Certification Systems As A Tool For Sust PDF

Certification Systems as a Tool
for Sustainable Architecture

and Urban Planning
Case Study:
Estidama, Abu Dhabi
Ismail Khater
April 2013
I Preliminary Material

and Urban Planning
Case Study:
Estidama, Abu Dhabi
A Thesis Presented to:

HafenCity University
By:
Ismail Khater
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree:

Master of Science in
Resource Efficiency in Architecture and Planning
HafenCity University, Hamburg, Germany
April, 2013
© 2013 Ismail Khater
Approved By:
Professor Wolfgang Dickhaut
(Date) (Signature)
Master Thesis - Ismail Khater II
Declaration of authorship
To the best of my knowledge I hereby declare that I have written this thesis
submitted in part of the fulfillment of the Master of Science degree in Re-
source Efficiency in Architecture and Planning to the Hafencity University,
without any help from others and without the use of documents and aids
other than those cited according to established academic citation rules, and
that it has not been submitted at any other university for any degree.
(Date) (Signature)
III Preliminary Material
Acknowledgement
This thesis would not have been possible without the guidance and the help
of several individuals who in one way or another contributed and extended
their valuable assistance in the preparation and accomplishment of this study.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor Prof. Wolf-
gang Dickhaut and co-supervisor Dipl. Ing. Anke Jurleit for their continuous
support of my thesis.
I would like to thank Michael Vitzthum, Managing Director at Obermeyer
Middle East, who has provided the workspace and support in Abu Dhabi to
be able to conduct the interviews and site visits.
I would also like to thank all the contributors whom I have interviewed, with
special thanks to Jason Kamihira and Michel Abi Saab, who have been ex-
tremely helpful and patient, providing invaluable insights and suggestions.
I am grateful to all my friends and colleagues who have made the last two
years such a valuable journey. My final words go to my family. I owe more
than thanks to them for their support and encouragement throughout my
life.
Master Thesis - Ismail Khater IV
I. Abstract
Conventional building methods are continuing to stress the supply of avail-

able resources, including water, energy and materials, causing harm to the
environment. In order to tackle these problems the building industry needs
to embrace sustainable development methods and strategies. One of the
main approaches used to define and give solutions to these problems is
adopting the relatively newly founded buildings and communities certifica-
tion systems.
As these certification systems are growing tremendously, it is important to
continually examine their effectiveness, development path and results. In this
study the particular local certification system “Estidama” and the pearl rating
system for the emirate of Abu Dhabi is showcased and analyzed, to answer
the hypothesis if the adoption of the certification system is affecting the built
environment and the design consultancies in a positive way towards sustain-
able development.
The objective of the proposition is to better understand the impacts, oppor-
tunities and challenges of the use of the unique certification system, as well
as showcasing the distinctiveness of Abu Dhabi’s Urban Planning Council
initiatives, that established the first mandated building and community rating
system in the region, addressing the local environment, social, economic and
cultural aspects. This is assisted by a case study “Masdar City”, presenting two
levels of study, the building and community scales.
The research methods include examining available literature, as well as on
site Interviews with clients, designers, engineering consultants, environmen-
tal consultants, project managers, contractors, facility managers, building
information modeling experts, municipal officials, Estidama credits assessors,
policy writers and government representatives, as an attempt to represent
the collaborative effort of all parties involved in a project.
The interview results, as well as specific credits analysis will help in accom-
plishing the aim of sensitizing stakeholders and regulatory bodies about the
benefits and deficiencies of the specified rating system, through the analysis
and recommendations in the form of strategies and an action plan to further
enhance the existing procedures.
Keywords: Certification systems, Sustainability, Estidama, Benchmarks, Mas-

dar City, Abu Dhabi.
V Preliminary Material
II. Contents
2. FUNDAMENTALS 13
2.1 Imperative Definitions 15
2.2 Benchmarking in the built environment 16
Book 1 2.2.1
2.2.2
Description and Benefits
Benchmarking Procedure
16
17
I Abstract IV 2.2.3 Benchmarking Development 18
II Contents V 2.3 Overview of Certification Tools 19
III List of Figures VII 2.3.1 LEED 19
IV List of Tables VII 2.3.2 BREEAM 20
V List of Abbreviations VIII 2.3.3 Comparison Table 21
START
2
1 3
1. INTRODUCTION 01
1.1 Problem and Objective 03 3. ESTIDAMA - STATUS QUO 23
1.2 Research Questions and Hypothesis 04
1.3 Methodology 05 3.1 Introduction to Estidama and UPC 25
1.3.1 Research Structure 05 3.2 Overview of the Initiatives 28
1.3.2 Empirical Data 07 3.2.1 Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 28
1.3.3 Research Limitations 08 3.2.2 Supporting Initiatives 37
1.4 Background of the Emirates 08 3.3 The Pearl Rating System 47
Master Thesis - Ismail Khater VI
4. APPLICATION: MASDAR CITY 51 6. CONCLUSION 101

4.1 Introduction 53
4.2 Overall Masterplan 54
4.3 Case Study 1: Masdar Institute 56
4.3.1 Energy 57
4.3.2 Water 60
4.3.3 Materials 61
4.3.4 Miscellaneous 62
4.4 Case Study 2: Siemens Headquarters 63
4.4.1 Energy 64
4.4.2 Water 64
4.4.3 Materials 65
4.4.4 Miscellaneous 65
4.5 Assessment and SWOT Analysis 66
5
4 6
FINISH
5. ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION 69 VI
VII
Works Cited
Annex
CVII
CIX
5.1 Introduction 71
71
5.2
5.2.1
Interview Outcomes
Distinctions of Estidama 72 Book 2
5.2.2 Data Analysis 73 Selected Interviews
5.2.5 Effects of Estidama on Consultants 78
5.3 Outcome Evaluation & Recommendations 79
5.3.1 Interview Data Evaluation 80
5.3.2 Effects on Consultants 86
5.3.3 PRS Credits 89
5.4 Strategies 90
5.4.1 Public Awareness 90
5.4.2 Economic Incentives and Disincentives 92
5.4.3 Utilities, Services and Infrastructure Enhancement 97
5.5 Action Plan 99
VII Preliminary Material
III. List of Figures

