FY25 GPG RFI .pdf

Fiscal Year 2025

U.S. General Services Administration Public Buildings Service Office of Architecture and Engineering

Request for Information:

FY25RFI080124

Green Proving Ground Program

August 1, 2024

Introduction & Background The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law No. 117-169, August 16, 2022, 136 Stat. 1818-2090) (“IRA”) marked one of the most significant actions Congress has taken on clean energy and climate change in the Nation’s history. Among the IRA’s goals were investing in domestic energy production and manufacturing and reducing carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030.1 The U.S. General Services Administration (“GSA”), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”), will invest $30 million from the IRA to increase the sustainability of Federal buildings by testing novel technologies through GSA’s Center for Emerging Building Technologies (“CEBT”).2 CEBT consists of three interconnected programs: the Green Proving Ground (“GPG”), the Applied Innovation Learning Lab (“AILL”), and Pilot to Portfolio.3 Collectively, these programs empower GSA to invest wisely in next-generation building technologies by evaluating emerging and sustainable technologies in real-world settings, accelerate GSA’s efforts to achieve net-zero emissions in Federal buildings, and support President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to deliver cost savings for Federal buildings, create good-paying clean energy jobs, and help reach Federal sustainability goals.4

Buildings consume approximately 40% of U.S. primary energy and 75% of electricity and are responsible for 12% of the U.S. greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions.5,6 In June 2024, DOE published a national definition of a Zero Emissions Building7 and laid out a blueprint to reduce U.S. building emissions 65% by 2035 and 90% by 2050.8 Field validations of high-efficiency retrofits, targeted electrification of specific end uses, and on-site renewable energy generation and storage solutions can accelerate the broad adoption of technologies to combat the climate crisis and help domestic building stock stakeholders achieve these ambitious goals. In addition, the transportation industry is responsible for 27% of the U.S. GHG emissions.9 The Federal Government needs innovative solutions to transition a fleet of 450,000 vehicles to zero-emission vehicles, including technology to manage and optimize fleet charging and integrate electric vehicle supply equipment into the existing facility infrastructure.

Working towards these and other goals, GSA and DOE are issuing this Request for Information (“RFI”) to obtain responses from vendors and other interested parties on technologies that help reduce GHG emissions of commercial buildings and vehicle fleets, improve grid resiliency, and have significant potential for equitable and broad adoption in the U.S. marketplace. This includes technologies that support deep energy retrofits, all-electric buildings and all-electric vehicle fleets, net-zero operations, healthy and resilient buildings, and low-embodied carbon building materials.

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (“RFP”). Neither GSA nor DOE will issue an RFP as a follow-up to this RFI. Responses to this RFI are not offers and will not be accepted by the Federal Government to form an agreement or binding contract of any nature.

https://www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ169/PLAW-117publ169.pdf https://www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ169/PLAW-117publ169.pdf

Program Overview GSA’s mission is to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to the Federal Government and the American people. GSA supports over 1 million Federal civilian workers and has jurisdiction, custody or control over more than 8,800 Federally owned or leased properties totaling approximately 370 million square feet of workspace.

The CEBT programs enable GSA to make sound investment decisions in next-generation building technologies based on their real-world performance. By evaluating innovative technologies early in their development and placing them strategically in Federal properties, GSA has become widely recognized as a leader in the commercial building industry. Since its inception in 2011, the GPG program has evaluated dozens of next-generation building technologies in real-world operational settings, recommending the most promising for deployment within GSA’s real estate portfolio. The AILL program is developing a whole-building approach to sustainable operations by identifying replicable technology stacks that deliver net-zero operations.

These CEBT programs help GSA make sound investment decisions that can greatly benefit the American taxpayer. More information about these programs is available at gsa.gov/cebt.

The mission of DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (“EERE”) is to accelerate the research, development, demonstration, and deployment of technologies and solutions to transition America equitably to net-zero GHG emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050, and ensure the clean energy economy benefits all Americans, creating good paying jobs for the American people—especially workers and communities impacted by the energy transition and those historically underserved by the energy system and overburdened by pollution. More information about EERE can be found at https://www.energy.gov/eere.

Purpose of this RFI

Responses to this RFI will be evaluated and considered for inclusion in GSA’s GPG or AILL programs (for Federally owned facilities), the Demonstrating Efficient Solutions - Buildings (“DES-B”) program facilitated by DOE (for privately owned facilities), or any combination of the foregoing.

