Pearl Rating Assement Tool

The aim of the of Estidama Program is to improve the overall sustainability of the built environment within the Emirate of Abu Dhabi by guiding and facilitating the implementation of sustainable buildings and communities designs. The development of an appropriate sustainable buildings rating system for Abu Dhabi has been lead by a sustainable design Committee.

Definition:

The purpose of 'sustainable' building design is to drive down the adverse environmental impacts associated with the construction and operation of buildings and to improve their sustainable performance. Following a review of international sustainable (green) building practices and assessments, and taking into consideration the Abu Dhabi environment context, for the purpose of this Estidama Pearls Assessment Tool for sustainable building design is defined as:

"A holistic approach which sympathetically integrates the local and built environment in the regional context with the underlying principles of minimising resource use and maintaining quality of performance".

Estidama Pearl Assessment:

The completion of a comprehensive gap analysis exercise of international sustainable (green) building tools revealed that, although all tools covered broadly similar topics, no single tool sufficiently addressed the harsh climatic conditions within Abu Dhabi, nor did they include the impacts associated with the production and use of desalinated water. For these reasons, the development of a locally tailored assessment tool, referred to as the 'Pearl Assessment Tool' was commissioned.

At this time, the Pearl Assessment has been specifically developed for new residential and commercial buildings. In this context, commercial buildings generally includes office and retail space (i.e. mixed used buildings), however, it does not include industrial units or special use buildings such as schools, hospitals or shopping malls. With regard to residential buildings, the guidelines apply to multi-occupancy buildings and are therefore not applicable to single dwellings e.g. houses and villas etc. In the future, the likely emergence of bespoke tools will enable the environmental performance of these building types to be appraised.

Existing buildings, particularly those that have a poor environmental performance, cannot be assessed under this methodology; however, the content of the assessment tool could be used to steer the refurbishment of such buildings towards improved performance standards. It is likely an assessment method and tool will emerge for the assessment of refurbished buildings.