Amendment 1 Vendor Q&A RFP EFAA 27-17 Small & Medium Bldg Initiative.pdf

RFP 27-17

Small & Medium Building Initiative Vendor Questions & Answers

Question 1:

Do you expect an energy audit or baseline assessment (such as an ASHRAE Level 1 or

Level 2 audit) to serve as the starting point for each building? If so, would you prefer the awarded team to perform those assessments, or should participation be prioritized for buildings that already have recent audit or benchmarking data?

Answer 1: CEO anticipates that most, if not all, projects will start with some form of energy audit or assessment to evaluate measures with the highest potential energy savings. Whether or not an audit has been completed by a potential participant prior to the beginning of the pilot should not affect their ability to participate in the pilot, and the awarded offeror should be capable of performing an audit or assessment for any building that has not yet received one.

Question 2:

How will CEO define a successful pilot? Are there target outcomes envisioned, such as the number of buildings that complete retrofits, secure financing or incentives, or advance to construction?

Answer 2: As noted in Section 1.2 of the Request for Proposals (RFP), the CEO anticipates participation from 20-30 small and medium commercial buildings through this pilot. Success would be determined by the number of these participating buildings that successfully secure financing and move to construction, though actual completion of retrofits is not within the scope of the pilot. Success will be additionally determined by effectively identifying gaps and barriers that prevented any participants from securing financing and moving to construction that could be addressed in future efforts.

Question 3:

Vendor Questions & Answers

Has CEO already conducted outreach to or identified interested building owners, utilities, or local partners with whom the awarded team would collaborate? If so, approximately how many potential participants or partners have been identified to date?

Answer 3: The CEO is currently planning outreach to relevant stakeholders to identify interested building owners that will be shared with the awarded offeror. To date, no specific participants or partners have yet been identified, but the CEO expects a list of identified partners and potential participants to be available to the awarded offeror upon execution of a contract.

Question 4:

The RFP indicates that participation should be prioritized but not limited to non-IOU markets. Given that these territories represent a relatively small share of commercial buildings in Colorado, how heavily will this preference factor into project implementation and evaluation? Is there a target percentage or minimum number of participants expected from non-IOU markets?

Answer 4: Preference for buildings located outside IOU service territories is intended to ensure sufficient opportunities to participate for small and medium commercial buildings that traditionally do not have the same level of access to technical assistance and incentives as those located within IOU service territories.

However, should there be insufficient interest from buildings located outside IOU service territories, there will be opportunities for buildings within IOU service territories to participate. The CEO does not have a fixed target for participation from buildings located outside IOU service territories, but would like to maximize participation from this segment as much as possible.

Question 5:

The source of the funding appears to be from DOE. Please confirm that the Awarded

Offeror will be a Contractor and not a sub-recipient of any DOE funds. Will the Awarded

Offeror be required to complete a DOE Budget Justification Workbook?

Vendor Questions & Answers

Answer 5: Correct, funding for this contract comes from the U.S. Department of

Energy. The awarded offeror will be considered a contractor, not a sub-recipient.

The awarded offeror will not be required to submit a DOE Budget Justification

Workbook to DOE; however, the awarded offeror will be required to submit a clear budget that identifies personnel time, contractor expenditures, and other direct costs similar to those found in a DOE Budget Justification Workbook to be maintained between the CEO and the awarded offeror.

Question 6:

Will the project tracker (subtask 2.4) only be used during this project or will the CEO continue to use the tracker after the pilot is complete?

Answer 6: The CEO anticipates that the project tracker will only be used for the duration of this project. However, the CEO reserves the right to continue using the project tracker after the scope of this project is complete at the CEO’s discretion.

Question 7:

Per subtask 4.3, is the intent that the Awarded Offeror implement the recommended energy efficiency and decarbonization projects or simply to connect the SMB owner with third-party implementers for the scope that the Awarded Offeror has recommended?

