16th AF CSO Call 0012_CFD Modeling and Analysis_Final.pdf

16th AIR FORCE

COMMERCIAL SOLUTIONS OPENING – CALL 0012

FA7037-23-S-C0001

Topic 012: Materials Modeling and Analysis

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Modeling and Analysis

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2. PURPOSE

3. CSO CALL APPROACH AND OVERVIEW

4. GENERAL INFORMATION

5. SUBMISSION INFORMATION

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1 The 16th Air Force Civil Engineering Division (A4C) provides the mechanical engineering oversight and infrastructure resiliency necessary to support the U.S. Department of Defense’s

(DoD) global information warfare and cyberspace operations. A4C is responsible for ensuring that mission-critical, Government-operated data centers maintain environmental stability and cooling effectiveness to prevent hardware-level outages.

1.2 The government is looking for new and innovative capabilities in Computational

Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software to model, simulate, and analyze airflow and thermal performance within these critical environments. The government is seeking innovative capabilities to assess, model, and predict airflow and thermal dynamics within critical environments. The primary objective is to identify environmental control inefficiencies—such as airflow vulnerabilities and localized hotspots—to optimize system performance. Solutions should enable rapid environmental modeling and provide the capability to simulate complex disruption or failure scenarios (e.g., loss of redundancy) to accurately determine system resilience and thermal grace periods. To meet data sovereignty requirements, the capability must perform all computational solving locally on Government-furnished equipment without cloud-based connectivity.

2. PURPOSE

2.1 This Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) Call, in accordance with 10 USC 3458, and R-DFARS 212.70 Defense Commercial Solutions Opening, is a competitive solicitation of proposals focused on technologies to meet the 16th Air Force’s mission.

The 16th Air Force seeks the best approaches to meet the technology objectives within the capability areas listed below. Detailed topics associated with each capability area appear in Attachment 6.

2.2 "Innovative" means any technology, process, or method, including research and development that is new as of the date of submission of a proposal, or any new application as of the date of submission.

3. CSO CALL APPROACH AND OVERVIEW

3.1 This CSO Call seeks the best commercial approaches to meet various technology objectives of 16th Air Force. All items, technologies, and services acquired using a

CSO Call will be treated as commercial items. The Government encourages proposals that span a wide spectrum of possible technical and business solutions in response to the specific technology topics stated in Attachment 6. The Government reserves the right to award funding to any combination of proposals which offer the best overall value to the Government, and to oversee any and all processes and approaches once initiated. Awards of efforts as a result of this announcement will be in the form of contracts or other transactions (OT) as codified in 10 U.S.C.

§2371b (section 2371b).

3.2 Funding for participation in this program is highly competitive and the price of proposed technologies should be considered. Awards resulting from this CSO Call will be made based on the evaluation results of a two-stepped proposal process described in Section 5. The Government reserves the right to fund all, some, one, or none of the proposals submitted; may elect to fund only part of a submitted proposal; and may incrementally fund any or all awards under this CSO Call. All awards are subject to the availability of funds.

3.3 All coordination and communication between Offerors and the Government will be conducted using the Beta Sam.Gov website and the points of contact associated with this CSO Call, as specified in Section 4.

3.4 Note: Do not include Proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in responses. The government intends to use contractor support personnel to intake and process whitepapers and proposals.

Whitepaper responses are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S.

Government to form a binding contract or agreement. This notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation, or ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach.

The Government will in no way be bound to this information if any formal solicitation is issued. This request for whitepapers is issued solely for information and planning purposes and to identify interested sources. Further, unsolicited proposals will not be accepted. Funding is not available at this time. Release of this request for whitepapers should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought.

Response to this CSO Call is voluntary and no reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this and any follow-on information requests. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

4. GENERAL INFORMATION

4.1 POINT OF CONTACTS. Questions regarding the administrative content of this

CSO Call must be addressed to the Contracting Office below. Questions regarding the technical content of this CSO Call must be addressed to the Technical Point of

Contact (POC) below.

