Request for Proposals: Online Course Development

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND a) PURPOSE OF THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL As part of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Training and Capacity Building Initiative, the World Resources Institute (WRI) is seeking qualified assistance to build on the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and related training curriculum to develop an on-line course for the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative was jointly convened in 1998 by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Resources Institute (WRI). The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) was released in 2001 (updated in 2004), and has since become the most widely used international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify and manage greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, the GHG Protocol is leading a global, multi-year initiative to scale-up the capacity of companies, governments and other organizations in developing countries to measure and manage greenhouse gas emissions. To do so, the GHG Protocol will be working innovatively to make training on its standards more widely accessible. It will pilot an on-line course for its most widely used standard, the Corporate Standard, which provides requirements and guidance for companies and other organizations to use in quantifying and reporting their greenhouse gas emissions. The Corporate Standard covers the step-by-step process a company would follow to complete an inventory of emissions of all operations. The GHG Protocol has already developed a complete training course on the Corporate Standard meant for in-person delivery. This course includes interactive presentations and exercises. The Protocol now seeks to develop an effective on-line course based on the Corporate Standard training materials already available but with additional web-based learning features. In the future, depending on demand and the results of the piloting of this online training for its Corporate Standard, the GHG Protocol expects to develop on-line courses for additional standards currently under development. b) BACKGROUND WBCSD: The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is a CEO-led, global association of some 200 companies dealing exclusively with business and sustainable development. The Council provides a platform for companies to explore sustainable development, share knowledge, experiences and best practices. Members are drawn from more than 35 countries and 20 major industrial sectors. The Council also benefits from a global network of about 55 national and regional business councils and regional partners. WRI: The World Resources Institute (WRI) is an environmental think tank that goes beyond research to find practical ways to protect the earth and improve people’s lives. Its mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations. Its focus areas are: Climate Protection, Governance, Markets and Enterprise, and People and Ecosystems.

2. ADMINISTRATIVE a) CONTACT Any questions concerning the technical Scope of Work or contractual terms and conditions or proposal format should be directed to: Name Address Phone Email

Kaleigh Robinson, World Resources Institute 10 G Street NE (Suite 800), Washington D.C, 20002 United States +1-202-729-7861 [email protected]

b) DUE DATES All proposals should be e-mailed to Kaleigh Robinson at [email protected] by 6:00 pm Eastern Time Zone (USA) by Friday, July 22, 2011. Any proposal received after the required time and date specified for receipt shall be considered late and non-responsive. Any late proposals will not be evaluated. c) SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Event 1. RFP Distribution to Vendors 2. Due date to express intent (via email) to submit a proposal 3. Proposal Due Date 4. Anticipated Decision and Selection of Vendor 5. Anticipated start date of project work 6. Anticipated project duration

Date July 5, 2011 July 15, 2011 July 22, 2011 Aug 5, 2011 th 4 quarter of 2011 6 -9 months

3. GUIDELINES FOR PROPOSAL PREPARATION a) PROPOSAL SUBMISSION Award of the contract resulting from this RFP will be based upon the most responsive Vendor whose offer will be the most advantageous to WRI in terms of cost, functionality, and other factors as specified elsewhere in this RFP. WRI reserves the right to: Reject any or all offers and discontinue this RFP process without obligation or liability to any potential Vendor, Accept other than the lowest priced offer, Award a contract on the basis of initial offers received, without discussions or requests for best and final offers, and Award more than one contract.

Vendor's proposal shall be submitted as set forth below. The Vendor will confine its submission to five (5) pages (plus appendixes) including those matters sufficient to define its proposal and to provide an adequate basis for WRI’s evaluation of the Vendor’s proposal. In order to address the needs of this procurement, WRI has preference for Vendors that can complete the entire Scope of Work included in this proposal. However, WRI will allow proposals from Vendors working cooperatively, provided that: The arrangements are identified and relationships are fully disclosed, and A prime Vendor is designated that will be fully responsible for all contract performance. A Vendor’s proposal in response to this RFP will be incorporated into the final agreement between WRI and the selected Vendor. The submitted proposals are suggested to include each of the following sections: a) Executive Summary b) Scope, Approach and Methodology c) Project Deliverables and Timeline d) Project Management Approach e) Detailed and Itemized Pricing f) Example of related work g) Appendix: Corporate Standard Concept Model h) Appendix: Qualifications and Past Performance i) Appendix: References j) Appendix: Project Team Staffing with Bios k) Appendix: Company Overview The detailed requirements for each of the above-mentioned sections are outlined below.