Figure 01 World Greenhouse Gas Emissions 3 Figure 32 Felt Temperatures 57
Figure 02 Research Methodology and Design 5 Figure 33 Wind Tower 58
Figure 03 Map of the UAE 9 Figure 34 Power of Masdar Institute 59
Figure 04 Climate Data of the UAE 9 Figure 35 Annual Energy Consumption 59
Figure 05 Water Supply and Demand 10 Figure 36 Masdar Water Strategy 60
Figure 06 Area by Sector and Energy Consumption 11 Figure 37 Masdar Water Savings 60
by Use Type Figure 38 Operational Waste Strategy 61
Figure 07 UAE Footprint 12 Figure 39 Material Recycling Centre 61
Figure 08 UAE Industry Breakdown 12 Figure 40 City Mobility 62
Figure 09 The three spheres of sustainability 15 Figure 41 Stacked Floors Diagram 63
Figure 10 A ‘Graduated Approach’ to benchmarking 18 Figure 42 Exterior View 65
Figure 11 The LEED rating system process 19 Figure 43 Podium View 66
Figure 12 The BREEAM rating process 21 Figure 44 Sustainability Drivers 73
Figure 13 Emirate-wide Development Strategies 26 Figure 45 System Preference 74
Figure 14 Emirate-wide Strategic Vision 29 Figure 46 Awareness & Comprehension 74
Figure 15 Framework Development Process 31 Figure 47 Learning about Estidama 74
Figure 16 Measures of Success 36 Figure 48 Perception of Benchmarks 75
Figure 17 Complete Sustainable Communities 37 Figure 49 Cost 76
Figure 18 UPC Manuals Suite Summary 37 Figure 50 Benefits of Estidama & the PRS 76
Figure 19 ‘Fareej’ (Emirati neighborhood) 38 Figure 51 Barriers & Gaps 77
Figure 20 IDP process during Development Review 43 Figure 52 Meetings Structure and Occurrence 78
Figure 21 Elements of Complete Streets 44 Figure 53 Proposed Typology Structure 82
Figure 22 USDM Goals 45 Figure 54 Proposed Certification 84
Figure 23 Links between the PRSs 49 Figure 55 Adoption Curve 84
Figure 24 Key Team Members 49 Figure 56 Design Team Involvement 87
Figure 25 Understanding the Credits 50 Figure 57 Integrated Design Process 88
Figure 26 Masdar Organizational Structure 53 Figure 58 Time Based Pricing 94
Figure 27 Artist Impression of Masdar City 54 Figure 59 Different Connection Methods 94
Figure 28 Green Criteria 55 Figure 60 Contracting Financial Scheme 96
Figure 29 Proposed Masterplan 56 Figure 61 Cash Flow Scheme 96
Figure 30 MI Phase 1A Floor Plan 56 Figure 62 Proposed Action Plan 100
Figure 31 City Grid Orientation 57
IV. List of Tables

Table 01 Comparison between LEED, BREEAM and 22 Table 07 Pearl Building and Community Section 48
the Pearl Rating systems Credits
Table 02 Public Survey Response 39 Table 08 SWOT Analysis 68
Table 03 Public Realm Hierarchy 41 Table 09 IDP vs CDP 87
Table 04 Typologies and Guidelines 41 Table 10 IDP Key Concepts 87
Table 05 Three-Step Approach to Retrofitting Exist- 46 Table 11 Awareness Matrix 91
ing Streets Table 12 Dubai Tiered Pricing 93
Table 06 Pearl Building and Community Rating 48 Table 13 Suggested Billing Method 93
Levels
Master Thesis - Ismail Khater VIII
V. List of Abbreviations
ADCCI Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Indus- GHG Greenhouse Gases
try i.e. id est (that is)
ADCED Abu Dhabi’s council for Economic Develop- IDP Integrated Design Process
ment
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
ADM Abu Dhabi municipality
IRENA international Renewable Energy Agency
AED United Arab Emirates dirham
ISOCARP International Society of City and Regional
ASHRAE American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, Planners
and Air-Conditioning Engineers
km/h Kilometer per Hour
BaU Business as Usual
KPI Key Performance Indicator
BDP Beam Down Project
kWh Kilowatt Hour
BIM Building Information Modeling
LCA Life Cycle Assessment
bn Billion
LED Light Emitting Diode
BRE Building Research Establishment
LEED AP Leadership in Energy and Environmental
BREEAM Building Research Establishment Environmen- Design
tal Assessment Method
LEED AP LEED Accredited Professional
CCS Carbon Capture and Storage
m Meter
CDP Conventional Design Process
MBR Membrane Bioreactor
CO2 Carbon Dioxide
MEP Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing
COP Coefficient of Performance
MIST Masdar Institute for Science and Technology
CSC Complete Sustainable Communities
MW Mega Watt
CSP Concentrated Solar Power
OPL One Planet Living
DED Department of Economic Development
PPA Power Purchase Agreement
DOT Department of Transport
PQP Pearl Qualified Professional
e.g. exempli gratia (for example)
PRDM Public Realm Design Manual
EFI Ecological Footprint Initiative
PRS Pearl Rating System
EPC Energy Performance Contracts
PRT Personal Rapid Transit
ESCO Energy Service Company
PV Photovoltaic
etc ecetera (and other things)
RFID Radio Frequency Identification
ETC Evacuated Tube Collectors
SRI Solar Reflectance Index
ETFE Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene
STMP Surface Transportation Master Plan
EU European Union
SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and
EVPD Estidama Villa Products Database Threats
Fils 1/100 DHS U.S. United States (of america)
FiT Feed-in Tariff UAE United Arab Emirates
FSC Forest Stewardship Council UK United Kingdom
GBCI Green Building Certification Institute UPC Urban Planning Council (abu dhabi)
GCC Gulf Cooperation Council USDM Urban Street Design Manual
GFA Gross Floor Area WWF World Wildlife Fund
Souq Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, UAE
Image © 2012 Ismail Khater
Chapter 01:
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Problem and Objective
1.2 Research Questions and Hypothesis
1.3 Methodology
1.3.1 Research Structure
1.3.2 Empirical Data
1.3.3 Research Limitations
1.4 Background of the Emirates
Introduction to the problem and setting the objective and aim of the
thesis by providing a hypothesis and the research questions. The back-
ground and ecological data of the UAE is then introduced, to make the
reader aware of the geographical and cultural context of the study.
3 Chapter 1 - Introduction
1 Introduction
1.1 Problem and objective Figure 01: World