Contracting Office POC: Mr. Jake Camacho

Email: 16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil mailto:16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil

Technical POC: Alexander Ignacio

Email: 16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil

4.2 CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. Offerors are encouraged to submit unclassified white papers to simplify and expedite reviews and response by the Government. If an Offeror deems that a white paper contains classified information refer to paragraph 5.2.1.3 for submission instructions. Classified submissions must be handled, labeled, and stored in accordance with the National Industrial Security

Program (NISP) Operating Manual.

Offerors must possess all required personnel security clearances, facility clearances, and other infrastructure requirements necessary to perform any proposed classified work in accordance with the Contract Security Classification

Specification (DD Form 254) without reliance on Government resources.

5. SUBMISSION INFORMATION

5.1 SUBMISSION OVERVIEW. Step I submissions shall include both the Quad Charts and White Papers prepared in accordance with the formats at Attachments 1 and 2 respectively. Each company may submit one white paper and one quad chart for this CSO Call. Submissions should address all TOPICS and all requirements outlined in Attachment 6. Step I submissions can be submitted at any time prior to

July 31, 2026 @ 4:00pm CST, but offerors are encouraged to monitor SAM.gov for any specific amendments to the CSO Call that may have updated information.

The government will invite select Offerors to submit full proposals based on favorable evaluation results of Step I submissions. Step II submissions will be requested ONLY by the Contracting Officer and will contain separate submission instructions and timelines within the Request for Proposal (RFP) letter.

5.2 TWO-STEP SUBMISSION. This CSO Call will be conducted in two steps as follows:

5.2.1 STEP I. Interested offerors must submit Quad Charts and White Papers in accordance with instructions provided in this CSO Call. Step I submissions will be evaluated against criteria as described in Attachment 7 of this CSO Call. Due to the requirements and financial scope of this CSO Call, offerors must ensure that submissions are succinct yet descriptive. Proposals will not be evaluated beyond page length limitations. Proposals that lack technical depth and rigor or are not within the 16th Air Force mission will be assessed accordingly.

5.2.1.1 All Quad Charts should include the information indicated on the sample template in Attachment 1.

5.2.1.2 The White Paper narrative expands on the Quad Chart presentation.

Instructions for format and content are located in Attachment 2. Each offeror shall include in the white paper a preliminary Technology Readiness Level (TRL) assessment of the proposed technology that conforms to the technology objectives and an expected TRL at the conclusion of the effort. The offeror shall perform a

TRL assessment according to the Department of Defense Technology Readiness

Assessment Guidance. The offeror must address the overall proposed TRL for the system, application, or process – not just individual components.

5.2.1.3 White paper and quad chart submissions shall be sent to

16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil for review and shall include “Call 0012 - Data CFD

Modeling and Analysis” in the subject line of the email. If there is a need for a classified white paper/quad chart submission, send an email to

16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil to receive instructions for classified submissions.

5.2.2 Notification of Selection. All offerors providing Step I submissions will be contacted by the Government, either with an email letter informing them that the effort proposed is not of interest to the Government at this time or with a request for a formal price and technical proposal by a specific date.

5.2.3 STEP II. Step II proposals will only be accepted from Offerors who upon review of Step I submissions, are invited by the Contracting Officer to submit a full proposal. In order to be considered for award under Step II, offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov, be considered responsible within the meaning of RFO Part 9.1, Responsible

Prospective Contractors, have a satisfactory performance record, and otherwise be eligible for award based on federal law and regulation.

5.2.3.1 Proposal Submission. Upon notification for a proposal by the

Contracting Officer, offerors have 30 calendar days, or less as determined by the contracting officer, to prepare and submit a proposal in accordance with the format and instructions at Attachments 3-5. Each proposal shall include a Statement of

Work (SOW) and detailed pricing. All pages shall be numbered.

