The Cal-OP ACE Program - Buyer Survey

Thank you for participating in this survey!

The goal of this research is to increase uptake of cost-effective distributed energy resource (DER) technologies among California organizations. A key factor in increasing DER uptake is understanding how California organizations make purchasing decisions.

Your responses will contribute to our efforts to increase the adoption of DER technologies invented and manufactured within California, and will inform how we develop the program to support California organizations in adopting DER technologies. The following questions are aimed at identifying the barriers and opportunities that exist within the procurement process at your organization.

This survey was developed as part of the Cal-OP ACE Program ("California Opportunities for Procurement to Accelerate Clean Energy"), funded by the California Energy Commission. We anticipate it will take 10-15 minutes to complete the survey.

Definitions

1. Distributed energy resources (DER) - DER includes distribution connected-generation resources (e.g., solar, wind), energy efficiency, energy storage, electric vehicles, and demand response (DR) technologies.

2. "Your organization" refers to the business, group, and/or institution for which you have procurement decision-making influence. E.g., if you are employed by the University of California, but work on the UC Berkeley campus, "your organization" is UC Berkeley.

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1. What is the name of your organization?

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2. Which of the following best describes your organization's sector?

Local government

State government

Federal government

K-12 schools

Higher education

Healthcare

Retail

Technology

Business/financial services

Commercial real estate

Architectural & engineering (A&E) firms

Manufacturing

Agriculture

Other (please specify)

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3. Which of these best describes your role in the procurement process at your organization?

Developing contract documents

Approving expenditures

Specifying the attributes of item being purchased

Managing / developing projects

Reviewing proposals

Other (please specify)

The following two questions are aimed at understanding how energy-consuming products are acquired by your organization. The first question focuses on direct purchase of energy-consuming products. The second question focuses on indirect purchases via service contracts through which the contractor provides the energy-consuming products.

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4. What types of products are you responsible for purchasing?

IT products (e.g. computers, imaging equipment, network components)

Non-IT appliance products (e.g., window air conditioners, refrigerators)

Laboratory / medical equipment

Products for maintenance, repair & operations (e.g., filters, replacement lightbulbs)

Fleet products (e.g., vehicles, EV chargers)

None or N/A

Other (please specify)

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5. What types of services are you responsible for purchasing?

IT services

Non-IT appliance services (e.g. food service, vending, laundry service)

Laboratory / medical equipment services

Maintenance & repair services

Energy retrofit contracting (e.g, Energy Savings Performance Contracts, Utilities Service Contracts)

New construction & major renovation services

Transportation services

None or N/A

Other (please specify)

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6. How much does your organization spend annually on the following procurement categories?

	Under $500k	Up to $1 million	Up to $25 million	Over $25 million	Don't know
IT products & services	IT products & services Under $500k	IT products & services Up to $1 million	IT products & services Up to $25 million	IT products & services Over $25 million	IT products & services Don't know
Non-IT appliance products & services	Non-IT appliance products & services Under $500k	Non-IT appliance products & services Up to $1 million	Non-IT appliance products & services Up to $25 million	Non-IT appliance products & services Over $25 million	Non-IT appliance products & services Don't know
Laboratory / medical products & services	Laboratory / medical products & services Under $500k	Laboratory / medical products & services Up to $1 million	Laboratory / medical products & services Up to $25 million	Laboratory / medical products & services Over $25 million	Laboratory / medical products & services Don't know
Maintenance, repair & operations	Maintenance, repair & operations Under $500k	Maintenance, repair & operations Up to $1 million	Maintenance, repair & operations Up to $25 million	Maintenance, repair & operations Over $25 million	Maintenance, repair & operations Don't know
Energy retrofit	Energy retrofit Under $500k	Energy retrofit Up to $1 million	Energy retrofit Up to $25 million	Energy retrofit Over $25 million	Energy retrofit Don't know
New construction & renovation	New construction & renovation Under $500k	New construction & renovation Up to $1 million	New construction & renovation Up to $25 million	New construction & renovation Over $25 million	New construction & renovation Don't know
Transportation / fleet products & services	Transportation / fleet products & services Under $500k	Transportation / fleet products & services Up to $1 million	Transportation / fleet products & services Up to $25 million	Transportation / fleet products & services Over $25 million	Transportation / fleet products & services Don't know

Other (please specify procurement type and annual spend)

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7. Among those involved in procurement at your organization, which types of roles have the most influence over purchasing decisions related to energy / energy-consuming products?