Greenhouse Gas Emis-
There are abundant studies proving that climate change is induced by hu- sions
man activity on earth 1. Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC) determined that most observed increase in tem- Sources & Notes: All data are for
peratures in the last half a century is mostly due to greenhouse gases (GHG), 2005. All calculations are based on
and primarily due to the increase of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere 2. CO2 equivalents, using 100-year
Of that increase, buildings are globally responsible for one third of the GHG, global warming potentials from the
and the use of 40% of the energy 3. IPCC (1996), based on a total global
estimate of
Therefore, the building sector has the highest potential for reducing GHG in
44,153 MtCO2 equivalent.2
the long term. The majority of the GHG occurring from the building sector
originated from developed countries. Still, it is expected to increase rapidly in
developing countries as they are in the process of industrialization. Going fur-
ther into details, 80% of the emissions occur during the operational phase 3.
In order to reduce the progressing climate change effects, countries have to
respond to the problem by taking active steps that are focused on the great-
est potential to limit these impacts. Prioritizing the action to focus on the
building sector has been supported by creating buildings and communities’
certification systems, which focus on providing assessment schemes as well
as solutions.
The objective of this thesis is to study and analyze the particular initiative,
Estidama and the pearl rating system (PRS), to address the problem stated
above in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and to assess its effectiveness,
effects and provide recommendations and an action plan addressing the op-
portunities and challenges from the findings of the evaluation on the various
levels, including the built environment and the stakeholders.
The reasons behind choosing Estidama are that it represents a different
approach that is marked by being one of the first mandated schemes, it
includes cultural aspects, localized to the climate conditions and is very well
integrated within other plans and policies, such as Abu Dhabi’s Vision 2030 4,
and many other connotations which will be explained in chapter three and
thereafter analyzed in chapter five. Additionally, while there are numerous
studies done on certification systems, information about Estidama is limited
as it is relatively new.
Expected results will benefit consultants, developers and government agen-
cies who are dealing with the building and urban planning fields with an
interest in sustainability.
Climate change has opened people’s eyes to the notion of sustainability; a
necessity to overcome the implications caused by our way of life and to the
challenges of population increase and global urbanization trends identified
by the constant move of people towards living in cities.
Master Thesis - Ismail Khater 4
Sector End Use/Activity Gas
Road 10.5%
Transportation 14.3%
Air 1.7%
Rail, Ship, & Other Transport 2.5%
Residential Buildings 10.2%
Electricity & Heat 24.9% Commercial Buildings 6.3%

Energy
Unallocated Fuel Combustion 3.8%
Iron & Steel 4.0%

Carbon Dioxide
Aluminum/Non-Ferrous Metals 1.2%
Machinery 1.0% (CO2) 77%
Pulp, Paper & Printing 1.1%
Other Fuel 8.6% Food & Tobacco 1.0%
Combustion Chemicals 4.1%
Cement 5.0%
Industry 14.7% Other Industry 7.0%
T&D Losses 2.2%

Coal Mining 1.3%
Fugitive Emissions 4.0% 6.4%
Industrial Processes4 .3%
11.3%
HFCs, PFCs,
Land Use Change* 12.2% -0.4%
1.3% SF6 1%
Agricultural Energy Use 1.4%

Methane
Agriculture Soils 5.2% (CH4) 15%
Agriculture 13.8% Livestock & Manure 5.4%
Rice Cultivation 1.5%

Other Agriculture 1.7% Nitrous Oxide
Waste 3.2% Wastewater, Other Waste
1.7%
1.5%
(N2O) 7%
1.2 Research questions and hypothesis

In order to address the objective of the thesis some key questions have been
identified to assist the direction of the study. These focal questions have been
detailed into sub-questions that are being answered in this study. The ques-
tions are:
1. What are building and community certification systems?

a. What are the main differences among certification systems?
b. How are benchmarks set and developed?
2. What is Estidama and Abu Dhabi’s vision 2030?

a. What are the initiatives surrounding the vision?
b. How are the initiatives connected?
c. What are the basics of the PRS?
3. How is Estidama implemented?

a. How is it implemented on a community scale?
Research Questions b. How is it implemented on a building scale?
c. What are the results?
setting guideline 4. What are the effects of Estidama in its local context?
a. What are the main drivers and advantages?
The research questions help further b. What are the barriers and gaps?
c. What is the effect on consultants?
define the type of information needed
to define the assignment 5. What future steps are recommended to overcome the drawbacks and shortcomings?
a. What could be implemented on the PRS level?
b. What strategies could be taken to assist the transition to sustainable development?
c. How could the suggestions be put into action?
The thesis hypothesis states that “the adoption of the certification systems
assessment approach is affecting the built environment and the consultants
in a positive way towards sustainable development”. The statement could
be described in further details as promoting energy and water conscious
architecture and planning, endorsing sustainable materials use and disposal,
as well as effectively developing the knowledge and processes of consultants
to endorse sustainability and multi-disciplinary collaboration.
1.3 Methodology
In this section the methodological aspects of the research are presented.
First, the structure of the thesis will be explained. Afterwards, empirical data
collection methodologies are stated and reasoned. Research limitations are
then stated at the end of the section. For the convenience of the readers the
following figure represents a summary of the methodology.
The methodology used in this study is triangulation, which refers to the use
of more than one method to examine the research questions to improve
confidence levels of the findings 5. For methodological triangulation litera-
ture review from many diverse sources were used, as well as interviews and
reports assessment. For data triangulation, special care was taken to include
most views, therefore different consultants, stakeholders and government
agents were selected to conduct interviews with.
Figure 02: Research

