Renovation of a multi-residential development in New Haven, Connecticut. Conceptual plans call for the renovation of a multi-residential development.

The City of New Haven (the "City" or "CONH") has issued this Request for Proposal (the "RFP") to select a qualified Engineering Firm (the "Firm") for the design of a thermal energy network (TEN) system serving the City's central train station and an adjacent, new construction multifamily housing development. The Union Station Area Thermal Energy Network ("USATEN" or "Project") will serve New Haven's Union Station and the first three phases of a large multifamily development with Elm City Communities ("ECC" is the City's Housing Authority) (the "Project"). The City is seeking a Firm with robust capability to design the USATEN in its entirety as detailed in the Design Scope of Work section. The Firm must have experience designing and constructing large-scale, geothermal-based TENs at the campus or district scale serving multiple buildings. Experience designing and conducting work in public rights of way, navigating complex permitting and approvals processes, developing designs for complex and integrated energy systems, and developing complex project phasing plans are minimum qualifications for the selected Firm. The Project scope of work is focused on the design of the geothermal borehole arrays, piping and pumping stations to distribute thermal energy to the connected buildings, and service lines including energy transfer stations (ETS) as the isolating point of demarcation. The design of the connected building's mechanical systems (i.e., the building side of the ETS,heat pumps, etc.) are not included in this RFP scope. Consequently, firms submitting proposals will need to include energy modeling for the Union Station and the first three planned phases of the adjacent ECC multifamily development (the "Union Square Development"), which totals approximately 1,000 housing units. These first three phases of the Union Square Development account for nearly 1.1 million square feet of new construction with a mix of uses and housing unit types including studios, one- and two-bedroom units. The design and construction of the Union Square Development, including the mechanical systems, will be undertaken by ECC. The Firm must inform ECC on best practices associated with the basis of design for buildings' systems interconnection with TENs. Additionally, a second solicitation will be released for the geothermal mechanical design/conversion of Union Station at a later date, which shall include any and all project scopes of works relating to modifications necessary to interconnect Union Station's internal mechanical systems with USATEN. The City expects a 9 to 12 month design process followed by 3 to 6 months bidding process, followed by construction. Estimates of construction timeline to be generated and updated as the design progresses and anticipated to start of construction no later than April 2026 and complete by the fall of 2028. The Project is funded in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program (Project 5E00A01475). The City's Work Plan for the grant is provided as Attachment A. Please note that this original application was structured around a design-build approach and the project plan has now shifted to a design-bid-build approach. The City intends to leverage additional funding through the Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) provided for by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). The proposed budget for the Project and funding sources, including EPA Grant and CONH funding can be found in Attachment B. The Firm shall respond to the requirements of the EPA and IRA programs as they apply to the Project, including but not limited to Build America Buy America (BABA), EPA's Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) Standard (the City's draft QAPP is attached as Attachment C), IRA apprenticeship requirements and start of construction triggers, and any other such requirements as identified by the client during the execution of the Project. The EPA's full terms and conditions can be accessed at this link and grant specific terms and conditions are described in the Grant Agreement in Attachment D. Question & Clarification Deadline: April 17, 2025, 5:00pm