EERE eXCHANGE: FAQs

Question 1: I see in the solicitation for DE-FOA-0000977 that a webinar is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Mar. 6. Could you please provide me a link to register for this webinar?
Answer 1:

Informational Webinar: DOE Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Composite Materials and Structures FOA

Join us for a Webinar on March 6

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/197252097

Public webinar to provide an overview and review the Department of Energy, Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0000977 Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Composite Materials and Structures.

Title:

Informational Webinar: DOE Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Composite Materials and Structures FOA

Date:

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Time:

3:00 PM - 4:30 PM EST

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 8, 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Mac®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.6 or newer

Mobile attendees
Required: iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phone or Android tablet

Question 2: Is there a list of potential applicants for this FOA?
Answer 2:

EERE is compiling a Teaming Partner List to facilitate the formation of new project teams for this FOA. The Teaming Partner List will be available on EERE Exchange at https://eere-Exchange.energy.gov under FOA DE-FOA-0000977.

Information provided in response to two Requests for Information, RFI-DE-FOA-0000980 and RFI-DE-FOA-0001056, as well as the Workshop Summary Report related to Composite Manufacturing may also be of interest to potential applicants to this FOA. This information is available on the Advanced Manufacturing Office website at http://www1.eere.energy.gov/manufacturing/innovation/facilities/frpc_manufacturing_workshop.html

Question 3: If an applicant is applying for establishment of the Institute with multiple projects in each target area (vehicle, wind turbines, compressed gas storage) would like to apply for funds for one or two projects, would it be applicable? Or would the applicant have to join a team who is targeting the institute?
Answer 3:

The goal of the FOA is to establish a Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Composite Materials and Structures that will achieve the objectives set forth in Section IC of the FOA, therefore applications for individual investigator R&D projects would not be likely achieve all of the objectives of the FOA and the resulting Institute. EERE anticipates making one award to a single lead organization for a team on an application.

Question 4: In Section III.C and Section IV.C the FOA states that "Each Concept Paper must be limited to a single concept or technology" and that "Unrelated concepts and technologies should not be consolidated into a single Concept Paper." In Section III.C and Section IV D the FOA states that "Each Full Application must be limited to a single concept or technology" and that "Unrelated concepts and technologies should not be consolidated into a single Full Application." Does this mean just one project or manufacturing technology can be mentioned in the Concept Paper or Full Application?
Answer 4: For the purpose of this FOA - the term "concept" referenced in Section III.C and Sections IV.C and D refers to the overall Institute concept which is the objective of the FOA. Each Concept Paper and Full Application must describe a single Institute concept - the Concept Paper and Full Application for a single Institute will necessarily contain multiple ideas and technology areas to achieve the objectives of the FOA. The ideas and technologies proposed in a Concept Paper and Full Application must all be relevant to the objectives of the FOA for Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite Manufacturing as described in Section I of the FOA. A single application should not include concepts for more than one Institute or include unrelated technologies (for example metal stamping process improvements) to the overall objectives of the FOA.

Question 5: On page 28 of the FOA, it states: "In the case where a new not‐for‐profit entity will be established for the management and execution of the institute, a clear plan and timeline for establishing the not‐for profit institute as a new legal entity during the contract negotiation phase post‐selection should be provided." If the new entity has not yet been established, how and by whom are the concept paper and full proposal to be submitted. Does the institution which will lead the establishment of the entity submit on behalf of the future non-profit entity?
Answer 5:

This statement is made in the FOA to alert prospective applicants that a plan will be required only if the applicant is planning on establishing a new not-for-profit entity, and only if selected for award negotiation. A detailed plan is not required during the Concept Paper or Full Application phase. However, the intention to establish a not-for-profit entity should be discussed as part of the overall applicant’s plan for establishing the institute. The initial award will be made to the applicant, but the award may be transferred to a new entity with approval of the Contracting Officer and DOE.

Question 6: Since you are only projecting one award, do you already have an applicant identified for this program? Is there a geographical location preference for this program? Can the 50% match requirement be in-kind and cash – if so, what percentage should be cash vs in-kind?
Answer 6: Please see Section III.A of the FOA for information regarding eligible applicants. The purpose of the FOA is to seek applications from all interested and eligible entities to address the objectives and goals of the FOA. Eligible and compliant applications per the FOA requirements will then be evaluated against the technical review criteria as provided in Section V.A of the FOA. Further application review information can be found in Section V. of the FOA. .The FOA does not specify a location preference; however, see Section IV.I of the FOA, ‘Performance of Work in the United States.’ Please see Section III.B and Appendix B of the FOA for cost share requirements.

