Description:
OUSD (R&E) CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Advanced Materials
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of a Sustainable Building Materials and Technologies focused Open Topic is to bring potentially valuable small business innovations to the Army and create an opportunity to expand the relevance of the Army SBIR program to firms who do not normally compete for SBIR awards.
Building materials and technologies are ubiquitously used by the Army CONUS and OCONUS, and account for a significant percentage of the overall Army carbon/climate footprint. This Sustainable Building Materials and Technologies topic seeks to address this carbon intensive aspect of military operations through disruptive materials, logistics, and technologies from a life-cycle assessment (LCA)perspective to meet the goals of the DoD Climate Adaptation plan and Army Climate Strategy.
DESCRIPTION: This open topic is a Phase I or Direct to Phase II submission. For Phase I awards period of performance is a maximum of 6 months and a maximum funding limit of $250,000 per award. For Direct to Phase II awards period of performance is a maximum of 18 months and a maximum funding limit of $1,900,000 per award.
While the Sustainable Building Materials and Technologies Open Topic will accept proposals on any technical challenge requiring an application to reduce lifecycle fossil fuel consumption and/or emissions, submissions addressing the applications of those technologies in enduring facilities and infrastructure on installations as well as low-logistics contingency construction applications will be prioritized along with efforts focused on the following technical areas:
• Low-logistics indigenous materials utilization
• Sustainability-centered materials-by-design
• Scalable sustainable building material technologies
• Forward waste utilization for sustainable low-logistics manufacturing
• Low-energy bio-based building materials
• Terrestrial carbon sequestration materials and technologies
PHASE I: The Phase I period of performance will be 6 months. Small businesses shall deliver a proof of technical feasibility at the end of the Period of Performance. Phase I submission materials:
• 5-page technical volume
• 8-slide commercialization plan; template provided in announcement
Post-Phase I Deliverables:
• Small Business: A feasibility study to demonstrate the technical and commercial practicality of the concept to include an assessment of its technical readiness and potential applicability to both military and commercial markets.
• Technical POC and Transition Partner: Commitment secured from TPOC and Transition Partner to associate with potential Phase II work. (Transition Partner is defined as an Army organization planning to integrate and fund the technology after SBIR funding has expired).
Proposers interested in submitting a Direct to Phase II (DP2) proposal must provide documentation to substantiate that the scientific and technical merit and feasibility described above has been met and describes the potential military and/or commercial applications. Documentation should include all relevant information including, but not limited to: technical reports, test data, prototype designs/models, and performance goals/results.
PHASE II: Produce prototype solutions targeted toward construction and other Army sustainability requirements. These solutions should be vetted through standard testing procedures and modeling focused on mechanical /structural performance, lifecycle durability, lifecycle sustainability, and an understanding of lifecycle cost factors. Prototypes will focus on demonstrating technology at scale including requirements for design and specifications that can easily transition for adoption by the Army. In addition, companies will provide a technology transition and commercialization plan for DOD and commercial markets.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Complete the maturation of the company’s technology developed in Phase II to TRL 6/7 and produce prototypes to support further development and commercialization. The Army will evaluate each product in a realistic field environment and provide small solutions to stakeholders for further evaluation. Based on technical evaluations in the field, companies will be requested to update the previously delivered prototypes to meet final design configuration
KEYWORDS: Clean Technology; Sustainable Construction; Open topic; Materials, Sustainability, Resilience; Emissions; Green; Environmental, Facilities, Buildings, Infrastructure
REFERENCES: https://www.armysbir.army.mil/topics/