4. DETAILED RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS a) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Present a high-level synopsis of the Vendor’s responses to the RFP. The Executive Summary should be a brief overview of the main approach to the proposed work. b) SCOPE, APPROACH, AND METHODOLOGY Include a short description of the approach to the Scope of Work indicated. c) PROJECT DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE Include a description of deliverables and work plan to complete the requirements according to the timeline. d) PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACH Include a brief description of the approach used to manage the overall project. e) DETAILED AND ITEMIZED PRICING Include a fee breakdown of the project expenses by deliverables described in this RFP. Provide separate estimates for developing and managing an online platform on an ongoing basis and

for developing and transferring an online platform for GHG Protocol to manage. No travel is expected to complete this scope of work. f) EXAMPLE OF RELATED WORK Provide an example of related work, preferably an on-line course module developed for another project. g) APPENDIX: CORPORATE STANDARD CONCEPT MODEL To complete this part of the proposal, please refer to the sample Power Point slides and Word document exercise available at the following link: http://www.ghgprotocol.org/feature/requestproposals-development-online-course. Note that the slides and exercise are only a sample of the already-developed Corporate Standard training materials, rather than a complete training module. Provide an interactive example of how the concept of organizational boundaries might be defined in an on-line course. See slide 4 of the sample Power Point and chapter 3 of the Corporate Standard for an explanation of organizational boundaries. In the interactive example, there is no need to distinguish between different approaches – merely defining the concept of organizational boundaries is sufficient for the purposes of this RFP. Also, convert Question #1 of the sample Exercise with answer key for use in an online training course. h) APPENDIX: QUALIFICATIONS AND PAST PERFORMANCE

Include an overview of qualifications and descriptions of completed projects relevant to this RFP. i) APPENDIX: REFERENCES Provide three current references for which you have performed similar work. j) APPENDIX: PROJECT TEAM STAFFING WITH BIOS Include biographies and relevant experience of key staff and management personnel. Describe the qualifications and relevant experience of the types of staff that would be assigned to this project by providing biographies for those staff members. k) APPENDIX: COMPANY OVERVIEW Provide the following for your company: Official registered name (Corporate, D.B.A., Partnership, etc.) and contact details Key contact name, title, address (if different from above address), direct telephone and fax numbers Person authorized to contractually bind the organization for any proposal against this RFP Brief history, including year established and number of years operating

5. EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD a) CRITERIA

Any award to be made pursuant to this RFP will be based upon the proposal with appropriate consideration given to operational, technical, cost, and management requirements. The following elements will be the primary considerations in evaluating all submitted proposals and in the selection of a Vendor or Vendors: 1. Completion of all required elements. 2. The extent to which Vendor’s proposed solution fulfills WRI stated requirements as set out in this RFP. 3. An assessment of the Vendor’s ability to deliver the indicated service in accordance with the specifications set out in this RFP. 4. The Vendor’s stability, experiences, and record of past performance in delivering such services. 5. Availability of sufficient high quality Vendor personnel with the required skills and experience for the specific approach proposed. 6. Overall cost of Vendor’s proposal. WRI may, at its discretion and without explanation to the prospective Vendors, at any time choose to discontinue this RFP without obligation to such prospective Vendors. Awarding of the contract resulting from this RFP will be dependent upon the suitability of proposals received and funds available.

6. SCOPE OF WORK a) BASIS FOR ON-LINE COURSE DEVELOPMENT The Vendor will base its work on the following materials which have already been developed: 1) The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard (available at www.ghgprotocol.org). 2) The in-person training curriculum for the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, which the GHG Protocol has already developed and consists of Eight Power Point presentations, each with an average of 20 slides with minimal text and many graphics and animated examples Six written exercises in Word document format, each with an average of 4.5 pages and an average 650 words per exercise While the proposal and work under this RFP will be based on the above curriculum, the curriculum is licensed by WRI and will not be made available in its entirety for the purposes of developing proposals by Vendors in response to this RFP. For the purposes of this RFP. please refer to the sample materials available, as described in Part 4 of this RFP.

b) DELIVERABLES Building on the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and the already-developed training curriculum on the Standard, the Vendor is required to:

1) Develop a complete online training course: The course will consist of eight different course modules, one for each of the below chapters of the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, and will be based on the already developed course curriculum for in-person trainings:  Introduction  GHG Accounting and Reporting Principles  Setting Organizational Boundaries  Setting Operational Boundaries  Tracking Emissions Over Time  Identifying and Calculating GHG Emissions  Reporting & Verification of GHG Emissions  Review Each course module will be based on the corresponding modules from the already developed course curriculum, and will include:  Interactive presentations of the concepts through text, animations, audio narration, video clips, etc.  Interactive examples, exercises and quizzes throughout the course for conceptual clarity  Comprehension tests after each module 2) Develop an online platform to host the training course and final exam, with the following functionality:  Provide web-based access to the training course and final exam to learners  Score the tests and the final exam for individual learners and provide solutions with explanations  Track individual learners’ use of the course, progress made, and test and exam scores The final exam will be developed by the GHG Protocol to test learners’ knowledge of the concepts described in the course modules and the skills developed. The Vendor will be expected to convert it to a suitable online version, if needed, and possibly to host it on an appropriate online platform. GHG Protocol project staff will be available to work with the Vendor throughout the Scope of Work.