C--A/E Combined Heatr and Power Phase 1

DESCRIPTION: This is a Pre-Solicitation Notice for the following services under project number 442-11-110 - "Combined Heat & Power Phase 1" at the Cheyenne VA Medical Center, Cheyenne Wyoming. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL; NO SOLICITATION PACKAGE WILL BE ISSUED UNTIL AFTER AN EVALUATION HAS BEEN MADE ON THE PROVIDED SF-330. The VA Medical Center is seeking professional architect/engineering firms to assess and design an installation of a combined heat and power unit for the Cheyenne VAMC including the following items: (1) Investigate and recommend alternative fuel sources. Investigate and report upon the availability, feasibility, and cost effectiveness of these fuel sources, including wood chips and wood pellets and other biomass. Natural gas and other non-renewable fuel sources are to be evaluated if renewable fuel sources are not feasible or cost effective. Ranked suggestions will be presented to the VA with detailed evaluation for review and selection. Designs will be based upon the VA's response to these suggestions. (2) Investigate and recommend uses for the heat produced into the VA's systems including hot water and directly into steam production. Investigate and recommend tie-ins for the electrical generation. Designs will be based upon the VA's response to these suggestions. (3) Investigations and reports will be in preparation for the engineering and design work required for the construction phase of this work. Reports will include ranked options based on available fuel materials, construction, and operating costs as well as energy savings and/or energy produced. Suggestions on how best to divide these projects including locations of units and interconnections are also required. (4) Estimated construction costs should be prepared for the options to +- 20%. (5) Also, include recommendations for how best to incorporate combined heat and power units into future buildings constructed at the VA, if feasible. (6) Prepare designs and specifications for VA selected option or options. (7) Suggested work must be designed to be within a design and construction price limit of less than $650,000. (8) The majority of the work will be mechanical and electrical. (9) Work will be designed to work around existing staff and schedules. The medical center must remain operational throughout the construction period and a detailed sequence of work will be provided by the A/E to minimize the impact of the construction. (10) Conduct engineering site visits as needed to verify and locate all relevant components or devices. (11) Review the relevant sites for asbestos containing material. The VA will supply the 2010 survey results. Any areas of concern and testing will be the responsibility of the A/E. Any abatement shall be incorporated into the construction project. The AE firm will prepare drawings and specifications in sufficient detail such that qualified outside General Contracting companies can prepare accurate and timely proposals for the desired construction work. The AE firm is responsible for ensuring that the specifications and drawings supplied by the Cheyenne VAMC fully represent all of the work described in the Request for Proposal (RFP). Microsoft Project scheduling and management software will be used by both the A&E and Contractors to allow for regular tracking of schedules and work by the VAMC. Schedules with MS Project will be regularly sent to the COTR upon project initiation and whenever significant changes occur in the schedule. All work must be designed within a construction cost range of $500,000 to $1,000,000. Buildings are considered historic and AE will be required to coordinate with the state historical society. The AE will provide an initial estimate of cost to perform the above work and will design only those items that can be provided within the cost limitation. Submission requirements are the initial estimate and preliminary design submission, a 50% design submission, and a 95% design submission. The Medical Center must remain operational throughout the construction period and a detailed sequence of work will be provided by the AE to minimize impact of the construction. The AE will provide 4 sets of documents at each submission including a cost estimate and will provide a set of AutoCAD drawings and specs in Microsoft Word at the final submission. The AE will provide 10 sets of the final drawings and specifications for the procurement. The NAICS code for this project is 541330. The SF-330 can be downloaded through the GSA Forms Library at: http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/formslibrary.do, type in 330 in the "Find A Form" block and click on search. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL; NO SOLICITATION PACKAGE WILL BE ISSUED UNTIL AFTER AN EVALUATION HAS BEEN MADE ON THE PROVIDED SF-330. Interested firms should submit (2) copies of their current SF 330 no later than February 22, 2011 to contact@example.gov. Important Notice: Apparent successful offerors must apply for and receive verification from the Department of Veteran Affairs Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) in accordance with 38 CFR Part 74 and VAAR 819.70 by submission of documentation of Veteran status, ownership and control sufficient to establish appropriate status, prior to receiving an award of a contract under this SDVOSB set- aside. All offerors are urged to contact the CVE and submit the aforementioned required documents to obtain CVE verification of their SDVOSB status if they have not already done so. VA NOTICE OF TOTAL SERVICE-DISABLED VETERAN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS SET-ASIDE (DEC 2009) (a) Definition. For the Department of Veterans Affairs, "Service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern": (1) Means a small business concern: (i) Not less than 51 percent of which is owned by one or more service-disabled veterans or, in the case of any publicly owned business, not less than 51 percent of the stock of which is owned by one or more service-disabled veterans (or eligible surviving spouses); (ii) The management and daily business operations of which are controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans (or eligible surviving spouses) or, in the case of a service-disabled veteran with permanent and severe disability, the spouse or permanent caregiver of such veteran; (iii) The business meets Federal small business size standards for the applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code identified in the solicitation document; and (iv) The business has been verified for ownership and control and is so listed in the Vendor Information Pages database, (http://www.VetBiz.gov). (2) "Service-disabled veteran" means a veteran, as defined in 38 U.S.C. 101(2), with a disability that is service-connected, as defined in 38 U.S.C. 101(16). (b) General. (1) Offers are solicited only from service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns. Offers received from concerns that are not service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns shall not be considered. (2) Any award resulting from this solicitation shall be made to a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern. (c) Agreement. A service-disabled veteran owned small business concern agrees that in the performance of the contract, in the case of a contract for: (1) Services (except construction), at least 50 percent of the cost of personnel for contract performance will be spent for employees of the concern or employees of other eligible service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns; (2) Supplies (other than acquisition from a non-manufacturer of the supplies), at least 50 percent of the cost of manufacturing, excluding the cost of materials, will be performed by the concern or other eligible service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns; (3) General construction, at least 15 percent of the cost of the contract performance incurred for personnel will be spent on the concern's employees or the employees of other eligible service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns; or (4) Construction by special trade contractors, at least 25 percent of the cost of the contract performance incurred for personnel will be spent on the concern's employees or the employees of other eligible service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns. (d) A joint venture may be considered a service-disabled veteran owned small business concern if- (1) At least one member of the joint venture is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern, and makes the following representations: That it is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern, and that it is a small business concern under the North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) code assigned to the procurement; (2) Each other concern is small under the size standard corresponding to the NAICS code assigned to the procurement; and (3) The joint venture meets the requirements of paragraph 7 of the explanation of Affiliates in 19.101 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (4) The joint venture meets the requirements of 13 CFR 125.15(b). (e) Any service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern (non-manufacturer) must meet the requirements in 19.102(f) of the Federal Acquisition Regulation to receive a benefit under this program.