Question 7: Does only the Prime Applicant submit a Concept Paper?
Answer 7: Yes.

Question 8: If a team member is not listed on the Prime Applicant's Concept Paper may he still be included in the full application?
Answer 8: Yes.

Question 9: Are applications that include organizations from different states eligible as partners on an application with combined funding efforts or is the funding required to come from one state/region only?
Answer 9: Please refer to Section III of the FOA for eligibility information.

Question 10: Our PI is preparing to submit a Concept Paper in response to the FOA, and I would like to confirm that an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) signature is NOT necessary when submitting the Concept Paper therefore, the PI would register on the Exchange and self-submit their Concept Paper. Please confirm.
Answer 10: The FOA does not require that the Concept Paper be signed.

Question 11: As it concerns the full application, and since there is the inclusion of the SF424 form, I assume that an AOR will need to respond to the Reps and Certs and officially submit the application. Transfer of the application from the PI to the AOR is accomplished by the PI SHARING the online application with their AOR. Please confirm.
Answer 11: For information on who can submit an application, sharing application documents, etc., please refer to the EERE eXCHANGE User Guide at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx

Question 12: Can a DOE or other national laboratory be a lead applicant?
Answer 12:

Please see Section III.A and Section III.E regarding eligible applicants and FFRDC eligibility to lead and participate on proposals. DOE/NNSA FFRDCs are eligible to apply for funding under the FOA per Section III.E and both DOE/NNSA FFRDCs and non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs may be proposed as a Subrecipient on another entity’s application subject to the guidelines in Section III.E.

Question 13: Are there requirements on who you can rent your facility from?
Answer 13: There are no requirements in the FOA regarding facility rental.

Question 14: Our organization is being proposed as a subcontractor under DE-FOA-0000977. Due to the business sensitive information in our cost detail, we request permission to direct submit our budget information to DOE.
Answer 14: It will be acceptable to submit this information directly to the FRCManufacturing@go.doe.gov mailbox prior to the Full Application Deadline. Please ensure that the Prime Applicant’s control number issued by Exchange is listed on these budget documents. However, please note that budget amounts for subcontractors still need to be reflected in the Prime Applicants budget. The Prime Applicant’s budget need not contain any business sensitive information from a subcontractor.

Question 15: I would like to clarify the total allowable cost of the Institute. Since recipient cost share must be at least 50% of the total allowable costs of the proposal, how much is the total allowable cost? If DOE funds $70 million and the recipient provides $35 million, then the total allowable cost is $105 million. If the total allowable cost is the sum of the request budget plus the recipient cost share budget, then the total allowable cost is $140 million. Can you please clarify which of these is correct?
Answer 15: DOE anticipates that this award will be up to $70 million of federal funds for the total project period of five years. Non-federal share is calculated as a percentage of the Total Project Cost. If the DOE share is $70 million, the minimum cost share required is $70 million. See Appendix B for more information regarding how to calculate cost share.

Question 16: How this program treats the independent effort inventions which carried out with proposed prime applicant’s project, but these inventions (patents and pending patents) created under independent effort before this FOA? If this FOA funding allows giving some compensation to the invention owner, then what percentage of estimated total program funding will be appropriated to put in the Budget Justification?
Answer 16: Please refer to Sections VIII K–N of the FOA for a detailed discussion of patents and inventions. DOE cannot give specific guidance regarding the formulation of budgets by applicants. It is up to each applicant to develop a budget based on the criteria specified in the FOA and applicable cost principles.

Question 17: The Budget Justification (EERE 159) shows budget cost for FFRDC under Contractual item “f”, it is not clear what percentage of estimated total program funding will be appropriated for FFRDC involvement/contract to the proposed Institute R&D? What is the requirement for having contract with FFRDC?
Answer 17: Please refer to Section III.A and Section III.E of the FOA for a discussion of FFRDC involvement in the proposed project. FFRDC’s may be proposed as a team member on another entity’s application; however, FFRDC involvement is not required.

