David M McCaughey

The Advanced Grid Interactive Load Efficiency (AGILE) project, led by Energy Northwest was awarded by the Clean Energy Fund program administered by the Washington State Department of Commerce to investigate, co-create, and complete preliminary design for grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs) for a number of schools served by Grays Harbor PUD (GHPUD), considering a variety of use cases.

In this project, an initial list of seven schools was identified for consideration. After preliminary evaluation, three schools—Central Elementary, Miller Junior High School, and Hoquiam Middle School—were selected for detailed assessments because they present a rich diversity of challenges and opportunities. For each of the three selected schools, a variety of GEB design options were proposed, focusing on seamlessly integrating electrification, energy efficiency, carbon reduction, and demand response (DR), with some designs also incorporating a battery energy storage system (BESS) to further enhance demand-side flexibility, grid interactivity, and microgrid capability. To facilitate understanding and differentiation, these design options have been categorized into three levels of complexity: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. These three tiers reflect the progressive enhancement in energy efficiency and grid-interactive capabilities, providing a structured approach for the envisioned systems.