ENVIRONMENTAL CHAMBER

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

NAICS: 334519 – Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing
PSC: 6636 – Environmental Chambers and Related Equipment

Notice ID Number: AMDTCSSN2501844

Title: Mobile Manipulator System

Department of Commerce Advanced Acquisition Planning Entry Number: NA

PURPOSE
The purpose of this sources sought notice is to conduct market research and identify potential sources of commercial products/services that satisfy the Government’s anticipated needs.
 
BACKGROUND
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Engineering Laboratory (EL) Materials and Structural Systems Division (MSSD) studies the durability and service life of infrastructure materials (polymers, concrete, engineered composites, etc.) for resilient infrastructure applications. One of the key research focuses is to evaluate the durability of these materials when exposed to a wide range of environmental conditions. As such, accelerated aging of materials using elevated temperature and humidity is a common practice. The MSSD will benefit from an environmental chamber to condition and age concrete materials for the “Engineered Materials for Resilient Infrastructure” program in projects such as “Assessing Pyrrhotite in Concrete”, “Forward Looking Building Codes”, and “Additive Manufacturing with Cement Based Materials” as well as polymeric materials for the “Measurement Science for Service Life Prediction of Polymeric Components Used in PV Systems”.

The purpose of this requirement is to obtain an environmental chamber to reliably condition materials for testing and perform accelerated aging tests. The environmental chamber shall be capable of conditioning infrastructure materials such as concrete specimens as well as cementitious and polymeric materials. The MSSD is anticipating an expansion of its infrastructure materials testing capabilities. The contractor shall provide an Environmental Chamber that meets all technical specifications identified below. All items must be new. Used or remanufactured equipment will not be considered. Experimental, prototype, or custom items will not be considered. The use of “gray market” components are not authorized for sale in the U.S. by the Contractor is not acceptable.

NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a solution that will achieve the objectives identified in this notice.

ANTICIPATED REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide an environmental chamber meeting the following minimum specifications:
Line Item 0001: Environmental Chamber

Quantity:  ONE (1)

1. Technical Specifications
   1. Internal volume cannot exceed 4 cubic feet (113 L)
   2. Chamber interior dimensions (working area) must be large enough to hold 30 4-inch by 8-inch cylindrical concrete specimens
   3. Must fit within the available laboratory space for the chamber of 33 inches wide, 36 inches deep, and 48 inches tall.
   4. Stainless steel exterior and interior
   5. Temperature range of -20 °C to 180 °C with an accuracy of ± 0.5 °C
   6. Relative humidity range of 10 % to 95 % with an accuracy of ± 5 %
   7. Ability to increase temperature at a rate of 1.5 °C per minute
   8. Ability to decrease temperature at a rate of 1.2 °C per minute
   9. Solid-state humidity measurement sensor
   10. Ability to operate at less than 65 dBA

1. Electrical Specifications
   1. Power supply of 115 V, 1 phase, 60 Hz, and 20 A
   2. NEMA 5-20 plug
   3. Detachable power cord with plug

1. User Interface/Data Acquisition Specifications
   1. Touchscreen user interface to program and control temperature and humidity in chamber
   2. Ability to program 40 different profiles with up to 50 steps each (e.g., ramp, soak, jump, auto-start, end, etc.)

1. Accessory Specifications
   1. TWO (2) wire shelves with a load capacity of 15 lbs. per shelf
   2. Purifying, de-ionizing filter for humidity from water source (i.e., municipal water)

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Please include only the information described below, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or Adobe .pdf format.

Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice, or by 7 business days after issuance of this notice.  Please note that to be considered for award under any official solicitation, the entity must be registered and “active” in SAM at the time of solicitation response. “ID Assigned” is not acceptable.

•    Provide the complete name of your company, address, name of contact for follow-up questions, their email, their phone number and, if your company has an active registration in https://sam.gov, your company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI).

•    Identify the equipment that your company sells that can meet the objectives addressed in the BACKGROUND section of this notice.  For each product recommended to meet the Government’s requirement, provide the following:
o    Manufacturer name
o    Model number
o    Technical specifications
o    If your company is not the manufacturer, provide information on your company’s status as an authorized reseller of the product(s)

•    Describe performance capabilities of the product(s) your company recommends to meet the Government’s requirements.  Additionally, if there are other features or functions that you believe would assist NIST in meeting its objectives described above, please discuss in your response.
o    Discuss whether the equipment that your company sells and which you describe in your response to this notice may be customized to specifications and indicate any limits to customization.

•    Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications in the BACKGROUND section you cannot meet and state why.  Please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more competitive.

•    State whether the proposed equipment is manufactured in the United States and, if not, state the name of the country where the equipment is manufactured.

•    Identify any plans/possibilities for changes in manufacturing location of the aforementioned equipment and provide relevant details, including timeline.

•    For the NAICS code listed in this notice:

o    Indicate whether your company is (a) a small business or (b) other than small business.  See the Table of Small Business Size Standards (located at www.sba.gov) and the associated .pdf download file for small business size standards and additional information.

o    If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement.  

•    Describe standard terms and conditions of sale offered by your company for the recommended equipment such as: delivery time after your company accepts the order; FOB shipping terms; manufacturer warranty (including details regarding nature and duration); if available, description(s) of available extended warranty; equipment setup and test; operator and service instruction manual(s); cleanup after installation; and if applicable, other offered services.  Provide a copy of manufacturer standard terms and conditions that typically relate to the sale of the specified equipment, if available.

•    If the recommended equipment and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which NIST may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.

•    Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for NIST to know as part of its market research for this requirement.

•    State if you require NIST to provide additional information to improve your understanding of the government’s requirement and/or would like to meet with NIST representatives to discuss the requirement and the capabilities of the identified equipment.

QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE

Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact and the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received by three business days after SSN issuance. If the Contracting Officer determines that providing a written amendment to this notice to document question(s) received would benefit other potential respondents, the questions would be anonymized, and a written response to such question(s) would be provided via an amendment to this notice.

IMPORTANT NOTES

This notice is for market research purposes and should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract.  There is no solicitation available at this time.

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.

NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s).

The responses shall not exceed five (5) pages including all attachments, charts, etc.
 
Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request!