Question 18: We are working on the final documents for the subject FOA, we have many sub-recipients. Some of the sub-recipients plan to sub-contract to another party. However from the instructions I’m not clear if we should only be submitting the first layer of EERE 159s for sub-recipients from the submitting organization. For example: company A will sub to company B, company B will sub to company C. Does company C budget forms need to be included in the full submission? Can you please let me know if budget forms are necessary for a third layer subcontractor?
Answer 18:

As indicated in Section IV.D of the FOA, a separate budget is required for each subawardee that is expected to perform work estimated to be more than $250,000 or 25 percent of the total work effort (whichever is less). This requirement would apply to a subrecipient at any tier level.

Question 19: Could you please tell me to whom the CO authorization letter should be addressed for the subject FOA?
Answer 19: Please address the CO Authorization to Tina Kouch, 15013 Denver West Parkway, Golden, CO 80401-3393.

Question 20: Does DOE recommend following these guidelines listed below for the NNMI on composites manufacturing? Draft Guidance on Intellectual Property Rights for the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation and Draft Institute Performance Metrics for the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation- A Notice by the National Institute of Standards and Technology on 11/13/2013 https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/11/13/2013-27157/draft-guidance-on-intellectual-property-rights-for-the-national-network-for-manufacturing-innovation
Answer 20:

As stated in Section I.C. of the FOA. In addition, the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office has issued two additional draft documents regarding Institutes and the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, one about Intellectual Property Rights and the other on Performance Metrics. Applicants to this FOA are not required to follow the guidance in these documents released by the AMNPO but are encouraged to review them and consider what guidance may be appropriate to incorporate. The Draft Guidance on Intellectual Property Rights for the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation and Draft Institute Performance Metrics for the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation documents can be found on the AMNPO website http://manufacturing.gov/amnpo_draft_documents.html

Question 21: Can you let me know if we must have all of our team members and cost share completed and uploaded to the EERE by 4/21?
Answer 21:

It is not required for all team members and cost share commitment letters to be provided with the Concept Paper. This information must be included in the Full Application (see Section IV.D of the FOA).

Question 22: Is the COI statement required for all key personnel from all organizations or only key personnel from lead organization?
Answer 22:

As stated in Section IV.D.14, “The Applicant must provide a COI Statement, as an Appendix, for key Institute management and technical personnel. Identify potential, apparent, or actual organizational and individual conflicts of interest. This shall include applicants, their team members, and senior/key personnel named in the application.” This includes team members who are key institute management and technical personnel. This requirement would be applicable to anyone who will be considered part of the Institute leadership/management or managing/leading technical work regardless if the person is from the lead organization or from a partner organization.

Question 23: In the technical section of the full proposal, do we need to propose projects that cover all 5 years and the full proposed budget amount? On page 49, the work plan section talks about initial R&D projects but does not provide any guidance on number of projects per application or technical focus area, or the duration of the projects. Please advise.
Answer 23:

It is up to the applicant to determine the number of R&D projects that will be included in the application as well as the timing and proposed budget. As discussed in Section IV.D. in the Project Narrative, a detailed Workplan is to be included and the information for planned R&D projects that should be provided here includes, a work breakdown structure with task descriptions, milestones, go/no-go decision points, etc. Additionally, the Project Narrative requests information on the roadmapping process, how the roadmap will inform and establish priorities for the Institute strategic plan, as well as a plan to encourage openness and new participants as the Institute goes forward including plans to fund expansion of R&D activities as the Institute evolves, among other aspects. Please see Section I.C. for the FOA Goals, Section IV.D. for more details on what to include in the Project Narrative and Section V.A. for the review criteria.

Question 24: The Budget template only includes three years. Are we only to provide a budget for the first 3 years or should we add columns to show budget for the full 5 years?
Answer 24:

The Budget templates available in Exchange under “Required Application Documents” for DE-FOA-0000977 are formatted to provide 5 Budget Periods.

Question 25: Is it required that the budget justification form include all DOE funds requested and all cost share committed over the 5 years? How can this be done, particularly to the level of detail of specific supplies, travel, etc., if all projects over the 5 years are not finalized at the time of the proposal submission?
Answer 25:

Yes, all 5 years must be included. DOE recognizes the costs proposed are estimates, particularly in the out-years, but a complete budget is necessary for DOE’s evaluation of the applications.

