Establishing Evidence-Based Indoor Temperature Thresholds To Protect Health

Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

Title:

Establishing Evidence-Based Indoor Temperature Thresholds To Protect Health

Solicitation Number: 1000205725

1. The Purpose and Explanation of an ACAN

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows Health Canada to post a notice for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that a goods, services or construction contract will be awarded to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the minimum requirements identified in the ACAN, the Contracting Authority may then proceed to award a contract to the pre-identified contractor.

2. Rights of Suppliers

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services or goods described in this ACAN may submit a Statement of Capabilities demonstrating how they meet the advertised requirement. This Statement of Capabilities must be provided via e-mail only to the contact person identified in Section 12 of the Notice on or before the closing date and time of the Notice. If the Bidder can clearly demonstrate they possess the required capabilities, the requirement will be opened to electronic or traditional bidding processes.

3. Proposed Contractor

University of Ottawa

Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Human Kinetics

Human and Environmental Physiology Research Unit

538-540 King Edward Avenue

Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5

4. Definition of Requirements or Expected Results

As climate change continues, extreme heat events are expected to increase in frequency, severity and duration that would result in an increase of adverse health outcomes due to outdoor and indoor heat exposure. Currently, a strong evidence base exists linking outdoor temperatures with negative health impacts. However there is only limited information on health impacts from exposure to indoor thermal conditions. There is currently no guidance on the maximum indoor temperature that could be considered as a threshold to avoid heat disconfort or stress especially among the most vulnerable populations such as young children, seniors or those with chronic diseases.

The Climate Change and Innovation Bureau (CCIB) is working to protect the health of Canadians from extreme heat. In 2017-18, a study was established to provide an overview of the evidence based information from the scientific literature examining the need to define indoor temperature thresholds to protect health. A final report concluded that defining heat temperature thresholds is an important and necessary step to protecting human comfort and health from excess heat resulting from climate change that will threaten Canadians in the coming decades. Stakeholders have requested guidance to implement intervention protocols for indoor heat and that indoor temperature guidelines are extremely relevant to local authorities moving forward. The outputs from this contract will directly support stakeholder needs and work CCIB is required to deliver on.

This contract aims to support Health Canada in beginning to establish evidence-based indoor temperature thresholds to protect health. Specifically, the objectives of the requirement are the following:

1. Establish indoor temperature limits for risk of heat-related stress in different population groups. For example, the elderly, people with chronic health conditions (e.g., obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, Indigenous peoples, and others with consideration for intra-individual factors that may mediate the response (e.g., sex, hydration status, others).
2. Assess changes in human comfort (as defined by thermal comfort, thermal sensation) during exposure to increasing indoor temperatures and investigate how they may differ between population groups [i.e., the elderly, Indigenous peoples, people with chronic health conditions (e.g., obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease) and as a function of different intra-individual factors (e.g., sex, hydration status, others). 
3. Examine thermoregulation in children and adolescents to inform an approach of measuring heat strain, including assessing individual factors (e.g. hydration status, acclimation, level of physical activity, others) affecting their physiological responses to heat and evaluate existing heat management protocols specific to children and adolescents to determine the scientific basis for recommendations on heat exposure limits.
4. Define populations vulnerable to indoor heat, based on current knowledge.
5. Outline future directions based on research results, including identifying outstanding research gaps and proposing a research plan to inform the next phase of research towards establishing maximum indoor temperature guidelines.

Optional Objectives:

The following objectives are considered optional, and will be delivered by and paid to the Contractor in accordance if any option is requested by the Project Authority:

1. Develop and validate a protocol to measure physiological indices of heat strain in children and adolescents using biometric garments or other proposed approaches.
2. Develop and implement a heat stress questionnaire/ survey to assist in the identification and characterization of heat stress in populations of concern.
3. Develop heat messaging to assist in the dissemination of the knowledge gained through heat exposure research and literature reviews.

5. Minimum Requirements

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a Statement of Capabilities that it meets the following minimum requirements:

1. The primary investigator must have a PhD in physiology or a related field.
2. Has at least fifteen (15) years’ of significant experience in physiological monitoring and management of heat stress and must have at least 25 scientific manuscripts published within the last ten (10) years in reputable peer-reviewed scientific journals concerning this expertise.
3. Able to run heat-storage and dissipation experiments using a Snellen whole-body direct calorimeter and has at least ten (10) years’ of significant experience with the method, publishing at least 5 scientific manuscripts in reputable peer-reviewed scientific journals within the last five (5) years using results from this method.
4. Has at least five (5) years’ experience within the last ten (10) years in evaluating thermoregulation in vulnerable populations (ex. Elderly, individuals with chronic diseases, children) and the ability to execute Snellen direct calorimetry trials on heat vulnerable populations (e.g. chronically ill, obese, elderly, etc.).
5. Has experience developing and distributing heat stress questionnaires within the last five (5) years, including at least one (1) published manuscript in reputable peer-reviewed scientific journals concerning this method.
6. Able to undertake all activities within the identified period of time.

6. Reason for Non-Competitive Award

Section 6 of the Government Contracts Regulations contains four exceptions that permit the contracting authority to set aside the requirement to solicit bids. For the proposed procurement, the following exception applies:

(d) Only One Person or Firm is capable of performing the contract.

7. Applicable trade Agreements and Justification for Limited Tendering or the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business

This requirement is subject to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organization – Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-GPA) and the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). The requirement is being directed to the proposed supplier as permitted under the following sections of the above trade agreements:

• Article 513 b) of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
• Article XV, 1b of the World Trade Organization – Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)
• Article 1016, 2(b) of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA

8. Ownership of Intellectual Property

Contractor will own IP.

9. Period of the Proposed Contract

The contract period shall be from date of contract award until the 31st of March, 2022.

10. Estimated Value of the Proposed Contract

The estimated value of the proposed contract is $645,750.00 with an option for additional requirements estimated at $240,500.00. Total potential value of the contract is $886,250.00.

11. Closing Date and Time

The Closing Date and Time for accepting Statements of Capabilities is December 6, 2018, 2PM EST.

12. Contact Person

All enquiries must be addressed by e-mail to:

Name: Yvonne Murphy
E-Mail: yvonne.murphy@canada.ca