Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

Notice of Intent: The USDA, ARS, SEA intends to award a sole source procurement to Conviron, #2-572 s 5th Street, Pembina, ND, 58271, as they are the sole source for this type of instrument pursuant t... Notice of Intent: The USDA, ARS, SEA intends to award a sole source procurement to Conviron, #2-572 s 5th Street, Pembina, ND, 58271, as they are the sole source for this type of instrument pursuant to the authority of 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(l ) and FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. The award will be for a Conviron model E7/2 Plant Growth Chamber. The USDA, ARS requires a high light intensity dual compartment plant growth chamber capable of providing an optimized controlled environment for growing plant seedling crops such as sorghum, corn, rice and soybean. Each compartment must be separately controlled and each conditioned with a dedicated refrigeration system and conditioning equipment for use in growth experiments run in parallel with differing climates, different lighting protocols, repeatable conditions for different plant species, and/or watering and fertilization regimes. Each of the two compartments must provide no less than 23 ½ " of growth height, a temperature range of +4°C to +45°C (lights off), +10°C to +45°C (lights on), and up to 550 micromoles/m2/s of programmably dimmable light intensity. The chamber conditioning system must also provide uniform airflow directed vertically upward for stimulating maximal growth rates. The control system must also be compatible with the existing Conviron brand growth chamber control systems our research unit currently maintains, and should possess a flexible and user friendly touch screen interface. The unit control system must also be capable of storing multiple user-entered programs providing the ability to schedule single day, multi day, or seasonal simulations. The control system must also frequently log chamber data such as temperature, humidity, lighting and CO2 which can be viewed by graphical display. The unit must also perform both audible and visual alarms for all controlled processes and possess user-settable process tracking alarms for running environmental conditions requiring close monitoring. Additionally, alarm history files should be retrievable both via an ethernet connection and through the unit control system screen. This growth chamber is being procured for the necessary research on natural products-based pesticides at the USDA/ARS/NPURU, University, MS location. Conviron is a manufacturer of plant growth chambers for which they are the sole distributor, and one of their products is the model E7/2 plant growth chamber. The Conviron model E7/2 plant growth chamber features programmable and dimmable high intensity lighting up to 550micromoles/m2/s, uniform vertically-directed upward airflow, and dual independently programmable plant growth compartments for parallel experiments using different lighting protocols, conditions for different plant species, or different watering and fertilization regimes. The Conviron model E7/2 plant growth chamber also features a robust industrial grade control system that is compatible with all the existing growth chamber control systems currently owned by our research unit. The control system interface of the Conviron E7/2 plant growth chamber features a color touch screen that is intuitive, reliable, flexible, and user friendly, and the control system itself is capable of storing up to 16 real-time user-entered programs each containing up to 48 lines with one minute resolution; providing the ability to schedule single day, multi day, or seasonal simulations. The data available via the E7/2 plant growth chamber control screen includes all chamber environment variables such as temperature, humidity, lighting and CO2. Parameters are all logged automatically every 30 seconds and can be viewed in the form of trend graphs. Trend graphs can be viewed, with up to five days of history, directly on the E7/2 plant growth chamber control screen for both ‘set-point' and ‘actual' values. Logged data is also accessible by a network - connected PC. This data is automatically logged and log rate can be set in multiples of 6 seconds regardless of the number of parameters. Both audible and color-coded visual alarms are featured for all E7/2 plant growth chamber controlled processes, and user-settable process tracking alarms for temperature can also be set for environmental conditions requiring close monitoring. Additionally, there are built-in alarms for chamber component monitoring; minimizing the downtime required when troubleshooting. The Conviron E7/2 plant growth chamber control system logs alarm history to daily text files which are easily retrievable from any Ethernet connected computer or through the instrument control screen, which displays the last 15 alarm events. The Conviron E7/2 plant growth chamber is the only commercially-available plant growth chamber which fully meets all of our requirements, and Conviron is the manufacturer and sole distributor of this plant growth chamber. For this reason, we feel that the purchase of a model E7/2 plant growth chamber from Conviron is critical for the research efforts of our unit. Failure to obtain this equipment at this time would potentially jeopardize our research efforts and create significant delays in our progress. The Government intends to award a firm fixed price Purchase Order on or about September 16, 2019, using Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This Notice of lntent is not considered a Request for Quotation (RFQ) nor is it a Request for Proposals (RFP). No solicitation document is available and telephone requests will not be honored. Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government will consider all responses received by 2:00 PM central time, Sept 13, 2019. Information received will be considered solely for determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Inquiries will only be accepted via email/mail to the Contracting Officer at the following address: Contracting Office Address: Shalunda Mix (CO) USDA-ARS-SEA 141 Experiment Station Road Stoneville, MS 38776-0225 shalunda.mix@ars.usda.gov