Literature Review
BACKGROUND Methodology and

Design
FUNDAMENTALS
Methodology is drawn based on the
main three features: Literature review,
ESTIDAMA & PRS Abu Dhabi site visit and interviews
and further on the analysis is created.
Abu Dhabi
CASE STUDIES
INTERVIEWS
Analysis
EVALUATION
RECOMMENDATIONS
STRATEGIES A B C
ACTION PLAN
1.3.1 Research structure

The thesis is structured systematically to be able to reach the study’s goals,
objectives and answer the placed questions through the flow from the
preliminary activities that initiated the study by literature and data review-
ing and presenting a case study, to the formation of the recommendations
through interviews analysis. Following is a summary of the structure, which
could be divided into three parts. Part one is assistance material to under-
stand the concept of certification systems. Part two explains how the current
status of Estidama is and giving a case study to show how it is implemented.
By understanding the concepts from part one and two, part three will use
this info combined with interview results to evaluate the system to form the
recommendations.
Chapter one introduces the problem and sets the objective and aim of the
thesis by providing a hypothesis and the research questions. The background
and ecological data of the UAE is introduced, to make the reader aware of the
geographical and cultural context of the study.
Research Structure
Chapter two explains the fundamentals needed to understand the concept
The systematic research structure of certification systems and benchmarking by providing some major defini-
is designed to reach the goals of tions along with an explanation of benchmarks development process. In or-
achieving a coherent action plan der to have references to other known certification systems, the chapter ends
including all strategies suggested. with an impression of two different certification systems, LEED and BREEAM,
as they are the most used and known worldwide. These two assessment
schemes are then compared to the PRS to highlight the noticeable technical
differences.
Chapter three introduces the concept of Estidama in greater detail as it is

the main analyzed program including the PRS rating system. It is explained in
relation to the larger Vision 2030 and the supporting initiatives that are em-
braced by the Estidama program, the so called heart of all the initiatives, vi-
sions and plans. Overviews of the supporting initiatives are described, which
include the urban neighborhood development, public realm design manual,
urban street design manual and the development review process. At the end
a comprehensive description of the PRS is given, which is the main feature of
the Estidama program.
Chapter four presents a practical implementation of the preceding chapter,

where the PRS is applied on two case studies in Masdar City, one on the com-
munity and another on a building scale. Major affecting credits are show-
cased, how they were targeted and how they got achieved, to better under-
stand the implementation measures and help form a better analysis in the
succeeding chapter. The chapter ends with an evaluation of the case studies
in the form of a SWOT analysis.
Chapter five is where the main analysis is done. The data from the interviews
combined with the literature review from chapter three, findings from the
case study from chapter five congregate. The analysis is split into three parts,
analysis, evaluation and recommendations. In the first part, the data from the
interviews is filtered and visually presented when possible. The second and
third parts are interconnected. Through the first evaluation all aspects are
analyzed, then filtered, followed by recommendation strategies addressing
the main findings to be of greater priority and influence. The chapter ends
with an action plan combining all the strategies in a timed framework.
Chapter six is a conclusion of the thesis, where main features and findings
are itemized, followed by answering the hypothesis and suggesting future
work and research.
1.3.2 Empirical data

As mentioned before, different data collection methodologies have been
used to provide all viewpoints currently available. The literature review
represents one half of the data sources, providing an understanding of the
available systems as they are meant to work. The second half is provided by
conducting interviews which are described hereafter, and available in book 2.
1.3.2.1 Literature review

The main purpose for the literature review was to assist the study through
previous work and knowledge. Literature review has been conducted over
the past 12 months, to identify current available sources, information and
trends in the field of sustainability, sustainable development, certification sys-
tems and specifically these research topics in relation to Abu Dhabi. Research
has been limited to the past 12 years as the topic is fairly new in research, as
well as constantly evolving.
Main literature studied is from the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council, as it
was found to be the only reliable source about Estidama so far. The academic
literature on sustainable urban development in the gulf region is very lim-
ited. However, data is widely available for other regions especially western
countries. This data was also consulted as there are many similarities found
between them.
For the case studies Masdar publications and some developer team members
were consulted. This was also backed up with personal site visits to get a bet-
ter understanding of the environment and structures.
Furthermore, for the analysis, many publications have been referenced to
holdup and validate the suggestions and recommendations, as well as to
develop one’s own opinion through a synthesis of the previous works done in
this field.
1.3.2.2 Interviews Comprehensiveness of

In order to study the different opinions and views of the stakeholders related Interviews
to the building industry a variety of them were interviewed. Due to the lack
of literature on Estidama it was vital to conduct general interview guide ap- A total of 38 interviews of 15
proach 6, which is recognized by being semi-structured, leaving some room occupations disclosed the required
for alterations that give more flexibility and freedom to alter the interview data to form an opinion and identify
questions to suit the answers of the participants. The drawback of this type required measures.
is that it takes the researcher a lot of time to fully and accurately provide the
perspective and data from the interviews in the coding process.
The main method of interviews was qualitative, however a quantitative study
was included to be able to do measurements and generalize a broader view.
There was one main set of questions prepared for all participants, which
mainly included the quantitative part of the process. After receiving the
participants consent, interview questions have been formulated to suit each
range of interviewees’ profession and expertise. The total amount of inter-
views was 38, which marks 76% of all respondents, and each took about one
hour. While book 2 provides selected interviews, all interviews have been
accounted for in the data analysis part in chapter 5.
Participants’ selection plays an important role as the aim was to strategically

sample the whole industry involved. This was unfortunately not possible, as
the building users (in this case Masdar Institute) were not open for such a
request. The professions interviewed included:
 Architects
 Landscape Architects
 Urban Designers
 Engineers (MEP+structural)
 Environmental consultants
 Contractors
 Project managers
 Developers
 BIM specialists
 LEED APs + PQP’s
 Government agents (Estidama + UPC + ADM)
Research Restrictions 1.3.3 Research limitations

