating a healthier and more resilient Colorado. Lotus identified key impact metrics for CCEF including energy generation and use, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, cost savings, and equity metrics. These metrics were incorporated into an interactive evaluation tool which calculates impacts for individual projects and all projects together. The tool was developed to allow CCEF to enter any new projects and estimate energy impacts of different project types such as energy efficiency, equipment electrification, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Lotus also provided recommendations for improving data collection to ensure CCEF can continue to measure project impacts for all future projects.
Lotus worked with CCEF to update the evaluation tool to account for new residential programs offered by CCEF. This work entailed developing an API connection between CCEF’s customer relationship management system (Zoho) and the evaluation tool. This connection allows CCEF to import large numbers of residential projects into the tool without the need for manual data entry. Lotus then created program specific impact calculations that aligned with the metrics created in the original tool. The resulting updates allow CCEF to quickly import large batches of projects to the evaluation tool and automatically calculate impact metrics for all projects.
“The Lotus Engineering & Sustainability team developed a comprehensive, easy-to-use impact measurement tool for the Colorado Clean Energy Fund (CCEF). The entire engagement with Lotus was well-organized and cost effective, and we were amazed by how sophisticated the end product was. Thanks to the tireless effort by the team at Lotus, CCEF is now able to efficiently track and calculate its economic, environmental, and social impact across its portfolio. CCEF could not have achieved this without the help of Lotus!”
Colorado Energy Office | Building Performance Standard Task Force Facilitation
Lotus facilitated monthly meetings with the State of Colorado Building Performance Standard (BPS) Task Force and ensured that the Task Force remained focused on the equitable impacts of the BPS on communities, building owners (especially for affordable housing), and Colorado’s workforce. Through the Task Force meetings, Lotus guided the task force through technical discussions and decisions and brought forward data to support decision-making. Lotus also completed an analysis of available benchmarking data to guide the Task Force conversations from a technical perspective, as well as designed a Public Engagement Plan and process that included a focus on gathering input from representatives across the State that can speak to the equity and workforce impacts of the BPS.
The Public Engagement Plan guided the outreach and engagement activities that were used to gather input from a broad network of stakeholders and interested parties from outside the Task Force. This included identifying the key audiences and ways to engage them, the community and business organizations that would be able to funnel input from their members, and developing a survey, public outreach materials, and designing and supporting the facilitation of three public engagement sessions.
The Task Force recommended that the State include a holistic approach to implementing the BPS that includes creating programs that would provide support and resources for the Colorado workforce, and to assess equity concerns for tenants, disproportionately impacted communities, and others who may be adversely impacted by the BPS requirements. Lotus then worked with the Colorado Energy Office to design an Equity Priority Building Approach. Lotus’s recommendations reflect the integration of an equity lens with BPS and ensure the ongoing clean energy transition is accessible to all. This means considering the community, the building itself, and the building’s occupants, as well as how to reduce the burden imposed by the State BPS program and the risk of displacement or gentrification. Important in this equity approach is giving building owners a voice in the process by allowing a building to self-identify as an EPB.