Answer 7: The scopes of work to be developed between the awarded offeror and pilot participants are intended to reflect the technical assistance to be provided by the awarded offeror to each pilot participant. These scopes of work will not directly outline the actual retrofit or construction work to be done; rather, they will scope the support that the awarded offeror will provide to the pilot participant in identifying energy efficiency and decarbonization projects and navigating requirements from lending institutions to secure project financing. Scopes of work for the retrofit and construction work may be developed later in the pilot, but not as part of the initial scope of work development under Subtask 4.2. The awarded offeror will be expected to either provide the technical assistance agreed upon in the initial scope

Vendor Questions & Answers of work directly to the participant, or recommend a third-party should the participant want to work with a different entity than the awarded offeror. However, the CEO will only reimburse services that the awarded offeror provides; the CEO will not reimburse services should the participant elect to work with a different third-party.

Question 8:

Should the proposed pricing for this RFP include Awarded Offeror costs to implement projects with SMB owners, or only costs to develop technical scopes and financing plans that are ready for implementation?

Answer 8: Proposed pricing should include only costs to develop technical scopes and financing plans that are ready for implementation. Costs associated with implementing retrofits and construction work should not be included with this RFP, and are expected to be within the scope of financing secured as part of this technical assistance pilot.

Question 9:

Per subtask 5.2, will the Awarded Offeror be expected to develop case studies from the

SMB pilot program for use by the CEO? If so, is there a desired number of case studies the CEO is seeking as part of the program feedback?

Answer 9: The awarded offeror may be expected to develop a small number of case studies, but in most situations the CEO will more likely request data points from particular participants to be used in conducting an evaluation of the program rather than comprehensive case studies.

Question 10:

When does the CEO anticipate the Advanced Building Study will be complete?

Vendor Questions & Answers

Answer 10: The Advanced Building Study is expected to be completed in

September 2026, and will be complete prior to the execution of a contract resulting from this RFP.

Question 11:

The project budget does not allow much technical support for each of building. Does the

CEO anticipate that all the 20-30 participants will receive individualized technical assessments, site evaluations, and project recommendations, or is it acceptable to provide varying levels of support, depending on the project need and readiness?

Answer 11: The CEO anticipates that support to different buildings will vary depending on their need, previous work that has been completed, and readiness to move forward to next steps in the process. The CEO will also evaluate the needs of buildings interested in participating in the pilot and will reassess the total number of buildings able to be served in the pilot should that be necessary.

Question 12:

Will the successful project contractor be precluded from proposing on future design services related to program participants and scopes identified if awarded as a prime or subconsultant for this program?

Answer 12: The awarded offeror will not be precluded from proposing future services to pilot participants, though such proposals will be required to be entirely separate from the work funded through the contract resulting from this RFP. No time spent on proposal development for work outside of the scope of this project will be reimbursable by the CEO.

Question 13:

What are some of the certifications you would prefer the team to have? (CO PE, CEM, LEED AP, BEMP)?

Vendor Questions & Answers

Answer 13: The CEO does not have a specific list of certifications required to demonstrate qualifications in the fields identified in Section 4.2.1.2.C of the RFP

(architecture, mechanical or electrical engineering, MEP installation, and commercial construction), though the certifications listed in the question would certainly be certifications that would demonstrate qualifications in some or all of those fields.

Question 14:

Is there an expected typical service type for each project and/or time commitment of technical assistance per each of the 20-30 participants?

Answer 14: See response to Question 11. Services and time commitments will vary by participant.

Question 15:

Should there be a Subtask 3.3 which is omitted in the task list but included in the deliverable list?

Answer 15: There is a typo in the RFP for Subtask 3.3. What is currently identified as subsection (a) below Subtask 3.2 should be numbered Subtask 3.3.

Question 16:

Does Subtask 4.3 preclude ESCOs from submitting a response to this RFP?