As mentioned before, one of the limitations was not being able to include the
Restrictions included the lack of building users in the set of interviews. The other major limitation is the lack
data because of the newness of the of data available on Estidama and the PRS. Results of using the PRS are also
program, and not having the users extremely limited due to the newness of the initiation of the program, which
opinion included in interviews validates the selection of qualitative analysis. Therefore, comparable sources
from other systems have been used to assist the analysis in the aspects where
similarities were found.
This thesis is delimited to the examination of Estidama, and is not an attempt
to analytically compare it to other certification systems, even though they are
briefly showcased. As this could be a further research topic, a selection had
to be made. Within the system the focus is towards the environmental pillar
of sustainability. However, when appropriate data is available, economic and
social aspects are also discussed.
1.4 Background of the Emirates

History of the emirates
The UAE is considered a very young country, although the earliest settle-
ments date back to the Stone Age. Before the twentieth century the UAE
was only a desert land inhabited by nomadic Bedouin tribes who lived off of
fishing and date farms. The starting time of the modern emirates dates back
to the early 1970s, when the British departed and the country of the seven
emirates was formed. As oil and gas were discovered in the 1960s in com-
mercial quantities, the country saw a great transformation from being one of
the poorest to one of the richest countries worldwide. Today the country is
a major international touristic and economic hub in the Middle East, having
one of the highest per capita income levels. 7, 8
Geography
The UAE is located in Southeast Asia between latitudes 22.0-26.5 degrees
North and 51-56.5 East. It shares its borders with Qatar (west), Oman (east-
south) and Saudi Arabia (south-west). The UAE has three ecological areas.
These are the coastal areas, the desert areas and the mountain areas. Estab-
lished at the end of 1971, the UAE is a federation of seven Emirates (states
of Sheikhdoms), including Abu Dhabi the capital, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al-
Khaimah, Fujairah, Um Al-Quwain and Ajman. Abu Dhabi covers a total area of
67.34 square kilometers making up 86.7% of the Emirates area. It is also one of
the largest oil and gas reserves in the world; therefore the UAE has witnessed
a huge economic growth in the last decade. 9
Figure 03: Map of the

UAE
Based on ‘the great encyclopedian
world atlas’.
Key:
Dubai 0
Ras Al-Khaimah 20
Abu Dhabi 40
Sharjah 60
Fujairah 80
Um Al-Quwain
100 km
Ajman
Climate
The UAE’s climate is arid in nature. However, it is conditional on the ocean ef-
fects due to its juxtaposition to the Arabian Gulf. There are two main seasons,
one is the winter, which lasts from November to March with temperatures
rarely reaching 6 degrees Celsius. The rest of the year is the summer season
with temperatures reaching 48 degrees Celsius and humidity reaching 90%.
Most of the country experiences dust storms. Rainfall is very rare across the
country with average annual rainfall of 120mm/year. 9
50 10
Figure 04: Climate
Data of the UAE
Average Rainfall [days]
Precipitation [mm]
40 7.5
Based on ‘the world weather online
Temperature [°c]
data’. 9
30 5
Key:
20 2.5 Average High Temperature
Average Low Temperature
10 0
Precipitation
Rainfall Days
SEPTEMBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
FEBRUARY
OCTOBER
JANUARY
AUGUST
MARCH
APRIL
JUNE
JULY
MAY
Demographics
Population growth in the UAE is amongst the highest worldwide due to im-
migration. Accordingly, the expatriates are 80% of the population while only
20% are locals (Emiratis) 10. Total population is estimated at 7.89 million as of
2011 with an urban population of 84% and a 2.3% rate of urbanization 11. Of
that, Abu Dhabi city’s population is about 900 thousand, the second popu-
lous city after Dubai. The official language is Arabic, while English is widely
accepted due to the diverse population.
Water Supply and Demand

Even though there are no fresh water supplies (rivers and rain) the UAE is
Figure 05: Water amongst the highest water users per capita worldwide. There are two main
water supply types in the Emirates. The largest supply is provided through
Supply and Demand groundwater, which is saline in nature. The second type is through sea water
desalination. The graphic below shows the water supply and demand of the
Source and End-use water supply and
city of Abu Dhabi 12. The highest water demand sector is for Agriculture fol-
demand based on Assessment and
lowed by the Forests. These two sectors rely mostly on groundwater extrac-
Recommendations for Abu Dhabi, tion. Most of the desalinated water goes to buildings, where they are used by
Columbia University 12 people and for industrial and amenities uses.
0
1,000
2,000 Mcm
SOURCE END USE
Lost
Industrial
Residential
Desalinated Water People

Commercial
Amenity
Rainfall/Inflows Treated Sewage
Effluent (TSE)
Forests
Groundwater
Agriculture
Livestock
Energy Supply and Demand