GSA and DOE will use information obtained through this RFI to identify and evaluate the most promising next-generation technologies and solutions that can:

1. Enable energy efficiency and decarbonization in commercial buildings;

2. Contribute to a more efficient electric infrastructure; and

3. Improve resiliency and occupant health.

http://gsa.gov/cebt https://www.energy.gov/eere/office-energy-efficiency-renewable-energy

Third-party subject matter experts will evaluate the technologies selected for measurement and verification (“M&V”) against quantitative and qualitative performance objectives under dynamic, real-world conditions in Federally or privately owned commercial buildings, or both, in multiple climate zones. The outcomes of this evaluation will provide credible, independent performance data, thereby helping to facilitate the broader adoption of these technologies by facility owners and operators, occupants, utilities, and third-party financiers.

Terms and Conditions: Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.215-3, Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (Oct 1997)

(a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

(b) Although "proposal" and "offeror" are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal.

(c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of gathering information on new sustainable building technologies.

Overview of technologies/solutions sought

The information submitted in response to this RFI should clearly describe how a technology or solution can be innovative, transformational, and applicable for wide-scale deployment in commercial buildings. Responses should demonstrate a significant potential to address one or more of the RFI priority areas described in greater detail below in a single building and across a broader portfolio of buildings.

Only technologies and solutions that are technically and commercially ready for evaluation in occupied, operational buildings will be considered. Any claimed benefits must be directly verifiable through the M&V process.

This RFI is focused on emerging and sustainable technologies that support:

● Deep Energy Retrofits Improve the energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of an existing building through a specific energy conservation measure or ongoing monitoring and controls.

○ Examples of technologies of interest include, but are not limited to:

■ Envelope retrofit solutions to manage solar heat gain, minimize air leakage, or reduce heating and cooling loads, or any combination of the foregoing

■ Retrofit technologies to capture and manage waste heat

■ Refrigerant leak prevention technologies and no or low global warming potential refrigerants

■ Lighting and lighting control systems

■ Technologies that enable easier retro- and continuous-commissioning

■ Software or hardware, or both, that support load flexibility and grid-interactive efficient buildings

● All-Electric Buildings and All-Electric Vehicle Fleets Eliminate the use of fossil fuels in buildings and vehicle fleet operations.

○ Examples of building technologies of interest include, but are not limited to:

■ Larger-scale heat pumps appropriate for commercial retrofit applications, including cold climate zones

■ Systems approaches to commercial boiler decarbonization

■ Packaged heat pump systems with water heating or integrated with make-up air systems

■ Technologies that minimize the need for electrical service upgrades, such as smart panels and smart circuits

○ Examples of fleet technologies of interest include, but are not limited to:

■ Electric vehicle supply equipment (“EVSE”) charge management solutions

■ Vehicle-to-everything solutions

■ Systems or tools that enable EVSE data collection, reporting, or interconnection, or any combination of the foregoing, including:

● Systems or tools that enable reservation and payment systems

● Systems that leverage Open Charge Point Protocol to provide interoperability across charging network providers.

Capabilities include single pane of glass dashboards, data and key performance indicator reporting, and other equipment-agnostic functionality

● Healthy and Resilient Buildings Enhance occupant comfort and building health, while minimizing climate-related and other vulnerabilities.

○ Examples of technologies of interest include, but are not limited to:

■ Dynamic indoor environmental quality monitoring and control

■ Novel methods to reduce the risk of disease transmission

■ Enhancing resiliency and passive survivability

■ Microgrids

■ Water conservation and harvesting technologies that save water and support continued facility operation if water supply is disrupted

● Low Embodied Carbon Building Materials Reduce lifecycle emissions associated with materials used for facility construction, renovation, and reuse.

○ Examples of solutions of interest include, but are not limited to:

■ Low- or no-emissions materials or products that replace, supplement, or improve asphalt, concrete, glass, steel, insulation, roofing, gypsum wallboard, flooring materials, ceiling materials, or aluminum

● Including mass timber and other bio-based solutions

■ Solutions that reduce the overall lifecycle carbon emissions of a facility

■ Innovative deconstruction and reuse technologies, products, or practices, such as materials specifically designed to be usable beyond their original lifecycle or installation site

● Net-Zero Operations Operate without fossil-fuel equipment through a combination of on-site renewables and off-site carbon-free electricity.

