Peak demand
Peak demand: ‘Refers to the times of day when our electricity consumption is at its highest which, in the UK, occurs between 5-30pm to 6pm each weekday evening.’ Ref Climate Emergency Design Guide: How new buildings can meet UK climate change targets, published by the London Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI) in January 2020.
Zero carbon building, Performance standard, Version 2, Published by the Canada Green Building Council in March 2021, defines Peak demand as: ‘The building’s highest electrical load requirement on the grid, measured and reported in kW, reflecting any peak shaving impacts from demand management strategies including onsite renewable energy and energy storage.’
Planning our electric future: a White Paper for secure, affordable and low-carbon electricity, Glossary, published by the Department of Energy & Climate Change on 14 July 2011, suggests that peak load and peak demand are: ‘…used interchangeably to denote the maximum power requirement of a system at a given time, or the amount of power required to supply customers at times when need is greatest. They can refer either to the load at a given moment (e.g. a specific time of day) or to averaged load over a given period of time (e.g. a specific day or hour of the day).’
The RIBA Passivhaus Overlay, published by the RIBA in 2022, defines Peak Load (PL) as: ‘The heating load which has to be satisfied on either the coldest or cloudiest day of the year. Normally stated as W/m^2.’
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Climate Emergency Design Guide.
- Electrical energy.
- Electrical equipment.
- Electrical installation.
- Electrical power.
- Electrical safety.
- Electrician.
- Electricity bill.
- Electricity consumption.
- Electricity supply.
- Glossary of electrical terms.
- London Energy Transformation Initiative.
- Plug load control.
- What is diversity in HVAC systems?
Featured articles and news
Government outcome to the late payment consultation, ECA reacts.
IHBC 2025 Gus Astley Student Award winners
Work on the role of hewing in UK historic conservation a win for Jack Parker of Oxford Brookes University.
Future Homes Building Standards and plug-in solar
Parts F and L amendments, the availability of solar panels and industry responses.
How later living housing can help solve the housing crisis
Unlocking homes, unlocking lives.
Preparing safety case reports for HRBs under the BSA
A new practical guide to preparing structural inputs for safety cases and safety case reports published by IStructE.
Male construction workers and prostate cancer
CIOB and Prostate Cancer UK encourage awareness of prostate cancer risks, and what to do about it.
The changed R&D tax landscape for Architects
Specialist gives a recap on tax changes for Research and Development, via the ACA newsletter.
Structured product data as a competitive advantage
NBS explain why accessible product data that works across digital systems is key.
Welsh retrofit workforce assessment
Welsh Government report confirms Wales faces major electrical skills shortage, warns ECA.
A now architectural practice looks back at its concept project for a sustainable oceanic settlement 25 years on.
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence
Government report and back track on copyright opt out for AI training but no clear preferred alternative as yet.
Embedding AI tools into architectural education
Beyond the render: LMU share how student led research is shaping the future of visualisation workflows.
Why document control still fails UK construction projects
A Chartered Quantity Surveyor explains what needs to change and how.
Inspiration for a new 2026 wave of Irish construction professionals.
New planning reforms and Warm Homes Bill
Take centre stage at UK Construction Week London.
A brief run down of changes intentions from April in an onwards.






















Comments
[edit] To make a comment about this article, or to suggest changes, click 'Add a comment' above. Separate your comments from any existing comments by inserting a horizontal line.