[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 241 (Wednesday, December 16, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69267-69268]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-33287]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Opportunity for Leadership Entity: Beijing Energy-Efficiency and
Renewable Energy Demonstration Building
AGENCY: Office of Policy and International Affairs, Department of
Energy.
ACTION: Notice of opportunity.
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SUMMARY: The United States Department of Energy recently entered into
an agreement with the People's Republic of China Ministry of Science
and Technology to determine the feasibility of jointly constructing an
energy efficient, mid-size office building demonstration project in
downtown Beijing, China. The Department is interested in identifying an
entity which will volunteer to work directly with the building's
primary intended occupant, The Administrative Centre for China's Agenda
21, which reports to the Ministry of Science and Technology and the
State Development and Planning Commission, in leading and being
responsible for the execution of this demonstration project. If the
project proves feasible, this entity would be responsible for bringing
together the necessary financial, technical, and other components and
resources for the bidding, constructing and commissioning of the final
design of the energy efficient and renewable aspects of the building,
and for monitoring the reductions of energy use and associated
greenhouse gas emissions. The entity would also develop and provide for
the operation of a Demonstration Center in the building illustrating
the potential contribution of U.S. technologies and building design
practices to reduced energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions
of similar buildings throughout China. Interested parties are asked to
provide the Department with their approach to leading this effort, and
their capability and relevant experience.
DATES: Response to Notice must be postmarked no later than January 15,
1999.
ADDRESSES: Respond to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy
Efficiency, Alternative Fuels and Oil Analysis, PO-62; Forrestal
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
O. Cleveland Laird, Jr., Phone (202) 586-0979, FAX (202) 586-4447,
E-mail: Cleveland.L[email protected]; or
Mary Beth Zimmerman, Phone (202) 586-7249, FAX (202) 586-4447,
E-mail: MaryBeth.Z[email protected]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
This section is subdivided into: Project Description, Background
and Status, Role of the Entity, and Funding.
Documents and other information referenced in this notice (denoted
italicized & emboldened here, but to be shown in hypertext in the DOE
website version of this document) may be obtained from the contacts in
the section above, or can be downloaded from the Department's Office of
Policy & International Affairs Internet Website: http://www.doe.gov/
policy/featured.html.
Project Description: The project consists of three phases. Phases
one and two are covered by the agreement'' the Statement of Work
described under Background and Status section below. Phase one provides
for the development of economic energy design criteria, and a project
plan, including engineering and financial feasibility analyses. Phase
two, provides for the assessment of this plan by each country. If the
project proves feasible, phase three provides for the implementation of
the project plan including the construction and monitoring of the
building, and the establishment and operation of the Demonstration
Center.
The Department is funding phase one, currently being undertaken by
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL), in cooperation with an architectural and
engineering firm working for The Administrative Centre for China's
Agenda 21. This effort is based on typical or expected construction
costs and market prices for energy and energy services in Beijing to
ensure that the resulting plan incorporates design strategies and
technologies that are likely to be economically attractive in China.
The identified entity will be responsible for the phase two
assessment and, if appropriate, phase three construction. Any costs of
phase two will be borne by the entity (see Funding section below).
Costs associated with phase three are to be allocated between China and
the United States so that the identified entity would contribute only
any additional costs associated with energy efficiency and renewable
energy improvements, while China would pay the basic land and building
costs.
Background and Status: The Department of Energy signed a Statement
of Work (SOW) with the Ministry of Science and Technology of China on
July 9, 1998 to develop the energy efficient design criteria and a
project plan for a mid-size commercial office building at a site in
downtown Beijing. [July 9, 1998 DOE News press release] The building
would provide office space (nine stories, approximately 130,000 square
feet) for China government environmental agencies, including the Centre
for China's Agenda 21 offices, as well as for non-governmental
organizations that work in the areas of science and the environment,
and for a Demonstration Center.
The project plan will provide for multiple ways to demonstrate and
promote the contribution of U.S. energy and greenhouse gas savings
design know-how and technologies to buildings in China: first, the
building design will incorporate currently available energy efficient
and renewable energy building technologies appropriate to its location
and use; second, the energy and carbon savings will be carefully
monitored and reported to potential users of the technologies; third,
the building will house a ``hands-on'' Demonstration Center that will
provide direct exposure to U.S. buildings technologies to the buildings
industry in China, as well as to policy makers and others who work with
the Administrative Centre for China's Agenda 21 and related agencies;
and fourth, Chinese government and buildings industry representatives
will be directly involved throughout the design, construction, and
operation of this project to provide a strong capacity-building
framework for the future use of these design strategies.
