Growth Chamber Pods Sources Sought.pdf

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS ONLY

This Sources Sought is for the purpose of identifying firms that can meet the following United

States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Requirements.

USDA/ARS has a requirement to purchase Research Growth Chamber Pods under NAICS

333111, Farm Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing.

This Sources Sought is not to be considered as a request for proposal or as an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of the contractor submission to this Sources Sought or the Government's use of such information. The

Government reserves the right to reject, in whole or in part, any contractor's input resulting from this RFI. No contract will be awarded as a result of this announcement. Data submitted in response to this RFI will not be returned.

INSTRUCTION FOR SUBMISSION:

After review of the attached documentation, interested parties may submit a response in an electronic format only via email to tracey.dawley@usda.gov no later than September 1, 2022, 2:00 MST.

Electronic files should be in Microsoft Office Word or PDF format. All information should be

UNCLASSIFIED material only.

Respondents should include as part of their submission:

a. Capabilities statement.

b. GSA Number if applicable

c. UEI Number

d. Firm Name

e. Firm Address

f. Business size, SDVOSB, HUBZone, or Woman owned status, as validated via the

System for Award Administration (SAM). All offers must register on the SAM located at http://www.SAM.gov

g. Firm’s point of contact, phone and email address.

h. Past work experience. If you have experience working with other Federal Agencies and/or commercial businesses of similar size and scope, please include agency and/or business name contract number (if applicable), amount and type of contract (e.g. FFP, T&M, Labor hour etc).

Any proprietary information must be marked as such, the RFI information should not exceed a total of 10 one-sided 8 1/2x11 pages, with one-inch margins, and font no smaller than 12 point.

SPECIFICATIONS

Fabricate and deliver:

Vertical hydroponic “Farm Suites” from insulated shipping containers (40’x9’6”) and contains a state-of-the-art hydroponic system.

Farm Pod Structure Components:

• Customizable up to 8,000 plant capacity using nutrient film technique channels combined with food & drain system trays designed for research and development purposes.

• Sensor input/output and relays for automated control of electrical systems such as lights, pumps, and switches.

• Full-Spectrum LED light System Engineered for both Early and Late-Stage

Growth

• Water Pump, Tank, and Filtration System

• Precision Automated Fertigation System with cloud connectivity

• Air curtains to protect from pests

• Fans that uniformly distribute air flow in excess of 270 CFM over the plant canopy

• Programmable 5-ton HVAC Unit with integrated dehumidification capacity

• Internal hose bibb with water connection

• Floor coating is a liquid deck coating system that is durable, waterproof, slip resistant.

Operating System utilizes data-driven science, electronics, and business management systems to monitor, control and track every aspect of farm production and processes. Custom analytics to enhance plant quality and produce higher yields. Provides dashboard view of real-time data from in-farm sensors, with cloud storage of all historical data including growth, climate and alarm history. Remote access (from anywhere) of lights, irrigation, dosing, and CO2 Generation.

• Configurable sensor data parameters with text and email alerts.

• Automatic lot assignment for each seed planted to track for growth records, yield performance and traceability.