R799--Energy, Environment and Fleet Program Service (EEF) IDIQ COR: Ben Carlson
Description
This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6, Streamlined Procedures for Evaluation and Solicitation for Commercial Items, and FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested, and a separate written solicitation document will not be issued.
This solicitation is a Request for Quote (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular [FAC 2005-95, effective 19 Jan 2017].
The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541611, with a small business size standard of $16.5 million.
The purpose of this solicitation is to select a contractor to provide all resources necessary to accomplish the deliverables described for this IDIQ and Initial Task Order. EEF is establishing this IDIQ to support a broad range of sustainability-related initiatives related to energy and water, environment, fleet, sustainable buildings, and climate change adaptation.
The contractor shall provide all resources necessary to accomplish the potential deliverables described in this Performance Work Statement (PWS). The contractor shall be responsible for the following:
Complete assessments of VA buildings for sustainable buildings certifications through site visits.
Complete a climate vulnerability assessment of VA s most critical infrastructure using scientific data to determine potential future exposure and gathering facility information to determine infrastructure sensitivity.
Gather sustainability-related data, through internal and external systems and contacts, conduct data analysis, and write reports with findings and recommendations.
Develop training and outreach information on sustainability-related topics.
Develop comprehensive outreach and education plan for employee climate change literacy across the agency.
Review and develop recommendations for achieving alignment between the agency sustainability plan, the capital planning process, and agency energy and sustainability-related directives.
Conduct a five-year review of VA s Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Utility Energy Savings Contracts (UESC), including reviewing contract and project documents, completing questions on contract oversight and project management, verifying information with points of contact, and completing a final report.
Update VA s environmental justice strategy and action plan, including facilitating internal discussions, reviewing other agency strategies, and assessing potential projects.
Support development of strategies, plans or related materials to electrify VA s fleet of vehicles.
Support analytical, administrative or strategic planning related to energy and water, environment, fleet, sustainable buildings or climate change adaptation, as needed.
Offerors will provide a proposal to support both the IDIQ and the initial Task Order included in this solicitation. Please see Attachment 1 Performance Work Statement Part A and Attachment 2 Performance Work Statement Part B for project details. PWS Part A describes the IDIQ and Part B details the initial Task Order. The initial Task Order for the project will also be solicited simultaneously with the IDIQ solicitation.
This is a new contract and these services have not been provided previously.
Evaluation of Offers
In accordance with FAR Part 12 and Part 13, the Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible Quoter whose quote conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The Technical Evaluation and Past Performance factors, when combined, are significantly more important than cost or price. The evaluation factors are:
1) Technical Evaluation The evaluation process will consider whether the proposal demonstrates a clear understanding of the technical features involved in meeting the requirements of the solicitation.
2) Past Performance The Vendor s quote must include a summary description of at least three but no more than five prior contracts/orders per team member/sub-contractor for projects completed within the last five years with organizations with similar mission and functional domains, and of comparable size, complexity and scope. These references must also include:
Contract/Order Number, brief description of the project, type of contract, amount of the contract
Contracting Officer s Name and Phone Number, Government agency
Contracting Officer s Representative Name and Phone Number
The contractor must indicate whether they were the prime contractor, sub-contractor or other teaming arrangement. Prime shall indicate which aspect they are directly responsible for of this requirement.
The Offeror is required to provide references for the above projects. In the event the company itself does not have relevant past performance, references may be submitted on contracts performed by the Key Personnel of the company. The VA reserves the right to contact all the references that the Offeror lists.
3) Price The contractor s quote shall include their proposed labor categories, rates and number of hours by task, together with associated delivery dates and sub milestone dates (if any). The Government will evaluate offers based on these factors and by adding all line item prices from the Pricing Schedule - the Total of All LINS will be that sum.
Evaluation Approach
A. All quotes shall be subject to evaluation by Government personnel. The Government intends to award without discussions based upon the initial evaluation of quotes. However, it may be determined necessary to conduct discussions if award cannot be made on the initial quotes submitted.
B. All Offerors are advised that, in the interest of efficiency, the Government reserves the right to conduct the evaluation in the most effective manner. The Government reserves the right to evaluate all Offerors technical quotes should it desire to conduct discussions, or otherwise determine it to be in the Government s best interest.
C. The quote will be evaluated strictly in accordance with its written content. Quotes which merely restate the requirement or state that the requirement will be met, without providing supporting rationale, are not sufficient. Offerors who fail to meet the minimum requirements of the solicitation will be rated Unacceptable and thus, ineligible for award.
D. Unbalanced Pricing - The Government may evaluate whether the Offeror has submitted unbalanced pricing. An unbalanced price is one where the price of one or more contract line items is significantly overstated or understated and which will result in the Government paying an unreasonably high price for contract performance or otherwise present an unacceptable level of risk to the Government. If the Contracting Officer determines that the risk is unacceptable, then the bid or offer can be rejected.
The full text of FAR provisions or clauses may be accessed electronically at http://acquisition.gov/comp/far/index.html.
