NOAA GFDL Energy Savings Solution

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION This Request for Information is for planning purposes only and is issued in accordance with FAR Clause 52.215-3 provided at: http://www.acquisition.gov/far/current/html/52_215.html#wp1144503. No solicitation document exists at this time. Issuance of this notice does not constitute any obligation on the part of the Government to procure these items or to issue a solicitation. In addition, the Government is under no obligation to pay for information submitted in response to this RFI, and responses to this notice cannot be accepted as offers. Any information that the vendor considers proprietary should be clearly marked as such. BACKGROUND The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) is a government research installation on the Forrestal Campus of Princeton University. GFDL was founded in 1955 by Joseph Smagorinsky on the premise that if he had a large enough computing system he could forecast the weather at least 24 hours in advance. Smagorinsky originally set up the Lab in Washington, DC. The Lab grew and eventually found the need to become affiliated with a university partner in order to recruit and train the highest caliber researchers in this field. In 1968, GFDL relocated to its current location. In 1980, GFDL exceeded the physical constraints of its facility and so it constructed what is known as the computer addition, which includes a 10,000-square-foot computer room, and is connected to the Main Building by way of two connecting corridors. GFDL scientists study the Earth's climate and weather systems. Information about the work of the lab is provided at http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov. GFDL scientists conduct scientific experiments by numerically modeling the Earth's physical processes and using a high performance computing system (known generally as a supercomputer) to build and run those models and to evaluate the model results. POWER DEMANDS GFDL is in the final stages of transitioning to the mid-life upgrade configuration to its installed computer system. The power demand of the previous system was 860 kW, and the power demand of the new mid-life system will be 1030 kW. The computer is operated 24 hours per day every day of the year, so this is a sustained power demand. The power that the computer consumes is converted directly to heat which must be managed as well. GFDL has a 1000-ton chilled water plant in a three-chiller N+1 configuration that is used to supply 42o F chilled water to 13 computer room air conditioners as well as for comfort cooling for the entire facility. The array of computer room air conditioners provides about 400 tons of heat exchange capacity within the computer room in an N+1 configuration. GFDL's former total site power demand was sustained within the 1400-1600 kW range with some periods at a higher level (typically on the hottest, most humid days of the year due to chiller and cooling tower inefficiencies on such days) and even fewer periods with less demand (when equipment was down for maintenance). GFDL projects that the sustained total site power demand following completion of the mid-life upgrade will be in the 1600-1800 kW range. GFDL's current power feed from its electric utility, Public Service Gas and Electric (PSE&G), is terminated into a 3.75 MW, 13.2 kV to 4.16 kV transformer. This power feed is shared between GFDL and some of the other buildings on the Forrestal Campus. The share of the peak load for the other buildings on campus is about 750 kW. GFDL's historical peak demand is 1,944 kW which occurred in August 2007. Due to the increased compute load that is being added with the mid-life installation, the lab expects to increase its peak demand to about 2300 kW on the hottest, most humid days of the summer through September 30, 2009. Ever growing demands on NOAA's climate modeling research programs will require a substantial increase in the computational power for the GFDL computer system, beginning in Fiscal Year 2010. The most likely scenario is that the total power needed to operate and cool the GFDL computer system in 2010 will be 3.5 MW. The existing residual building load is expected to remain unchanged. See summary tables in RFI Attachment at the section "GFDL Electric Billing Summary." HYDROGEN FUEL CELL AND WASTE HEAT UTILIZATION APPLICATION GFDL is currently researching the possibility of a hydrogen fuel cell and waste heat utilization system to supply power for its critical compute load and to install a sophisticated chiller configuration to utilize the waste heat generated by the system to provide chilled water to cool the facility year round and to heat the facility in the winter. (GFDL currently has two natural-gas-fired Hurst Boilers rated at about 2,000,000 BTU each that provide heating for the facility. See summary tables in RFI Attachment at the section "GFDL Gas Billing Summary.") The lab is interested in exploring the financing, engineering, and technical options involved with installing such a hydrogen fuel cell and waste heat utilization system, including all available financing incentives, including federal and state tax credits as well as "green" initiative incentives. Because the lab is located in the state of New Jersey, there are likely to be incentives through the New Jersey Clean Energy Program, http://www.njcleanenergy.com/renewable-energy/programs/clean-energy-financing/clean-energy-financing-and-assistance-programs. The solution that GFDL seeks is one that is considered "end-to-end" or "turn-key" - in other words, the system would be designed and engineered, both financially and technically, to include the hardware purchase, installation (including architectural and engineering design services, permitting, construction - mechanical, electrical, structural, plumbing, and landscaping - and controls), and system maintenance. GFDL envisions a fuel cell and waste heat utilization solution that: powers its compute load; provides