5.2.3.2 Proposal Review, Evaluation and Selection Process. Each proposal will be evaluated by the Government and the proposal must stand on its own technical merit. Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria and process specified in Attachment 7. Pursuant to RFO 35.102(e), the primary basis for selecting proposals for acceptance shall be technical, importance to agency programs, and fund availability. In order to provide the desired evaluation, qualified Government personnel will conduct reviews and (if necessary) convene panels of experts in the appropriate areas.

5.3 Rights in Technical Data, Computer Software and Computer Software

Documentation. Offerors shall mark each page of its white paper that contains proprietary information. It is the Government’s intention to acquire only that mailto:16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil http://www.sam.gov/ necessary to satisfy agency needs and this will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

An offeror may provide with its white paper assertions to restrict, use, release or disclosure of data and/or computer software and computer software documentation that will be provided in the course of contract performance. Rules governing these assertions can be found in RFO Part 27 and R-DFARS Part 227 and may be accessed at https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul.

https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul

ATTACHMENT 1: QUAD CHART FORMAT

The following information must be included in the Step I Quad Chart. Quad Charts shall not exceed 1-page in landscape view. Quad Charts must follow the formatting guidelines on the slide template below but can adapt milestones to appropriate measurable outcomes based on the solution proposed (the proposed period of performance may be months versus years, etc.).

ATTACHMENT 2: STEP I WHITE PAPER FORMAT

The White Paper narrative expands on the Quad Chart presentation, and must be 8.5 x 11 inches with one-inch margins, no longer than two pages, single-spaced, with text in Times

New Roman, no smaller than 12 point font. All white papers must specify a project title, the

Offeror’s organization, CAGE code, the specific topic areas, and Call number associated with the submission (see Attachment 6). Pages in excess of the page limitation will not be read or evaluated. White Papers must not exceed a file size of 10 MB.

The White Paper must be limited only to further explanation of the information conveyed in the Quad Chart, as deemed necessary by the Offeror. The information should provide sufficient information on the proposed solution to allow for an assessment by a technical expert.

Expand as deemed necessary on the following sections of the Quad Chart:

• Objective and integrated solution approach across all capability areas

• Description of the effort

• Benefits of the Proposed Technology

• Technical and integration challenges and proposed mitigations

• TRL at project start and planned TRL at project completion

• Major Goals/Milestones by Government fiscal year.

White paper and quad charts shall be sent to 16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil for review.

If there is a need for a classified white paper/quad chart submission, send an email to

16af.cso.workflow@us.af.mil to receive instructions for classified submissions.

ATTACHMENT 3: STEP II TECHNICAL PROPOSAL FORMAT

(DO NOT SUBMIT UNLESS INVITED BY CO IAW Section 5.2.3 above)

The Technical Proposal portion of the Step II submission shall not exceed 10 pages, excluding cover page and table of contents. Any pages submitted in excess of the 10-page limit will not be considered or evaluated.

Suggested page limitations for individual sections are listed below; however, these are guidelines not strict limits.

I. ABSTRACT. [1 page suggested.]

II. SCOPE. This proposal is submitted in response to the 16th Air Force Commercial

Solutions Opening (CSO) Call on….. [Cite the Project Title. 8 pages suggested.]

a. Objective. [A clear and concise description of the objective of the proposed project.]

b. Background. [Provide the necessary technical and scientific background to support the scientific and technical merits of the proposed project.]

c. Programmatics. This effort will support the government’s initiative [topic number] aimed at developing [capability area or topic title] technologies or methodologies. [Describe the Offeror’s management plan for the proposed project; list supporting and collaborating organizations and subcontractors;

clearly identify roles and responsibilities of each organization and subcontractor supporting the project].

d. Relevance. [Describe the relevance of the proposed project in terms of mission, end-user needs and the technology maturity of the proposed project.]

III. CREDENTIALS. [Describe the Offeror’s qualifications to perform the proposed work across all capability areas. 2 pages suggested.]