The following solicitation provisions apply to this acquisition
1 52.204-7 SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (OCT 2018) ALTERNATE I (JUL 2013)
2. 52.209-5 REPRESENTATION BY CORPORATIONS REGARDING AN UNPAID TAX LIABILITY OR A FELONY CONVICTION UNDER ANY FEDERAL LAW (DEVIATION) (MAR 2012)
3. 52.209-7 INFORMATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (JUL 2013)
4. 52.216-1 TYPE OF CONTRACT (APR 1984)
5. 52.216-28 MULTIPLE AWARDS FOR ADVISORY AND ASSISTANCE SERVICES (OCT 1995)
6. 52.219-1 SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM REPRESENTATIONS (OCT 2015) ALTERNATE I (SEP 2015)
7. 52.233-2 SERVICE OF PROTEST (SEP 2006)
8. VAAR 852.209-70 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST (JAN 2008)
9. VAAR 852.233-70 PROTEST CONTENT/ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (JAN 2008)
10. VAAR 852.233-71 ALTERNATE PROTEST PROCEDURE (JAN 1998)
11. 52.212-3 OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS COMMERCIAL ITEMS (APR 2016
12. 52.252-1 SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (FEB 1998)
13. 52.212-2 EVALUATION COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 2014)
Offerors must complete annual representations and certifications on-line at http://orca.bpn.gov in accordance with FAR 52.212-3, Offerors Representations and Certifications Commercial Items. If paragraph (j) of the provision is applicable, a written submission is required.
The following contract clauses apply to this acquisition:
1. 52.203-16 PREVENTING PERSONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST (DEC 2011)
2. 52.203-19 PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTING WITH ENTITIES THAT REQUIRE CERTAIN INTERNAL CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS (DEVIATION) (FEB 2015)
3. 52.204-4 PRINTED OR COPIED DOUBLE-SIDED ON POSTCONSUMER FIBER CONTENT PAPER (MAY 2011)
4. 52.204-9 PERSONAL IDENTITY VERIFICATION OF CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL (JAN 2011)
5. 52.204-16 --COMMERCIAL AND GOVERNMENT ENTITY CODE REPORTING (JUL 2016)
6. 52.204-18 COMMERCIAL AND GOVERNMENT ENTITY CODE MAINTENANCE (JUL 2016)
7. 52.204-21 BASIC SAFEGUARDING OF COVERED CONTRACTOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS (JUN 2016)
8. 52.212-4 -- CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS -- COMMERCIAL ITEMS (JAN 2017)
9. 52.212-5 CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT STATUTES OR EXECUTIVE ORDERS--COMMERCIAL ITEMS
10. 52.216-18 ORDERING (OCT 1995)
11. 52.216-19 ORDER LIMITATIONS (OCT 1995)
12. 52.216-22 INDEFINITE QUANTITY (OCT 1995)
13. 52.217-8 - OPTION TO EXTEND SERVICES (NOV 1999)
14. 52.217-9 OPTION TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE CONTRACT (MAR 2000)
15. 52.219-28 POST-AWARD SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM REREPRESENTATION (JUL 2013)
16. 52.222-56 CERTIFICATION REGARDING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS COMPLIANCE PLAN MAR 2015)
17. 52.223-10 WASTE REDUCTION PROGRAM (MAY 2011)
18. FAR 52.232-40 PROVIDING ACCELERATED PAYMENTS TO SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTORS (DEC 2013)
18. 52.224-1 PRIVACY ACT NOTIFICATION (APR 1984
19. 52.224-2 PRIVACY ACT (APR 1984)
20. VAAR 852.203-70 COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING (MAY 2018)
21. VAAR 852.215-71 EVALUATION FACTOR COMMITMENTS (DEC 2009)
22. VAAR 852.219-10 VA NOTICE OF TOTAL SERVICE-DISABLED VETERAN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS SET-ASIDE (JUL 2016) (DEVIATION)
23. VAAR 852.232-72 ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF PAYMENT REQUESTS (NOV 2012)
24. VAAR 852.237-70 CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITIES (APR 1984)
25. Addendum to FAR 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS--COMMERCIAL ITEMS
26. 52.223-99 Ensuring Adequate COVID-19 Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors
Submission of Quotes:
Quotes shall be received on or before the date January 21, 2022. All quotes shall be sent to the steven.mock@va.gov. Note: Quotes received after the due date shall not be considered.
Quotes shall be based on the documents issued in the solicitation.
Technical Questions:
Questions of a technical nature must be provided in writing and shall be submitted by the prospective offerors only via e-mail to: Steven.Mock@va.gov. The subject line must read: EEF IDIQ Technical Questions. Oral questions of a technical nature are not acceptable due to the possibility of misunderstanding or misinterpretation. THE CUT-OFF DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF QUESTIONS IS January 7, 2022 at 2:00 PM ET.
Amendments:
Amendments to this solicitation will be posted on SAM Opportunities. Copies of the amendments will NOT be individually mailed or sent via email. No other notification of amendments will be provided. Potential Offerors are advised that they are responsible for obtaining and acknowledging any amendments to the solicitation. Failure to acknowledge an amendment may result in your proposal being considered non-responsive or unacceptable.