and powers a new chiller configuration that utilizes the waste heat to provide cooling for the computer; and ties the surplus waste heat not needed for cooling into the existing building heating system. The hydrogen fuel cell and waste heat utilization system that is envisioned would include various switching mechanisms to enable the lab to safely maintain each of the system components and would transfer its critical load and process cooling to the grid in the event of system maintenance or failure. ADDITIONAL POTENTIAL ENERGY CONSERVATION MEASURES (1) Variable Speed Drives (VSDs) on Chiller 1 (400-ton centrifugal) and Chiller 3 (350-ton centrifugal) [Chiller 4 is a 250-ton screw-type machine and "Chiller 2" was decommissioned in the 1980's.] (2) Variable Speed Drives on Towers 1A and 1B and Tower 4 (Tower 3 already has a VSD) (3) Variable Speed Drives on the three Main Building Air Circulation Units and the Return Air Unit (4) Variable Speed Drive on the Computer Building Air Circulation Unit. (5) High efficiency lighting for the Main Building 3rd floor and for the Computer Building offices (GFDL will replace the lighting on the 1st and 2nd floor of the Main Building with high efficiency lighting as part of its current Asbestos Abatement Project. GFDL previously installed high efficiency lighting in the Computer Room) (6) Film tint or otherwise screen the Main Building windows to reduce the Solar heat load DOC/NOAA anticipates awarding a contract or entering into an agreement in Fiscal Year 2009 with the primary focus of conserving energy and providing a reliable off-grid power solution. We are interested in learning about authorized financing alternatives and tax rebates that could provide DOC/NOAA with flexibility to approach an energy savings project. Our anticipated budget increase for this effort in Fiscal Year 2009 is approximately $200,000.00. DOC/NOAA requests your response to each of the following: 1. Describe your company's capability to provide a technologically-available and reliable hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) and waste heat utilization solution to address GFDL's current and anticipated mission critical data center energy and cooling requirements. a. Describe your experience in installing a new HFC system; b. Describe your experience in maintaining an HFC system: c. Describe your experience in installing a new waste heat utilization system for the dual purpose of producing chilled water and heating a building; d. Describe your experience in maintaining a waste heat utilization system for the dual purpose of producing chilled water and heating a building; e. Provide customer contact information (name, phone number, email, and a description of the project) for the three most recent in-progress or completed projects in which you provide(d) HFC solutions that include utilizing the waste heat to produce chilled water. 2. Describe your company's experience with controls used to manage duel feeds (HFC and utility power) and how these controls address load variances. 3. Describe your company's experience in working with federal customers to provide energy savings solutions, including any experience working with Department of Energy, General Services Administration, and Department of Defense programs such as Utility Energy Savings Contracts (UESC) and Super Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPC). a. Provide customer contact information (name, phone number, email, and a description of the project) for the three most recent in-progress or completed projects in which you provide(d) energy solutions to a federal customer through an existing agency contract or agency authorization. 4. Describe your company's experience in leveraging financing authorities and financial incentives in order to provide an effective energy savings solution. a. Describe what financing authorities and financial incentives could be available to the GFDL Energy Savings Solution. 5. What is your anticipated price/cost for providing a GFDL Energy Savings Solution? a. How could energy use be reduced in order to bring down costs and generate savings? b. How could federal and state financial incentives reduce the project cost? c. How could financing authorities allow GFDL to acquire an Energy Savings Solution within the current budget and the nominal increase to budget in future fiscal years? All response and response contents to this RFI will be considered information only and will not be binding on the parties. Contractors responding to this request will not be obligated to provide the services described herein and it is understood by the United States Government that the costs provided as a result of this request are "best" estimates only. All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary; the United States Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the United States government. A panel of experts has been assembled to provide assistance in planning this acquisition and evaluating industry solutions. In addition to Department of Commerce personnel, personnel from other Government agencies, contractor employees, and university employees will have access to information submitted in connection with this RFI. These individuals will only have access after signing Non-disclosure Agreements and submitting Conflict of Interest Statements to the Contracting Officer. The following other Federal Agency may assist in this acquisition: U.S. Department of Energy. The following contractor has been approved to assist in this acquisition: 2020 Corporation DUNS 169810657. Princeton University, the landlord for the GFDL, has been approved to provide expertise to this acquisition. Responses to this RFI are due via email to contact@example.gov No Later Than June 16, 2008 at 12:00 p.m. Provide all responses in MSWord 2000 (or later version) or Adobe .pdf. The maximum page limitation for responses to this RFI is 40 pages. Point of Contact is Brendon Johnson, Contracting Officer at +1 (555) 000-0000, fax +1 (555) 000-0000.