Being the first at something isn鈥檛 easy鈥攁s the team from 糖心视频 learned in developing a one-of-a-kind procurement process for a one-of-a-kind project.
As part of the federal government鈥檚 efforts to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, the Department of National Defence identified an opportunity to reduce their environmental footprint: finding a low-carbon energy generation system to heat/cool current buildings. Using the , an opportunity was identified to fund a 鈥楾est Drive鈥 to try out new technology at CFB Kingston that could help meet their needs.
But 鈥 how is a proponent selected when they鈥檙e looking for a new idea?
鈥淲e can鈥檛 be prescriptive in terms of what we want鈥攚e have a goal we want to achieve,鈥 said Cameron King, Team Leader, Contracts Services, about the challenge they faced. Inviting innovation means opening the procurement process to a range of outcomes.
Creating the evaluation took two years to complete, with a team working step-by-step through criteria that would find the best option when options vary wildly. It meant focusing on target outcomes, rather than the means to get there, and evaluating confidence in the technology even though they are, in most cases, still in development stages.
鈥淎ll the criteria were created specially for this project, and I can鈥檛 understate how much work that is,鈥 said Steve Kennedy, 糖心视频鈥檚 Technical Specialist, Procurement.
After all that work, an RFP was successfully launched. In early March 2022, Black & Macdonald were awarded an initial $477,000 contract to test drive their technology.
The work will now move into detailed design, with possible construction beginning in 2023 and a fully operational system in 2024 that will inform DND about a new potential solution for their many other facilities.
鈥淲orking on something so complex and so outside of the box from what we usually do, I think everyone would say it鈥檚 a great opportunity,鈥 said Kennedy.