System for Award Management (SAM):
Federal Acquisition Regulations require that federal contractors register in the SAM database at http://www.sam.gov and enter all mandatory information into the system. Award cannot be made until the contractor has registered. Offerors are encouraged to ensure that they are registered in SAM prior to submitting their quotation.
Restrictive or Proprietary Data
Contractors that include in their quotes data that they do not want disclosed to the public for any purpose, or used by the Government except for evaluation purposes shall:
(1) Mark the title page with the following legend:
This quote includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the Government and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed-in whole or in part-for any purpose other than to evaluate this quote. If, however, an Order is awarded to this Vendor as a result of-or in connection with-the submission of this data, the Government shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent provided in the resulting contract. This restriction does not limit the Government s right to use information contained in this data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in sheets [insert numbers or other identification of sheets]; and
(2) Mark each sheet of data it wishes to restrict with the following legend:
Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this quote.
(e) Use of Advisors
Contractors are advised that VA contractor personnel may assist the Government during the Government s evaluation of Quotes. These persons shall be authorized access to only those portions of the quote and discussions that are necessary to enable them to provide specific technical advice on specialized matters or on particular problems. These individuals will be required to protect the confidentiality of any specifically identified trade secrets and/or privileged or confidential commercial or financial information obtained because of their participation in this evaluation. They shall be expressly prohibited from scoring, ranking or recommending the selection of a Vendor.
All offerors shall submit the following:
Quote Preparation Costs:
The Contracting Officer is the only individual legally authorized to commit the Government to the expenditure of public funds in connection with this procurement. The solicitation does not commit the Government to pay any costs for the preparation and submission of an offer in response to this solicitation.
(a) Quote Format:
(1) General:
The submission shall be clearly indexed and logically assembled. Each volume (3) shall be clearly identified and shall begin at the top of a page. All pages of each volume shall be appropriately numbered and identified by the complete company name, date and solicitation number in the header and/or footer. All files will be submitted as specified below. Page size shall be no greater than 8 1/2" x 11". The top, bottom, left and right margins shall be a minimum of one inch each. Font size shall be no smaller than 12-point. Arial font is required. Characters shall be set at no less than normal spacing and 100% scale. Tables and illustrations may use a reduced font size not less than 8-point and may be landscape. Line spacing shall be set at no less than single space. Each paragraph shall be separated by at least one blank line. Page numbers, company logos, and headers and footers may be within the page margins ONLY, and are not bound by the 12-point font requirement. Footnotes to text shall not be used. The use of hyperlinks or embedded attachments within the proposal is prohibited. The written quote including title page, detailed table of contents, preface, for Volume I - Technical shall not exceed a total of 50 pages in Arial size 12 font. Past Performance will be included in Volume I. Volume II - Pricing shall not exceed a total of 20 pages in Arial size 12 font. Use graphic presentations where such use will contribute to the compactness and clarity of the quote. Each volume shall be a separate file.
2) File Packaging:
The proposal files shall be submitted individually using the naming convention identified below. The total file size for Volumes I Technical & Volume II Pricing combined is 4MB.
(3) Content Requirements:
All information shall be confined to the appropriate volume. File naming shall appear as: Volume I Technical , Volume II Pricing , Volume III Certifications - without exception. Proposals named or packaged in any other manner may be deemed unacceptable. The file type requirements for each volume are shown in the below:
(a) Volume I - Technical Requirement (will include Past Performance) Page limitation - None (Volumes I & II file size combined shall not be more than 4MB) File type Word or PDF. Technical evaluation will be on both the full IDIQ and the initial tasks order.
(b) Volume II Pricing Requirement Page limitation - None (Volumes I & II file size combined should not be more than 4MB) File type Word, Excel or PDF. At a minimum, the actual pricing requirement submission will include a five-year IDIQ Labor Category and Rate Schedule in addition to completing the attached Firm Fixed Price Schedule for the initial task order.
(c)       Volume III Certifications - Solicitation, Offer and Award Documents and Certifications/Representations:  Solicitation, Amendments, Offer, Award Documents and complete FAR 52.209-5 and 52.209-7 Page limitation None File Type PDF. A short narrative identifying the solicitation and amendments is acceptable because Opportunities does not contain forms. Volume III shall include a copy of your current Reps & Certs available on SAM.
This is an open-market combined synopsis/solicitation for services as defined herein.  The government intends to award a contract as a result of this combined synopsis/solicitation that will include the terms and conditions set forth herein.
To facilitate the award process, all quotes must include a statement regarding the terms and conditions herein as follows:
"The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document without modification, deletion, or addition."
OR
"The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document with the exception, deletion, or addition of the following:"
Offeror shall list exception(s) and rationale for the exception(s).
Offeror shall list exception(s) and rationale for the exception(s).
Point of Contact
Any questions or concerns regarding this solicitation should be forwarded in writing via e-mail to the Contract Specialist, Steve Mock at steven.mock@va.gov.
36C77622Q0093 Department of Veterans Affairs Technology Acquisition Center Austin
12/30/21, 8:30 AM