Answer 16: No, Subtask 4.3 does not preclude energy service companies

(ESCOs) from submitting a response to this RFP. Subtask 4.3 merely states that, should a building owner wish to proceed with the technical assistance offerings identified between them and the awarded offeror with a third-party instead of the awarded offeror, they should be allowed to do that. However, any work completed using a third-party other than the awarded offeror will not be reimbursable by the

CEO.

Vendor Questions & Answers

Question 17:

When does technical assistance stop? At the end of design, or would there be any construction oversight, measurement and verification or commissioning expected?

Answer 17: For the purposes of the pilot scoped within this RFP, technical assistance will stop for a project upon the completion of any design work and execution of a financing agreement to fund construction. While M&V and commissioning are not specifically required as part of this pilot, the CEO anticipates that financing through programs like the Commercial Property

Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program or financing opportunities offered through the Collective Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) would involve M&V and commissioning for energy efficiency and decarbonization projects.

Question 18:

Is the project statewide or focused on specific Colorado communities?

Answer 18: This project is statewide, with a focus on buildings located outside of

IOU service territories. However, buildings located within IOU service territories will also be considered.

Question 19 :

What types of commercial buildings are included in the scope? For example, privately owned, publicly owned, or both? Are there other building details you may be able to provide?

Answer 19: The primary focus for this project will be privately owned commercial buildings, as publicly owned buildings currently have significant opportunities for technical assistance and support through CEO’s Energy Performance Contracting

(EPC) program. However, publicly owned buildings may be considered if there is insufficient interest from privately owned buildings or there are publicly owned buildings for which EPC participation is not feasible.

Vendor Questions & Answers

Question 20:

Is there an additional budget to implement construction on these pilot projects through

CEO funds?

Answer 20: The CEO does not anticipate providing additional funding for construction activities at this time. The intent of this pilot is to support building owners with securing financing through C-PACE, CCEF financing offerings, or other low-interest financing offerings to fund construction.

Question 21 :

Will a general contractor, mechanical or electrical contractor be required as part of the team? If so, what would be their expected role on the project?

Answer 21: Minimum qualifications for the offeror and personnel assigned to the project are outlined in Section 2.0 of the RFP. Offerors should refer to these minimum qualifications to evaluate the members of the team assigned to the project by either the offeror or any potential subcontractors.

Question 22:

Is there any expectation of travel to each project site?

Answer 22: Travel to project sites may be necessary, especially early on in project engagement and scoping, and to provide any necessary assessments or audits of properties. The level of travel will be dependent on the location of buildings participating in the pilot and the level of on-site support needed for each building.

Question 23:

What is the preference to have engineering and design support capacity on the prime team? Is this expertise that can be subbed out if the other requirements are met?

Vendor Questions & Answers

Answer 23: CEO is amenable to a variety of proposal structures, so long as the required experience is reflected in the project team as a whole (prime + any subcontractors).

Question 24:

Are there any priority criteria for building selection already established or preferred by

CEO in this work? Geography, building type, specific markets, etc.?

Answer 24: CEO has identified several criteria for building selection throughout the RFP. These include: commercial buildings, buildings between 10,000 and

50,000 square feet, and buildings located outside of investor-owned utility (IOU) service territories.

Question 25:

Since this scope includes both designing and implementing the TA program, does CEO have a target date for when technical assistance should be available to building owners?

Answer 25: CEO anticipates program design and stakeholder outreach to take approximately 3 months to complete after the execution of the contract with the awarded offeror. The intent is that technical assistance would be available to building owners after this initial design and outreach period, beginning around month 4 of the project.

Question 26:

Is the goal for all 20-30 participants to have projects that are in the implementation stage by the end of the contract term, or is it recognized some buildings may still be planning and identifying projects at the end of this contract period?

Answer 26: The goal is to have as many buildings as possible in the implementation stage by the end of the contract. However, the CEO recognizes

Vendor Questions & Answers that there may be instances where that goal is not achieved for some buildings, which will be considered in the evaluation of the pilot.

