EERE eXCHANGE: FAQs

Question 1: We are preparing to submit a proposal for DE-FOA-0000635. I would like to complete the concept paper, but instructions indicate that the Abstract matches the Abstract in the application document. We have not completed the full application, and therefore the Abstract statement for the application has not yet been finalized.
Answer 1: There is no requirement for a Concept Paper for this FOA.

Question 2: Is it required that the 4000 word Abstract for the Concept Paper and the Abstract in the application match word-for word.
Answer 2: There is no requirement for a Concept Paper for this FOA.

Question 3: Also, will Fed Connect be used to record and answer all questions from all applicants as was done in the case of the previous FOA for this program?
Answer 3: As indicated in Section VII of the FOA, all questions and answers related to the FOA will be posted on EERE Exchange.

Question 4: Can we request a bidder's conference?
Answer 4: No. Please refer to Section VII A. of the FOA for information about questions and answers.

Question 5: Must the full business plan be included within the 15 page limit of the project narrative?
Answer 5: Please refer to Section IV C. 3. of the FOA for what must be included within the 15 page limit.

Question 6: Will the program administrator be responsible for all or some of the Certified Practitioners fees and if they are responsible for some, which Certified Practitioners?
Answer 6: Please refer to Section I A. of the FOA for a discussion of Certified Practitioner fees.

Question 7: Will the SEP-PA be involved in providing technical assistance to facilities seeking certification?
Answer 7: Please refer to Section I C. of the FOA for information regarding the Project Scope for the SEP Program Administrator.

Question 8: How does DOE envision the IT requirements, in particular any interface between the SEP website and database with the new AMO web portal?
Answer 8: Please refer to Section I C. of the FOA for a discussion of anticipated IT involvement.

Question 9: Given the 12-24 month timeline to achieve certification, are DOE's targets of 750 industrial and 500 commercial facilities enrolled by year-end 2015 intended to include facilities that are engaged in the certification process (vs. only completed certifications)?
Answer 9: As indicated in Section I B. of the FOA, these targets are for facilities enrolled in the certification process, not for completed certifications.

Question 10: Is the SEP-PA required to assign Certified Practitioners to each site, or rather monitor the applicants' selection of Certified Practitioners for conflicts of interest?
Answer 10: Please refer to Section I C. of the FOA. The SEP-PA will develop and apply criteria for assigning auditors, performance verifiers and verification bodies to avoid conflicts of interest.

Question 11: Is it acceptable that the federal portion of each year's budget might vary (start out at $1.5 million in year 1, and declining to $.5 million by year 3)?
Answer 11: Please refer to Section II of the FOA for funding information. There is no requirement that the federal portion of the budget be the same for each year.

Question 12: Regarding DE-FOA-0000635, the Announcement does not mention the need for submission of a Concept Paper, but this document appears to be required when entering EERE Exchange for this Opportunity. If the Concept Paper is required, what is the Due Date? Will there be a reply from DOE on the Concept Paper- that is, feedback on the concepts presented- to inform for the completion of the final Proposal. Finally, instructions in the Concept paper form indicate that the Abstract must match the abstract in the final Proposal. Does this mean word-for-word? Otherwise, where can I get information on the intended content of the Abstract?
Answer 12:

There is no requirement for a Concept Paper for this FOA.

Question 13: Do you have a phone number that I can reach you at to discuss this grant opportunity? Is there another contact who can field questions?
Answer 13:

Unfortunately, DE-FOA-0000635 is a competitive solicitation and private discussions while the announcement is open are prohibited. As indicated in Section VII of the FOA, all questions regarding this FOA must be submitted through the email address provided in the FOA. All questions asked through this email will be answered through the EERE eXCHANGE system and will be available to all interested parties.

Question 14: Is the SF-LLL form required with submission even if there are no lobbying activities to report?
Answer 14:

Please refer to Section IV C. 10 of the FOA for the applicability of the SF-LLL. This form should only be completed if it is applicable.

Question 15: It is unclear from these instructions (Page 18 under para 5 "Budget File" whether it is mandatory to submit two full and separate budgets for the entire project, one for Commercial program and one for Industrial program. Or does this mean only that the projected revenues from both sources should be broken out between the two? "Applicants should also provide separate annual and cumulative budgets for both the industrial and commercial sectors that include federal funding requested and accounting for projected program income."
Answer 15:

As indicated in Section IV. C. 5. of the FOA, a separate budget for both the industrial and commercial sectors is required.

Question 16: When completing the Budget forms 424A, what is the exact period is the first Budget Period to be reported(remaining months of 2012 or remaining months of 2012 plus all of 2013?
Answer 16: Please refer to Section IV.C. 5. for instructions regarding the SF 424A.

Question 17: Are submitted notices of intent from bidders made public? If so, where can we access this information?
Answer 17: No.

Question 18: Is there a public list of organizations that are pursuing the opportunity as well?
Answer 18: No.

Question 19: The amendment 1 to the FOA contains a requirement for lighting efficiency for awards greater than $1,000,000. Is that value based on the total FOA application of the annual funding requested?
Answer 19:

As indicated in Section VI B. 2 of the FOA, the lighting efficiency requirement applies to awards in excess of $1,000,000. This is the total award amount for the life of the project.