	Minor influence i.e. mostly assigned tasks with little input	Moderate influence i.e. assigned some tasks but also granted input/decision-making powers	Major influence i.e. significant input/decision-making powers (e.g., budget control, agenda setting)
Chief Financial Officer	Chief Financial Officer Minor influence i.e. mostly assigned tasks with little input	Chief Financial Officer Moderate influence i.e. assigned some tasks but also granted input/decision-making powers	Chief Financial Officer Major influence i.e. significant input/decision-making powers (e.g., budget control, agenda setting)
Legal Counsel	Legal Counsel Minor influence i.e. mostly assigned tasks with little input	Legal Counsel Moderate influence i.e. assigned some tasks but also granted input/decision-making powers	Legal Counsel Major influence i.e. significant input/decision-making powers (e.g., budget control, agenda setting)
Sustainability Manager	Sustainability Manager Minor influence i.e. mostly assigned tasks with little input	Sustainability Manager Moderate influence i.e. assigned some tasks but also granted input/decision-making powers	Sustainability Manager Major influence i.e. significant input/decision-making powers (e.g., budget control, agenda setting)
Energy Manager	Energy Manager Minor influence i.e. mostly assigned tasks with little input	Energy Manager Moderate influence i.e. assigned some tasks but also granted input/decision-making powers	Energy Manager Major influence i.e. significant input/decision-making powers (e.g., budget control, agenda setting)
Facilities Manager/Engineer	Facilities Manager/Engineer Minor influence i.e. mostly assigned tasks with little input	Facilities Manager/Engineer Moderate influence i.e. assigned some tasks but also granted input/decision-making powers	Facilities Manager/Engineer Major influence i.e. significant input/decision-making powers (e.g., budget control, agenda setting)
IT Managers	IT Managers Minor influence i.e. mostly assigned tasks with little input	IT Managers Moderate influence i.e. assigned some tasks but also granted input/decision-making powers	IT Managers Major influence i.e. significant input/decision-making powers (e.g., budget control, agenda setting)
Contract Officer (CO)	Contract Officer (CO) Minor influence i.e. mostly assigned tasks with little input	Contract Officer (CO) Moderate influence i.e. assigned some tasks but also granted input/decision-making powers	Contract Officer (CO) Major influence i.e. significant input/decision-making powers (e.g., budget control, agenda setting)
Fleet Manager	Fleet Manager Minor influence i.e. mostly assigned tasks with little input	Fleet Manager Moderate influence i.e. assigned some tasks but also granted input/decision-making powers	Fleet Manager Major influence i.e. significant input/decision-making powers (e.g., budget control, agenda setting)
External consultants (e.g. A&E firms)	External consultants (e.g. A&E firms) Minor influence i.e. mostly assigned tasks with little input	External consultants (e.g. A&E firms) Moderate influence i.e. assigned some tasks but also granted input/decision-making powers	External consultants (e.g. A&E firms) Major influence i.e. significant input/decision-making powers (e.g., budget control, agenda setting)

Please list any additional procurement roles and level of influence (e.g. minor, moderate or major)

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8. Which, if any, of your procurement phases often become a bottleneck?

	Never	Sometimes	Often	Always	N/A
Specifying and selecting products	Specifying and selecting products Never	Specifying and selecting products Sometimes	Specifying and selecting products Often	Specifying and selecting products Always	Specifying and selecting products N/A
Developing contract documents	Developing contract documents Never	Developing contract documents Sometimes	Developing contract documents Often	Developing contract documents Always	Developing contract documents N/A
Legal review process	Legal review process Never	Legal review process Sometimes	Legal review process Often	Legal review process Always	Legal review process N/A
Gaining approvals	Gaining approvals Never	Gaining approvals Sometimes	Gaining approvals Often	Gaining approvals Always	Gaining approvals N/A
Ordering process	Ordering process Never	Ordering process Sometimes	Ordering process Often	Ordering process Always	Ordering process N/A
Shipping	Shipping Never	Shipping Sometimes	Shipping Often	Shipping Always	Shipping N/A

Other (please specify)

In the following question, we are concerned about DER products. This includes distribution connected-generation resources (e.g., solar, wind), energy efficient products, energy storage products, electric vehicles, and demand response (DR) technologies.

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9. How often do any of the following factors prevent your organization from purchasing new DER products?

