SOLICITATION NOTICE
69 -- Renewable Energy Licensing Opportunities
- Notice Date
- 2/27/2013
- Notice Type
- Fair Opportunity / Limited Sources Justification
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of Energy, Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC (DOE Contractor), National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado, 80401
- ZIP Code
- 80401
- Solicitation Number
- TTO-jan-2009
- Point of Contact
- Luigi Gentile Polese, Phone: 303-275-4362
- E-Mail Address
-
luigi.gentile.polese@nrel.gov
(luigi.gentile.polese@nrel.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Award Number
- TTO-Feb-2013
- Award Date
- 2/27/2013
- Description
- The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is seeking proposals from qualified organizations and/or higher education institutions to provide: 1. Instructor-led training on the use of the OpenStudio whole-building energy modeling software and SDK. 2. User and technical support to OpenStudio users. NREL shall provide OpenStudio training modules and material to the appointed training organization(s) under a license agreement. NREL intends to award license agreements resulting from this solicitation to the most qualified proposals based on the criteria stated herein. Such license will be made available without charge to selected higher education institutions who intend to offer the training program in connection with a course for which college or university credit is available. All other organizations will be required to pay an annual upfront fee of US$2,500. Authorized OpenStudio trainers will be selected pursuant to the process described in this Announcement and will have access to detailed training curriculums developed by the NREL under the terms of the license agreement. The curriculum will be broken down into a series of modules allowing trainers to customize the training to the needs and experience level of the audience, as well as the time available for the class. Each module will have a detailed agenda, step by step instructions, and sample files. Some modules may also have a PowerPoint presentation that can be used to introduce an exercise. NREL will update the training material as new OpenStudio releases are issued and as funding permits. Trainers will be able to offer attendees Continuing Education Units (CEU) from participating organizations such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Illuminating Engineers Society (IES). Trainers will attend a "Train the Trainers" workshop upon becoming an authorized OpenStudio training organization. Trainers will have direct access to the OpenStudio development team for support (both for training and for technical support) and to provide feedback on features and workflows. A few times a year, as appropriate, NREL will preview new or up-coming features to the authorized trainers via a webinar. NREL may list authorized training organizations on the OpenStudio website, to make it easier for trainers and users to find each other. This Announcement constitutes the only solicitation; electronic proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. NREL reserves the right to issue more than one RFQ and to award more than one training or technical support organization. The license agreement(s) will renew annually, pending NREL assessment and periodic review of the training organization performance and qualifications. Such agreements may be terminated at any time by the training or technical support organization or by NREL for failure to comply with negotiated performance obligations. Such obligations may include, without limitation, a training evaluation form to be completed by training participants upon completion of the course and provided to NREL, maintenance of certain training qualifications during the term of the license and a commitment to refer requests for bug-fixes made by OpenStudio users to NREL. In addition, NREL may solicit additional training organizations at any time to replace or increase existing training needs to fulfill the OpenStudio software and SDK training or technical support needs. Eligibility The following are eligible to submit proposals: 1. Higher Education institutions, which offer for-credit College or Masters/Ph.D. program courses and that plan to include OpenStudio in their course material. 2. Other businesses who plan on adding to their business either Instructor-led training on the use of OpenStudio and its SDK, or user and technical support service to OpenStudio users. Either non-profit or for-profit organizations are eligible. In the case of a private entity, the entity shall be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the US. Proposals submitted by individuals are not eligible and will not be considered. Proposal Content and Evaluation Criteria Higher Education Institutions Respondents are required to submit: 1. Name and contact information, including mailing and street address, telephone number, and email address. 2. Brief capabilities statement, not to exceed 10 pages, single-spaced, 11 point font. This should include a description of the educational institution's qualifications and experience with respect to teaching training programs of this type, including any past or current training certifications held by the instructors. The capabilities statement should outline the plan for the development of OpenStudio computer or web-based training modules as part of the course(s), and include a description of the plan for incorporating the training program into the institution's curriculum, a description of the student audience to whom it will be offered, name of the course(s) it will be offered with, how the course would be delivered, the frequency of the course offering, the geographic locations where the course would be taught, the mechanism for registering students, a description of the overall course within which the training would be provided and the qualifications of the instructor. Also included should be a description of the institution's plans to modify or customize the training material, if any. The institution shall also describe how it will collect the training evaluation forms from training participants and refer requests for bug fixes or improvements from the students/users or instructors. NREL shall use the following criteria to evaluate offers received from higher education institutions: 1. Ability to provide quality, hands-on training of OpenStudio and associated SDK by qualified instructors as part of course offerings at the higher education institution. 