Question 20: Furthermore, does the lighting efficiency apply to the prime applicant, or to all the sub-tier as well? If applicable to sub tier, only for those subs which are greater than $1,000,000 as well?
Answer 20: As indicated in Section VI B. 2 of the FOA, the lighting efficiency requirement applies only to the prime applicant.

Question 21: The subject solicitation states “If the Applicant’s financial assistance application is chosen for award and the award is in excess of $1,000,000, the applicant will, by the end of the fiscal year, upgrade the efficiency of their facilities by replacing any lighting that does not meet or exceed the energy efficiency standard for incandescent light bulbs set forth in Section 325 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6295).” Our Question: Does this requirement apply to ‘leased’ spaces used by applicant?
Answer 21:

In most cases the requirement will apply to leased spaces.

Question 22: Regarding the following: “On a periodic and routine basis, the SEP-PA should acquire an independent firm to perform an independent and unbiased evaluation regarding the credibility and accuracy of the energy performance improvements of the SEP Certified Partner and SEP Partner facilities. Not all SEP facilities would need to be evaluated, but a statistical sample will be sufficient. Applicants should propose an approach to conducting these evaluations.” Does the firm have to be independent of the SEP-PA team or the organization that performs the certification and verification?
Answer 22:

Yes

Question 23: Amendment 001, Item 2c – Does this requirement only apply to owned facilities and not leased facilities?
Answer 23:

This question has been answered and is posted at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/.

Question 24: Section 1, Overview, First Bullet – Define the word ‘implement’. Does the DOE require the candidate facility to implement and become certified to ISO 50001? Or only implement and follow the standard?
Answer 24: Please refer to Sections I B. and I C. of the FOA for a discussion of conformance with ISO 50001.

Question 25: Page 10, first bullet – Does the SEP-PA supply lead auditors? Does the SEP-PA dispatch lead auditors? What are the requirements of ‘assigning’ lead auditors?
Answer 25:

Please refer to Section I C. of the FOA. The SEP-PA will develop and apply criteria for assigning lead auditors, performance verifiers and verification bodies to avoid conflicts of interest.

Question 26: I have a question related to cost share requirements for DE-FOA-0000635. In the FOA, Section III, B. Project Income/Cost Sharing states the following. Recipient is required to apply all fees collected from facilities applying for certification and any other related fees collected pursuant to the SEP Certification program toward project costs. These certification fees are considered income to the program and must be applied against operational and administrative costs. DOE will determine annually the level of federal support to be provided based upon the recipient’s continuation application, amount of cost share and certification fees projected and availability of federal funding. Cost share in addition to certification and related fees is encouraged, but is not required. Recipient cost share must come from non-federal sources. However, I was unable to upload my final application because there is a 20% minimum cost share requirement on the Funds and Cost tab of the application.
Answer 26: We are looking into why the 20% cost share requirement is being displayed. In the meantime, you can check the “Reduced Cost Share Eligible” box to avoid this data validation check.

Question 27: Page 17 of the announcement states, “You must provide a separate budget for each year of support requested and a cumulative budget for the total project period”. In the SF-424A form, Sections A and B allow for the total cumulative budget. Section D provides for the budget breakout for each year. Is filling out one SF-424A form for our organization sufficient to meet the requirement in the quoted section of the Announcement? Or do we need to fill out a separate SF-424A form for each year of the program?
Answer 27: Please refer to Section IV C. 5. of the FOA for a discussion of the required format for the SF 424A.

Question 28: Page 12 of the Announcement states, “Cost share in addition to certification and related fees is encouraged, but is not required”. However, in the Funds and Costs tab of the EERE website application, when I enter $0 in the Non-Federal Share column, I get an error message that says, “Application requires applicants to contribute at least 20% of the total project cost. Please enter a cost share that is at least 20% of the total project cost”. This does not seem to be consistent with the requirements of the Announcement. How do I get around this error message?
Answer 28: We are looking into why the 20% cost share requirement is being displayed. In the meantime, you can check the “Reduced Cost Share Eligible” box to avoid this data validation check.

Question 29: Per the FOA, separate SF 424 A forms for both the industrial and commercial sectors are required, in addition to the total project period SF 424 A form. Are separate PMC 123.1 forms for both the industrial and commercial sectors required, in addition to the total project period PMC 123.1 form?
Answer 29: Please refer to Section IV C. 6. of the FOA for information regarding the Budget Justification (PMC 123.1).

Question 30: One of our partners (subawardee over $100K) would like to submit their SF424A and PMC 123 forms directly to DOE due to business-sensitive information regarding their breakdown of costs. They can email their budgets to this email address the same day we submit the whole application package and/or we can upload a password protected version through the EERE application website, with the password provided to DOE upon request. Are any of the two solutions OK, or do you have another suggestion? Will this jeopardize our application to DOE?
Answer 30:

For instances where the subrecipient does not want to submit budget forms through the Prime due to business sensitive information contained therein only, the subrecipient may submit the budget forms directly to DOE through the FOA email box.

The subrecipient must (1) clearly specify the name of the Prime Applicant and Control Number on their budget justification so that DOE will know what application the file is associated with; (2) indicate on the budget forms that the information is business sensitive and not to be shared with anyone outside the government, including the Prime Applicant; and (3) ensure that the budget files are submitted to DOE in advance of the closing date and time.

Additionally, the Prime Applicant shall clearly state in their application that the subrecipient submitted the budget information directly to the DOE through the FOA email box.

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