Mulch Drying

This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal, Request for Quotation, or an obligation on the part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for conducting a follow-on acquisition. NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST use of such information. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking to identify sources capable of providing 20 cubic yards of shredded hardwood mulch dried to a 6% moisture level for use in fired spread experiments at the NIST Engineering Laboratory. Background Information: The Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Group develops, advances, and deploys measurement science to reduce risk of fire spread in wildland-urban interface (WUI) communities. The purchase of this drying service for shredded hardwood mulch is necessary to provide typically dry test materials of controlled and known moisture content to use for experimental research of fire ignition and spread. Bulk mulch typically has moisture content between 20% and 40%, but experimental requirements are for mulch moistures level of 6 %. Current experiments planned for Spring and Summer 2017 are to study wind-driven fire spread to structures from fences and woodpiles. Description of Requirement: The Contractor shall dry 20 cubic yards of shredded hardwood mulch (provided by NIST) to an average of 6% moisture content (5% to 7% range). Dried mulch shall be bagged in bags with handles accessible via forklift and strong enough to hold 600lbs each. Twenty cubic yards or 11,000lbs, of dry mulch should be processed, whichever is greater. The drying service must: - Produce the greater of 20 cubic yards or 11,000lbs of dried shredded hardwood mulch - Dry the mulch to 6% average moisture content target (local variation within 1% of target is acceptable) - Not change the size distribution of the mulch, damage or degrade the mulch, nor expose the mulch to chemicals - Package the dried mulch in bags; bags are supplied by the vendor; bags are sealable with a lid or closeable opening; bags hold nominally 1 cubic yard (within 15 % is acceptable); bags are strong enough to hold over 600lbs; bags have handles that can be lifted by forklift - Prepare the bagged dried mulch for shipping: stacked two high on standard pallets, 48"x40" or similar; stretch wrapped with plastic to prevent moisture entry; variations to this must be preapproved by NIST Instructions / Required Submissions: Interested parties shall describe the capabilities of their organization as it relates to the services described above. The small business size standard associated with the anticipated NAICS code for this effort is 541320 - Landscape Architectural Services with a small business size standard of $7.5 million. Interested parties shall include their business size classification and socio-economic status in response to this notice. The following information is required to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice: 1. Documentation/Description of capabilities, which clearly demonstrates the capability of providing the mulch drying services; 2. Documentation of any relevant experience in providing the required sensors; 3. Name, Address, DUNS number, CAGE code, business size, and point of contact information of the company; 4. Indication of whether the services described in this notice are currently on one or more GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contract(s) or Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) and, if so, the applicable contract number(s). 5. Any other relevant information that is not listed above, which the Government should consider in finalizing its market research. All information considered pertinent to the covered requirement shall be sent to Amber Gray, via e-mail at amber.gray@nist.gov. Information submitted shall be specific and address the aforementioned requirement. Submissions shall be received not later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on March 10, 2017. General Information: After the results of this market research are obtained and analyzed, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a contract. If at least two small businesses are identified during this market research, then a competitive procurement that results may be conducted as a small business set-aside.