The building is to be outfitted with the energy monitoring
equipment needed to document energy and greenhouse gas savings
potentials for both U.S. and Chinese suppliers and users. The project
plan would include means of measuring the energy and greenhouse gas
reductions achieved that
[[Page 69268]]
would be consistent with Decision 5/CP.1 of the Conference of the
Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC). The demonstration of commercially available, cost-effective
building energy savings opportunities is part of the Priority Programme
for China's Agenda 21 and could potentially be a project of the
Activities Implemented Jointly (AIJ) under the Pilot Phase of the
UNFCCC. Reported energy savings will provide both valuable information
to the buildings profession in China and on energy savings calculations
needed for climate change projects. There is a potential market
opportunity for participants should ``trading'' in greenhouse gas
emission reductions be allowed in the future under the UNFCCC .
Role of the Entity. The Department seeks an innovative entity to
volunteer to lead and be responsible for phases two and three of the
project. Phase two consists of the assessment of this plan by each
country, including providing any feedback on the engineering and
financial feasibility analysis conducted under phase one; and, if the
project is found feasible, phase three would consist of the
construction of the building, and establishment and operation of the
Demonstration Center.
This entity will enlist interested parties--hereinafter referred to
as Suppliers--from industry, including electric utilities, academia,
non-government organizations (NGOs), and government agencies to be
involved during phases two and three of the project. Further, the
entity will enlist building community organizations to help ensure that
potential Suppliers are aware of the opportunity.
The Supplier role will be filled by those that plan to bid to
provide products (e.g., windows, controls, lighting) and/or services
(e.g., design, financing, equipment, installation, construction,
commissioning, monitoring). Suppliers also may include others expecting
to contribute to the success of the project; for example utilities
interested in the AIJ aspects of this project with the potential for
greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Suppliers would also provide input
on refining the performance and market price assumptions underlying the
phase one analysis.
The entity will contract with the Chinese for the products and
services that Suppliers will provide for the construction of the energy
efficiency and renewables portion of the building. Suppliers will
provide those products and services at zero or discounted cost (e.g.,
controls for no cost if none were planned or double glazed windows for
the cost in China of single glazed windows if only single glazed were
planned and the package of improvements increase the building's costs)
to gain benefits from being associated with the publicity for the
building & its performance, and any laboratory demonstrations of their
other products/services. Furthermore, Suppliers will have an
unparalleled opportunity in an official Chinese venue to demonstrate
their products and services to the world's largest consumer market. In
addition to supplying products and services in the building initially,
the Demonstration Center, modeled on those operating in the United
States, will allow Suppliers the opportunity to provide ``hands on''
demonstrations for builders, architects, and others in the Chinese
buildings community to learn about the latest in proven, available
energy-efficient and renewable energy design practices and
technologies.
The entity will need to determine and make Suppliers aware of the
advantages inherent in donating products and services to efforts such
as this as a part of the incentive for Suppliers to support this
project. Additionally the entity may locate/create and develop
financing mechanisms for subsequent Supplier product/services sales in
China.
To ensure appropriate information sharing among the interested
parties, the entity will establish and maintain regular communications
with the U.S. building community and the public at large as the project
progresses. This is to include a home page for the project on the
Internet.
Funding: The primary Federal role to date has been to make
arrangements between the countries for the project to be undertaken and
to fund the phase one technical analysis. Once phase one is complete,
Federal involvement will be to ensure an open and technically sound
process through the remaining phases. Upon a decision to construct the
building, the Department will evaluate the building results to assess
whether the design objectives were indeed reached. Private sector
support is needed to fulfill all other responsibilities in the project.
The U.S. costs associated with the engineering feasibility analysis
are being funded by the Department. If the building is constructed, the
Chinese government plans to provide for all expenses associated with
the base building. The entity is expected to raise its funding through
whatever sources it can develop that support reduced energy usage and
associated greenhouse gas emissions. Costs associated with energy-
efficiency and renewables upgrades of the building--whether design,
products and/or services--over and above the base building are to be
borne by the successful Suppliers, based on their appreciation for the
opportunity that opening this market potentially provides for the sale
of their products and services. The entity will arrange remuneration
for any amounts included in the base building for replacement energy-
efficient and renewable energy technologies employed by U.S. Suppliers
(e.g., whatever the windows included in the base building would have
cost, that amount would be paid by the Chinese to the entity to be
passed on to the successful U.S. window Supplier).
The entity will determine if there are normal or any special
provisions (e.g., for a non-profit and/or research and development
oriented organization) in the U.S. Tax Code under which it can operate
that will provide benefits for its functioning in this voluntary
capacity, and/or for any donors to its effort.
Issued in Washington, DC on December 8, 1998.
Abraham E. Haspel,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy, Environmental and Economic
Policy Analysis.
[FR Doc. 98-33287 Filed 12-15-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P