In divergence to the water situation in the Emirates, the country has an exten- Figure 06:
sive source of gas and oil. The estimated reserves are about 100 billion barrels Area by Sector and
of oil, close to 10% of the world’s reserves. As for the natural gas reserves, the
UAE rank is fifth worldwide, with about 200 trillion cubic feet 9.
Energy Consumption
by Use Type
However, the economic welfare and the low energy prices combined with
the high cooling demands and population growth led to Abu Dhabi’s very Based on ‘Ministry of Energy United
high energy consumption in buildings. The majority of consumption is within Arab Emirates’ data 9
the residential sector, of which the highest sector is cooling. 13
Right:
Gross Floor Area by Sector
Left:
Residential Residential consumption (top)
Commercial consumption (middle)
3% Institutional consumption (bottom)
7%
8%
35%
47%
Commercial
3%
2%
15% OTHER
36% 4%
13%
42% 1%
AGRICULTURE
COMMERCIAL
54%
RESIDENTIAL
14%
INDUSTRIAL
16%
INSTITUTIONAL
Institutional
30% 36%
5%
Cooling
27%
2%
Water Heating
Lighting
Refrigeration
Other Appliances
Ecological footprint
The environmental footprint per capita in the UAE ranks among the highest
worldwide according to recent publications of the UAE ecological footprint
initiative (EFI) 14. This footprint has been analyzed according to the land use
types, which are cropland, grazing land, fisheries land, forest land, carbon
uptake land and built-up land. The average ecological footprint per capita
in the UAE is close to 9.5 global hectares (GHA) 14. The same study split the
footprint by demand sector showing the highest contributing sector is the
household followed by business and industry and last the government. When
calculated according to the industry sectors the highest contribution came
from the construction industry. Therefore, it is of great importance to reduce
the footprint and work on sustainability initiatives as will be described and
analyzed in this thesis.
By Demand Sector By Land Type
Figure 07: 4%
UAE Footprint 12%
GOVERNMENT
2% FORESTS
FISHING
11% CROPLAND
Left:
Footprint contribution by demand
sector based on the EFI 14 30% BUSINESS & 57% 83%
Right:
INDUSTRY HOUSEHOLD CARBON
Footprint contribution by land UPTAKE
type Based on ‘Al Basma Al Beeiya LAND
Brochure, EWS-WWF, 2010’
Figure 08:
UAE Industry
Breakdown
2.0
Breakdown of the UAE’s land type, by
economic and industry sectors 14
1.5
Built-up land
Carbon footprint (import) 1.0
Carbon footprint
Fishing grounds
Forest land
0.5
Grazin g land
Cropland
0
Food, Beverages and
Tobacco Manufacturing
Non-Metallic Mineral
Paper Products and
Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Publishing Manufacturing
Chemical and Petroleum
Other Community, Social

Other Manufacturing
Crop Production and
Apparel and Textiles
Wood and Products

Fishing
Products Manufacturing
Mineral Mining
Products Manufacturing
Construction
Engineering Industries
Education
and Personal Service

Livestock Production
Public Administration and

Defence; Compulsory Social
Financial Intermediation
Health and Social Work
Employed Persons
Hotels and Restaurants
Water
Communications
Real Estate
Electricity Supply
Mixed Farming; Forestry
Private Households with

Sale, Maintenance and
Transport, Storage and

Repair of Motor Vehicles
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Chapter 02:
FUNDAMENTALS
2.1 Imperative Definitions
2.2 Benchmarking in the built environment
2.2.1 Description and Benefits
2.2.2 Benchmarking Procedure
2.2.3 Benchmarking Development
2.3 Overview of Certification Tools
2.3.1 LEED
2.3.2 BREEAM
2.3.3 Comparison Table
Explanation of the fundamentals needed to understand the concept

of certification systems and benchmarking by providing some major
definitions along with an explanation of benchmarks development
process. In order to have references to other known certification
systems, the chapter ends with an impression of two different certifica-
tion systems, LEED and BREEAM, as they are the most used and known
worldwide. These two assessment schemes are then compared to the
PRS to highlight the noticeable technical differences.
15 Chapter 2 - Fundamentals
2 Fundamentals
2.1 Imperative definitions

Some definitions are vital to understanding the thesis and the following sec-
tion within this chapter. The most important ones are defined below:
Sustainability and Sustainable Development definitions
Sustainability as a word is somehow self-explanatory, to endure, maintain or
support. It is a broad term that needs to be placed in a specific context to be
narrowed down or defined in a framework.
In the search for common understanding of sustainability in the field of
architecture, planning and resource efficiency I asked my interviewees the
question: how do you define sustainability? The following is a list of all the
responses summarized:
“Least consumption to live – adaptation to the environment – equal foot-
print of all – quality – long term – long life - good design for both people
and the environment – unselfish – not compromising resources for next
generations – resource management – non-intrusive integration with the Figure 09: The three
environment – not using more than you can replace – the mind-set of living spheres of sustain-
within the constraints of available resources – resource efficiency – symbio-
sis – self-sufficient – more than a certification or checklist.” ability
Sustainability is in most cases drawn in a Venn diagram using the three Adopted from the 2002, University of
overlapping pillars; environment, social, economic. Overlaps indicate the Michigan, Sustainability Assessment
strong relationships between the pillars, expanding the pillars to integrate left and Jonathon Porritt in Capitalism
social-environmental, environmental-economic and economic-social factors as if the World Matters right
15
. Another method is the onion diagram. According to Jonathon Porritt in
Capitalism as if the World Matters, the economy is a substructure of society,
which is a subsystem of the environment 16.
Environmental
Social-Environmental Natural Resource Use Environmental-Economic
Environmental
Environmental Justice
Management
Natural Resources Stewardship Subsidies/Incentives for use of
Pollution Prevention
Locally and Globally Natural Resources
(air, water, land, waste)
Sustainability
Social Economic Economy
Standard of Living
Education Cost Savings
Community Economic Growth
Equal Opportunity Research &
Development
Society
Environment
Economic-Social
Business Ethics
Fair Trade
Worker’s Rights
The most accepted and known definition of sustainable development is the

Brundtland Commission definition 17 “Development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.” This definition has been criticized as being too vague leav-
ing many possible interpretations in actual practice.
There is a need to differentiate between the term green and sustainable. In
most cases referring to green architecture entails the integration of the envi-
ronmental aspect of sustainability, while sustainable architecture involves all
three pillars. Usually used interchangeably, while they have different mean-
ings.
Benchmarks and Indicators
These two terms are sometimes used interchangeably even though they
Connection of hold different meanings. Indicators are indices used for performance measur-
benchmarks and ing, which use metrics divided by each other, like irrigation need (Water) per
indicators square meter per day. Benchmarks are points of references of these mea-
surements usually used for comparison. For example a baseline is defined as
Benchmarks use indices to measure current measurement, while the benchmark is the set target that needs to be
and compare performances achieved. Benchmarks could be based for example on a percentile increase in
performance over the baseline (such as 20% over the baseline), or a stand-
alone figure (such as zero potable water use).
2.2 Benchmarking in the built

