Custom Designed Application Program Interface for Athena's Impact Estimator for Buildings.

I. AUTHORITY / METHOD OF ACQUISITION:

Under authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13.106-1(b), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Athena Sustainable Materials (Athena), 119 Ross Ave Suite 100, Ottawa, ON, K1Y oN6, as the only capable source that can meet the requirements for a Custom Designed Application Program Interface (API) for Athena's Impact Estimator for Buildings. The North American Industry Classification System Code 541519-Other Computer Related Services, with a small business size standard of $27.5 million dollars, is associated with the requirements.

II. REQUIREMENTS:

The Applied Economics Office (AEO), a part of the Engineering Laboratory (EL) at NIST, provides economic products and services through research and consulting to industry and government agencies in support of productivity enhancement, economic growth, and international competitiveness, with a focus on improving the life-cycle quality and economy of constructed facilities and manufacturing teams with engineers and scientists from EL and NIST at large. BIRDS NEST has been developed by AEO to provide Life Cycle Impact Assessments (LCIAs) of user-defined building designs, including the building components, systems, and operations. The challenge is that the current building structure and envelope options available to users of BIRDS NEST are limited due to the expensive and labor-intensive nature of developing LCIA data. The contractor shall develop a web Application Program Interface (API) for Athena's Impact Estimator for Buildings (IE4B) Software that receives information from and sends information to BIRDS NEST. As a result of leveraging IE4B, NIST will be able to provide more detailed and accurate LCIA results through BIRDS NEST.

III. SOLE SOURCE RATIONALE:

Athena, through its Impact Estimator for Buildings (IE4B) desktop application, possesses the only software that provides LCIA calculations from any building structural and envelope component, a flexibility not available in BIRDS NEST. No other software tool exists that has the capabilities of Athena's IE4B.

Only Athena, proprietor of the IE4B, possesses the requisite knowledge and experience to ensure 100 percent compatibility of the existing BIRDS NEST and a new custom designed API for Athena's IE4B Software. No sources, other than Athena, were identified as capable of meeting the requirements.

NIST intends to issue a sole source solicitation to Athena and intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Athena.

IV. INSTRUCTIONS / COMPLIANCE:

This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals or quotations and no solicitation document will exist for this requirement. However, companies interested in responding to this notice may submit technical data, including price and sufficient documentation for NIST to determine capabilities and qualifications in meeting the requirements. All responses received by the closing date of this notice will be considered by NIST. A determination by the NIST not to compete based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the NIST.
Companies interested in responding to this notice:

1. May submit their capabilities and qualifications to meet the requirements, in writing via e-mail, to Mario Gray using e-mail address: mario.gray@nist.gov, with the notice number referenced in the subject line of the e-mail.
2. Shall submit their responses by no later than the closing date of this notice.
Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.

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