IV. WORK TO BE PERFORMED. [Provide details of the work to be performed by task and subtask. 9 pages suggested.]

a. General. [Provide an overview.]

b. Detailed Tasks. [Describe the details of all tasks needed to perform the proposed work. Clearly distinguish base period tasks and option tasks as appropriate.]

V. PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE. [Depict the tasks and sub-tasks and the duration of performance of each in a Gantt chart or other suitable chart. Briefly describe the proposed period of performance. 2 pages suggested.]

VI. REFERENCES. [List any relevant documents used to develop the technical approach. 1 page suggested]

ATTACHMENT 4: STEP II PRICE PROPOSAL FORMAT

The price proposal must include pricing information sufficiently detailed for a meaningful evaluation. Since this CSO Call is limited to commercial solutions, detailed cost breakdowns are not required. However, the offeror must provide sufficient supporting data for the

Contracting Officer to determine price reasonableness. The offeror bears the burden of establishing price reasonableness.

The Offeror shall prepare the Price Proposal (with the exception of the narrative information described below) using Microsoft Excel format, but shall merge all Price Proposal documents into one Adobe PDF file for ultimate proposal submission. Include the Topic Number and the

Project Title on all pages. Retain the Excel version for subsequent Government request.

Format requirements:

• Paper Size – 8.5 X 11-inch paper

• Margins 1-inch

• Spacing – single

• Font – Times New Roman, 12 Point

Cover sheet attached to the price proposal shall include:

• Full company name and address of Prime Contractor

• CSO Call number and Title

• Point of contact, name, title, and phone number

• CAGE code

• Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)

• Identification of any Government property required for performance

NOTE: If an Offeror takes exceptions to the requirements called out in the announcement, the exceptions should be clearly stated in the price proposal.

ATTACHMENT 5: STEP II STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) FORMAT

A SOW must be included in with the full proposal as part of the Step II submission. The

SOW does not have a page limit but should be approximately 3–5 pages in length and must be a separate and distinct document suitable for incorporation into the procurement instrument. Do not include proprietary data or markings in the SOW. Pages must be numbered and the initial page must show the document date under the title.

The proposed SOW must accurately describe the work to be performed, and performance metrics based on your proposed solution and the objectives in the SOO. The proposed SOW must also contain a summary description of the technical methodology as well as the task description, but not in so much detail as to make the SOW inflexible. The SOW template should include the following sections and specifically respond to the Statement of Objectives

(SOO) the Government provided with the Request for Proposal (RFP):

1. OBJECTIVE. This section is intended to give a brief overview of the project and should describe why the work is being pursued and what the Offeror intends to accomplish.

2. SCOPE. This section includes a statement of what the SOW covers. This should describe all capability areas, goals, and milestones for the effort.

3. BACKGROUND. The Offeror must identify appropriate documents that are applicable to the effort to be performed. This section includes any information, explanations, or constraints that are necessary to understand the project tasks and requirements. This section should describe the effort’s relationship to previous and ongoing efforts.

4. TASKS AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS. This section contains the detailed description of tasks that are necessary to perform the proposed work. These tasks will represent the work to be performed in any potential contract award, and, thus, shall be considered contractually binding. This section should be developed in an orderly progression and presented in sufficient detail to establish the feasibility of accomplishing the overall program goals. This section should clearly distinguish base period tasks from optional tasks. The SOW must contain every task to be accomplished and the metrics by which these tasks will be measured, generally depicted in a Services Summary. Note: The Government reserves the right to modify and negotiate the language in the SOW prior to any potential contract award.

4.1. Task descriptions must be definite, realistic, and clearly stated. Use the phrase

“the contractor shall” whenever the work statement expresses a provision that is binding. Use “should” or “may” whenever it is necessary to express a declaration of purpose. Use “will” in cases where no Offeror requirement is involved (e.g., power will be supplied by the Government. Use active voice in describing work to be performed.

