Questions and Answers:
Request for Qualifications from Providers of
Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy Services

(1) Question: Our company is very specialized in its offerings. We provide energy efficiency reports and turn-key repair services for steam systems (primarily steam traps) and compressed gas (control air, nitrogen, oxygen, medical air, etc.) systems. We identify lost steam energy and lost energy associated with compressed gas leaks. We use state of the art equipment that allows us to focus only on the affected areas. Do you feel that you have a need for our company's services?

Answer: Yes. Many New Hampshire buildings have old steam heat systems that need repair and improvement to function more efficiently. Jordan Institute staff have recently done walk-through such buildings. We expect that some of our projects will require analysis, repair and improvement of steam systems.

(2) Question: How many energy efficiency and clean energy service consultants does The Jordan Institute intend to prequalify?

Answer: We have not identified specific numbers of consultants that will be needed in each area. We are experiencing considerable and growing demand from school, municipal, commercial and industrial, and institutional building owners, and expect to require by next year the services of many firms who perform high-quality work in areas such as those listed in the RFQ.

(3) Question: There are ten bulleted service groupings listed in the RFQ. Will the consultants be qualified in certain area(s) of service only? Should we plan to indicate which service areas we are targeting?

Answer: We do not intend to qualify consultants within rigid categories. At the same time, we will use consultants in their areas of expertise, and will accordingly seek to identify the full range of services a firm can perform well and the areas where it has less experience. Please make sure to indicate which service areas you are targeting so that we know when we should turn to you.

(4) Question: Are there selected projects at this point that The Jordan Institute is collecting consultants to work on?

Answer: We are beginning building assessments, energy modeling, solution development and financial modeling for an initial group of projects with school districts, private schools, affordable housing providers and commercial and industrial building owners.

(5) Question: How will the ESCOs and the energy efficiency consultants work together?

Answer: In some projects, The Jordan Institute and building owners will use project managers and other consultants rather than ESCOs, and energy efficiency consultants will work with the project managers rather than with ESCOs. In any projects where The Jordan Institute and building owner conclude that the owner's interests will be better served by using an ESCO, The Jordan Institute will expect the ESCO to consider using consultants we have pre-qualified. Some ESCOs that have responded to The Jordan Institute ESCO RFQ have expressed willingness to use subcontractors we identify.

(6) Question: How will The Jordan Institute decide which two consultants they will recommend to each of the project owners?

Answer: Within the universe of pre-qualified consultants, our recommendations will be based on the suitability of a consultant's skills for a particular project, the consultant's availability, pricing information obtained from the consultant, relevant geographic considerations, and other factors typically considered in procurement decisions.

(7) Question: Will The Jordan Institute have required methods or recommended guidance for accomplishing each selected service task?

Answer: We will set exacting standards for all services. In prequalifying service providers, we will identify firms with the expertise and capabilities necessary to meet those standards. During project planning, we expect to have a robust dialogue about how to approach many tasks, and we will provide close oversight of on-site performance.

(8) Question: Is it permissible to include pictures in the "one page narrative" requested in item 2, "Sample Projects," if the pictures make the case study go to two pages?

Answer: Yes, it is acceptable to include up to one page of graphic material to accompany up to one page of narrative text in each case study.

(9) Question: We have been in business for over 26 years. Knowing this, do you still need our financial statements, or is Attachment A enough?

Answer: Please include the financial information requested in section 7.a along with other requested information.

(10) Question: Are you interested in our most recent ten projects completed in New Hampshire, or (a) our most recent noteworthy projects (some of our projects are very small), (b) most recent projects done by the project manager who would be involved with GSE2, or (c) other.

Answer: Please provide information about ten projects completed in New Hampshire during the last five years and three to eight other sample projects you consider noteworthy. The New Hampshire projects need not be your most recent projects, as long as they were completed within the past five years. Therefore, if you feel that you have completed three to eight noteworthy projects in New Hampshire during the last five years, you may submit information about a total of ten projects that include those projects. It will help us assess your firm's qualifications if some of the projects about which you submit information were ones handled by the project manager who would work with GSE2. Our goal in requesting information about your projects is two-fold: to obtain a picture of your New Hampshire track record, and to learn about projects that you consider typical of your firm's best work.

(11) Question: We are doing case studies for marketing and for the industry on energy improvement projects we have or are currently working on. I am looking for what the range is for typical buildings so that we can compare our projects to a real-world context. Do you have any data on how many dollars per square foot the New Hampshire schools used last winter or for AVA?

Answer: We have obtained three years of energy use data for more than 90 New Hampshire school buildings, but do not release such data with identifying information. We would be glad to provide contact information for the schools or other building owners or data without identifying information. We share your interest in data on actual building performance following the completion of energy upgrades and intend to gather and analyze such data on our projects.

