Call for tender – Social Aspects of the Built Environment

ECOS Procurement and Purchase Policy

This tender complies with the ECOS Procurement and Purchase Policy adopted by the ECOS Executive Committee, and last updated in April 2024. This policy covers general principles relating to transparency and fairness, value for money, and non-discrimination. It specifies thresholds relating to a competitive negotiated procedure with at least a specified number of candidates either with tender or selection and sets out the procedure to be followed by ECOS.

About ECOS

ECOS is an international NGO with a network of members and experts advocating for environmentally friendly technical standards, policies, and laws. We ensure the environmental voice is heard when they are developed and drive change by providing expertise to policymakers and industry players, leading to the implementation of strong environmental principles.

About the project

The work being commissioned is a part of a wider ECOS project focused on promoting a sustainable built environment that serves society. The project seeks to analyse the social aspects related to the built environment and inform ECOS position on the topic.

Tender objective

ECOS seeks to contract an expert to deliver on the action point listed in the ‘Task & outputs’ section.

Tasks & outputs The successful tenderer is expected to work in cooperation with ECOS to deliver a high-quality study on the relation between the built environment and social aspects in the European Union.

To do so, the successful tenderer will deliver the following:

1. In depth literature review of the definitions of ‘built environment’ and related ‘social aspects’ used in academia, policy (European and national), CSOs and industry publications. The successful tenderer is expected to provide a list of relevant social aspects as exhaustive as possible.
2. Analysis of the different positive and negative relations between (a) more climate, energy and environmental ambition in policies tackling the built environment in the European Union and (b) the social aspects identified in (1)
3. Identification of unaddressed relations between the two topics, i.e., (a) and (b) of point (2)
4. Listing and analysis of potential and occurring problems in the social aspects identified in point (1) stemming from (a) of point (2), with analysis of different perspectives (i.e., local, national and regional)
5. Detailing and analysis of different solutions that can be implemented to palliate the problems identified in (4)
6. Quantitative and qualitative assessment of the most politically palatable aspects to push for resulting from the outcomes of deliverable (4) and (5)

To deliver on these objectives, the contractor is expected to:

• Carry out compelling research by providing ECOS with a study on the content listed in point (1) to (6) above, accompanied with precise referencing of sources consulted (i.e., Vancouver style including page or section number plus hyperlink and date of access)
• Coordinate with ECOS closely to ensure a smooth delivery process

The project will involve contribution from and regular coordination with ECOS, including a kick-off meeting (among others to agree on the exact scope) and a final meeting when the results of the research will be presented. The contractor is expected to provide ECOS with a study consisting of a maximum of 70 pages and a PowerPoint presentation. The study is expected to be divided in macro-sections according to the tasks above. The following concrete deliverables are expected:

1. Interim study (pdf format) including 100% of point (1), (2) and 50% of point (3)
2. Final study (pdf format) and summary presentation (ppt format)

ECOS foresees drafting a report on the basis of this study.

Timeline

For this project, ECOS seeks to contract the expert for a period of 2 months.

The indicative timeline is the following:

• Kick-off: 15 October 2024 (signing of contract)
• Interim report: 15 November 2024 (1 month since kick off)
• ECOS’ comments to the interim report: within 10 working days after interim report)
• Final deliverable: 15 December 2024 (2 months since kick off)

Budget

The budget available for this work is maximum €20.000 (including VAT).

Note that subcontracting is accepted in cases where a delivery team involves individuals from different institutions or organisations. In this case, the lead tenderer retains responsibility for legal and financial arrangements for any subcontracting. Subcontracting is accepted upon explicit approval from ECOS of the subcontracting entity.

Tender preparation

Tenderers are requested to submit a proposal by 23:59 CET 15 September 2024 to info@ecostandard.org outlining:

• A brief description of the tenderer’s understanding of the main objectives, especially a proposed scope for task (1) to be discussed and agreed with ECOS in the initial phase of the project
• A description of the anticipated activities to achieve the desired objectives, as well as the expected timeline
• A proposed outline of the study
• Proposed payment schedule
• Biographies and time commitment of the key staff delivering the work
• Examples of previous work with a similar scope and main achievements

Required qualifications

• Demonstrated expertise, such as publications or previous work, related to the built environment and related social aspects, especially negative and positive relations stemming from the climate and environmental furthering in the European Union of the built environment
• Strong network of contacts among academia, policymakers, CSOs and industry
• Environmental non-governmental organisational ambition and environmental values

Tender Assessment
Assessment of the tenders will be made using a weighted multi-criteria approach.
The award criteria are:

• 70% quality (qualifications, relevance of the application, quality of the deliverables) and
• 30% price.

Only shortlisted tenderers will be contacted.

Publishing a procurement procedure does not oblige ECOS to award the contract to a tenderer simply because its tender fulfils those criteria. ECOS also reserves the right to decide not to award the contract to any tenderer and to cancel the procedure at any time before award.