4.2. Do not use acronyms or abbreviations without first defining them. Place abbreviations and acronyms in parentheses following the first usage of the spelled-out phrase.

4.3. If presentations and meetings are identified in the Offeror’s schedule, the Offeror must include the following statement in the SOW: “Conduct presentations and meetings at times and places specified in the contract schedule.”

4.4. The desired project structure consists of base period tasks, focused on demonstrating the feasibility of the technology, and option tasks, which cover design, fabrication, testing, and evaluation of the final product. Execution of option tasks will be dependent upon and determined by the contractor’s performance during and the results produced from the base period tasks.

ATTACHMENT 6: SOLICITATION

TOPIC 012: MATERIALS MODELING AND ANALYSIS

The 16th AF seeks innovative solutions to support advanced meteorological and environmental modeling efforts. This topic includes:

• Advanced meteorological modeling tools and techniques, transport and dispersion modeling techniques, uncertainty estimation, and high-performance computing

• Meteorological model development, advanced weather data assimilation techniques, ensemble modeling and uncertainty estimation techniques, transport and dispersion modeling, and high-performance computational techniques

• Advanced simulation and modeling techniques, environmental fate of compounds of interest, the identification of environmental constituents that may have an impact on US personnel or the performance of equipment and issues related to homeland defense

• Transport and dispersion modeling, computational chemistry, and process engine

Capabilities for Data Center Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Modeling and

Analysis

The 16 AF/A4C division is seeking innovative technologies and software as a service that provide advanced Data Center Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Modeling and Analysis capabilities. At a high level, core capabilities sought include, but are not limited to:

• Thermal & Airflow Analysis: High-fidelity computational capability to assess 3D thermal conditions, identify airflow inefficiencies (e.g., bypass air or recirculation), locate hotspots, and analyze performance within under-floor plenums.

• Rapid Model Construction: An intuitive interface featuring a comprehensive library of reusable, "drag-and-drop" components representing modern data center infrastructure

(e.g., IT racks, servers, and CRAH/CRAC cooling units).

• Failure Scenario Evaluation: The ability to simulate complex "what-if" disruption scenarios—such as the loss of N+1 or 2N cooling redundancy—to determine thermal grace periods and hardware risk profiles.

• Local Processing: To meet security requirements, the potential solution must perform all computational solving and data processing locally on a government device without external or cloud-based connectivity.

• Simulation Validation: The ability to validate simulation outputs against real-world physical sensor data to ensure accuracy and mission-critical credibility.

The Government is seeking solutions that meet a minimum Technology Readiness Level

(TRL) of 8. While no specific approach is prescribed, the Offeror shall clearly demonstrate how the proposed approach achieves mission objectives in a structured and scalable manner.

16 AF/A4 intends to fund successful efforts in Fiscal Year 2026 with optional periods of performance in the range of 1-5 years at the government’s discretion..

The Government reserves the right to fund all, some, one or none of the proposals submitted; may elect to fund only part of a submitted proposal; and may incrementally fund any or all awards under this CSO Call. All awards are subject to the availability of funds.

ATTACHMENT 7: EVALUATION CRITERIA AND SELECTION PROCESS

The Government will review each Quad Chart and White Paper (Step I) and select offerors with the greatest potential to meet the operational needs of 16th Air Force based on the capability areas in Attachment 6. A determination will first be made whether each offeror is technically qualified and has a comprehensive understanding to execute the proposed solution based on the information stated in the Quad Chart/White Paper.

The offeror is advised that only Firm Fixed Price (FFP) or Fixed Price Incentive (FPI) contracts may be awarded as a result of this CSO Call.

The Government will determine the most technically competent and capable of the qualified offerors using the criteria below:

• Criteria (Factors) for Selecting Quad Chart/White Paper for Full Proposal Submission:

o Technical merit/applicability, o Importance to 16th Air Force mission o Fund availability

• Relative Importance: All Factors are of equal importance

• Method of Evaluation: Peer or scientific review