(12) Question: Can separate lease financing companies respond or are you just working through a financial advisor?

Answer: The Jordan Institute did not intend to qualify financial firms through this RFQ process. We are using the services of a financial advisor, but have established no exclusive financing arrangements and welcome information from lease financing companies and other financial services firms.

(13) Question: I am unfamiliar with the “ESCO” definition. Do architects, like ourselves, who do energy modeling and  envelope/insulation upgrades qualify? We are simply unclear about how we can be involved here.

Answer: An architectural firm that does energy modeling and building envelope upgrades should respond to the RFQ for energy efficiency and clean energy service providers rather than to the RFQ for ESCOs. The Jordan Institute does not have its own definition of ESCO but uses the generally accepted meaning of the term. The National Association of Energy Service Companies defines ESCO as "a business that develops, installs, and arranges financing for projects designed to improve the energy efficiency and maintenance costs for facilities over a seven to twenty year time period."

(14) Question: In preparing a submission to be a member of the integrated design team for the Jordan Institute with the task of maximizing indoor air quality in conjunction with minimizing the associated energy, can the RFQ form requested be modified to reflect this IAQ priority while still meeting the bidding requirement of being responsive to this RFQ?

Answer: Well-designed, -installed and -operated ventilation and other building systems can attain high standards of both indoor air quality and energy performance. The RFQ does not imply that indoor air quality standards are to be compromised for the sake of meeting energy performance objectives. On the contrary, The Jordan Institute will ensure that high indoor air quality and energy performance standards are simultaneously achieved. In the past, The Jordan Institute has worked to accomplish these twin objectives in New Hampshire Partnership for High Performance Schools projects and in LEED projects in which we have served as consultants.

(15) Question: The RFQ states that Granite State Energy Efficiency will arrange financing and provide comprehensive planning, technical, and project management assistance to enable building owners to achieve deep and lasting improvements in energy performance. Has financing been appropriated for this initiative? If yes, how much and over what time frame?

Answer: Our initial projects involve school districts who will likely rely on existing forms of bond or other tax-exempt financing and commercial, industrial and institutional building owners with access to internal or other sources of financing. Some school districts, for example, will rely on New Hampshire Municipal Bond Bank bond issuances. We have recently arranged for the creation of a $450,000 revolving loan fund for preconstruction financing, which will be available to those school districts and municipal building owners who need it. We are beginning work on the development of new financing mechanisms for building owners who are not eligible for tax-exempt financing and who lack access to internal or other sources that meet their needs.

(16) Question: Can you provide information on what the average project dollar value amounts to?

Answer: We estimate that the average cost of public school projects will be in the range of $1 million per building.

(17) Question: Can you provide an estimate of the number of consultants and contractors that are already pre-qualified by The Jordan Institute?

Answer: The Jordan Institute has begun working with a small number of project managers and energy analysts and modelers, with a financial advisor, and with specialized consultants who are advising the organization on various program-wide matters.

(18) Question: Can you provide an estimate of how many more consultants and contractors that The Jordan Institute is looking to engage?

Answer: See answer to question 2 above.

(19) Question: Is preference given to consultants and/or contractors that have offices and established practices in New Hampshire?

Answer: All other things being equal, having offices in proximity to New Hampshire project locations, and the familiarity with local circumstances that could be associated with having an established practice in New Hampshire, would be advantageous. We seek firms who can do the best work, taking into account all relevant aspects of their qualifications.

(20) Question: The RFQ states that the Jordan Institute will be working over the next ten years to achieve significant energy performance improvements in all sectors. Has the Jordan Institute developed an overall strategic plan for executing this strategy including prioritizing initiatives, management of resources (financial, people, etc.), number of projects to be initiated/completed each year, etc?

Answer: The Jordan Institute developed a preliminary ten-year plan that was submitted to the US Department of Energy through the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning as part of a $710,000 grant application that was approved by US DOE last year. The Jordan Institute has developed a more detailed plan for the initial phase, in 2008-2009, which calls for implementing projects with up to ten school districts, beginning the benchmarking and planning process for a second, larger group of school districts, and undertaking projects with commercial, industrial and institutional building owners and potentially others. We are about to embark on planning the next phase, which will involve, in addition to continued work on school projects, expanded commercial, industrial and institutional project activity and an initial group of municipal projects. We have a budget and committed sources of financial support for this program. We have built a core consultant team, as described above (see answer to question 17), and have filled key staff positions. This summer we hired the former New Hampshire State Energy Program Manager as GSE2 Program Manager, and a project manager with more than thirty years of large project (including energy project) experience as Director of Implementation.

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