The General Services Administration and Department of Energy are seeking innovations from industry to improve environmental- and cost-efficiency in federal and commercial buildings, according to a joint request for information (RFI) issued by the agencies.
GSA and Energy are seeking information on emerging technologies to support the Green Proving Ground (GPG) and High Impact Technology (HIT) Catalyst programs. GPG works with third-party evaluators to develop deployment recommendations to meet sustainability goals and has had efficiency measures implemented in more than 200 GSA facilities. The HIT Catalyst program looks to partner with the commercial buildings industry to introduce proven but underutilized technologies for building efficiency packages.
Technologies the RFI targets include smart energy analytics; cold climate heat pumps; fans and blowers; chillers; refrigerants and alternatives to vapor compressor heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems; and water conservation and reuse.
The best options are to be evaluated in real-world condition, using occupied, operational buildings in order to inform public- and private-sector investment decisions.
A funding opportunity announcement will be issued, as well, to garner strategically structured teams to identify and increase the uptake of mature integrated systems. The RFI is issued for planning purposes, not proposals.
The RFI will be open until Nov. 18 and can be viewed in its entirety here. Questions can be sent to the GSA program office at gpg+2017@gsa.gov.
