Estidama, the programme managed by Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC) to promote sustainability and enhance liveability in the emirate under the ambit of Abu Dhabi Vision 2030, today unveiled the most recent version of the highly ambitious Pearl Rating System (PRS), the Arab World’s first sustainability rating mechanism established in 2009 to assess sustainability performance of buildings, communities, and villas.
The PRS is a program encompassing a Pearl Building Rating System (PBRS), a Pearl Community Rating System (PCRS) and a Pearl Villa Rating System (PVRS), introducing rating practices across the design and construction phases of development projects. The system provides a set of measurable guidelines for rating sustainability performance of communities, buildings, and large-scale developments of villas, across Estidama’s four pillars of economy, environment, society and culture.
The system addresses seven categories; Integrated Development Process, Natural Systems, Livable Communities and buildings, Water, Energy Materials and Innovating Practice. For each category, there are mandatory and optional credits as well as weights with maximum credit points delivered to each.
The PBRS will apply to general buildings, offices, retail, multi-residential buildings, schools and mixed-use projects whereas the PCRS addresses developments supporting a minimum permanent residential population of 1,000 people. For developments designed to accommodate up to 30,000 people, the system asks for division into individual districts each requiring a separate application.
On the occasion of the unveiling, HE Falah Mohamed Al Ahbabi, General Manager of Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council, said: “Vision 2030 maintains that sustainability is the foundation of any new development in Abu Dhabi, and Estidama as a sustainability programme managed by UPC and the driving force of Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 has been conceived to fulfill this commitment, which will transform Abu Dhabi into the model of a global sustainable capital”.
“The PRS establishes Abu Dhabi’s regional and global leadership in sustainable urban development, and provides a reliable sustainability benchmark tool for the region at large as per Estidama’s cross-disciplinary approach,” he added.
The PRS will cover three levels; Pearl Design Rating is engaged at the design phase of the project and is relevant until construction is complete. Following that, Pearl construction Rating is introduced for two years post a project’s completion. Pearl Operational rating then assesses the operational performance of an existing development and takes effect for a minimum of two years after completion and when a development has reached a minimum occupancy of 80%.
The PBRS and the PCRS are applied at the design and construction stages of the process to ensure the sustainability targets are being addressed through all stages of the project.. At the assessment level, however, two other actors are involved: the Pearl Assessor from Estidama who receives and assesses the submission documents and the Pearl Qualified Professional who is from the design team and who constitutes the interface between the design and construction phases. Throughout the assessment phase, the UPC’s Estidama website provides a resource of knowledge and updates as well as to source the relevant UPC policy documents for both systems.
Through the application of the PRS, communities in Abu Dhabi will be equipped with walkable, shaded, well-connected streets and public realm that improve livability and reduce reliance on motorized vehicles. Buildings and villas will have a framework for measuring their sustainability performance and meeting sustainable goals by emphasizing water and energy efficiency, optimum selection of material, indoor environment quality and waste reduction.
The unveiling crowns a long process of collaboration between the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council and other governmental agencies as well as industry experts and representatives of the relevant public and private entities. Also, PRS underwent a testing and refinement period in 2008 and 2009 when a selection of innovative pilot projects in Abu Dhabi vied to gain Estidama pilot status in their quest to achieve greater levels of sustainability performance in their designs
Developers and design consultants in Abu Dhabi will have future opportunities to be trained by Estidama experts on how to apply the EPRS in designing their developments and rating their sustainability performance. Developments will receive a ranking from one Pearl to five with five being the highest Pearl rating a development can achieve after a detailed submission to an Estidama Assessor. Training sessions will be announced on the UPC’s Estidama website.
The PRS for Estidama builds on the Abu Dhabi Development Code (zoning), the City’s regulatory framework for managing land use and form of development as per Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 to achieve higher levels of sustainable performance. The Development Code, which regulates all types and scales of developments both existing and proposed, will ensure that Abu Dhabi’s varied planning and livability initiatives as well as Estidama programmes are well-connected and work together to create complete communities in Abu Dhabi. With the future adoption of a new Municipal Building Code, Abu Dhabi will have the unique opportunity to align development regulations, building codes and the PRS to achieve a new benchmark for sustainable development practices.
In its effort to streamline development review processes, the UPC has enhanced the Development Review Process (DRP), which allows through a series of mandatory elements to ensure that developments comply with planning policies. Whereas the PRS is a voluntary programme the DRP is mandatory.
Saoud Al Junaibi, Director of Development Review and Urban Design, UPC, and senior Estidama spokesperson said:”The Pearl Rating System is part of a wider aspiration to achieve a sustainable society in the long run. It is not meant only to endorse technology leadership in the building sector, but also to simultaneously address the wider societal goals of sustainability”.
“Applying the System will yield to highly efficient results especially with regards to water and energy conservation as the PRS aims to create more comfortable and healthier communities that consume less energy and fresh water and generate less waste”, he explained.
