Updated RFI questions.docx

RFI Questions for Chiller Plant Upgrade

1. Please confirm the Government intended on including a ten (10) year service agreement in the specification for the new chiller (re: 23 64 00 1.6). This would result in the construction contract between the Government and Contractor to remain open for ten (10) years. Not to mention the contractor would need to have a bond open for ten (10) years, builders risk policy open for ten (10) years, etc. 23 64 00 1.6-A also states “…no cost to owner for service or repair on the chillers…”. Does this mean the Government wants the Contractor to handle all warranty for labor/parts for the VSD, compressor, and motor as well? The Contractor will not be operating the chiller. The Government is also assuming that many of the GC’s bidding this project will still be in business in ten (10) years…We formally request this be removed from spec. If the Government absolutely must include this requirement, we ask that the Government request breakout pricing (via CLIN) for this portion of the project. Many GCs are not setup to be service companies.

The 10 year service agreement and 10 parts and labor warranty are provided by the chiller manufacturer not the GC. The agreement will be between the chiller manufacture and the Government.

2. Section 236400 paragraph 1.8.B.1c indicates that the submittals are to provide efficiency and part load data down to 25% at full load. In paragraph 2.2.C, it requires performance turndown to 10%. Please clarify which percent turndown should be adhered to.

Chiller should be able to unload to 10% of design tonnage with constant entering water temperature.

3. Section 236400 paragraph 1.8.E indicates that a product certificate is required to demonstrate chillers furnished comply with AHRI requirements. Please clarify if it is a requirement that quoted chillers shall be rated in accordance with AHRI 550/590 and bear a symbol verifying compliance or if chillers are to have a factory operational performance test to demonstrate compliance with stated capacity and efficiency.

Chiller shall bear the AHRI Certification label.

4. Section 236400 paragraph 1.8.E does not permit open drive motors. If sufficient evidence can demonstrate a chiller’s compressor and motor designs with open drive assembly are reliable and do not have concern of refrigerant and oil leakage at the mechanical shaft seal, would an open drive motor be acceptable?

Open drive chillers are not acceptable due to the additional heat load to the chiller plant, and the potential for refrigerant and oil leakage associated with the mechanical shaft seal and the coupling between an open motor and the compressor.

5. Section 236400 paragraph 2.2C indicates that the minimum unloading point with constant entering condenser water temperature should be demonstrated at the time of the factory performance test. There is no other indication of factory performance test indicated in the specifications. Please clarify if a factory performance test is required for this project.

A factory performance test is required per the following requirements:

0. A customer witness test is required for this project. The owner or his representative shall be notified 14 days in advance to witness the factory performance test at the factory. The manufacturer shall cover all costs for 5 representatives, determined by the ownwer, to attend the test. This shall include flights and hotels for the test.

0. One chiller shall be factory performance tested with the proposed refrigerant under full-load conditions in an AHRI certified test facility. The manufacturer shall supply a certified test report to confirm performance as specified. Proper AHRI certification documents for the manufacturer's test loop shall be made available for inspection upon request.

0. The factory test instrumentation shall be per AHRI Standard 550/590, and the calibration of all instrumentation shall be traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, formerly NBS).

0. The test conditions shall be:

3. 100% capacity at 85F EST

3. 50% capacity that 75% EWT

3. 10% capacity at 85F EWT

3. 4% capacity at 65F EST

0. The performance test shall be run with clean tubes in accordance with AHRI 550/590 to include the following:

4. A downward temperature adjustment per AHRI 550/590 shall be made to the design leaving evaporator water temperature to adjust from the design fouling to the clean tube condition.

4. An upward temperature adjustment per AHRI 550/590 shall be made to the design entering condenser water temperature to adjust from the design fouling to the clean tube condition.

4. There shall be no exceptions to conducting the performance test with clean tubes and with temperature adjustments in (1) and (2). The manufacturer shall clean tubes, if necessary, prior to test to obtain a test fouling factor of .0000 h¿ft²¿°F/Btu.

0. VERIFICATION TEST OF CHILLER CAPACITY AND EFFICIENCY AT STANDARD AHRI TOLERANCE

1. The chiller shall be witness tested in the manufacturer's factory on an AHRI certified test loop. The chiller must be tested with AHRI tolerances, unless otherwise specified. The AHRI tolerances are described in the latest version of AHRI Standard 550/590. The performance test points shall be as follows:

1. A certified test report of all data shall be submitted to the Contracting Officer prior to completion of the project. The factory certified test report shall be signed by an officer of the manufacturer's company.

1. The equipment will be accepted if the test is conducted in conformance with AHRI Standard 550/590 procedures and the proposed tolerances are met.

1. If the equipment fails to perform within proposed tolerances, the manufacturer will be allowed to make necessary revisions to their equipment and retest as required, at their own expense.

1. In the event that these revisions do not achieve submitted performance, the following penalties will be imposed:

4. CAPACITY PENALTY: For each ton below the allowable capacity, $1000 per ton will be deducted from the contract price.*Allowable capacity = [(1 - tolerance) x design capacity].

