Sources_Sought_Notice-140G0225Q0044_1.pdf

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY FOR MARKET RESEARCH

PURPOSES.

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP), REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS

(RFQ) OR INVITATION FOR BID (IFB).

NO FORMAL SOLICITATION IS BEING REQUESTED UNDER THIS NOTICE.

This Sources Sought Notice is for market research purposes to identify parties having an interest in and resources to support this requirement for operations and maintenance services of a newly constructed C02 refrigeration plant and supporting systems located in building 810, Denver

Federal Center, Denver, Colorado.

The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement.

The Government will review the information requested in this announcement based on the responses to this sources sought notice/market research, this requirement may be set-aside for small businesses or procured through full and open competition.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 238220 (Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning Contractors) and the size standard is $19.0 Million.

The following is a brief description of services that are required to be performed but not limited to:

1.0 Introduction

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on behalf of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) manages the NSF Ice Core Facility (NSF-ICF). This facility is physically located in E Bay, building 810, on the Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado.

The NSF-ICF has a requirement for operations and maintenance (O&M) services of a newly constructed CO2 refrigeration plant and all associated subsystems.

The NSF-ICF CO2 refrigeration plant and associated subsystems had an expected completion date of June 2025, an official commissioning date of July 2025, followed by a six-month run-in period. If the NSF-ICF CO2 refrigeration plant and associated subsystems perform within operational requirements during the six-month period, ice cores will be moved from the existing facility to the NSF-ICF CO2 refrigeration plant in January- February 2026.

2.0 Background

The NSF-ICF CO2 refrigeration plant is a highly specialized facility in Denver, CO. It stores over 30,000 meters of ice cores that have been drilled from the world’s ice-covered regions for scientific investigation of the Earth’s past climate and atmosphere. To date, the cost of acquiring the samples stored in the NSF-ICF CO2 refrigeration plant is approximately $750M. Due to lack of accessibility to collection sites and environmental changes recollection of many of the unique samples is impossible.

The ice core samples must be stored at temperatures well below freezing and within a narrow temperature range to maintain sample integrity. It is not enough that the cores be prevented from melting, if the stored samples warm to approach the freezing point, components of the old air and other trapped substances in the ice may migrate out of the ice destroying the scientific integrity of the ice and rendering the samples useless. In addition, if the temperatures vary too much, even within a range of subfreezing temperatures, the ice can undergo disastrous structural and chemical changes, again affecting the scientific integrity of the samples.

3.0 Scope

The NSF-ICF CO2 refrigeration plant is an extremely complicated and custom facility utilizing new trans critical CO2 technology and associated controls and supporting subsystems. Operating and maintaining the facility to manufacturer specifications is essential.

Accomplishing on-site preventative maintenance, regular maintenance, and emergency response services for the NSF-ICF CO2 refrigeration plant and associated subsystems while meeting the technical specifications is a key factor in evaluating sources sought capabilities.

4.0 Technical Requirements

The NSF-ICF maintains refrigeration using a M&M Carnot transcritical CO2 refrigeration system (CO2 system). The CO2 system ensures temperatures remain within technical operating requirements so the integrity of ice core samples is preserved.

A description of the system, as well as the technical operating requirements are described in the following sections.

4.1 System Description

The CO2 system consists of the following major components:

• Transcritical CO2 compressor racks

• Gas coolers/condensers

• Flash gas bypass system

• High-pressure controls and valves

• Heat reclaim system for hydronic floor application

• Electronic expansion valves

• System controllers and automation

• Safety systems and pressure relief devices

• CO2 leak detection system

The CO2 system includes an integrated hydronic floor system. The hydronic floor system covers approximately 6000 square feet divided into 24 independently controlled zones. The hydronic floor system consists of the following major components:

• Heat exchanger interface with the CO2 system

• Primary and secondary circulation pumps

• Distribution manifolds

• Hydronic piping network embedded in floor

• Zone control valves and actuators

• Temperature sensors and controls

• Expansion tanks and pressure regulation

• Water treatment system

The CO2 system includes an integrated control system with the following major components:

• Building Management System (BAS) interface

• CO2 system controller

• Hydronic system controller

• Remote monitoring capabilities

• Alarm and notification systems

• Data logging and trend analysis tools

• Energy management controls

The CO2 system is comprised of hermetically sealed CO2 compressors, control modules and oil separators on two separate racks, two Gunter adiabatic gas coolers adjacent to the mechanical room at an elevation higher than the mechanical room to utilize gravity flow, a digital control system that monitors the system, plus eight evaporators. The evaporators are in three separate refrigerated spaces (Ice Core Storage, Examination, Staging) and are fully redundant. All evaporators are controlled via evaporator control and power panels located in the machine room.

The CO2 system includes heat pumps and a monitored subfloor hydronic system, an associated HVAC and filtration system, stainless steel piping system, and heat traced condensate drains and monitoring.

The CO2 system is monitored by a CO2 leak detection system.

4.2 Technical Requirements

The O&M Contractor shall perform the operational requirements to meet or exceed the manufacturer’s performance standards.

For Continuous Operation:

• Ensure 24 hour, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year operation of the NSF-ICF

CO2 refrigeration plant and associated subsystems, including holidays, through maintenance activities, and responding to and resolving on-call issues.

• Maintain system uptime of no less than 99.5%, excluding scheduled maintenance, through monitoring, preventive maintenance, and regular maintenance.

• Provide temporary cooling solutions if system downtime exceeds 8 hours.

For Energy Optimization:

• Continuously optimize system operations through preventive and regular maintenance activities to minimize energy consumption.

• Adjust operating parameters through preventive and regular maintenance activities based on ambient conditions, facility load, and utility rates to minimize energy consumption.

• Maximize utilization of heat recovery for hydronic floor system through preventive and regular maintenance activities.

For Remote Monitoring and Control:

• Monitor system parameters remotely 24 hours, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.

• Respond to alarms in a timely manner to evaluate issues, repair as appropriate, and ensure technical specifications are met.

• Make remote adjustments to system parameters as needed to ensure technical specifications are met.

• Maintain secure access protocols for remote system access to ensure systems are not corrupted by external entities.

• Ensure backup monitoring systems are in place in case of primary system failure.

For Seasonal Adjustments, the Contractor shall:

• Optimize the CO2 system head pressure control strategies in May for summer and

November for winter operation.

• Adjust zone temperature setpoints in May for summer and November for winter operation per NSF-ICF Curator direction.

(End of brief description of Services)

If your organization has the potential ability to meet this requirement, please provide the following information to the Contracting Officer:

1. Tailored capability statement addressing the particulars of this effort, with appropriate documentation describing detailed information in providing the services described above.

2. The firm shall specify that they are either:

2.1 An Indian Small Business Economic Enterprise (ISBEE), small business, 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, etc. and Or

2.2 Other than small business under the NAICS Code listed in the announcement.

2.3 The firm shall provide a point of contact name and e-mail information, and SAM.gov

(Unique Entity ID (UEI), and must be registered and active in System for Award Management

(SAM).

All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary – the Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the Government. Materials submitted to the Government for review will not be returned. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation.

This is NOT a Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotations (RFQ) or Invitation for

Bid (IFB). The Government does not intend to award a contract based on responses received under this announcement.

The government will evaluate market information to ascertain potential market capacity to provide services consistent in scope and scale with those described in this notice and otherwise anticipated.

In order to be responsive to this Notice, a firm shall provide the appropriate documentation for consideration by June 3, 2025 at 2:30 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time (MDT). Responses that do not comply with these procedures will not be considered.

Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions.

Inquiries will only be accepted by e-mail to Lisa Williams at ldwilliams@usgs.gov.