○ Examples of technologies and solutions of interest include, but are not limited to:

■ On-site carbon-free energy generation, such as building-integrated photovoltaics, high-efficiency solar system designs, geothermal heating and cooling, and ground- and building-mounted wind turbines

■ Carbon capture and storage

■ On-site energy storage: battery, thermal, or green hydrogen

■ Technologies that integrate on-site energy generation and storage with building management systems

■ Solutions that simplify or reduce installation, operation and maintenance challenges, workload to enable net-zero facilities, or any combination of the foregoing

● Packages of Emerging and Sustainable Technology Solutions Packages or stacks of technologies from a single vendor or a team of multiple vendors that combine to create deeper energy or emissions reductions for a facility or campus

○ Examples of solutions of interest include, but are not limited to:

■ Any combination of the technologies described above

■ Packages of technologies that support zero carbon emissions for data centers or critical facilities and backup generation for these facilities.

■ Long-duration energy storage

■ Data collection for and management of operational emissions and embodied emissions

■ Power optimization measures (such as efficiency, generation, storage, and controls) that reduce peak power in buildings

Novel financing approaches or business models, or both, to accelerate the uptake of low-carbon technologies are encouraged and may be integrated into responses to this RFI to streamline and accelerate deployment of the technology or solution.

GSA and DOE host site locations

As noted in the “Purpose of this RFI” section, above, responses to this RFI will be evaluated and considered for inclusion in GSA’s GPG or AILL programs (for Federally owned facilities), the DES-B program facilitated by DOE (for privately owned facilities), or any combination of the foregoing.

GSA has jurisdiction, custody or control over more than 8,800 Federally owned or leased properties totaling approximately 370 million square feet of workspace, primarily in large commercial office buildings, courthouses and land ports of entry.

GSA also manages and oversees over 230,000 vehicles leased to agencies across the Federal Government.

The DOE DES-B program is open to technology evaluation in all types of commercial buildings. The DOE Building Technologies Office is particularly interested in solutions targeted at small- and medium-sized commercial buildings. As they pertain to your submission, recommendations for host sites with ties to small businesses and underserved communities are strongly encouraged.

Information submitted in response to this RFI will be used to establish host site locations for projects in commercial buildings. Respondents may recommend a specific building as a potential host site as part of their submission.

Measurement and verification

DOE and GSA will fund third-party M&V for respondents selected for validation at host site locations. Responses should specify the use case and duration of the scenario under which the technology or solution would be validated. Responses should describe how an M&V performance study in an occupied, operational building will provide:

● Evidence-based information needed to validate the technical and operational characteristics of the technology or solution;

● The potential to reduce energy and carbon emissions compared to incumbent technologies;

● The life cycle cost-effectiveness of the technology or solution; and

● The potential for future deployment.

Information submitted in response to this RFI must propose measurable success criteria at the technology and whole-building level.

The M&V phase will vary depending on whether a respondent participates in the fiscal year (“FY”) 2025 GSA programs or the DOE program, or both. Expectations, milestones and outcomes will be discussed in greater detail during the review. The fieldwork associated with the M&V phase is generally completed within 12 months of installation.

How to submit a response

Responses to this RFI may be submitted by a single vendor or by a team. Submissions by a single vendor must include all capabilities required to deliver the proposed solution. Submissions by a team should identify the team lead.

Parties interested in being considered for GSA’s or DOE's FY 2025 program, or both, including respondents who submitted information in response to previous years’ program requests and whose submissions meet the requirements stated above, should respond to this RFI by completing the web-based application at the link provided below.

Only submissions from respondents who fully complete the web-based application will be reviewed.

The web-based application can be found at: GPG RFI Vendor Application. Additional information may be requested during the GSA and DOE planning and selection process.

This announcement will remain open until 11:59 PM EST on Friday, September 13, 2024. Responses must be received prior to this closing date to be considered. Questions about this announcement should be directed to gpg@gsa.gov.

https://feedback.gsa.gov/jfe/form/SV_eb2wkPgY2cxTFuC mailto:gpg@gsa.gov

Information Session: Representatives from the GSA and DOE programs will host a web-based information session to discuss the Federal programs and provide more detail on the RFI vendor application. Instructions for access to the information session webinar will be e-mailed to registrants. The informational webinar is scheduled for Thursday, August 22, 2024, 1:00 PM EST– 2:00 PM EST. You can register for the session at:

https://gsa.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_woQeEICrQ9-EjlW8lKGy5Q

FY 2025 RFI Selection Process: Teams from GSA and DOE will review and consider technologies submitted for M&V performance studies as part of the GSA or DOE program, or both. Neither the GSA program nor the DOE program will fund technology procurements through this RFI. Information submitted in response to or arising from this RFI will enable the GSA and DOE programs to identify promising emerging technologies for field validation by third parties to verify performance.