2. Instructor experience in delivering training programs of this type. 3. Delivery - ability to meet student/user demand on training, delivery media, delivery contents and exercises, and delivery schedules. Other Businesses Respondents are required to submit: 1. Name and contact information, including mailing and street address, telephone number, and email address. 2. A statement indicating whether the business intends to provide OpenStudio training, OpenStudio technical support, or both services. 3. Brief capabilities statement, not to exceed 15 pages in 11 point font. The statement should outline the plan for development of OpenStudio computer or web-based training modules and how they would be delivered, and an outline of the plan for the development of the OpenStudio user and technical support service, including organizational model on how the support business model would be implemented. The statement shall include a description of the organization's qualifications and experience with regard to presenting training programs of this type, including any training certifications held by the instructors. A business plan addressing the strategy the organization will employ to market the training and provide user and technical support shall also be included. The marketing strategy shall include: the elements of the marketing plan, a description of the media in which the course shall be advertised, the mechanism used and frequency of such advertisements as well as their geographic reach, and an estimate of the marketing budget for such activities. Also included should be a description of the organization's plans to modify or customize the training, if any. The organization shall also describe how it will collect the training evaluation forms from training participants and refer request for bug fixes from users. For organizations proposing OpenStudio technical support services, the statement shall include a description of the business qualifications and experience with respect to technical support programs of this type. 4. References from at least 2 customers with whom the company has had a training relationship (please specify duration and scope of the relationships). 5. References from at least 2 customers with whom the company has had an established user or technical support relationship (if the organization is proposing technical support). Please specify durations and scope, and disclose gross revenue from the relationships, if any. 6. Supporting documentation for any certifications described in the capabilities statement. The entire proposal, including statement of capabilities, references and any other attachments shall not exceed 25 pages in length. Respondents should address capabilities as it relates to the evaluation factors in the capabilities statement. NREL shall use the following criteria to evaluate offers received from other businesses: For OpenStudio training: 1. Ability to provide quality, hands-on training of OpenStudio and associated SDK by qualified instructors. 2. Experience and reputation in delivering training programs of this type. 3. Training delivery - ability to meet demand on training, delivery media, delivery contents and exercises/application material, and adapting to delivery schedules/demands. For OpenStudio technical support: 1. Ability to provide quality, user-friendly customer support on technical issues. 2. Experience and reputation in customer support. 3. Technical expertise in quickly understanding and resolving software or configuration issues. 4. Ability to deal with difficult users, address software changes requests and follow-up with users on issues that require software changes in OpenStudio. It is expected that a business would provide both training and technical support. Places of delivery of the training or technical support Place of delivery will vary and may be at the user/customer location, at the training organization's facility or technical support facility location, or via web/webconference/teleconference/telephone/webinar. Submissions Deadline Unless communicated otherwise, proposals are accepted on a rolling basis until January 30, 2014 and shall be submitted electronically to: Luigi Gentile Polese at Luigi.Gentile.Polese@nrel.gov. Respondents will be notified as to whether their proposal was selected within 20 business days after submission. This solicitation shall not be construed as a commitment of any kind. Incomplete submissions may not be considered. NREL will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to or performing obligations pursuant to this RFQ. Respondents are expected to bear the full cost of responding to this RFQ and providing any training or technical support services. Respondents are advised that NREL is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFQ. Reponses to this RFQ do not bind NREL to any further actions related to this topic.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOE/NREL/NR/TTO-jan-2009/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Place of delivery will vary and may be at the user/customer location, at the training organization’s facility or technical support facility location, or via web/webconference/teleconference/telephone/webinar., United States
- Record
- SN02997497-W 20130301/130227234728-bbae6db5465c03b0dd92601b6f200e83 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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