environment
2.2.1 Description and Benefits
Sustainability benchmarking for buildings and communities, such as leader-
ship in energy and environmental design (LEED)18 BRE Environmental Assess-
ment Method (BREEAM)19 and the Pearl Rating System 20 are methods used to
measure and compare the sustainability performance of buildings and com-
munities against each other or against set performance and essential bench-
marks. These methods commonly measure physiognomies and performance
comprising of energy, water, waste and many more. Most systems assess the
performance according to the stages of design, construction and operation.
The design phase evaluates the components according to the benchmarks
set to be achieved, while the operational performance is when the facility is
in use, measuring actual readings of the criteria to verify, monitor and up-
grade the facility as well as the user behavior.
There are several benefits of sustainability benchmarking. One, they monitor
the environmental impact of the facility, which leads to better understanding
of the strong and weak points of the facility to be addressed. This leads to a
better action tailored to tackle the points where greatest savings, whether in
cost or performance, can be made. Another benefit is being able to set future
benchmarks according to the outcomes found from monitoring. After meet-
ing these benchmarks, there is the opportunity of improvement according
to the lenience of any given indicator. Additionally, the facilities of the built
environment would be compared against a set of benchmarks and/or against
each other. This enables regulations and legislative frameworks to be updated
to raise the performance of the Lowest common denominator. The last and
most commonly communicated benefit is improvement of the value of any
facility achieving the targets and certification 21.
2.2.2 Benchmarking Procedure

There is no single method to create sustainability benchmarks. In the case of
benchmarks for the built environment (known as certification systems) the
basics are setting the objectives to collect needed data followed by an assess-
ment of the performance to be able to compare and identify the improve-
ment potentials to come up with a set of applicable benchmarks to be used
22
. The following is an explanation of each step, with their relative shortages
and gains:
Defining objectives& scope
Defining the objectives is vital to understanding which data will be needed.
These objectives are derived for example from ecological defeats such as
overexploitation of fossil fuels. The objectives can be updated and expanded
over time. This has been seen for example in LEED, where specific types of
buildings were added to the program.
Data collection
The first step after defining the scope is collecting the data, which needs to
be as accurate and consistent as possible. Unreliable data can result in wrong
decisions, such as choosing the wrong metrics. The data itself has a strong
influence on the metrics used. For example, where the gross floor area is
calculated, as opposed to the net floor area, then the available data will deter-
mine the indicator. The timeframe of the data is also of great value, such as an
hourly measurement of electricity consumption over a measurement based
on daily averages. These decisions could be changed and updated after the
collection of the first outcomes if proven to be more accurate.
Data analysis
The indices used to assess performance in buildings and communities are
absolute and normalized. Absolute performance indicators are used to as-
sess the overall impact of a facility or a whole neighborhood. Concerns arise
about the effectiveness of the absolute measurement, as it does not consider
Benchmarking Steps
the dynamic properties of the measured property, such as growth, occu-
Defining objectives& scope
pancy rate or functionality. Still, it is useful to evaluate the performance of a
Data collection
static development over time. On the other hand, normalized performance
Data analysis
measurement reflects the dynamics of the property by relating the impact
to another metric such as per square meter or occupancy. This type makes Setting targets
it also possible to assess the property in relation to other properties with the Results review
same function. 23
Setting targets
As a subsequent step, the benchmarks are defined in a prescriptive or per-
formance based manner. Prescriptive methods are ones that set a specific
method and quantity to be achieved. They have been criticized for being
inflexible and hinder design development and in some cases might also work
against goals 24. Performance based benchmarks are planned to approach
design based on the performance targets and objectives. They are flexible in
terms of the solution as long as it fulfills the aims.
Results review
Results of applying benchmarks are to be reviewed and assessed after their
implementation, to be able to update or redesign them. There is a need to
be able to compare properties, and therefore they must be categorized. The
most common categorization is according to building use, such as residential,
offices and healthcare, whether it is a new construction or refurbishment.
Another categorization is according to systems used, such as with or without
air-conditioning. Most rating systems are fine-tuning their documents to
include the special buildings and further subcategorize their schemes for bet-
ter comparability. As an example, the pearl rating system developed a special
rating system for mosques, for the fact that they run on a special schedule
intensively.
2.2.3 Benchmarking Development

To develop sustainability benchmarks a feedback loop is placed, which relies
on the new and detailed data accumulated from the market. Most systems in
Figure 10: A place are updated regularly 18, building their complexity over time. Updates
‘Graduated Approach’ are driven by two means. The first one is raising the benchmarks providing
to benchmarking that the market is ready for an upgrade, new or improved technologies, rais-
ing the lowest common denominator, or implementing policies and strate-
Based on: Sustainability Benchmark- gies such as renewable energy goals.
ing Toolkit for Commercial Buildings: Expending benchmarks steadily serves to increase performance over time, as
Principles for best practice 23 well as helping policy writers and users to know where they need to focus to
achieve effective performance advancement. The following detailed diagram
shows the development process of sustainability benchmarks.
START SIMPLY GRADUATED APPROACH

Basic data collection & report- Increase sophistication and
ing complexity
Define the purpose of the benchmark- Benchmarking objectives could be expanded

DEFINE BENCHMARKING ing exercise, e.g. legal compliance, over time, e.g., to include greater comparison
with peers’ portfolios, improving asset value,
performance improvement.
OBJECTIVES measuring contributions to Carbon Reduction
Commitment obligations.
The Scope could be expanded to include e.g.,
Property and environmental scope more property types and numbers, national and/
DEFINE SCOPE OF e.g. number/ types of properties or or global portfolios, both owner and occupier
performance, more environmental performance
whole portfolio, energy, water, waste, topics for analysis.
BENCHMARKING carbon emissions etc.
E.g. energy or water metering, manual

