Green Proving Ground Program

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are issuing this joint Request for Information (RFI) to obtain responses from private sector entities, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and other interested parties on innovative, emerging building technologies that can cost-effectively transform the operational efficiency and environmental performance of federal and commercial buildings. Responses to this RFI will be evaluated and considered for inclusion in GSA's Green Proving Ground (GPG) program or the DOE High Impact Technology (HIT) Catalyst program, or both. The performance of technologies selected for either or both of these programs will be evaluated in occupied, operational buildings. Concurrently with the issuance of this RFI, the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy intends to release a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) in cooperation with the GPG program. The anticipated funding opportunity will seek innovative partnerships to significantly and rapidly increase the uptake of emerging and underutilized energy efficient and cost-effective building technology packages. Successful applicants to this anticipated FOA will propose high impact real building demonstrations led by strategically structured teams who will identify and verify the cost and energy performance of multi-system energy efficiency packages. Applicants interested in participating in this funding opportunity can learn more at the following link: https://goo.gl/nG0E9c Throughout this document, "technology" refers broadly to integrated systems based on any combination of hardware (equipment), software (processing), materials engineering processes, resource management devices, methods, tools, or models based on scientific or engineering principles. Technologies appropriate for measurement and verification (M&V) performance studies must be sufficiently mature, with all required laboratory or other proof-of-concept work completed, and, upon the conclusion of the demonstration period, available for purchase through normal market channels. Commercial technologies already broadly in use and readily available in the marketplace are not appropriate candidates for the GPG or the HIT Catalyst program M&V performance studies. Overview of Fiscal Year 2017 Technology Categories: GSA and DOE are requesting information about innovative, transformational green building technologies that: (1) have the potential to improve the environmental performance or lower the operating costs, or both, of federally and privately owned commercial real estate buildings, (2) have promising early-stage performance results and (3) have the potential to provide, through an M&V performance study, evidence-based information needed to support decision-making on deployment. Technologies submitted must apply to one or more of the following five categories: 1. Smart Energy Analytics - Building energy management technologies, components or cross-system building information and control systems. 2. Cold Climate Heat Pumps - Technologies that improve heat pump efficiency in cold climates. 3. Fans and Blowers - Technologies that improve fan energy performance. 4. Chillers, Refrigerants, and Alternatives to Vapor Compressor Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) - Technologies that improve refrigerant system efficiencies or reduce greenhouse gas emissions, or both. 5. Water conservation and reuse - Technologies and processes that reduce water usage or reuse water resources. This RFI focuses exclusively on the above five categories. If your technology does not fall into one or more of the above categories, please check back next year for a new set of categories. How to Submit a Response: Parties wishing to be considered for GSA's FY 2017 GPG program or DOE's HIT Catalyst program, or both, including those respondents who submitted information in response to previous years' program requests, should respond to this RFI by completing the Web-based questionnaire at the link provided below. Only submissions fully completing the Web-based questionnaire will be reviewed. The Web-based questionnaire can be found at: http://goo.gl/30v82J. Additional information may be requested during the GPG or the HIT Catalyst program planning and selection process. This announcement will remain open until 11:59 PM EST on Friday, November 18, 2016. Questions about this announcement should be directed to [email protected]. Information Session: Representatives from the GPG and the HIT Catalyst programs will host a Web-based information session to discuss the federal programs and provide more detail on the RFI questionnaire on Thursday, November 3, 2016 at 2:00 PM EST. You can register for this session at: https://goo.gl/aU6Wi4. Instructions for access will be emailed to registrants. Fiscal Year 2017 RFI Selection Process: Teams from GSA and DOE will review and consider submitted technologies for M&V performance studies as part of the GPG program or the HIT Catalyst program, or both. Neither GPG nor the HIT Catalyst program will fund technology procurements through this RFI. Information submitted in response to or arising out of the performance testing under this RFI will enable the HIT Catalyst program to connect technology providers with demonstration hosts for DOE funded third-party lab verification of performance to assist in the acceleration of market uptake. To be selected, the respondent must provide compelling responses to the RFI questionnaire and the technology must demonstrate the ability to advance the achievement of federal goals. To participate in the GPG program, the respondent must