Question 26: Do all costs listed in the “cost share” tab of the budget justification need to be broken out into tabs “a” through “i”? For instance, if a company commits an amount of cash as cost share, does it need to be allocated over the cost categories to show exactly how the cash will be spent?
Answer 26:

Yes – all costs must be broken out into tabs a-i including those costs covered by non-federal cost share funds.

Question 27: Will the concept paper be considered non-compliant if projects are provided for a single target area? Will the concept paper be considered non-compliant if projects are not provided for each target area?
Answer 27:

While a concept paper that describes an Institute with only one target application area (i.e. Vehicles, Wind Turbines, or Compressed Gas Storage) will likely be considered “compliant” (assuming it is compliant with all the criteria set forth in Section III.C.1.i. of the FOA), the applicant will likely be discouraged from submitting a Full Application. The FOA is requesting applications that address all three target areas of the FOA, not just one.

Question 28: The FOA states “Use Times New Roman typeface, a black font color, and a font size of 12 point or larger (except in figures or tables, which may be 10 point font).” Is it allowable to use inserted graphics that have a different font like Ariel, or do we have to recreate them with the 10pt Times New Roman font? Also, the FOA requests black font color. Is it allowable for inserted graphics to use colors other than black for fonts?
Answer 28:

Use Times New Roman typeface, a black font color, and a font size of 12 point or larger, except in figures or tables, which may be 10 point font.

Question 29: If a federal agency is on our team, which organization type should be specified in the Team Members tab?
Answer 29:

The drop down in the Team Members tab in Exchange does not have an option to select Federal Agency. Please choose “Business” of the correct size.

Question 30: Can one of the DOE labs be exclusive to one team by their own choice? Or must they engage with any/all teams that request their engagement?
Answer 30:

Under this FOA, DOE National Laboratories have the discretion to work exclusively with one team or work with multiple teams or applicants.

Question 31: Under the Eligibility section of the FOA it states that nonprofit 501 (c)(4) organizations that engaged in lobbying activities after December 31, 1995, are not eligible to apply for funding. Under the Eligibly section as stated in the Text Version of the Informational Webinar, March 6, 2014 it states that 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations are not eligible if they have engaged in lobbying activities after December 31 ,1995. Please clarify the eligibility rule.
Answer 31:

The Eligibility language located in FOA Section III.A.2 is correct. Thank you for bringing this typographical error in the webinar document to our attention.

Question 32: Is it considered allowable cost share to have foreign entities provide in kind cost share of their employees’ time working at the foreign entities?
Answer 32:

All work under EERE funding agreements must be performed in the United States. FOA Section IV.I.3 lists the necessary information that must be included in a request to waive this requirement. Foreign labor costs will be considered unallowable cost share unless a waiver request is approved. Also see FOA Section III.B for cost sharing requirements.

Question 33: Can we use a donated machine in the “equipment” category for a cost share as long as we find out the current market value of this machine?
Answer 33:

The value of equipment at the time of donation at the may be considered allowable as cost share depending on the specifics of the situation and the type of entity. Please refer to Section III.C and Appendix B of the FOA, 10 CFR Parts 600 and 603 and the applicable cost principles for guidance on cost sharing. Cost share contributions must be specified in the project budget, verifiable from the Prime Recipient’s records, and necessary and reasonable for proper and efficient accomplishment of the project.

Question 34: We are now spending money installing a production scale compression molding machine in our lab using state funding. Can the installation and construction costs using the state funds be allowed to use as a cost share in the project?
Answer 34:

Please refer to Section III.C and Appendix B of the FOA, 10 CFR Parts 600 and 603 and the applicable cost principles for guidance on cost sharing. Cost share contributions must be specified in the project budget, verifiable from the Prime Recipient’s records, and necessary and reasonable for proper and efficient accomplishment of the project. Note that costs incurred prior to selection for negotiation of award are not allowable for reimbursement or as cost share. Only allowable costs incurred after selection and with Contracting Officer approval can be allocated to the award; this may include equipment procurement and usage costs.

