UNDP Jobs - 63377- Consultant for Energy-Efficiency Buildings Registr

Consultant for Energy-Efficiency Buildings Registry

Location :

Bucharest, ROMANIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

11-Feb-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Estimated February 2016 – June 2016

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Approximately 90 working days

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Background Information regarding the project preparation phase:

The UNDP GEF Improving Energy-Efficiency in Low Income Households and Communities in Romania project is funded by GEF (3 mil US$) and has a 6 year implementation period from June 2010 – June 2016. The project will close by 30th June 2016.

Project Objective and Outcomes:

The general objective of the project is to dismantle the barriers to the implementation of energy efficiency measures among poorer households and in poorer communities in Romania and alleviate fuel poverty. This will be achieved through the following components/outcomes:

Outcome 1: Romanian energy policy integrating fuel poverty issues and addressing EE needs in low-income communities;
Outcome 2: Supply of trained architects, building engineers, builders and auditors with EE experience expanded; municipalities in low-income regions have a better understanding of EE issues and are able to support auditing and weatherization projects – including disseminating information for Do-It-Yourself projects;
Outcome 3: Energy efficient buildings reconstructed with reduced fuel costs or using improved sustainable technologies in low income communities;
Outcome 4: Data and information available for decision-makers for designing programs to address fuel poverty.

Short background:

The building sector in Romania is dominated by residential buildings that are generally old and have poor thermal performance, with average annual heating requirements of 137-220 kWh/m2. Pilot projects in Romania have shown that it is possible to reduce cost-effectively heating needs by at least 40-50%. Nevertheless, the rehabilitation of these poorly energy-efficient buildings is taking place at a very slow pace. In addition, new construction in poorer households in rural areas is dominated by the use of energy inefficient materials with “Do-It-Yourself” projects resulting in inefficient, sub-standard dwellings which will not meet standards according to the European Performance in Buildings Directive.

Moreover, there is a series of inefficient district heating networks in Romania, publicly owned by the municipalities. These companies provide heating to over 1.6 million dwellings (out of a total of 8.4 million dwellings), which are mostly blocks of flats in urban areas, where customers often cannot adjust the heating level according to their needs. The average efficiency of district heating systems in the country is about 43% (i.e., primary energy utilized at the source that is converted into end-user heating).

The operations of these District Heating systems are currently heavily subsidized on the supply-side, leading to artificially low heating prices for all consumers. As a result of EU requirements and budget shortages, the Government enacted a new policy for the 2011-2012 winter and the subsidies will be granted on the demand-side basis to low-income households only. Should these policies be ineffective, large amounts of energy will still be wasted while large quantities of expensive fuel (especially natural gas and oil) are imported. In this scenario, many Romanians will not afford to keep their homes at a reasonable temperature during the winter – resulting in fuel poverty.

This project will work to dismantle the barriers to the implementation of energy efficiency measures among poorer households and in poorer communities in Romania, working to alleviate fuel poverty. The project will act at a national and local level to address energy efficiency needs, develop appropriate policy measures, stimulate an on-going market for locally-produced, energy efficient building materials, build capacity for implementation of energy efficiency measures in poorer regions, and implement real energy efficiency improvements to improve the lives of 110,620 people and reduce energy-related greenhouse gas emissions by 666,800 tons of CO2eq. The implementing partner for the project is the Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism.

Location: Bucharest, UNDP Office with two days missions to Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Timisoara, Craiova, Pitesti, Constanta, Brasov.

Duties and Responsibilities

The principal responsibility of the Building Registry Consultant is the management and population of the web-based registry/ database that was developed within the project having the scope to organize and structure the social buildings, apartment blocks, and publicly owned housing at a national level, information that are necessary for decision-makers in the buildings sector to make investment decisions, including the size and composition of the building stock, how to prioritize building retrofitting or rehabilitation for energy performance improvement, marginal abatement costs of various EE investments, and the fuel consumption/ costs in various types of buildings.

Example of information included in the buildings’ registry:

Technical information about the building (useful area, completion date, construction solutions, number of floors, number and size of rooms, etc.);
Information on the ownership structure;
Type and number of building users;
Heating/cooling sources (with technical details about: system type, power, fuel used);
Theoretical energy demand (according to any audits carried out);
Actual energy use (according to previous records);
Pictures of the building (including areas that need improvement);
Potential EE measures, including estimated investment costs, energy to be saved, and GHG emissions reduction at the primary energy source;
For those buildings that have undergone EE improvements, these will be listed along with the impact of the improvements (in terms of theoretical energy demand, actual energy use and GHG reduction).

The Building Registry Consultant will work under the overall guidance of the UNDP Project Coordinator.

The Building Registry Consultant will also work in close cooperation with the relevant project partners (the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, Ministry of Environment and Forests; the Association of Energy Auditors for Buildings in Romania, local authorities, etc.) supporting UNDP to reach the project’s key indicators under Outcome 4.