agree to donate the technology unconditionally to GSA in sufficient quantity to test and evaluate its performance. To participate in the HIT Catalyst commercial buildings technology demonstration program, technology providers must agree to work directly with owners identified by DOE to supply equipment for monitoring/testing and with laboratory experts to support technology performance M&V studies. Using the collected information, a subset of respondents may be invited to participate in the FY 2017 GPG program or the HIT Catalyst program, or both. Responses to the RFI will be evaluated through a multi-stage review process. Based on the evaluation of the submissions, each respondent will be notified whether or not GSA or DOE will request the submission of a follow-up presentation. Respondents who are invited to submit additional information will be asked to provide a brief written presentation to GSA or DOE, or both. After considering the follow-up material, if any, and the submissions, a subset of respondents may be asked to participate in additional discussions with GSA or DOE, or both. Respondents are advised that neither GSA nor DOE are under any obligation to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. GSA and DOE reserve the right to select for inclusion in their respective programs any, all or none of the submissions received. There is no commitment by GSA or DOE to make any contract awards, nor will GSA or DOE be responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by the respondents in responding to this RFI. Neither GSA nor DOE will provide debriefs for those respondents not selected for inclusion in their respective programs. Responses to this RFI do not bind either GSA or DOE to any further actions related to this matter. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP). Neither GSA nor DOE will issue an RFP as a follow-up to this RFI. Responses to this RFI are not offers and will not be accepted by the Federal Government to form an agreement or binding contract of any nature. Any information obtained as a result of this RFI is intended to be used by the Federal Government on a non-attribution basis for planning and strategy development; this RFI does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts and your response to this notice will be treated as information only. Information received may be used to assist GSA and DOE in planning the scope of future technology performance studies or deployment efforts and may be shared with other federal agencies. Technology evaluations may be shared between GSA and DOE and technologies submitted may be selected for the GSA GPG program, the DOE HIT Catalyst program, both of these programs, or neither. Background: GSA's mission is to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition and technology services to government and best value to the American people. GSA supports over 1 million federal civilian workers by managing more than 8,700 federally owned or leased properties comprising 374 million square feet of workspace. GSA's GPG program leverages GSA's real estate portfolio as a "proving ground" to evaluate emerging building technologies that promise to improve the environmental performance of GSA's portfolio while reducing operational costs. By assessing the performance of innovative technologies in tenant-occupied, operational buildings, the GPG program aims to identify technologies with the greatest potential to support the goals outlined in the President's June 2013 Climate Action Plan and that help meet GSA's mandated sustainability goals, including those in Executive Order 13693 of March 19, 2015, "Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade." Notable findings from GPG program projects will support the evolution of performance specifications for the GSA portfolio and may inform decision-making within GSA, other federal agencies and the real estate industry. More information about the program can be found at gsa.gov/gpg. DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) works to strengthen the United States' energy security, environmental quality and economic vitality in public-private partnerships. EERE leads DOE's efforts to develop and deliver market-driven solutions for energy-saving homes, buildings and manufacturing, sustainable transportation and renewable electricity generation. EERE's HIT Catalyst program supports the adoption of cost-effective, underutilized commercial building energy efficiency technologies. The goal of the HIT Catalyst program is to transform the market for these technologies through partnerships with the commercial buildings industry through the Better Buildings Alliance, federal leaders, regional non-profits, utility programs, and energy efficiency organizations. More information about the program can be found at buildings.energy.gov/hitcatalyst TERMS AND CONDITIONS: 52.215-3 Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (Oct 1997) (a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (b) Although "proposal" and "offeror" are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. (c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of gathering information on new sustainable building technologies. DISCLAIMER AND IMPORTANT NOTES: This RFI is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA); therefore, EERE is not accepting applications at this time. EERE may issue an FOA in the future based on or related to the content and responses to this RFI; however, EERE also may elect not to issue an FOA. There is no guarantee that an FOA will be issued as a result of this RFI. Responding to this RFI does not provide any advantage or disadvantage to