Specifications include, but are not limited to: 1.1Description of UniversityThe University of Texas - Pan American ("University") is a comprehensive publicuniversity located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and covers approximately 331acres inEdinburg, Texas, the Hidalgo county seat with a population of approximately 42,000.Hidalgo County is ranked 7th largest in Texas with a population of over 520,000. Muchof the students' off-campus social life is centered in McAllen, a city with a population ofabout 100,000, only six miles from Edinburg. The bordering city of Reynosa, Mexico, acity of one million, is located about 30 minutes south of the campus. The beaches ofSouth Padre Island are a 90-minute drive away. The area is distinctly bicultural with a90 percent Hispanic population.The University of Texas - Pan American, one of the fastest-growing universities in thestate, has been a member of The University of Texas System ("System") sinceSeptember 1, 1989. When it became a state college in 1963, the name Pan Americanwas selected because it reflected the institution's desire to bridge cultures of the Northand South Americas and to reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of the University.Today, it is the tenth largest of the State's 35 senior institutions.1.2Background and Special CircumstancesThe University of Texas-Pan American manages 70 buildings, covering 2.4 million grosssquare feet. In FY'11, the university spent over $6 million in utilities. The heating,ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems at UTPA vary in size and complexity.UTPA's HVAC equipment is centrally monitored and controlled using mostly theSiemens Insight energy management system. The Thermal energy plant's staffmanages the University's control systems and the chiller plants in the main campus andHaggar facility. The staff is also responsible for utility procurement, monitoring, andreporting operating and maintaining campus and off-campus chiller-related equipmentand managing cooling process water treatment. Physical plant's maintenance andoperations group is responsible for managing the air conditioning and electricalequipment at the building level including air handlers, VFD's, pumps, boilers, VAV's,ducts, process valves and piping.In addition to energy efficiency renovations that have included chiller and air handlerreplacements, VFD additions, piping re-insulation, and lighting upgrades the universityhas recently metered electricity in all of its buildings. As part of its developing energymanagement program, the University intends to hire a vendor to retro-commissionexisting facilities and to assist the University in developing a formal On-going BuildingCommissioning Program.1.3Objective of this Request for QualificationsThe University of Texas-Pan American ("University") is soliciting proposals in response to thisRequest for Qualifications for Selection of a Vendor to Provide best practices in RetroCommissioning and On-going Commissioning Services. related to improving building energy use performance. A major objective is to increase and maintain the efficiency in the operationand maintenance of existing mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP) and building automationprocesses and equipment in existing facilities. These services are to include yet not be limitedto the following tasks: (1) Conduct ASHRAE Level I and II building audits, (2) Developnormalized building energy consumption baselines, (3) Provide expert technical support tosystematically identify and provide recommendations for operational and maintenance tune-upactivities and diagnostic testing to optimize building MEP systems, (RFQ No.12-MR-01 (this"RFQ"), from qualified vendors to provide retro commissioning services (the "Services") and toassist the University in developing an on-going building commissioning program. The Services,which are more specifically described in Section 5.4 (Scope of Work) of this RFQ, include (1)Bringing MEP equipment to its optimal operational state (2) Reducing complaints by improvingequipment and process reliability and efficiencies (3) Reducing energy and demand costs (4)Increasing equipment life (5) Improving indoor air quality (6) Increasing occupant satisfaction(7) Improving facility operation, control, and maintenance and (8) Reducing staff time spent onemergency calls