	Never	Sometimes	Often	Always	N/A
High cost / long-return on investment	High cost / long-return on investment Never	High cost / long-return on investment Sometimes	High cost / long-return on investment Often	High cost / long-return on investment Always	High cost / long-return on investment N/A
Lack of top management support	Lack of top management support Never	Lack of top management support Sometimes	Lack of top management support Often	Lack of top management support Always	Lack of top management support N/A
Lack of financing options	Lack of financing options Never	Lack of financing options Sometimes	Lack of financing options Often	Lack of financing options Always	Lack of financing options N/A
Availability of repair parts	Availability of repair parts Never	Availability of repair parts Sometimes	Availability of repair parts Often	Availability of repair parts Always	Availability of repair parts N/A
Interoperability with existing equipment	Interoperability with existing equipment Never	Interoperability with existing equipment Sometimes	Interoperability with existing equipment Often	Interoperability with existing equipment Always	Interoperability with existing equipment N/A
Security (e.g., with internet-connected devices)	Security (e.g., with internet-connected devices) Never	Security (e.g., with internet-connected devices) Sometimes	Security (e.g., with internet-connected devices) Often	Security (e.g., with internet-connected devices) Always	Security (e.g., with internet-connected devices) N/A
Maintenance of the product	Maintenance of the product Never	Maintenance of the product Sometimes	Maintenance of the product Often	Maintenance of the product Always	Maintenance of the product N/A
Lack of staff buy-in	Lack of staff buy-in Never	Lack of staff buy-in Sometimes	Lack of staff buy-in Often	Lack of staff buy-in Always	Lack of staff buy-in N/A
Operational reliability	Operational reliability Never	Operational reliability Sometimes	Operational reliability Often	Operational reliability Always	Operational reliability N/A
Need to retrain staff	Need to retrain staff Never	Need to retrain staff Sometimes	Need to retrain staff Often	Need to retrain staff Always	Need to retrain staff N/A

Other (please specify)

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10. How many internal combustion vehicles (ICE) or electric vehicles (EVs)/plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) are in your fleet? If not applicable, enter "0".

Light-duty ICE
(e.g., passenger car)

Light-duty EV/PHEV

Medium-duty ICE
(e.g., step or cargo van)

Medium-duty EV/PHEV
(e.g., electric buses)

Heavy-duty
(e.g. tractor trailers)

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11. How often do you use pre-defined vendors (e.g., preferred vendors, pre-qualified vendors) for purchasing?

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

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12. Organizations often have competing priorities when making procurement decisions. Please rank the following goals in order of importance to your organization. 1 = most important, 7 = least important.

Products provided by small / veteran-owned business

N/A

Products with lowest first cost

N/A

Products provided by woman / minority-owned business

N/A

Products provided by local business

N/A

Products with preferable environmental attributes

N/A

Products made in America

N/A

Products with lowest lifecycle cost

N/A

Tools (i.e. the specific business processes and systems that are used to implement purchasing decisions) play an important role in procurement outcomes. This next section collects data on your organization's use of these tools in purchasing.

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13. What procurement tools do you currently have in place for purchasing?

Standardized contract templates

Standardized specification templates

Software tools for contract development

E-procurement systems

Purchase order requisition forms

Do not know

Other (please specify)

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14. If your organization needed to buy a new DER product that it had never bought before, how easy would it be to do that with your current procurement tools?

Very difficult

Somewhat difficult

Somewhat easy

Very easy

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15. Please list the names of specific e-procurement systems that you use at your organization. 'N/A' if unknown.

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16. Please list the names of specific contracting software tools that you use at your organization. 'N/A' if unknown.

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17. In your budget-planning process for the next five years, which of the following product categories (i.e., types of technologies) will be a priority?

