A -- Radio Frequency (RF) and Infrared (IR) Attenuating Window Glazing Systems

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY (RFI/SOURCES SOUGHT) AND NOT A SOLICITATION. The Sources Sought is issued for the purpose of determining if there are at least three (3) responsible Small Business concerns capable of meeting the requirement. Interested firms should also reference their 8(a), HUBZone, service-disability veteran-owned status and their American/Alaskan Native Company (ANC) status. The Government intends to use NAICS: 238150, Glass and Glazing Contractors, $13M Size Standard. The US Department of State (DOS) has a requirement to devise methods of providing radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) attenuating glazing systems for its office buildings. The current method of achieving this goal is through the application of aftermarket window film products that incorporate proprietary materials to provide the required attenuation. While effective, this approach does present potential technical challenges and presents a life cycle cost burden. The intent of this solicitation is to foster development of viable alternative methods of providing comparable RF/IR attenuation that are in consonance with traditional glazing techniques and compatible with industry accepted methods of utilizing glazing elements and manufacturing/assembling windows and glazed curtain wall systems. While by no means an exhaustive listing, potential methods to accomplish this end would be to encapsulate an RF/IR attenuating material within conventional laminated glass interlayer materials such as polyvinyl butyral (PVB) or an ionoplast interlayer (e.g. DuPont's Sentry Glass Plus) and a process of mechanically depositing an RF/IR attenuating material directly to a glass surface (e.g. - sputter coating, pyrolytic deposition). Interested Small Business concerns shall e-mail or fax a brief capability statement, signed by a corporate official with authority to bind the company and verify that the company meets the above requirements. The capability statement shall not exceed five (5) pages, and must describe the company's ability to meet the above technical and security requirements. The statement shall be transmitted either by e-mail or fax to littleft@state.gov or (fax)(703) 875-6006, by 2:00 p.m. EST on August 21, 2006. Competition and set-aside decisions may be based on the results of this market research. At this time, no solicitation exists; therefore please do not request a copy of the solicitation. This notice is for market research purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for information solicited. The Government reserves the right to consider any arrangement as deemed appropriate for this procurement. PHONE CALLS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AND VOICE MESSAGES WILL NOT BE RETURNED.