Question 27:

Given the scope spans program design, outreach, direct TA delivery (4.2/4.4), and evaluation/best-practices development, can CEO share a rough sense of how it expects effort or budget to be weighted across those phases?

Answer 27: CEO anticipates that the majority of the effort and budget will be allocated to the delivery of technical assistance to building owners. We also anticipate that there will be relatively equal effort and budget associated with the program design/outreach phase and the evaluation and resource development phase.

Question 28:

Can CEO clarify the expected depth of involvement under Subtask 4.2's scope-of-work elements?

Answer 28: CEO doesn’t understand the nature of this question.

Question 29:

For permitting, is the awarded team expected to secure or expedite permits directly, or advise and support the building owner through that process, as needed?

Answer 29: CEO’s intent is that the awarded offeror would provide advice and support to the building owner through the permitting process, not necessarily to secure the permits directly. However, this can be evaluated between the awarded offeror and each building owner to determine what level of support through the permitting process would be necessary.

Vendor Questions & Answers

Question 30:

For project coordination, is the team expected to actively manage the project, or take more of an advisory/coaching role while the owner or their contractor executes?

Answer 30: This may vary depending on the needs of a given building owner.

Some building owners may need more direct management of the project with their engagement and some may be more capable of directly managing the project themselves and having more of a coaching/support role from the awarded offeror.

Question 31:

Would CEO like to prioritize buildings that already have a project identified, or should the program also support buildings earlier in the process, including facilitating an ASHRAE-level (I and/or II) audit to identify potential projects?

Answer 31: See the response to Question 1.

Question 32:

What level of financial navigation is CEO expecting under 4.? Is this envisioned to be navigation and education on available programs, or direct hands-on support to secure funding?

Answer 32: Financial navigation support will likely vary from building to building, but in general, this support will include navigation and education on available programs, coaching on documentation necessary to secure financing, and support in responding to questions from financial institutions.

Question 33:

Is any of the funding in the project intended to be dedicated as an incentive for buildings to participate in the program?

Vendor Questions & Answers

Answer 33: The project will not provide direct financial incentives to building owners. All offerings will be in the form of no-cost technical assistance.

Question 34:

Can CEO clarify what's envisioned under Subtask 4.3 ("facilitate the connection between a participant and another third-party contractor or consultant")? Is this intended to cover work beyond the TA scope where the building owner would contract directly with an

ESCO?

Answer 34: Yes. CEO anticipates that there may be building owners that have a preference to work with an entity other than the awarded offeror to provide either technical assistance or implementation services. In such instances, the CEO would encourage the awarded offeror to work with the building owner to transfer this work to a third-party contractor selected by the building owner. However, the CEO will not cover any costs of work completed by a contractor other than the awarded offeror.

Question 35:

Should Offerors propose a network of third-party consultants/ESCOs they intend to partner with to fulfill Subtask 4.3, as part of the proposal?

Answer 35: CEO’s preference is that as many building owners as possible work directly with the awarded offeror for project scoping, design, permitting, and securing financing. CEO does not expect offerors to provide a list of recommended third-party contractors as part of their proposal. See the response to Question 34 for additional detail.

Question 36:

Beyond the stated priority for non-IOU and underserved markets, are there other geographic priorities for this pilot

Vendor Questions & Answers

Answer 36: No. CEO anticipates broad geographic interest and intends to promote participation across the state.

Question 37:

Strategic outreach indicates 'visiting building owner.' Is this expected to be one-on-one meetings at the building site before accepting the building into the program?

Answer 37: Not necessarily. The CEO anticipates that many engagements may be conducted virtually. However, there are instances where site visits with a particular building owner or stakeholder may be necessary, in which case the CEO would expect the awarded offeror to conduct engagements in person.

Question 38:

Are there any expectations or goals around building locations?

