Report to:  General Committee                                             Report Date:  September 22, 2009

 

SUBJECT:                          Award of Proposal 190-R-09 Supply & Install Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Renewable Electricity Generation at the Civic Centre

 

PREPARED BY:               Atiq Rahman, Lifecycle Analyst, Asset Management

                                            Patti Malone, Senior Buyer, Purchasing

 

RECOMMENDATION:

1)            THAT the staff Report titled, “Award of Proposal 190-R-09 Supply & Install Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Renewable Electricity Generation at the Civic Centre” be received;

 

2)      AND THAT Council authorize the installation of a 9.6 kW solar PV panels on the roofs and walls of the third floor Mechanical Rooms at the Civic Centre, as shown in the attached picture;

 

3)      AND THAT Staff be authorized to award Contract 190-R-09 to the highest ranked and lowest priced bidder, Dasd Contracting Inc. in the amount of $98,500 inclusive of PST and exclusive of GST;

 

4)      AND THAT a separate purchase order in the amount of $14,775 exclusive of GST be issued for contingency to cover any additional fees and that the Director of Asset Management be authorized to approve expenditure of this contingency amount up to the specified limit in accordance with the Expenditure Control Policy;

 

5)      AND THAT the award be funded from capital budget account 77-5350-8535-005 (MESF - PV Panels on Roof of Markham Civic Centre/Other Facilities);

 

6)            AND THAT the Director, Sustainability Office, be authorized to apply for Ontario Feed-in tariff incentive;

 

7)            AND THAT the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to enter into Contract with financial incentive providers in a form acceptable to the Town solicitor;

 

8)            AND THAT the estimated annual energy rebate from Ontario’s Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) program (in amount of $10,896 a year) be built into the Civic Centre Operating Budget with the first $113,275 going towards the Lifecycle Reserve for the capital project payback, the rest of which will be used to offset annual hydro costs.  This estimated amount will be adjusted in future years’ budgets based on the actual amount received in the first year of operation;

 

9)            AND THAT Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

 

 

 

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to provide General Committee with budget and design details for all proposed and recommended solar PV panel systems at the Civic Centre, as per the Resolution of Council Meeting No. 18 dated December 16, 2008, and to obtain Council approval to award Contract 190-R-09.

 

BACKGROUND:

Resolution of Council Meeting No. 18 dated December 16, 2008, authorized staff to install a 10 kW solar PV renewable electricity generation system at the Civic Centre.  This pilot project concept was brought forward as a staff application for funding through the Markham Environmental Sustainability Fund.  Implementing a pilot solar PV project at a Markham owned building will demonstrate leadership in renewable energy generation and will serve to increase our profile in this area while securing our commitment to champion renewable energy opportunities. 

 

OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:

Staff requested and received proposals to install a PV panel system on the Civic Centre roof.  Several locations have been analyzed and proposed.  While a number of locations could be chosen to install the panels, the Great Hall roof, second floor south balcony (south wing) and the roof of penthouse mechanical rooms were considered as best candidates to accommodate these panels.  Among these three locations, the roof area on Great Hall Entrance has been found to be inappropriate due to shading and excessive cost to accommodate the panels.  The second floor balcony would pose a concern as this balcony is being used as an emergency fire exit walkway.  The most cost effective location that offers maximum visibility and more energy production would be the roofs and south walls of the penthouse mechanical rooms (Location Option 3), as shown on the following picture. 

 

Installation of solar PV panels on the penthouse mechanical room roofs and walls would offer lowest cost, as proposed by Dasd Contracting Inc. amounting to $98,500.  There may be a contingency required for this type of work, hence an allowance of $14,775 has been made.

 

The exact rating of the panels would be 9.6 kW.  This system would use 48 Canadian Solar 200 watt panels and 2 inverters with combined maximum output of 12.5kW (nominal output 10 kW).   The panels will be mounted at the recommended location as shown in Appendix A.  Sunlight falling onto these panels will be converted to electricity.  This electricity would then be fed into the buildings electrical system.  Any excess electricity over what is required by the Civic Centre would be supplied to the hydro grid.   However, the likelihood of this happening is extremely low due to the low capacity of the panels. 

