Sources Sought: Building Automation Control System, Renovation of the National Laboratory for Agricultural and the Environment (NLAE), located in Ames, Iowa

This Sources Sought Notice is being issued for informational purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the USDA, ARS. ARS is conducting a Market Survey to identify the availability and interest of Building Automation Control System (BACS) manufacturers as potential sources for a portion of the NLAE Renovation Project located in Ames, Iowa. It is the intent of the Government to replace DDC control panels and programming as part of the larger renovation effort. Both the panels and the programming must be compatible with the Johnson Controls DDC system but not necessarily Johnson Controls brand name items. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this project is 334290 Other Communications Equipment Manufacturing with a Size Standard of 750 employees. Background: The USDA, ARS NLAE was constructed in 1986 as the National Soil Tilth Laboratory on the Iowa State University (ISU) campus. The HVAC and related systems were Johnson Controls (JCI) pneumatic controls and operated the building HVAC systems, heat recovery systems, growth and root environmental control chamber systems, and room HVAC controls for laboratories, offices, and support spaces. The JCI equipment also monitors security, fire, and central utilities provided from the campus systems and alarms are reported to the ISU campus security and/or building automation controls group. Roughly 20 years ago the ISU facilities group began replacing pneumatic systems and controls with JCI Direct Digital Controls (DDC) and NLAE pneumatic systems that failed were also upgraded to the current campus standard, which is now JCI Metasys operating on the Extended Architecture platform. The ISU building automation controls group provides automation service management for the NLAE automation systems and maintains the JCI system software on their servers. The NLAE building manager is authorized to assess to the campus BAS to monitor, trend, adjust building automation set-points in the NLAE building. The control programming for the building resides in a combination of local controllers and the JCI Metasys servers outside of the building, where it is also backed up. The building JCI controls are connected to the campus servers via a dedicated Ethernet connection. ISU maintains the expertise to manage and program the JCI Metasys EA system for all campus buildings (more than one hundred), including NLAE. Project Scope: At the completion of this project, all of the pneumatic controls in NLAE will have been converted to JCI Metasys control that will conform to the ISU standards for building automation, assuring USDA will retain the current relationship with ISU to monitor and support the existing building automation systems in the building and to be able to provide back-up service without USDA purchasing additional hardware, software, and/or requirements to provide additional specialized training to USDA or ISU personnel. The programming and hardware for the project generally includes HVAC systems, including VAV box controllers, VFD controllers, pump controllers, thermostats humidistats, fume hood controls, fans for supply, return, exhaust, and heat recovery, steam actuators, chilled water control valves and chilled water control systems for plant growth and root (rhizotron) environmental growth chambers. All points will be programmed into the central campus building automation system and configured in accordance with the ISU Building Automation Standards. All hardware will be fully compatible with the ISU requirements. The building automation system costs, which are part of the overall contract, are estimated to be approximately twenty percent (20%) of the NLAE renovation project which has a magnitude of construction of over $10,000,000. The proposed construction at NLAE will be performed on an active research facility. THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY. Interested firms are invited to respond to this announcement by providing the following information: 1. Firm's name, address, point of contact, phone number, and e-mail address. 2. Firm's level of interest in competing on the solicitation when it is issued. 3. Firm's Business Size. 4. Firm's experience in providing DDC control panels and programming that is compatible with JCI. NO SOLICITATION EXISTS. THIS REQUEST IS INTENDED ONLY TO IDENTIFY SOURCES OF PROSPECTIVE BACS FIRMS. THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT INTERESTED IN THE AVAILABILITY OF CONTROL SYSTEM INSTALLATION FIRMS. THE BACS REQUIREMENT OF THE RENOVATION PROJECT IS NOT SEVERABLE AND THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT INTENDING TO SOLICIT SEPERATELY. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this sources sought announcement. The deadline to respond to this notice is November 24, 2016, 3:00 pm Eastern. No site visits to the facility are permitted. Requested information shall be limited to no more than 5 pages. Interested firms are instructed to submit written responses by e-mail to Angela.Wingert@ars.usda.gov, and Michael.Thompson@ars.usda.gov. NO HARD COPY OR FACSIMILE SUBMISSION WILL BE ACCEPTED. Cover letters and extraneous materials (brochures, etc) will not be considered. No reimbursement will be made for any cost associated with providing information in response to this announcement or any follow-up information provided. All interested sources must respond to future solicitation announcements separately from responses to this market survey.