Within the framework of this Terms of Reference, the Building Registry Consultant is expected to perform the following duties:

Maintain working relationship with key stakeholders of the Building Registry (Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, Ministry of Environment and Forests; the Association of Energy Auditors for Buildings in Romania, local authorities) and participate to the meetings related to the Building Registry Platform.
Prepare a TOR for the further improvement of the Building Registry based on the recommendations (report elaborated by IT company contracted by UNDP) of the 10 training sessions held at national level about the Building Registry Platform Developed within the project in 2015 or other recommendations from the stakeholders.
Promote the Building Registry among relevant stakeholders in order to encourage them to populate the Building Registry with data.
Maintain working relationship with the company contracted by UNDP for the delivery of server and licenses for the further operation of the Building Registry Platform.
Coordinate the activity of the IT company contracted by UNDP to assure Helpdesk services for the Building Registry
The IT company is responsible to ensure 99.9% up-time, needed technical user support – via email and own direct phone line – for the helpdesk contractual period, at an availability rate of at least 8 man-hours per day, for all functionalities. The frequent usability issues will be solved via redesign of the interface generating the issues at no additional cost.
The IT Company will hold full responsibility of the security, up-time and full functionality of the platform before and during the transfer onto the beneficiary indicated IT infrastructure.
Provide support for the Project Coordinator for the transfer of the fully operational Building Registry from UNDP to the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration.
Prepare a TOR for the acquisition of training services for energy managers to be held at national level for local authorities’ representatives for both the building register and the energy management information system (EMIS)
Organize and coordinate at least 8 x 1 day training sessions for energy managers on both the building registry platform and the energy management information system (EMIS). The trainings will be provided in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Timisoara, Craiova, Pitesti, Constanta and Brasov, Romania.
Provide at least 5 x 1 day training sessions in Bucharest for the stakeholders on the use of the Building Registry Platform.
Provide support to the Project Coordinator in any other task related to the Building Registry Platform.

Expected deliverables and tentative timeframe:

The consultancy will consist of estimated work input of 90 man-days over a 5 months period or an average of 18 working days per month, which is broken down to the following deliverables:

TOR for Building Registry enhancement (5 estimated working days) – Completion date: 29th February 2016;
Population of the building registry with at least 100 buildings or more (as many as possible) (31 estimated working days) – Completion date: 15th June 2016;
Monthly reports on coordination and successful implementation of Helpdesk Services (18 estimated working days) – Completion date: 15st June 2016;
Final report on successful delivery of hardware and licenses to MDRAP (13 estimated working days) – Completion date: 15th March 2016;
Transfer of the Building Registry to MDRAP (5 estimated working days) – Completion date: 15th May 2016;
TOR for Training Services Acquisition – Energy Managers (5 estimated working days) - Completion date: 15th March 2016;
Trainings for Energy Managers (8 x 1 day trainings) (8 estimated working days) – Completion date: 30th April 2016;
Trainings for Stakeholders (5 x 1 day trainings) (5 estimated working days) – Completion date: 15th March 2016.

Payment will be made upon successful submission of each deliverable to UNDP and acceptance of these deliverables by the UNDP Project Coordinator. The consultant will prepare a report demonstrating the successful completion of each deliverable and submit it to the UNDP Project Coordinator.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Highest standards of integrity and objectivity, discretion and loyalty;
Excellent interpersonal skills within a range of professional contexts;
Result orientation and client focus.

Functional Competencies:

Excellent communications, presentation, report writing skills;
Ability to manage relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders and incorporate diverse points of view;
Excellent organizational and management skills in a complex multi-stakeholder environment;
Observing deadlines and achieving results;
Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education:

Minimum Bachelor Degree in the field of energy, environment engineering, IT, economics or related area.

Experience:

Minimum 7 years general work experience in energy / environment engineering / IT / consulting, or related area;
Of which at least 5 years work experience in a management position in database creation/management;
Work experience, in the capacity of a coordination position, in working with/coordinating Public Stakeholders, mainly with central level institutions;
Experience in training for IT platform users would be an asset.

Language skills:

Excellent knowledge of Romanian language, preferably native speaker;
Very good knowledge of English language;

Evaluation of Applicants:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.
The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (P11 desk reviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points:

Criteria A - Minimum Bachelor Degree in the field of energy / environment engineering / IT / economics or related area , max points: 5;
Criteria B - Minimum 7 years general work experience in energy / environment engineering / IT / consulting, or related area, max points: 15;
Criteria C - Work experience, in the capacity of a coordination position, in working with/coordinating Public Stakeholders, mainly central level institutions, max points: 20;
Criteria D - At least 5 years work experience in a management position in database creation/management, max points: 20;
Criteria E - Experience in training for IT platform users, max points: 5;
Criteria F - Excellent knowledge of Romanian language, preferably native level, max points: 2.5;
Criteria G - Very good knowledge of English language , max points: 2.5.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation

Application procedures:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position and a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work). Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc ); please upload the P11 instead of your CV.
Financial Proposal* - specifying a total lump sum amount in USD for the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days, travel to join duty station/repatriation travel, estimated travel costs for two days missions to Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Timisoara, Craiova, Pitesti, Constanta and Brasov, as well as per diems for the above mentioned missions and any other possible costs).
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials. Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination, personal security needs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...). All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org
General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.
Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.