P03_Signed_Sole_Source_Justification_-_Chillers_36C24419R0018___11-08-18.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Justification and Approval For

Other Than Full and Open Competition

1. Contracting Activity: The activity for this requirement is the Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), Lebanon VA Medical Center, Located at 1700, South Lincoln Ave, Lebanon, PA 17042. The contract is being administered by Network Contracting Office 4 (NC04). This is a Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition Brand Name Only for Centrifugal Chillers and Controls — Trane which is a major portion of the construction materials requested on NRM Project No. 595-15-203, Replace Chillers.

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Processed: Request for other than full and open competition — use of brand name specification for the Replace Chillers construction project. Contractor shall furnish management, supervision, labor, transportation, equipment, and materials, and perform work to include general construction, alterations, mechanical and electrical work, and certain other items as required by project drawings and specifications for Project No.

595-15-203 Replace Chillers. This acquisition is fixed-firm price.

3. Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet the Agency's Needs: Centrifugal Chillers and Controls — Trane — see Specification Section 23 64 00: Packaged Water Chillers and 23 09 23: Direct Digital Control System for HVAC. Estimated value - $1,930,105.

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and Open Competition: 41 USC §253(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1.

(X) (1) Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements per FAR 6.302-1;

( ) (2) Unusual and Compelling Urgency per FAR 6.302-2;

( ) (3) Industrial Mobilization, Engineering, Developmental or Research Capability or Expert Services per FAR 6.302-3;

( ) (4) International Agreement per FAR 6.302-4 ( ) (5) Authorized or Required by Statute FAR 6.302-5;

( ) (6) National Security per FAR 6.302-6;

( ) (7) Public Interest per FAR 6.302-7;

5. Demonstration that the Contractor's Unique Qualifications or Nature of the Acquisition Requires the Use of the Authority Cited Above (applicability of authority): The Central Utility Plant and, more specifically, the facility chilled water system is a major, highly specialized system that includes chillers, associated mechanical and piping components inside the plant, electrical infrastructure, cooling towers, a thermal storage system located 800 feet away from the plant and over

1.5 miles of 10-12 inch diameter distribution piping and associated booster pumps. This system supports 11 major buildings, including the seven-story hospital building, two-five story clinical buildings and three-three story administrative facilities. Replacing the existing Trane Chillers with new Trane Chillers is in the Government’s best interest. The substantial duplication of costs involved in changing the manufacturer of the chiller from Trane (as outlined below) is not expected to be recovered through competing the manufacturer of the chillers. In addition, the Trane Chillers will seamlessly fit into the existing system. Changing manufacturers will increase the cooling system downtime (the cooling system is used year around) providing unacceptable delays in fulfilling requirements to see and treat patients in the hospital.

Replacing the existing Trane Chillers with new Trane Chillers is very close to plug and play, avoiding the substantial duplication of costs of conducting a major replacement and reconfiguration of the chilled water piping system, major alterations to the electrical system and extensive reconstruction of the floor to accommodate different weights and centers of gravity which would be required with any other manufacturer. These additional costs were not accounted for in the construction budget and these changes, which would generate unacceptable delays because they would have to be made with one of the two chillers out of service, greatly increase the amount of time that the hospital has inadequate cooling to meet its patient requirements. To compensate for the additional chiller down time, a back-up chiller rental contract would be required and is not part of the original project budget.

The use of Trane controls seamlessly integrates into the current Trane Control system providing the level of control required to achieve the maximum reduction in utility costs for the cooling system by taking full advantage of the Trane controlled thermal storage plant. A third-party supplier would not be able to guarantee the same performance (e.g. reduced efficiency and loss of current function) and two separate systems would generate a requirement to have twice as many service contracts, twice as many software/system upgrades and at least twice as many service calls. This would generate substantial duplication of costs and unacceptable delays in patient service by increasing the down-time for the system that provides cooling to the entire campus including the ORs, Emergency Department and in-patient nursing units.