Question 35: Is the waiver submitted prior to the proposal submission or along with the proposal submission? If we submit it with the proposal, how would we know whether or not we can include the foreign cost share in our proposal if we don’t know at that time whether or not the waiver request is approved?
Answer 35:

The waiver is submitted with the Full Application. If selected for an award, the waiver and proposed foreign cost share will be evaluated at that time.

Question 36: Can you please confirm if DOE funds can be used to directly support workforce development programs under the Institute?
Answer 36:

Yes, DOE funds can be used to directly support workforce development programs; however, applicants are encouraged to leverage relevant existing resources and to show how workforce development activities are integrated into the overall institute technical activities.

Question 37: Please provide clarification on this statement “DOE funds cannot be used for fellowship or scholarship programs.” Please confirm if we can charge graduate student tuition of students working directly on the projects.
Answer 37: Tuition remission and other forms of compensation paid as, or in lieu of, wages to students performing necessary work are considered allowable under specific circumstances. See 2 CFR 220 for specific requirements for educational institutions.

Question 38: Does EERE cover the cost of university overhead? For example, a university request $200,000 direct cost from EERE with a rate of 50% OF overhead from the university. Therefore, the cost of the university overhead is: $100,000. Can the university request the total amount of $300,000 = $200,000 + ($200,000 x 50%) as “direct cost” request from EERE?
Answer 38:

Please refer to Section IV.I.1 of the FOA.

Question 39: Based on those awarded (existing) Manufacturing Institutes, how many percentages of the $70M will go to industry, university, and national labs, respectively? Can you provide estimate ratios?
Answer 39:

There is no predetermined percentage of award funds that go to industry, university, and national labs.

Question 40: If a national lab is on our team but only providing a generic letter of commitment, and is not a subcontractor performing work, do we need to complete the Authorization for FFRDCs?
Answer 40:

Authorization is required if the lab is proposed as the prime recipient or a subrecipient.

Question 41: If a company is providing in-kind cost share to do research and not getting any DOE funds, would they still be considered a sub-recipient and be required to provide the same forms as required by a sub-recipient receiving DOE funds?
Answer 41: Yes. A Budget Justification (EERE 159) if the sub-recipient's total costs exceed either $250,000 or 25% of the total project cost.

Question 42: Regarding the answer posted for Question 38, I have reviewed Section IV.I.1 of the FOA that you suggested. But I cannot find the answer unless I review the document of 2 CFR 220 for Educational Institutions. Would you please just give me an answer of “Yes” or “No”?
Answer 42: Please see 2 CFR 220 to refer to the applicable Federal cost principles for an Educational Institution.

Question 43: Regarding the EERE system: Can multiple files be uploaded into each specific sections? (i.e., Technical Volume, part 1, part 2, part3)
Answer 43:

Save the Technical Volume (including any appendices) in a single PDF file using the following convention for the title: ControlNumber_LeadOrganization_TechnicalVolume.

The maximum file size that can be uploaded to the EERE Exchange website is 10MB. Files in excess of 10MB cannot be uploaded, and hence cannot be submitted for review. If a file exceeds 10MB but is still within the maximum page limit specified in the FOA it must be broken into parts and denoted to that effect. For example:

ControlNumber_LeadOrganization_Project_Part_1

ControlNumber_LeadOrganization_Project_Part_2, etc.

Question 44: Can the appendices be uploaded in technical volume section or should it be in the additional documents?
Answer 44:

Per Section IV. D. 2. of the FOA, save the Technical Volume (including any appendices) in a single PDF file using the following convention for the title: ControlNumber_LeadOrganization_TechnicalVolume.

Question 45: On the Technical Volume cover page, who should be included as team members? Do you mean subcontractors or all organizations that are a part of our team?
Answer 45:

The cover page should include a listing of all team member organizations that are participating in the proposed institute.

Question 46: We are beginning the process of seeking funding and were curious to know if this Opportunity will be a re-occurring annual grant, or if it is limited to this year?
Answer 46:

Per Section II.A.2. of the FOA, EERE anticipates making one award that will run up to 60 months in length under this FOA. FOAs for future potential Institutes will be developed using inputs from external stakeholders among other information and analysis and are dependent on Congressional Appropriation.

Frequently Asked Questions