Answer 38: See the responses to Questions 18, 24, and 36.

Question 39:

The RFP states there is a preference towards buildings in non-IOU territory; will buildings in IOU markets be accepted to the program?

Answer 39: See the responses to Questions 4 and 18.

Question 40:

Subtask 3.4 grading matrix indicates "Low/Med/High" potential for implementation. Are the buildings expected to have projects implemented before the contract end date in

2027? If not, is there an expected timeline for implementation?

Answer 40: No, building owners will not be expected to have projects implemented before the contract end date. See the response to Question 20 for additional information.

Vendor Questions & Answers

Question 41:

How will the implementation potential be evaluated with respect to project funding?

Answer 41: Implementation potential will likely be evaluated based on technical and financial feasibility. Project funding is not intended to fund implementation of the identified measures themselves; rather, the project funding will fund technical assistance to support the building owner in securing financing that will fund implementation.

Question 42:

Are participants expected to have a budget already allocated for the upgrades?

Answer 42: See the responses to Questions 8, 20, and 41.

Question 43:

Will the state CEO office provide any additional funding for the participating buildings to implement measures?

Answer 43: See the response to Question 20.

Question 44:

Will technical assistance occur after all buildings have been selected for the program, or at different times as new buildings are added?

Answer 44: CEO intends to evaluate all buildings that express interest in participating in the pilot and then determining which buildings will participate.

Therefore, all technical assistance will begin once the full set of buildings participating in the pilot have been identified.

Question 45:

Will the scope of technical assistance be custom to each participating building?

Vendor Questions & Answers

Answer 45: Yes, CEO anticipates that the technical assistance scope will be custom for each participating building, though some may be similar depending on participant circumstances.

Question 46:

Are there any expectations around what will be provided with respect to engineering and design?

Answer 46: CEO anticipates that engineering and design work will vary significantly depending on the nature of the high-impact measures that each building will be considering for energy efficiency and decarbonization. Some projects may not require engineering or design at all, while others may require more extensive architectural and engineering plans to be developed for particular measures. These needs will be evaluated between the building owner and the awarded offeror.

Question 47:

Is there an expected level of effort or budget for technical support per building?

Answer 47: CEO anticipates that the needed technical assistance for each building owner will vary depending on the complexity of the project and how much work has previously been completed (audits, engineering/design, permitting, etc).

Therefore, the CEO does not have an expected level of effort or budget that would apply uniformly across all participating buildings.

Question 48:

To evaluate the program, are energy and/or emissions estimated savings calculations required as part of the technical support?

Answer 48: Yes, data points such as energy savings and emissions reductions will be necessary for certain aspects of the program evaluation. However, the

Vendor Questions & Answers majority of the evaluation will be focused on the ability for building owners to move through various stages of auditing, project scoping, engineering/design, permitting, and securing financing rather than the energy savings or emissions reduction potential of particular projects.

Question 49:

Is there any scope expected post-implementation to confirm project completion and/or verify the savings?

Answer 49: Not at this time. However, much of the post-construction measurement and verification is required for participation in certain programs, like

C-PACE, so the CEO anticipates those elements will be covered outside of the scope of this project.

Question 50:

Could you confirm the definition of eligible small and medium buildings in RFP EFAA

2027000017. Specifically, the types of "commercial" buildings (10,000 to 50,000 sq. ft.)

that can participate:

● Commercial

● Multifamily

● Nonprofit, e.g., faith-based institutions, community service, etc.

Answer 50: This pilot will focus on commercial buildings, not multifamily buildings.

Nonprofits are included within the scope, though the CEO will evaluate if there are other programs (such as Energy Performance Contracting) that are better suited to serve these buildings. While this is not an exhaustive list, and other commercial building types would also be eligible, CEO anticipates that the vast majority of commercial building participants will fall into one of these categories: office, retail/grocery, restaurant, and recreational/gathering.