International Consultant to elaborate the “Green Building Amendments” for current hotels of Avaza

Contract

This is a International Consultant contract. More about International Consultant contracts.

Background

The growth of the urban population in Turkmenistan creates new and growing challenges affecting the environment. It is mainly caused by an increase in the number of vehicles on the roads, the expansion of public lighting areas, and increased energy consumption in new residential areas and tourist zones, which leads to an increase of ambient temperature due to the "urban heat island". In addition, consequences vary from local pollution and traffic congestion to depletion of scarce national water resources as well as an increase in greenhouse gas emissions and negative effects of global climate change.

There is sufficient potential in Turkmenistan to apply sustainable urban development. However, there are institutional and economic barriers to growth and energy consumption that do not comply with the principles of sustainable development, as well as a low level of technical know-how and best practices in the field of sustainable urban development and modern solutions. The full-scale UNDP/GEF project aims to eliminate these barriers through a comprehensive programme of activities in two of the dynamically developing cities of Turkmenistan: Ashgabat and Avaza, and thereby achieve a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental and social benefits.

As part of the second component of the project, it is planned to develop and implement a "Green Building Standard" for existing hotels. Within the framework of the project, Green Building Standards will be developed for the operation/maintenance of existing hotels in Avaza, which will subsequently contribute to its implementation throughout the tourist area. In this regard, UNDP plans to hire an international consultant to develop "Green Building Amendments” for existing Avaza hotels.

Aim of the certification:

• Expanding the use of environmentally friendly and sustainable methods and technologies in hotels that will reduce the overall use of resources.
• Raising awareness and introducing behavioral changes for guests, staff, and suppliers of hotels.

Duties and Responsibilities

In accordance with the above-mentioned objective of the assignment and under the supervision of the Project Manager, the International Consultant (IC) will review the existing institutional framework and design a coordination mechanism for the implementation of the “Green Building Amendments” process in Turkmenistan.

To achieve the objective the IC will work together with the Project Specialist on sustainable development and innovative approaches in Avaza to implement the following:

1. Prepare a list of relevant documents to be reviewed for the analysis of institutional arrangements and ongoing policy related to energy efficiency and the “Green Building Amendments” in Turkmenistan;
2. Conduct a gap analysis of all existing work-in-progress, including a draft standard SNT 2.08.05–19, related to the best international practices such as BREEAM and LEED in order to highlight which of the areas have not been previously considered in Turkmenistan for an update by stakeholders and the professional engineering community;
3. Prepare a brief feasibility note covering the costs and benefits of introduction of such Green Building Standards into national legislation. This note might include feasibility case studies previously performed by the Consultant and the case might be primarily modelled on inputs of energy audits that Project has completed in two hotels (one in Ashgabat and one in Avaza). The feasibility note shall indicate a pay-back period for recovery of the extra costs involved in the construction and operation of such hotels from reduced operational expenses over buildings’ lifetime. These pay-back period assessment shall take into account real energy and water rates as well as material and staff costs and savings and any other financial benefits to be accrued;
4. With input and overall assistance from the Project Specialist develop a list of stakeholders to be interviewed to test their willingness to consider adoption of the upgraded standard considering the findings of the gap analysis and feasibility case studies. Develop a semi-structured interview guidance note for the stakeholder interviews;
5. Develop the first draft of amendments to all relevant legal acts of Turkmenistan required to introduce energy and resource (water) efficiency requirements to the construction and operation of hotels in Turkmenistan modelled on the BREEAM and LEED standards. These amendments shall be in the format acceptable to the stakeholders. The amendments Green Building should cover at least the following requirements:

• Energy -saving, including the use of alternative and renewable energy;
• Water consumption;
• Waste management;
• Room cleaning and laundry;
• Restaurants, Food and beverage;
• Green Building procurement and rational consumption;
• Guest and Staff information;
• Requirements for Green Building areas and parking lots;
• Environment management;
• Staff involvement in the ecological policy of hotels;
• Requirements for preparation and posting of information on ecological policy of hotels for guests.

Lead (online) the delivery of validation and capacity-building workshop with relevant stakeholders. The workshop shall highlight the importance of the amendments “Green Building Amendments” process, presentation of the key sections of the “Green Building Amendments” with a particular focus on the Coordination Mechanism, as well as good practices on “Green Building Certification” process development from other countries. The workshop will include representatives from the national ministries, consultants, hotels, and non-state actors.

Finalize the draft “Green Building Amendments” incorporating the feedback received from the Project team as well as from the national stakeholders as a result of the validation workshop.

Deliverables and timeframe:

Deliverables 1 prepared through actions 1-2 above:

In preparation for the “Green Building Amendments” the following key documents will be developed:

• a short work plan overview;
• a reference list of relevant documents to be reviewed for the analysis of the institutional arrangements and ongoing policy progress related to energy efficiency and the “Green Building Amendments” in Turkmenistan;
• A gap analysis and a feasibility study note
• a list of stakeholders to be interviewed;
• a semi-structured interview guide;

Location: Home based/online.

