ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 436
Estidama Pearl Community Rating System
Estidama is an Arab word that is the Arab equivalent of sustainability. As such, the Estidama Pearl
Community rating systems can also be translated to read the Sustainability Pearl community rating system. Launched in 2008, Estidama was an initiative of Abu Dhabi in its urban growth plan
for Abu Dhabi 2030 aimed at promoting sustainable growth (Madden 2010). In its vision, the government established that sustainability lay at the heart of any development in Abu Dhabi both in
the short-run and in the long-run (Salmi et al. 2013). Consequently, the Pearl Rating System arose,
as an initiative of the Estidama vision. Essentially, Estidama targets to “create guidelines and regulations to ensure sustainable design operating and maintenance of all types of buildings and
communities within the Emirate” (Salmi et al. 2013:1105). It is built upon four pillars: environmental,
economic, cultural and social.
The Pearl rating system targets all types of buildings and communities. In line with this end, the
rating system is tri-faceted. It has a community rating system, a building rating system and a villa
rating system (Salmi et al. 2013). Each of these levels has its own criteria as well as its own rating
system. There are three levels of certification: design, construction and operational. In the first, the
proposed designs are evaluated to determine whether they are consisted with Estidama goals.
The pearl system does not only address the assessment of buildings. Rather, it takes an integrated
approach whereby it addresses sustainable design at the planning, design, construction and operation levels. Moreover, the system has seven key categories. Each of these categories addresses
a particular performance or design metric, and has been referred to in other literature as sustainable development indicators (Singh et al. 2009). These categories are: natural ecosystems, livable
communities, resourceful energy, precious water, stewarding materials, innovative practice and
integrated development process.
While the Estidama system is a very good one conceptually, it has broken down at the implementation stage. As noted, the system is not applied or rather, has not begun being applied to existing buildings. This is despite the fact that Abu Dhabi consumes well above the world average of
electricity and water. Another concern for Estidama is that after a mere 6 month of its application,
the Pearls rating system was suspended (Salmi et al. 2013). This was for residential buildings and
villas and resulted from difficulties in the application of the system. The implication is that while
the Pearls rating system had the best intentions for sustainable development in Abu Dhabi, lack
of proper planning led to a breakdown. A more tangible outcome of the failure of the Pearl rating
system is the foregone opportunity costs. This is because the implementation of Pearls rating
system could potentially have led to savings of roughly 11,000GWh in residential sector alone. Yet,
this was one of the specific areas in which the implementation of the Pearls rating system failed
(Madden 2010).
Applicable Case Study
The case study that has been chosen for the purpose of evaluation of this study meets the definition of a modular community by the values established within Abu Dhabi 2030. Within the coordinates of 24º27’ North, is Al Bateen area in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, on a micro scale lays the
specific neighborhood community chosen as a study object (Fig.1).
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ZEMCH 2015 | International Conference | Bari - Lecce, Italy