Additionally, utilizing Trane chillers avoids substantial duplication of costs by preserving the investment in spare parts and training for maintenance personnel. It also avoids future conflicts between one factory authorized service contractor maintaining the rest of the system (cooling towers, central system controls, thermal storage plant) and a different factory authorized service contractor maintaining only the chillers.

6. Description of Efforts Made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as deemed practicable: A Notice of Intent to Sole Source Centrifugal Chillers and Controls– Trane will be posted on FedBizOpps with the solicitation. Offerors will be able to obtain Trane Chillers and controls from various distributors and sources available in the open market.

7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable: Based on the information above, it is hereby determined that this justification for brand name Trane Centrifugal Chillers and Controls is essential to the Government's requirements, and market research indicates other companies' similar products, or products lacking the particular feature, do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet the agency's needs. Therefore, these products will be specified as a brand name for this construction project as only these products meet the Government's needs. This procurement is an RFP, resulting in a firm-fixed price contract award. IAW FAR 15.308, the Source Selection Authority’s decision shall be based on all source selection criteria in the solicitation and shall document the rational for any business judgements and trade-offs made. The A/E for this contract prepared an independent cost estimate which may be used as part of the contracting officer’s fair and reasonable determination. The A/E is a specialty MEP A/E firm and pricing for this item is based on their experience and current market conditions. The overall contract award price shall be determined fair and reasonable based on competition and will include the price of the Trane chillers.

8. Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results, or a Statement of the Reasons Market Research Was Not Conducted: The COR examined manufacturer’s literature from three different major manufacturers (Trane, York, Carrier) and found that while there were many operational similarities between the products, the piping, electrical and size/weight configurations were unique to each manufacturer. Using a chiller from York or Carrier would result in a large increase in costs due to necessary reconfiguration of the chilled water piping system, major alterations to the electrical system and extensive reconstruction of the floor to accommodate different weights and centers of gravity. These additional costs were not accounted for in the construction budget; moreover, this would be a substantial duplication of costs that cannot be recovered. In addition, making these changes to use York or Carrier would increase the amount of time that half of the hospital’s cooling capacity is out of service, resulting in an additional contracting action and additional un-budgeted cost to bring in a back-up chiller during these two windows of vulnerability.

9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other than Full and Open Competition: All the specifications and drawings and engineering descriptions associated with Project #595-15-203 were based on replacing Trane Chillers in kind with Trane Chillers. Other chillers, such as those manufactured by York and Carrier have incompatible piping inlet/outlet configurations, wiring configurations and control configurations and will not be able to be quickly swapped out with the existing Trane chillers. This will result in increased down time and impacts on patient care, and the need to procure and pay the un-budgeted costs of a back-up chiller.

10. Listing of Sources that Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition: See Section 6 above.

11. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome any Barriers to Competition before Making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required: In the future if there is a requirement to replace the entire facility cooling system, that requirement would be competed.

12. Requirements Certification: I certify that the requirement outlined in this justification is a Bona Fide Need of the Department of Veterans Affairs and that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Richard D. McAlevy Date Assistant Chief Engineer Lebanon VA Medical Center

Richard D. McAlevy 364649 Digitally signed by Richard D. McAlevy 364649 Date: 2018.10.19 07:45:29 -04'00'

13. Approvals in accordance with FAR 6.304 Contracting Officer's Certification (required): I certify that the foregoing justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Don Kalivoda Date Contracting Officer, Construction-West Network Contracting Office 4

14. Supervisor Concurrence: I certify the justification meets requirements for other than full and open competition.

Dianne E. Smith Date Division Chief, Construction Network Contracting Office 4

15. Director of Contracting: I certify the justification meets requirements for other than full and open competition.

Benjamin P. Iachini Date Director of Contracting – NCO 4

16. VHA SAO HCA Review and Approval: I have reviewed the foregoing justification and find it to be complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief and approve for other than full and open competition.

Brent Goe Date Acting Executive Director, SAO East

Donald J Kalivoda 252427

Digitally signed by Donald J Kalivoda 252427 Date: 2018.10.19 08:14:18 -04'00'

VHAPTHIachiB Typewritten Text 10/25/2018