Building 105, Providing Standby Power for Chilled Water Generation to Improve Reliability of the Research Triangle Park (RTP) Central Utility Plant (CUP)

THIS IS A PRESOLICITATION NOTICE FOR CONSTRUCTION SERVICES AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, RESEACH TRIANLE PARK, DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Research Facilities (ORF) has a construction requirement to improve the reliability of the Central Utility Plant (CUP) located at Research Triangle Park (RTP) in Durham North Carolina.  The objective of the project is to provide standby power for chilled water generation in support of laboratories and buildings on the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) campuses.

Background: Currently, the RTP CUP does not have backup electrical power for any of the chilled water production facilities. If the campus electrical utility service were to fail, the RTP campus would not have the ability to provide chilled water for cooling and humidification control in the Vivarium and research facilities. Buildings, laboratories, and facilities on the RTP and EPA campuses require continuous chilled water flow. If chilled water service is interrupted vivarium research and highly sensitive scientific equipment that requires stringent temperature and humidity controls could be damaged. Therefore, the ability to quickly recover from electric power failure is of paramount importance for assured continued operations.

The objective of this project is to improve the Medium Voltage Electric (MVE) infrastructure for the NIEHS campus and upgrade the power production and distribution system for standby chiller function within the CUP. This work will consist of correcting medium voltage and low voltage duct bank settlement concerns and conductors throughout campus, replacement of existing medium voltage feeder 107/204 fed from Building 107 to all connected loads, installation of above ground medium voltage switches for all taps, construction of a new medium voltage generator yard and electrical vault underneath ground to provide uninterruptable chilled water production and harden power distribution for critical support buildings serving the RTP campus.

This requirement is a Design-Build (DB) project to improve the MVE infrastructure for the NIEHS campus and upgrade the power production and distribution system for standby chiller function within the CUP. The DB Contractor is to provide all services for review of existing conditions, preparation of stamped construction documents from the provided bridging documents, provide professional solutions supported by engineering calculations, and turnkey construction in accordance with the bridging documents and contract requirements.

Magnitude of project: $25,000,000 - $100,000,000

Work to be performed under the project may include but is not limited to any of the disciplines listed in North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes as follows:

• NAICS of 236220- Commercial and Institutional Building Construction  

Contractors responding to this notice to perform the contract as small business joint ventures shall use the procedures described at the Small Business administration (SBA) web site. The SBA URL is www.sba.gov, and the keyword search is Joint Venture and or Mentor Protégé.

The anticipated release date of the Request For Proposal (RFP) is on or about August 23, 2024, with an anticipated bid closing date of on or about September 23, 2024. The firm date for receipt of offers will be stated in the RFP.

Responses should be submitted no later than Friday, August 23, 2024 2:30pm EST. Responses should be limited to not more than 10 pages.  Any information provided to the Government as a result of this notice is voluntary.  The Government will not pay for any information submitted in response to this Pre-Solicitation Notice.  Only responses submitted via email will be considered.  Email submissions should be submitted to Thao Nguyen at thao.nguyen@nih.gov and Thuy Le at thuy.le@nih.gov

The government will evaluate market information to ascertain potential market capacity to:

          1. Provide services consistent in scope and scale with those described in this notice and otherwise anticipated;

          2. Secure and apply the full range of corporate financial, human capital, and technical resources required to successfully                      perform similar requirements;

          3. Implement a successful project management plan that includes compliance with program schedules; cost containment;                    meeting and tracking performance; hiring and retention of key personnel and risk mitigation; and

          4. Provide information from an acceptable surety in accordance with FAR 28.202 Acceptability of Corporate Sureties,                             reflecting sufficient bonding capability to meet the minimum bonding requirements. Contractor shall provide a signed                         letter, from an approved surety, stating the contractor has, as a minimum, a current single project bonding capacity for this                 acquisition of at least $40 Million. The letter shall include the name and telephone number of the Bonding/Surety                               Company, be on Surety Letterhead, signed by the Surety and include Surety's Seal. Such bonding capacity should meet                   the requirements of FAR 52.228-15, Performance and Payment Bonds - Construction.

If your company/organization has the potential capacity to perform these contract services, please provide the following information:

• Company name, address, email address, website address, telephone number, Unique Entity ID (UEI), business size-status, NAICS Codes, and type of ownership structure.

• Provide a tailored capability statement addressing the particulars of this effort with appropriate documentation supporting claims of staff and organizational capabilities. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capabilities, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements.

Based on the responses to this Pre-Solicitation Notice, this requirement may be set-aside for small businesses or procured through full and open competition. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions.

Submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary; the government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred for the development of a response.