potential applicants if EERE chooses to issue an FOA regarding the subject matter. Final details, including the anticipated award size, quantity and timing of EERE-funded awards, will be subject to Congressional appropriations and direction. PROPRIETARY INFORMATION: Because information received in response to this RFI may be used to structure future programs and FOAs or otherwise be made available to the public, respondents are strongly advised to NOT include any information in their responses that might be considered business sensitive, proprietary or otherwise confidential. The Federal Government does not guarantee confidentiality of the information received. Although GSA and DOE ask that no confidential business information be submitted, it is GSA's and DOE's practice to protect the provided information and make it available on a need-to-know basis only to Federal Government personnel and contractors who will be using this information on behalf of the Federal Government. However, neither GSA nor DOE can guarantee that information will be free from access by others, during transmission or while stored in its system or otherwise in GSA's or DOE's custody or control or in the custody or control of another federal agency or their contractors, and the Federal Government and its contractors will have no liability whatsoever for disclosure of such information. If a respondent chooses to submit business sensitive, proprietary or otherwise confidential information, it must be clearly and conspicuously marked as such in the response. Responses containing confidential, proprietary or privileged information must be conspicuously marked as described below. Failure to comply with these marking requirements may result in the disclosure of the unmarked information under the Freedom of Information Act or otherwise. The Federal Government is not liable for the disclosure or use of unmarked information, and may use or disclose such information for any purpose. If your response contains confidential, proprietary or privileged information, you must include a cover sheet with your response marked as follows identifying the specific pages containing the confidential, proprietary or privileged information: Notice of Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data: Pages [list applicable pages by number] of this response may contain confidential, proprietary or privileged information that is exempt from public disclosure. Such information may be used or disclosed only for the purposes described in this RFI GS-00-P-17-CY-C-7001. The Federal Government may use or disclose any information that is not appropriately marked or otherwise restricted, regardless of source. In addition, (1) the header and footer of every page that contains confidential, proprietary or privileged information must be marked as follows: "Contains Confidential, Proprietary or Privileged Information Exempt from Public Disclosure" and (2) every line and paragraph containing proprietary, privileged or trade secret information must be clearly marked with double brackets or highlighting. EVALUATION AND ADMINISTRATION BY FEDERAL AND NON-FEDERAL PERSONNEL: Federal employees are subject to the non-disclosure requirements of a criminal statute, the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1905. The Federal Government may seek the advice of qualified non-Federal personnel. The Federal Government also may use non-Federal personnel to conduct routine, nondiscretionary administrative activities. The respondents, by submitting their response, consent to GSA and DOE providing their response to non-Federal parties. Non-Federal parties given access to responses will be subject to an appropriate obligation of confidentiality prior to being given the access. Submissions may be reviewed by support contractors and private consultants. Primary Point of Contact: Daniel Simon GSA GPG Program [email protected] This is a Request for Information (RFI) as identified in FAR 15.201(c)(7). This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP). A solicitation is not being issues at this time, and this notice shall be not be considered as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. Responses to this RFI are not offers and shall not be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The responses to this RFI may be used to assist the Government in to provide. Per Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10 - Market Research, this RFI is posted for data gathering and planning purposes only. It does not constitute a solicitation, and shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or award a contract. The Government will not reimburse any respondent for any costs associated with information submitted in response to this RFI. Industry feedback is vitally important and the Government will be receptive to any and all ideas received from industry. This RFI is an expression of the Government's interest only and does not obligate the Government to pay for the requested information nor respond to any submission. Proprietary information is not being solicited; however, if it is submitted, highlight and clearly mark those sections with "proprietary information". FAR Provision 52.215-3 is hereby incorporated in full text: 52-215-3 Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (OCT 1997) a. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal cost, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. b. Although "proposal" and "offeror are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal c. This solicitation is issued for the purpose of: [Not Applicable, this is an RFI] (End of provision) (Please no telephone inquiries)