To participate in the GSA or DOE program, or both, the respondent must provide compelling responses to the RFI vendor application, and the technology must demonstrate the ability to advance the achievement of the Federal goals stated above.

To participate in the GSA program, the respondent must either agree to donate the technology unconditionally to GSA in sufficient quantity to test and evaluate its performance or provide alternative financing, such as through a Utility Energy Service Contract. Applicants offering an alternative financing mechanism must submit documentation supporting the financial commitment and an agreement from the financing partner to participate in the program. To participate in the DOE program, technology providers must agree to work directly with building owners and operators identified by DOE to supply equipment for monitoring and testing by laboratory experts to support M&V studies.

The respondent must have good and complete right, title, and interest in the technology and must be authorized to give the technology to the United States for testing and evaluation. The respondent also must have all necessary underlying intellectual property rights in the technology, and the technology must not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of any other person or entity.

A subset of respondents may be invited to participate in the FY 2025 GSA program or the DOE program, or both. Responses to the RFI will be evaluated through a multi-stage review process. Based on the evaluation of the submissions, each respondent will be notified whether or not GSA and DOE will request a follow-up presentation. Respondents invited to submit additional information will be asked to provide a brief written presentation to GSA and DOE. After considering the follow-up material, if any, and the submissions, a subset of respondents may be asked to participate in additional discussions with GSA and DOE. Respondents are advised that neither GSA nor DOE is obligated to provide feedback to respondents concerning any information submitted under this RFI.

https://gsa.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_woQeEICrQ9-EjlW8lKGy5Q

GSA and DOE reserve the right to select any, all, or none of the submissions received for inclusion in their respective programs. Neither GSA nor DOE are committed to make any selections nor are they responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by the respondents in responding to this RFI. Neither GSA nor DOE will provide debriefs for those respondents not selected for inclusion in their respective programs. Responses to this RFI do not bind either GSA or DOE to any further actions related to this matter.

Any information obtained as a result of this RFI is intended to be used by the Federal Government on a non-attribution basis for planning and strategy development; this RFI does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts, and your response to this notice will be treated as information only. Information received may be used to assist GSA and DOE in planning the scope of future technology performance studies or deployment efforts and may be shared with other Federal agencies. Technology evaluations may be shared between GSA and DOE, and technologies submitted may be chosen for the GSA programs, the DOE program, any combination of the programs, or none of the programs.

GSA Information Technology Security: Network-based devices, application software hosted internally to GSA's network, and cloud-based software solutions must adhere to Federal and GSA-specific information technology (“IT”) security standards. Note: These guidelines apply only to the GSA programs. IT security requirements for DOE will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Disclaimer and Important Notes: This RFI is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA); therefore, EERE is not accepting applications at this time.

EERE may issue an FOA in the future based on or related to the content and responses to this RFI; however, EERE also may elect not to issue an FOA. There is no guarantee that an FOA will be issued as a result of this RFI. Responding to this RFI does not provide any advantage or disadvantage to potential applicants if EERE chooses to issue an FOA regarding the subject matter. Final details, including the anticipated award size, quantity and timing of EERE-funded awards, will be subject to congressional appropriations and direction.

Proprietary Information: Because information received in response to this RFI may be used to structure future programs and FOAs or otherwise be made available to the public, respondents are strongly advised to NOT include any information in their responses that might be considered business sensitive, proprietary or otherwise confidential. The Federal Government does not guarantee confidentiality of the information received. Although GSA and DOE ask that no confidential business information be submitted, it is GSA’s and DOE’s practice to protect the information provided by respondents and make it available on a need-to-know basis only to Federal Government personnel and contractors who will be using this information on behalf of the Federal Government. However, neither GSA nor DOE can guarantee that information submitted in response to this RFI or otherwise will be free from access by others, during transmission or while stored in their systems or otherwise in GSA’s or

DOE’s custody or control or in the custody or control of another Federal agency or their contractors, and the Federal Government and its contractors will have no liability whatsoever for disclosure of such information.

If a respondent chooses to submit business sensitive, proprietary, privileged, or otherwise confidential information in response to this RFI or otherwise, the information must be clearly and conspicuously marked as such in the response as described below.

Failure to comply with these marking requirements may result in the disclosure of the unmarked information under the Freedom of Information Act or otherwise. The Federal Government is not liable for the disclosure or use of unmarked information and may use or disclose such information for any purpose.

If your response contains confidential, proprietary or privileged information, you must include a cover sheet with your response marked as follows identifying the specific pages containing the confidential, proprietary or privileged information.

