With this announcement, DARPA is providing advance notice of a potential Research and Development (R&D) program for the design, build, installation, and demonstration of an operational "Immune Building." This effort will represent the last phase of DARPA’s Immune Building program. The Immune Building Demonstration (IB Demonstration) will use a combination of active and passive countermeasures to validate, in a controlled test environment, the ability to protect inhabitants of buildings from covert or overt releases of aerosolized chemical or biological warfare agents. The availability of funds for this phase of the program is subject to Congressional approval; no proposals will be solicited until such time as funding is appropriated. The actions outlined in this Notice are intended solely to enable potential sources to gain an understanding of the IB Demonstration R&D program and an opportunity to submit information which will permit evaluation of their capabilities, thereby allowing for a rapid transition when/if Congressional approval is provided. It is DARPA's intention to release a "Draft" Request for Proposals (RFP) on or about 22 August 2003 for the Demonstration phase of the Immune Building program. The RFP (Draft and Formal) will be unclassified; however, some of the design details will be contained in a "SECRET" appendix. To help foster the broadest possible competition, DARPA will sponsor two informational meetings, both in the Washington, DC, area. The first meeting is a "Program Brief" and will take place approximately one week before the Draft RFP is to be released. The Program Brief will have the format of a tutorial, describing the lessons learned to date in the Immune Building program, and providing the rational for the system-design specifications and guidelines that will be identified in the Draft/Formal RFP. Attendance at this meeting is voluntary and will be limited to organizations that can demonstrate a reasonable expectation of having expertise that might contribute to the success of the IB Demonstration. Such an expectation is likely to be met by organizations with experience in the fields of architecture and engineering (A&E); heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC); chemical and/or biological warfare defense; filtration, neutralization, and decontamination; contamination transport modeling; chemical and/or biological sensors; building control systems; and/or the integration of complex systems. Other areas of expertise may also qualify; in all cases qualification will be determined by DARPA. Prior participation in the Immune Building program is not a prerequisite. The individuals who wish to attend the Program Brief must have current US clearances at the SECRET level. Organizations and individuals interested in attending the Program Brief are required to register by 11 August 2003 following the instructions provided at https://dtsn.darpa.mil/ibdemo. Following the Program Brief, the IB Demonstration Draft RFP will be released to those sources deemed qualified by DARPA. These individuals/organizations are encouraged to review the Draft RFP and provide written feedback to DARPA prior to the second meeting. The second meeting is a "Bidders Brief" that will follow the Program Brief by approximately 3 weeks, allowing potential offerors time to digest the material from the tutorial and to identify aspects for which they would like additional clarification. Attendance at this meeting is also voluntary and limited to organizations that can demonstrate a reasonable expectation of having expertise that might contribute to the success of the IB Demonstration. However, attendance is not required in order to be deemed eligible to propose on this program. The Bidders Brief will be divided into two parts. The first part will cover only unclassified material and will be open to all registered/qualified offerors. The second part will include classified (SECRET) information, so attendance will require a current US clearance. Instructions for registration will be provided at https://dtsn.darpa.mil/ibdemo following release of the Draft RFP. This website will be updated to announce any changes in dates for the Information Briefings and/or Draft RFP release. Subject to Congressional approval/funding, a Formal RFP will be released to those sources deemed technically qualified to perform the IB Demonstration. DARPA intends to award a single contract to a prime contractor (system integrator) to carry out the Immune Building Demonstration. This work will require substantial collaboration with DARPA, the operators and occupants of the operational building, members of the tri-service civil engineering community, and other Government personnel responsible for the installation, operation, training, and maintenance of these types of protective architectures. The anticipated scope of work to be covered under the IB Demonstration includes: a preliminary design of the protection (countermeasure) system for the building to be protected meeting the guidelines identified in the RFP; a (mathematical) model that predicts the contaminant fate and transport around the building, as well as the effects of the elements of and the usage (CONOPS) of the protective architecture; a trade study that uses the predictive model to refine the preliminary design; a full-scale physical model (testbed) that is configured to represent the floor plan and flow pathways within the building of interest (operational building), as well as the planned protective architecture for that building; a testbed-based proof of the effectiveness of the protective architecture; a finalized design, including fine-tuning in the hardware, software, and CONOPS as a result of the testbed measurements; installation of the finalized protective architecture into the operational building; and the test and evaluation of the effectiveness of the protective architecture in the operational building. The IB Demonstration is research and development that represents the last phase of DARPA's Immune Building program, which has been conducted over the past 3 years. Research reports containing findings to date will not be made available for public release. The Government will not reimburse attendees for any costs associated with either of the briefings discussed in this announcement. All questions regarding this announcement and/or the Immune Building Demonstration Program, in general, are to be sent from the IM Demo website. The Point of Contact for this announcement is Michael D. Blackstone, Contracting Officer, DARPA/CMO, email:
[email protected]. This announcement does not impose any obligation on the Government or signify a firm intention to enter into a contract.