Number of days: 15 days.

Deliverable 2 prepared through action 3 above:

• an annotated outline of the amendments to the existing legislation;

• a first draft of the required amendments to the existing legislation for review and feedback from stakeholders.

• A final version of the Green Building amendments has been prepared.

Here, each category of the Amendments should be prepared by a separate set of criteria. The criteria for each category should be divided into mandatory and recommended and contain remarks that indicate their scores. Certification should be multilevel (for example: bronze-silver-gold). The Green Building Amendments should be developed considering the national and climatic conditions of Turkmenistan.

Location: Home based/online.

Number of days: 20 days.

Deliverable 3 prepared through actions 4-5 above:

In preparation for the validation and capacity-building workshop and the final version of the Guidance and “Green Building Amendments”, the following shall be developed:

• a draft workshop agenda;
• presentations and relevant handout materials for the participants;
• a workshop facilitation/or moderation plan;
• online participation in the workshop;
• a workshop documentation (minutes/notes from the discussions, group work exercises, and alike);
• a final Guidance and “Green Building Amendments” incorporating comments and feedback.

Location: Home based/online.

Number of days: 10 days.

Note: The existing legislative acts of Turkmenistan, as well as the project documents of the pilot hotel required for the performance of the work, are to be provided by the Project to the IC in Russian.

Payment conditions:

This is an installment-based contract that should cover the costs of consultancy required to produce the above deliverables. The final schedule of payments will be agreed upon in the beginning of consultancy. Payment will be released in two installments:

• 1st installment: 35% (for Deliverables 1)
• 2nd installment: 65% (for Deliverable 2, 3) - upon timely submission of respective deliverables and their acceptance by UNDP Turkmenistan.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards.
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge of international standards of ecological construction.
• Excellent analytical, communication and proposal writing skills.
• Results driven, ability to work under pressure and to meet required deadlines.
• Good understanding and practice of capacity development.
• Cultural sensitivity.
• Diplomatic skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree in Energy efficiency, construction, and architecture or relevant field.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant progressive work experience in the area related to developing “Green Building Certificate” and implementation progress.
• Experience preparing or overseeing preparation of buildings energy efficiency feasibility assessments/studies and/or energy audits.
• Knowledge of the energy efficiency and construction issues in Turkmenistan; understanding of the climate change policy of Turkmenistan would be an asset.
• Good knowledge of modern approaches and international best practices, business practices, policies, and regulations in the field of sustainable development and environmental certificates.
• Good knowledge of international standards of ecological construction such as BREEAM, LEED, DGNB of Russia and Kazakhstan
• Good knowledge of “Green” technologies in the hotels industry.
• Strong analytical, research, writing, and communication skills.
• Experience in preparation and delivery of workshops for governmental officials (including in online format). Good facilitation and moderation skills.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in Russian (spoken and written), and knowledge of English will be an asset.

Submission of applications:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/ information to demonstrate their qualifications:

All experts applying for this position are required to provide:

• Financial Proposal with the references to (1) the daily rate for the assignment and within the timing scale indicated in the present TOR, and (2) any other expenses. Template of the form can be found at: http://www.tm.undp.org/content/turkmenistan/en/home/procurement.html. The UNDP will enter into an Individual Contract based on a lump sum amounts. The financial proposal shall represent a detailed, justified and “all inclusive” amount. In order to assist UNDP in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount, including: a daily fee for the tasks and an estimated duration as specified in this announcement and any other possible costs (including communication, printing, etc.);
• Cover letter explaining why they are the most suitable candidate for the assignment;
• Resume /CV.

Evaluation of proposals:

Individual Consultants will be evaluated based on the combined scoring methodology. When using this method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant and
• having received the highest score – out of 100 points

Out of the maximum score, the score for technical criteria equals 70% - maximum 100 points, and for financial criteria 30%.

The technical evaluation will take into account the following as per the scoring provided:

• Education in the area of energy efficiency, construction, and architecture or other relevant fields – 20 pts;
• The experience in developing similar Guidance documents, policy analysis in the area related to development and implementation of “Green Building Certificate”; strong research and writing skills – 20 pts;
• Good knowledge of modern approaches and international best practices, business practices, policies, and regulations in the field of sustainable development and environmental certificates, the “Green Building Certificate” guidelines and international documents related to the implementation – 20 pts;
• Knowledge of the energy efficiency and construction issues in Turkmenistan, experience of work in Turkmenistan or CIS – 15 pts;
• Good knowledge of international standards of ecological construction such as BREEAM, LEED, DGNB of Russia and Kazakhstan - 15 pts;
• Fluency in Russian – 10 pts.

Financial proposal – 30% of total evaluation.

Additional requirements for recommended contractor:

Recommended contractors aged 65 and older, and if the travel is required, shall undergo a full medical examination including x-ray, and obtain medical clearance from the UN-approved doctor prior to taking up their assignment. The medical examination is to be cleared by the UN physicians and shall be paid by the consultant.