Cool Roof Rating Council Database and Online Application Portal

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Bartholomew Warner
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1 Request for Proposals Cool Roof Rating Council Database and Online Application Portal Bidder shall submit, as per the instructions below, an electronic copy of the proposal by the end of business day listed in the RFP schedule. All correspondence, included but not limited to questions and submissions, shall be directed to: Jeffrey Steuben Executive Director Cool Roof Rating Council th St., Suite 400 Oakland, CA Phone: (510) x288

2 Table of Contents: Table of Contents: 1. Executive Summary 2. Background 2.1 Constraints 2.2 Successful Outcomes 2.3 Project Funding 3. Scope of Work Task 1 - Implementation Planning and Design Task 2 - Beta Tool Development Task 3 - Testing Task 4 - Final Tool Development Task 5 - Documentation & Training Task 6 - Administration 4. Proposal Submission 4.1 Technical Proposal 4.2 Financial Proposal 4.3 Experience and Qualifications 5. RFP Process 5.1 RFP Schedule 5.2 RFP Evaluation Criteria 5.3. Confidentiality and Ownership

3 1. Executive Summary The Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC), a non-profit rating agency, is seeking a contractor to develop and host an online tool to modernize its product rating process. The tool will house product data, enable staff administration, and allow customers to create and submit product rating applications. The CRRC has provided a Specification of the requested tool that includes desired features for this phase of development, as well as potential future phases. Development is expected to begin the beginning of 2017 and a final product delivered within the year. The contractor is expected to provide implementation planning services, software development and hosting services, thorough testing, and eventually maintenance and support. The Proposal Submission for bid shall contain technical and financial proposals, as well as statement to the bidder s experience and qualifications. The selected contractor will work closely with CRRC staff and Board of Directors to gain approval for final scope of work. Throughout implementation, the contractor is expected to perform activities that lead to 6 main task categories: design, implementation, testing, documentation, administration, and final delivery. CRRC is looking to work with a team that is highly experienced in delivering custom application processing software. The ideal team will deliver a tool that is cost effective and meets the provided specification goals. Further, the contractor is expected to agree to confidentiality and security practices that ensure CRRC customer information is safeguarded. 2. Background The Cool Roof Rating Council, or CRRC, was established as a 501(c)(3) in 1998 to develop accurate and credible methods for evaluating and labeling the solar reflectance and thermal emittance (radiative properties) of roofing products and to disseminate the information to all interested parties. For more information about the CRRC, visit coolroofs.org. The CRRC is managed by its Board of Directors, and CRRC staff made up of a small team of consultants. At the core of the CRRC is its Product Rating Program, in which roofing manufacturers can label their products with radiative property values rated through a strict program administered by the CRRC. Additionally, the CRRC also provides ENERGY STAR certifications for roofing products. These processes have similar, but not identical, requirements. The Cool Roof Rating Council Database and Online Application Portal Specification contains more background and technical information. 2.1 Constraints The CRRC has been successfully operating its rating program since 2003, and as such, has developed a fairly complex set of program requirements regarding product types, sample sizes,

4 and test methodology. In general, these program rules need to be maintained, just digitized, in this proposed system. This may result in more complex system validations. Where possible, the CRRC will work with the contractor to streamline the application process. The contractor will report to CRRC staff for day-to-day decisions, where most design questions can be resolved. However, the CRRC Board of Directors holds the final say in major decisions, such as the final approval of the work product or policy changes to CRRC Rating Program. 2.2 Successful Outcomes The success of this project looks different to different stakeholders. The overall success metric is a cost comparison of the manual process currently in practice against the cost to replace it with a software tool. Success will also take into consideration meaningful non-monetary gains, such as reduced frustration, avoided errors, and increased data quality. The primary users (Licensees and Laboratories) are concerned with their ability to navigate the system, and being able to submit product applications and data successfully. CRRC staff is concerned with being able to process applications and operate the program easily and effectively. This includes creating and assigning invoices and manually updating application information when needed. The Board of Directors is primarily concerned with the cost of the project. According to the Board, success will likely be measured by the ability of the contractor to deliver the product on or below budget, utilizing all reasonable cost-saving measures, and avoiding costly future development. Lastly, the long term success of the platform is also determined by the ability of the system to enable staff to operate the Rating Program with fewer hours and lower costs. 2.3 Project Funding The CRRC has a target budget of $500,000 for this project. If the specification outlines a system that exceeds this, the contractor should propose cost-saving strategies and highlight system features which could be removed from the proposed specification to reduce costs. The CRRC will work with the selected contractor to agree upon a design that stays within budget. The final contract terms will be time & materials with a not-to-exceed funding cap. Maintenance and support costs will be covered under a separate contract to be drafted after initial development. Do keep this in mind, as CRRC will be aiming at reducing costs in this area.

5 3. Scope of Work Task 1 - Implementation Planning and Design 1. Review Database and Online Application Portal Specification ( Specification ) and appendices. 2. Identify existing tools and applications best suited to economically fulfill specification requirements for running and housing the CRRC Online Application Portal. 3. Hold kickoff meeting with CRRC staff to discuss project scope and Implementation Plan. 4. Develop final tool process flow, wireframes, and mockups to include in a detailed Implementation Plan in response to the Specification materials and meetings. 5. Develop implementation timeline and key milestone delivery dates. 1. Presentation of proposed application design, draft Implementation Plan, tool process flow, wireframes, mockups, test plan, and other application recommendations. 2. Final Specification and Implementation Plan for approval from CRRC. 3. Implementation timeline and milestone schedule for approval by CRRC. Task 2 - Beta Tool Development 1. Develop the tool from the agreed upon final documents from Task Migrate data into the tool from current CRRC sources 1. Deliver beta version of the tool for UAT to CRRC. 2. Demonstrate the functioning tool to CRRC. Task 3 - Testing 1. Develop a test plan and procedure for the tool prior to development. 2. Establish and maintain regression testing to be run with each release. 3. Test the tool according to the testing plan. 1. Test Plan and procedure. 2. Test summary report.