	Not a priority	Low priority	Medium priority	High priority
Heating, air conditioning, & ventilation (HVAC) equipment (heat pumps, chillers, rooftop units)	Heating, air conditioning, & ventilation (HVAC) equipment (heat pumps, chillers, rooftop units) Not a priority	Heating, air conditioning, & ventilation (HVAC) equipment (heat pumps, chillers, rooftop units) Low priority	Heating, air conditioning, & ventilation (HVAC) equipment (heat pumps, chillers, rooftop units) Medium priority	Heating, air conditioning, & ventilation (HVAC) equipment (heat pumps, chillers, rooftop units) High priority
Water heating appliances	Water heating appliances Not a priority	Water heating appliances Low priority	Water heating appliances Medium priority	Water heating appliances High priority
Lighting equipment & lighting controls	Lighting equipment & lighting controls Not a priority	Lighting equipment & lighting controls Low priority	Lighting equipment & lighting controls Medium priority	Lighting equipment & lighting controls High priority
Building envelopes (windows, roofing, insulation)	Building envelopes (windows, roofing, insulation) Not a priority	Building envelopes (windows, roofing, insulation) Low priority	Building envelopes (windows, roofing, insulation) Medium priority	Building envelopes (windows, roofing, insulation) High priority
Commercial & industrial refrigeration	Commercial & industrial refrigeration Not a priority	Commercial & industrial refrigeration Low priority	Commercial & industrial refrigeration Medium priority	Commercial & industrial refrigeration High priority
Appliances (plug-loads)	Appliances (plug-loads) Not a priority	Appliances (plug-loads) Low priority	Appliances (plug-loads) Medium priority	Appliances (plug-loads) High priority
Electric vehicle charging technologies	Electric vehicle charging technologies Not a priority	Electric vehicle charging technologies Low priority	Electric vehicle charging technologies Medium priority	Electric vehicle charging technologies High priority
Electric vehicles	Electric vehicles Not a priority	Electric vehicles Low priority	Electric vehicles Medium priority	Electric vehicles High priority
Distributed generation (solar, wind)	Distributed generation (solar, wind) Not a priority	Distributed generation (solar, wind) Low priority	Distributed generation (solar, wind) Medium priority	Distributed generation (solar, wind) High priority
Distributed storage technologies (batteries)	Distributed storage technologies (batteries) Not a priority	Distributed storage technologies (batteries) Low priority	Distributed storage technologies (batteries) Medium priority	Distributed storage technologies (batteries) High priority

Other (please specify)

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18. The Cal-OP project will provide the following tools and services to California organizations to assist with DER procurement. Please rank the following in order of greatest use to your organization. 1 = most useful, 8 = least useful.

On-call DER technical expertise

N/A

Facilitation of group purchasing opportunities

N/A

Online database of DER products

N/A

Integration of DER options into your existing E-procurement platforms

N/A

"Cut and Paste" language for contracting documents

N/A

Networking and training events

N/A

Technical specifications for DER products

N/A

Online portal for connecting with DER vendors

N/A

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19. For which product categories would your organization find this additional support most useful?

	Very useful	Somewhat useful	Not at all useful	Not applicable
Heating, air conditioning, & ventilation (HVAC) equipment	Heating, air conditioning, & ventilation (HVAC) equipment Very useful	Heating, air conditioning, & ventilation (HVAC) equipment Somewhat useful	Heating, air conditioning, & ventilation (HVAC) equipment Not at all useful	Heating, air conditioning, & ventilation (HVAC) equipment Not applicable
Water heating appliances	Water heating appliances Very useful	Water heating appliances Somewhat useful	Water heating appliances Not at all useful	Water heating appliances Not applicable
Lighting equipment and lighting controls	Lighting equipment and lighting controls Very useful	Lighting equipment and lighting controls Somewhat useful	Lighting equipment and lighting controls Not at all useful	Lighting equipment and lighting controls Not applicable
Building envelopes	Building envelopes Very useful	Building envelopes Somewhat useful	Building envelopes Not at all useful	Building envelopes Not applicable
Building controls	Building controls Very useful	Building controls Somewhat useful	Building controls Not at all useful	Building controls Not applicable
Commercial & industrial refrigeration upgrades	Commercial & industrial refrigeration upgrades Very useful	Commercial & industrial refrigeration upgrades Somewhat useful	Commercial & industrial refrigeration upgrades Not at all useful	Commercial & industrial refrigeration upgrades Not applicable
Appliances (plug-loads)	Appliances (plug-loads) Very useful	Appliances (plug-loads) Somewhat useful	Appliances (plug-loads) Not at all useful	Appliances (plug-loads) Not applicable
Electric vehicle charging technologies	Electric vehicle charging technologies Very useful	Electric vehicle charging technologies Somewhat useful	Electric vehicle charging technologies Not at all useful	Electric vehicle charging technologies Not applicable
Electric vehicles	Electric vehicles Very useful	Electric vehicles Somewhat useful	Electric vehicles Not at all useful	Electric vehicles Not applicable
Distributed generation	Distributed generation Very useful	Distributed generation Somewhat useful	Distributed generation Not at all useful	Distributed generation Not applicable
Distributed storage technologies	Distributed storage technologies Very useful	Distributed storage technologies Somewhat useful	Distributed storage technologies Not at all useful	Distributed storage technologies Not applicable

Other (please specify)

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20. Please use space below to provide any additional comments or information you feel would be useful for the Cal-OP ACE research team (related to procurement, DER, etc.)

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21. If you would like to have survey results shared with you or participate in our future programs, please leave your contact info below.

Name

Organization (must be located in California)

Email Address

Phone Number

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22. Are you willing to be contacted for a follow-up interview?

Yes