 

This system would have a better financial payback than indicated in the previous Council Report dated December 15, 2008, which estimated an incentive of $0.42 per kWh.  Under Ontario’s Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) program, this system would qualify to earn $0.802 for every kWh electricity generated, thus amounting to an estimated $217,920 (or $285,398 after inflation) total earning in its 20-year lifespan with very little maintenance cost.  The estimated annual electricity generation would be 12,000 kWh.  As this is a pilot project and the first application of this technology for the Town, the actual revenue may vary depending on the various factors such as weather, efficiency of the system and incentive structure.  The estimated annual revenue (estimated at $10,896) will be built into the Civic Centre Operating Budget with the first $113,275 (accumulated over 10.4 years) going towards the Lifecycle Reserve for the capital project payback, rest of which will be used to offset the annual hydro costs.

 

PROPOSAL INFORMATION: 

Advertised, place and date

ETN

Tender closing date

August 12, 2009

Number of contractors picking up documents

22

Number of contractors responding to bid

6*

* Two (2) bidders did not supply the mandatory agreement to bond as outlined within the bid document and therefore, these bidders were non-complaint and as such were disqualified.

 

After bid opening of RFP 190-R-09 and review of financial cost which far exceeded budgetary requirements for this project.  Staff released post bid addendum # 1 to the four (4) bidders who submitted a proposal.  The original submissions were based on a fixed location on top of the Civic Centre that proofed not to be cost effective. Therefore, staff issued post bid addendum # 1 that deleted the fixed roof location and allowed alternate locations that would provide more panels and a potential to increase sun exposure to increase efficiency. 

PROPOSAL EVALUATION:

The evaluation team was comprised of staff from the Asset Management Department with the Purchasing Department acting as the facilitator.  The evaluation was based on pre-established evaluation criteria as listed in the Request for Proposal: 30% for price, 25% for similar project experience (verifiable with references), 15% for qualification of project team and 10% for project management, and 20% for product, totaling 100%, with resulting scores as follows:

 

Contractor

Score (out of 100)

Rank Results

Dasd Contracting Inc.

69.5

1

Ontario Electrical Construction Co. Ltd.

66

2

Platinum Electrical Contractors Inc.

34

3

Mann Engineering Ltd

9

4

Note: Price ranges are $98,500.00 to $178, 750.00.

 

Mann Engineering Ltd. did not submit a response to the post addendum # 1; therefore, the original submission was scored only.

 

Dasd Contracting Inc. is the highest ranked and lowest priced bidder.  They provided lower cost of energy to provide a higher return to the Town and also offered web based software that can be utilized by the Town.

 

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND TEMPLATE: (external link)

The following table is a summary of the financial considerations for this report:

Original Budget and Account #

 

$125,000

 

077-5350-8535-005 MESF - PV Panels on Roof of Markham Civic Centre/Other Facilities

Current Budget Available (unspent)

 

$125,000

 

 

Less Cost

 

($98,500)

 

Awarded to Dasd Contracting Inc.

Less Contingency

 

($14,775)

 

15% of award cost

Budget Remaining

 

$ 11,725

 

*

* Budget remaining will return to original funding sources upon completion of project.

 

HUMAN RESOURCES CONSIDERATIONS:

Not applicable

 

ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:

This project would support “Building Markham’s Future Together” goals and in particular is well aligned to the “Environment” area of strategic focus.  In addition, it would complement the efforts and commitment to the FCM-ICLEI Partners for Climate Protection Program (PCP) currently being undertaken.  This would be one example of an initiative that would lead towards a GHG reduction target as part of developing a Local Action Plan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED

Sustainability Office

 

RECOMMENDED

                            BY:   

 

                                      

 

                                       ______________________________________    

Steve Andrews, Director of Asset Management

 

 

 

______________________________________

                                      Brenda Librecz, Commissioner of Community Fire & Services

 

 

ATTACHMENT:

Appendix A – Proposed Panel Installation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q:\Commission Share\Operations and Asset Management\Reports\2009\Asset Management\Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Renewable Electricity Generation at the Civic Centre