6 Task 4 - Final Tool Development 1. Repair, correct, or modify the tool to address any issues discovered during internal QA and CRRC UAT. 2. Test summary report of final version. 1. Deliver final version of the working tool with implemented repairs, corrections, or modifications identified and approved during testing. 2. Provide final test summary report on final version. Task 5 - Documentation & Training 1. Update implementation documentation with final implementation details if they differ from originally approved Implementation Plan. 2. Document procedures for tool maintenance and updates. 3. Maintain a code knowledge base for hooks left in place for future phase development. 4. Assist CRRC staff in developing a user manual for site procedures and activities, including describing how to create or change staff user accounts, change application statuses, generate fees and invoices, and revert actions by overwriting metadata, and or relax validations. 5. Conduct initial training with CRRC staff. 1. Final complete documentation delivered to CRRC. 2. Staff user procedure manual. Task 6 - Administration 1. Provide monthly progress reports and invoices by the 5 th of the month. 1. Monthly progress report 2. Monthly project invoice

7 4. Proposal Submission RFP reviewers recommend that bidders thoroughly and carefully review the CRRC Specification and related appendices. In your review, please take a critical assessment of the CRRC Specification and submit with your proposal any appropriate corrections or suggestion to improve on the design based on your experience. Proposal not to exceed 10 pages, size 11 font, single spaced. Your proposal should include: Technical Proposal; ~80% Financial Proposal; and ~10% Experience and Qualifications. ~10% 4.1 Technical Proposal The Technical Proposal should be about 80% of your proposal package. Here is where you can demonstrate your unique approach to implementing the CRRC specification provided that will result in a useful and economic tool. The Technical Proposal shall include the following details: Critical assessment of the Database and Online Application Portal Specification and features that you estimate can be included in the final product for the allocated budget range (see section 2.3). Identify possible limitations in the specification and provide corresponding justification. Expand on technical challenges that you propose to resolve or mitigate with your approach to development. Recommended design improvements or feature trade-offs that you believe fulfill the feature requirements better, or at lower costs. Outline your proposed implementation concept, including: Programming language and frameworks Existing tools and applications (third-party APIs, plug-ins, or softwares) best suited to economically fulfill specification requirements Architecture design approach to modularize aspects of the application process described in the Specification Describe how you would plan for future design updates and feature releases, such as hooks, plug-ins, etc. Database structure to optimize rendering times Data and user access security practices 4.2 Financial Proposal The financial proposal should contain the following information: Team member hourly rates and brief role descriptions Estimated labor hours and charges per task outlined in the Scope of Work One-time software and equipment purchases Recurring charges and schedules

8 4.3 Experience and Qualifications The technical experience and qualifications should contain the following information: Describe the project team s unique qualifications and expertise, including those of key team members. Describe the time commitment of the key team members to support the project. Describe the project team s existing software and equipment that will facilitate the successful completion of the project; including a justification of any new software or equipment billed as part of the project. Include relevant, previous work efforts, demonstrated innovations, and how these enable the applicant to achieve the outlines project objectives. Attach one-page resumes for key participating team members as an appendix. No multipage resumes. Describe your process to interpret and understand client needs, what is an ideal client relationship, and what expectations do you have of the client. Describe your process for risk management, how do you reduce risk of talent loss, scope creep, cost inflation, etc. 5. RFP Process 5.1 RFP Schedule Written proposals due September 30, 2016 Selection of finalists by November 17, 2016 Estimated work start date January 2, 2017 Desired completion date December 1, RFP Evaluation Criteria Applicant firms will be rated in terms of: 1. Responsiveness to the RFP and demonstrated understanding of the issues surrounding the project. 2. The thoughtfulness and appropriateness of the proposed technologies and methods used to accomplish the desired results of the project. 3. The experience and qualifications of the individuals specifically proposed to execute and manage the project. 4. The experience of the firm making the proposal.

9 5. The capability to execute the plan, including past experience and aptitude for collaboration. 6. The ability to ensure cost controls and implementing cost-saving measures CRRC is under no obligation to select any proposal that results from this solicitation, nor is there any obligation or intent implied to reimburse any party for the cost of preparing a proposal in response to this RFP. CRRC encourages bidders to submit proposals that include innovative methods or tasks in addition to or different from those listed in the RFP Confidentiality and Ownership All content contained in this Request for Proposals, the Cool Roof Rating Council Database and Online Application Portal Specification and associated documents are property of the Cool Roof Rating Council, Inc. All work products produced under contract associated with this RFP will be owned by the CRRC. Any data collected, cleansed, or derived from user input or provided by CRRC shall only be used to: Verify authority and permission to access the tool track who is accessing and using the Index Contact information to provide notices Provide data when disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, safety or property of the CRRC, their members, managers, affiliates, partners, agents, representatives, or others. And shall never be used to: Reproduce data outside of the CRRC tool database Derive information not requested by CRRC Contact users for purposes outside of the CRRC tool communications Benefit from information derived from cookies or other user tracking applications

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