4. POWER CONSUMPTION PENALTY: All load points and the Power Consumption Penalty (P.C.P.) shall be based upon the tolerances specified above. The P.C.P. shall be calculated based upon the following formula: P.C.P. = [Measured kW - (Measured tons x ALLOWABLE kW/ton*)] x $2000/kW.*Allowable kW/ton = [(1 + tolerance) x design kW/ton].

4. TOTAL PERFORMANCE PENALTY: The total performance penalty will be the sum of the CAPACITY PENALTY AND THE POWER CONSUMPTION PENALTY times the number of typical chillers, regardless if tested.

4. Equipment manufacturer shall not invoice for the chillers(s) until successful completion of the performance test or acceptance of penalty deduction from the contract.

6. Section 236400 paragraph 2.2.G does not permit chillers that operate with greater than 10,000 RPM compressor speeds. If a chiller manufacturer can demonstrate acceptable reliability and service life with a compressor operating over 10,000 RPM for 20 years, would a chiller with operating speeds greater than 10,000 RPM be acceptable?

Manufacturers with speed increasing transmissions shall not exceed 10,000 RPM compressor speeds.

7. Section 236400 paragraph 2.5.C only permits the use of fixed orifice plates to control refrigerant flow. Can a variable orifice be used for refrigerant flow control in lieu of a fixed orifice plate?

yes

8. Section 236400 paragraph 2.7.D requires a touch sensitive LCD display with the chiller. Please clarify if a chiller control panel that is stationary (cannot be moved) and has a color and animated graphical display is acceptable.

Yes

9. Section 236400 paragraph 2.6.M requires the chiller controller to provide leaving water temperature reset based on return water temperature. Please clarify if this could be done by the BAS in lieu of a function in the chiller controller.

As required by paragraph 2.7M, The chiller control panel shall provide leaving chilled water temperature reset based upon return water temperature. This is required so the chiller is capable of performing the reset standalone upon the loss of BAS control.

10. Section 236400 paragraph 2.6.T requires the chiller to have evaporator differential flow sensors to use for measuring the chiller flow. The project documents include a Badger flow meter in the BAS scope so it seems possible that this requirement might be redundant. Is it acceptable to omit this requirement from the project?

Chiller shall have factory installed flow sensors.

11. Section 236400 paragraph 2.6.U requires parameters to be displayed on the chiller control display. If the flow meter is provided external to the chiller, please provide clarification for the necessity for the chiller control display to include these parameters.

Chiller shall display the flow readings from the factory installed flow sensors on the chiller control display.

12. Section 236400 paragraph 2.6.Y requires a relay to indicate when the chiller is operating at maximum capacity. It is acceptable to monitor this parameter through the BACnet interface instead of a hard-wired relay?

Yes

13. Section 236400 paragraph 2.6.Z requires a relay to indicate when the chiller is operating at maximum head pressure. It is acceptable to monitor this parameter through the BACnet interface instead of a hard-wired relay?

Yes

14. Section 236400 paragraph 2.6.AA requires an analog output signal to demonstrate the compressor motor current. It is acceptable to monitor this parameter through the BACnet interface instead of a hard-wired signal?

Yes

15. Section 236400 paragraph 2.6.BB requires an analog output signal to demonstrate the condenser pressure output signal. It is acceptable to monitor this parameter through the BACnet interface instead of a hard-wired signal?

Yes

16. Section 236400 paragraph 2.6.DD requires an analog output signal to demonstrate the chiller differential pressure output signal. It is acceptable to monitor this parameter through the BACnet interface instead of a hard-wired signal?

Yes

17. Section 236400 paragraph 2.8A references a unit mounted start delta starter. This requirement conflicts with paragraph 2.8B and the mechanical equipment schedule. Please clarify if the unit mounted variable speed drive is the preferred chiller starter.

Factory mounted variable speed drive is required per the mechanical equipment schedule.

18. The mechanical equipment schedule indicates a 12 degree delta T on the condenser and it corresponds to 2298 GPM. Can the existing condenser pump flow rate be verified through existing submittal data or balance report?

The specifications have section 130541 – Seismic Restraint Requirements for Non-Structural Components. Nowhere in the plans are any details concerning Seismic. What exactly will require seismic restraints?

Schedules are based on design conditions not operating conditions. Existing data and balance reports are not available.

19. Solicitation Page 8 of 84 states: "Submit one (1) original and electronic version on CD of Volume I, Technical Capability Proposal to include Technical Capability, Experience, Quality and Volume II Past Performance which shall include listed below table. Volume I!I, Price Proposal, shall be submitted as an MS Word document or PDF file. If PDF is furnished, then each Section submitted shall be separate file." Please advise if Volumes I and II are to be submitted together in the form of (1) original hard copy and (1) CD copy, and Volume III is to be submitted separately in the form of (1) CD copy only - that is to say no original hard copy submission of Volume III is required.