Notice of Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data: Sections of this response may contain confidential, proprietary, or privileged information that is exempt from public disclosure. Such information may be used or disclosed only for the purposes described in this RFI No. FY25RFI080124. The Federal Government may use or disclose any information that is not appropriately marked or otherwise restricted, regardless of source.

In addition, (1) the header and footer of every page that contains confidential, proprietary or privileged information must be marked as follows: “Contains Confidential, Proprietary or Privileged Information Exempt from Public Disclosure” and (2) every line and paragraph containing proprietary, privileged or trade secret information must be clearly marked with double brackets or highlighting.

Evaluation and Administration by Federal and Non-Federal Personnel: Federal employees are subject to the non-disclosure requirements of a criminal statute, the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1905. The Federal Government may seek the advice of qualified non-Federal personnel. The Federal Government also may use non-Federal personnel to conduct routine, non-discretionary administrative activities. The respondents, by submitting their response, consent to GSA and DOE providing their response to non-Federal parties. Non-Federal parties given access to responses will be subject to an appropriate obligation of confidentiality prior to being given the access.

Submissions may be reviewed by support contractors and private consultants.

Questions can be directed to: gpg@gsa.gov

Issuing Office Address: U.S. General Services Administration, Public Buildings Service, Office of Acquisition Management, Acquisitions Services Division, 1800 F Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20405-0001.

References 1 The White House: Clean Energy. August 2022. Inflation Reduction Act Guidebook, https://www.whitehouse.gov/cleanenergy/inflation-reduction-act-guidebook/

2 GSA Newsroom. June 2023. “Biden-Harris Administration Invests $30 Million to Advance American-Made Clean Energy Technologies and Accelerate Push for Net-Zero Federal Buildings.”

https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/bidenharris-administration-inve sts-30-million-to-advance-americanmade-clean-energy-technologies-and-accelerate-pu sh-for-netzero-federal-buildings-06092023

3 GSA Center for Emerging Building Technologies.

https://www.gsa.gov/climate-action-and-sustainability/center-for-emerging-building-tech nologies

4The White House. Investing in America.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/invest/#:~:text=%24299%20billionin%20public%20infrastru cture,%2C%20EV%20charging%2C%20and%20more

5 U.S. Energy Information Administration Annual Energy Outlook.

https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/.

6 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2018. “Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions.”

https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions#:~:text=Carbon %20dioxide%20(CO2)%20makes,natural%20gas%2C%20to%20produce%20electricity

7 DOE Newsroom. June 2024. “DOE Announces National Definition of a Zero Emissions Building”.

https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-announces-national-definition-zero-emissions-buildi ng

8 DOE Newsroom. April 2024. “DOE Releases First Ever Federal Blueprint to Decarbonize America’s Buildings Sector”.

https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-releases-first-ever-federal-blueprint-decarbonize-a mericas-buildings-sector

9 Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2020, https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks https://www.whitehouse.gov/cleanenergy/inflation-reduction-act-guidebook/ https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/bidenharris-administration-invests-30-million-to-advance-americanmade-clean-energy-technologies-and-accelerate-push-for-netzero-federal-buildings-06092023 https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/bidenharris-administration-invests-30-million-to-advance-americanmade-clean-energy-technologies-and-accelerate-push-for-netzero-federal-buildings-06092023 https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/bidenharris-administration-invests-30-million-to-advance-americanmade-clean-energy-technologies-and-accelerate-push-for-netzero-federal-buildings-06092023 https://www.gsa.gov/climate-action-and-sustainability/center-for-emerging-building-technologies https://www.gsa.gov/climate-action-and-sustainability/center-for-emerging-building-technologies https://www.whitehouse.gov/invest/#:~:text=%24299%20billionin%20public%20infrastructure,%2C%20EV%20charging%2C%20and%20more https://www.whitehouse.gov/invest/#:~:text=%24299%20billionin%20public%20infrastructure,%2C%20EV%20charging%2C%20and%20more https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/ https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions#:~:text=Carbon%20dioxide%20(CO2)%20makes,natural%20gas%2C%20to%20produce%20electricity https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions#:~:text=Carbon%20dioxide%20(CO2)%20makes,natural%20gas%2C%20to%20produce%20electricity https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-announces-national-definition-zero-emissions-building https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-announces-national-definition-zero-emissions-building https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-releases-first-ever-federal-blueprint-decarbonize-americas-buildings-sector https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-releases-first-ever-federal-blueprint-decarbonize-americas-buildings-sector https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks