Amendment 4 - Attachment 1 - Technical Specifications.pdf

Amendment 4 - Attachment 1

"Resilience and Durability Assessment Chamber"

Date: 2/6/25

BACKGROUND

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has been at the forefront of resilience and durability research supporting innovators of advanced building envelope technologies since the 1990s. NREL’s work in this area has proven crucial to validation of technology innovations and has led to significant private sector investment as well as expanded market growth. The need for an upgraded Resilience and Durability Assessment Chamber, is based on growing market need for research supporting emerging innovative technologies. Currently, NREL has multiple partners who are waiting for evaluation of their technologies and additional capacity is needed to continue this support. NREL does partner with private testing facilities to ensure that market appropriate durability and resilience assessment methods are developed, however, for many emerging innovations, the resources of a national laboratory are required for initial assessment. NREL develops durability and resilience assessment methods that it then transfers into the private sector driving further industry growth.

In addition to the growing market need, a second need also arises from limitations of NREL’s existing equipment. Current facilities cannot adequately support the expanding scope of work, especially as NREL engages with industrial partners on resilience and durability assessment. Current work is focused on emerging building materials and building innovations like vacuum insulating glass (VIG), a technology which is presently being scaled up by several US-based companies. This chamber will establish NREL as the leading global center of scientific and engineering excellence related to durability and resilience evaluation of emerging technologies as well as replace aging equipment that no longer meets the rigorous demands of current and future research.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of acquiring the new Resilience and Durability Assessment Chamber is to enhance NREL’s capability to evaluate the durability and resilience of various building envelope technologies under a simulated and controlled environment. By implementing this modernized chamber, NREL aims to conduct comprehensive research that addresses current gaps in durability and resilience assessment protocols, specifically for innovative materials developed under DOE programs. The upgrade will provide essential data for benchmarking newer technologies, leading to improved performance metrics for the industry.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Project scope:

Offers are required to provide the chamber assembly, HVAC system and controls as per specification listed below.

Offerors have the option to provide UV-lighting as part of the package or provide the same as per NREL requirements. Given NREL’s experience with UV integration, NREL can provide installation guidelines to the selected vendor, if needed, and can advise the selected vendor on the necessary parts, if needed.

NREL’s assistance will not include the actual purchase of the parts on the selected vendor’s behalf.

Description of equipment and use

The overall system will consist of multiple chambers that allow flexibility in application of environmental stress factors across building envelope samples. Each chamber will consist of two sides in a “clam shell” format with a sample holder mounted between the two sides. One side will control simulated outdoor environment conditions (weather side) while the second side will maintain simulated building interior ambient conditions (controlled ambient side). Samples will be mounted between the controlled ambient and simulated outdoor environment sides to provide weathering across prototype building envelope components. Technical specification of the simulated outdoor environment and controlled ambient side chambers are summarized below.

Chamber Design

• Simulated outdoor environment Weathering Chambers o Will include water spray, humidity control, and the ability to cycle temperatures as specified below.

o Will allow easy access to components (e.g., mist nozzles, humidity sensors) for routine maintenance, o Will maintain consistent airflow to ensure uniform conditions across the surface of the sample Control-able between 1 m/s and 6 m/s.

• UV System (Optional) – Offerors have an option to provide or not to provide a UV Lamp system as specified. However, it is required that the UV system meets the specifications below if provided by the vendor.

• Controlled Ambient Chamber o Will have a movable enclosure to allow easy mounting and removal of samples.

o Will maintain a controlled temperature, controllable between 18°C and 23°C ± 1°C, simulating ambient indoor conditions, o Will provide consistent airflow to ensure uniform conditions across the surface of the sample and replicating natural convection conditions, not to exceed 1 m/s.

Environmental conditions:

Simulated Outdoor Weathering Side (to model outdoor exposure)

• Temperature Range and Cycling (Programable):

o -65°C to 110°C o Minimum temperature ramp rate min 3°C/min o Chamber material shall be able to withstand these temperatures and other simulated conditions.

• Minimum Cycle Requirements:

o Attachment 3 - NREL Guidelines and Specifications for Enhanced Durability Evaluation of Insulating Glass and Vacuum Insulating Glass Units - https://research-hub.nrel.gov/en/publications/guidelines-and-specifications-for-enhanced-durability-evaluation-o Attachment 4 - ASTM E2188-19 (Section 8.33)

• Relative Humidity: Controllable from 10% to 95% (during hot cycle as shown in Attachment 4 - ASTM E2188-19, FIG. 3)

• Uniform air flow across sample area (climate chambers) o Programable Air velocity 1 m/s to 6 m/s

Controlled Ambient Side (simulated indoor conditions)

• Uniform air flow across sample area (In-door condition) o Constant 18-23 +/-1 °C o Air velocity (natural convection) ≤1 m/s o Relative Humidity: Controllable from 10% to 95%

Sample Holder requirements:

• Surround Panel Wall (Insulation wall between outdoor environment side and the Ambient side of the Chamber) Dimensions: Width: (90 inches (2.29 m), Height: 85 inches (2.2 m), thickness: 4 inches (0.1 m),

• A clearance of 11 inches on all sides between the sample opening and the surround panel wall top is required.

• The cut out opening in the surround panel wall to accommodate sample sizes: Width: 72 inches, height: 63 inches.

• Surround panel wall made from insulating material without thermal bridging (avoid thermal short-circuit). Having insulating value of ≥R-15

• Two Filler blocks made of same material as the surround panel wall size of

13.5 in X 63 in shall be provided.

https://research-hub.nrel.gov/en/publications/guidelines-and-specifications-for-enhanced-durability-evaluation-https://research-hub.nrel.gov/en/publications/guidelines-and-specifications-for-enhanced-durability-evaluation-

• Interior sample holder (45 in x 63 in) will be provided by NREL

Operational time and cycle requirement

• Equipment shall be operable continuously (without interference) at a minimum of three consecutive months.

• The HVAC system shall provide the minimum of 3°C/min ramp rate independently for each of the four durability chambers to achieve required temperature cycles.

UV light, electrical (Optional)

NREL has previous experience in integration of UV in similar chambers and can work with the selected vendor to assist in design, sourcing and installation.

If the offer includes the UV-system, the UV system shall comply with below requirements:

o Electrical sockets for T12BL/HO UV lamps o Able to withstand environmental conditions (i.e. temperature cycling and humidity) o UV Lamp spacing

45 +/- 20 mm from surface of specimen Spaced 100mm apart (center to center)

Mist/water cycle o Chamber must be able to supply mist onto sample surface area evenly, o Water should be able to drain from the chamber.

Ambient and outdoor environment Side of the Chambers

• Insulation o Chamber wall insulation should be an R-value of no less than 10

(°F⋅ft2⋅h/BTU)

• Vision area for Ambient Side-1 Chamber:

o Transparent area for viewing samples during testing.

Access to installed sample and maintenance

• Both side-1 and side-2 (outdoor environment and Ambient chambers) need to be easily removable to allow access to mounted samples and maintain components.

Individual environment controls

• LabView compatible controllers o HVAC controller o Temperature and Relative Humidity (RH) sensors

Other Qualifications:

- Company profile and experience making similar instruments

- Knowledge of heat transfer

- Demonstrations to show vendor viability (RFQ)

- Performance validation to demonstrate the vendor product will meet specifications (RFP)

- If a small business, be registered in SAM (www.sam.gov), provide Unique

Entity ID (UEI) number.

TECHNICAL OR SAFETY REQUIREMENTS

• NREL Requirements (safety) o Inspection requirements

Electrical safety (EHS)

• Space Requirements/ Limitations:

o The lab space available for installation is approximately length: 16 feet 9 inches, width: 7 feet 6 inches, and height: 8 feet 4 inches.

o Access to the lab area: A roll door measuring dimension: 9ft High x 16ft Wide

Utilities available in the facility:

• Electrical: 440V and 220V available.

• Water: Chilled Water (~14C), tap and distilled water, with drainage capabilities.

• Compressed Air: Compressed air supply available.

Delivery Installation and commission

• Chamber needs to be delivered, installed and commissioned at NREL’s facility

• The awarded company will provide a full-system demonstration, training for NREL staff, and include an operations manual.

• The company will provide service support/maintenance for a minimum of 1 year after installation

TIMELINE

The chamber must be delivered and fully operational within six months of the contract award. An extension for delivery (with no additional costs) may only be granted in the event of unforeseen circumstances and must be mutually agreed upon. In no case shall the delay exceed two additional months.

• Provide Milestones for,

1. Design of chamber, including technical drawings or CAD models, and thermal properties of material used to build the chamber.

Note: NREL will work with the selected vendor in refining the design of the chamber if requested.

The design must be included in the proposal, and the final design will be reviewed and approved by the NREL technical team before construction begins.

http://www.sam.gov/

2. HVAC system: Provide specifications as listed in this requirement document.

The final system will be reviewed and approved by the NREL technical team before construction begins.

3. Complete full assembly at vendor’s site.

Assembling all the components of the chamber, HVAC and controls system into a complete, functional unit

4. System validation against technical requirements at awardee’s site

5. Final delivery, installation and commissioning at NREL

• Meeting with awarded project team and NREL o Bi-weekly meetings (or as required) between the awarded subcontractor and NREL

DRAWINGS

Chamber concept (planned view)

The diagram above illustrates the chamber, including the ambient side, weathering (climate) side, and sample holder. The ambient side should be adjustable to allow for easy replacement of the sample holder.

Surround Panel Surround Panel

Surround Panel Surround Panel

Floor plan view