Please provide hard copy of Volume 1 and 2 and CD. Than also provide separate hard copy of Volume 3 and CD

20. Solicitation Page 17 of 84 states: "Offerors shall prepare and forward to prior client(s) for submission to Contracting Office EXHIBIT C PAST & PRESENT PERFORMANCE QUESTIONNAIRE for all the projects listed by offeror and submitted using EXHIBIT B PAST PERFORMANCE RELEVANCY." We do now see a Past Performance Relevancy document in the solicitation package. Please confirm this is not a required document, and the only required document to be completed/submitted here is the Past & Present Performance Questionnaire.

The past performance questionnaire is only required.

21. Solicitation Page 17 of 84 states: "Provide completion of at least three (3) projects within the last 3 years ongoing or completed in direct performance of work similar in size, scope, magnitude and complexity to this requirement (prime and sub-contractors)." The 3 year timeline conflicts with the 5 year timeline for the projects featured under Subfactor 1 Experience. Please confirm if the PPQs submitted under Factor II Past Performance are to be for each of the projects featured under Subfactor 1 Experience, or if they are to be for different projects. If for the Subfactor 1 Experience projects, please confirm the 3 year timeline should actually read 5 years.

Please follow directions in the solicitation.

22. Solicitation Page 18 of 84 states: "CLIN Schedule, containing line item, total pricing, cost breakdown, sub-contractors & all disciplines on Price/Cost Schedule" and "Include an itemized cost estimate breakdown with your priced proposal (e.g. direct labor – sheet metal worker, engineer, direct material/equipment costs, demo, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, commissioning, other costs, overhead, G&A, profit and list discipline sub-contractors for each)". We see that a Division Cost Breakdown was included under Amendment 1. Please advise if this is the document the offeror is to complete to satisfy this requirement. If so, please advise if the offeror is to also list subcontractor names in the divisional breakout.

Please use the divisions sheet in the attachments and please provide subcontractor information as well.

23. The table on Solicitation Page 14 of 84 states: "FAR Provision 52.212-3 'Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items' to include: DUNS, CAGE, TAX ID, POC ,Email..." We did not see where this FAR Clause is mentioned/featured anywhere else in the solicitation. Please advise if this is indeed a submission item/requirement of the Price proposal, and what documentation the offeror should submit to satisfy this requirement.

We respectfully request that the government allow for the submission of CPARS in lieu of PPQs. Completed CPARS offer the government a verified view of the offeror's performance from individuals actively involved in the project. With the provided timeline for projects, we find that, in some cases, the representatives who were actively involved in the project are no longer able to provide completed PPQs to the government because they have either moved on to other agencies, or have retired. In other cases, the representatives will not complete PPQs if a CPARS evaluation already exists.

24. Can you get clarification on the spec item below. Are you looking at GWP (global warming potential) or ODP (Ozone Depletion Potential). Is R-513A or R-134A an acceptable refrigerant.

Refrigerants shall meet ODP and GWP limits. Examples of acceptable refrigerants include R-514A and R-1233zd.

25. Why is the chiller plant mechanical room listed as a class 4 ICRA. From our understanding this should be a 1 or at maximum a class 2. Please review as the electrical room is listed as a class 2. This is on page GC101.

Class 4 was a mistake. Both rooms should be shown as class 2 ICRA.

26. Who are the DDC controls contractors that are allowed to price this project?

DDC controls systems are Siemens and Trane

27. What vendor has the current DDC controls in this facility?

Existing DDC controls systems on campus are Siemens and Trane

28. Will other brand chillers with different types of refrigerants be allowed to be utilized instead of the specified Trane Chiller?

Chillers that meet all requirements included on the drawings and the in the specifications further clarified by RFI responses are allowed.

29. Are any extended warranties or maintenance agreements required to be provided for the chiller other than the standard 1 year contractor warranty?

Refer to warranty requirements in specifications

30. Is NUPI Polypropylene pipe acceptable for chilled water and condenser water piping?

no

31. Grooved connections are required on the water box connections for the new chiller, but grooved pipe and fittings are not allowed in the specification. Please clarify if groove pipe and fittings are allowed.

Grooved pipe and fittings are not allowed.

32. Is standard wall pipe allowed for 14” and larger piping instead of schedule 40?

Chilled water piping shall be per specification.

33. Please provide drawings of the new refrigerant monitoring system that will be required for the different type of refrigerant in the new chiller.

Refrigerant monitor must be compatible with all existing chiller refrigerants and the new chiller provided under this contract, equal to BACHARCH Multi-Zone (Tube) Refrigerant Monitor.

34. Can the site superintendent also preform the roles of quality control manager and site safety officer?

35. Will any work have to be performed on off hours or on weekends? Based on schedule and if required to meet schedule.

36. Will a temporary chiller be required for this project while the chiller is being changed out? A separate requirement will provide temp chiller.

37. Please provide the CAD and REVIT drawings on this project. Will provide what is required.

38. Where will the contractors laydown area be? Outside the chiller plant.

39. Will the contractor be allowed to have an office trailer on site? If office trailer is required size of trailer varies location.

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