Greater sophistication regarding data, metrics
IDENTIFY DATA data collection, utility bills, property and indicators to be introduced, such as:
details such as GFA, owner or tenant • Installation of more meters to aid collection,
AVAILABILITY data. performance measurement and data accuracy
• Using both owner and occupier performance
data
• More data on the building services and energy
Define the most appropriate metrics systems, such as HVAC types, CHP, on-site renew-
DEFINE METRICS and indicators based on the data able energy, green electricity, district heating
system biofuels
sources available. • Expanding building types, to include “special
AND INDICATORS uses” and/ or using area-weighted benchmarks
• Detailed analysis of the building(s) uses and
operation - e.g. occupier type, densities of oc-
cupation and hours of occupation
Collect data in a consistent way and • More sensitive metrics to reflect greater avail-
COLLECT DATA over an appropriate timeframe to en- ability of more accurate data
able meaningful analysis. • Use of normalized as well as absolute indicators
Set initial targets and benchmarks,

SET (INITIAL) TARGETS based upon industry analysis at the
first instance of undertaking a bench- With greater sophistication in data availability,
collection and performance analysis, comes
& BENCHMARKS marking exercise. greater scope for more effective and targeted
opportunities for behavioral improvement both
from owners and occupiers, e.g. looking at areas
of over consumption, changes to the building
ASSESS & REPORT Assess performance against targets, management system, design improvements
benchmarks and overall scope and pur- when replacing plant or refurbishing buildings.
pose of the benchmarking exercise.
PERFORMANCE
Identify measures to improve in-use

IDENTIFY and Design behaviors, as well as Targets and benchmarks could be increasingly
improvements to the benchmarking refined either to include and/or focus on par-
IMPROVEMENTS process. ticular building types, whole portfolios, particular
environmental topics, costs reductions, as more
data and increasingly sophisticated metrics and
indicators are possible. This increases the scope
Reset performance targets and
REVIEW & (RE)SET benchmarks to assist implementation
and sensitivity of the performance assessment
over time.
and measurement of improvement
TARGETS & BENCHMARKS initiatives.
2.3 Overview of Certification Tools

Buildings and communities rating systems (or assessment tools) are growing
rapidly. By now there are over 30 rating systems worldwide 25. BREEAM is the World most used rat-
first initiated rating system. While most rating systems have many similarities, ing systems
some of them are unique by having the criteria developed to suit the local
climate and culture. LEED and BREEAM are worldwide the
The following is a description of the two well-known certification systems, most used rating systems based on
LEED and BREEAM, as a reference for comparison with Estidama’s Pearl Rat- the number of projects and certified
ing System. By analyzing these systems a better analysis of Estidama can be GFA
achieved. The pearl rating system is showcased in chapter three and analyzed
in chapter five.
2.3.1 LEED
Overview
LEED, launched 1998, is an internationally recognized rating system, with
over 25,000 projects worldwide in 20 countries. The most recent version
at the time of writing is version 2009. The voluntary system assesses new
construction, existing buildings, commercial interiors, retail, schools, homes,
healthcare and communities. There is also a separate guide for core and shell
projects. The seven criteria evaluated in LEED are consistent throughout all
types of certifications (with the exception of Neighborhood Development),
which are: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materi-
als and resources, indoor environmental quality, innovation in design and
regional priority. The last criterion is a bonus above the main credits of LEED.
Rated buildings or communities are benchmarked as certified, silver, gold or
platinum. 26
Process
The process of certifying a property requires no independent assessors;
buildings are rated by the owner or project team. Review is then done and
approved by members of the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI).
All documents are online based (except for LEED for homes), where project
team members can manage the process in a convenient transparent way.
All members can see which credits are targeted and how many are achieved
to reach the planned level of certification. There are some required credits
(prerequisites) for a project to be certified. These credits always have to be
achieved for any of the benchmarks targeted. Prerequisites are constant from
certified to platinum. Any team member can manage the LEED submittals
and is designated as the Administrator. He or she could be a LEED accredited
professional, but does not have to be one.
Figure 11: The LEED

rating system process
The process depends on two main
Professional Building LEED entities: the USGBC and the GBCI 26
Accreditation Certification LEED
Online
Reference Rating Education

Guides Systems Programs
Cost
There are two types of cost associated with rating any project. First the certi-
fication fees and second construction cost. While the first one is set by LEED,
the second one is difficult to be determined and therefore based on a study
made by Steven Winter Associates for the U.S. General Services Administra-
tion 27.
Cost of certification could be divided into registration, review, appeals and
credit interpretations. Registering the project is for 900/1,200 U.S. dollars
(members/non-members). The review fees are dependent on the project size.
Projects less than 50,000 square feet and over 500,000 square feet are charged
2,250 and 22,500 for members, or 2,750 and 27,500 U.S. dollars for non-mem-
bers respectively.. The projects which range in-between are charged 0.045
and 0.055 U.S. dollars per square foot (members/non-members). Appeals for
complex credits are 800 dollars per credit, while for all other credits a fee of
500 dollars per credit is paid. Clarification requests are priced at 180/380 dol-
lars per credit (members/non-members).28 As for the construction cost (as per
the study mentioned above), the estimated increase is 0.5-3, 3-4, 5-6 and 7-12
percent for LEED certified, silver, gold and platinum respectively.
Evaluation
Green Building Over other certification systems, LEED has the advantage of strong market-
ing, which was made by promotions and branding of the US green building
Councils Worldwide council. Products and services have been widely affected by LEED. A lot of
them did not even exist before its initiation. Another advantage of LEED is the
Currently there are 94 member
availability of information as there are thousands of studies and reports made
councils under the world green
about the system, as well as the fact that it is not a requirement to be accred-
building council 25 ited in order to conduct the certification process.
On the other hand LEED is seen as very expensive and being a long process.
Compared to other systems, LEED requires long documentation time, which
expands the project schedules. Having no independent auditors could be
seen as an advantage for shorter time, but could also be seen as a disadvan-
tage for not having a third party quality control. Moreover, using LEED outside
of the US (and especially Europe) is seen to be difficult, as it is designed and
evolved around US regulations and standards such as ASHRAE.
2.3.2 BREEAM
Overview
BREEAM, launched 1990, is the first developed rating system worldwide,
with over 200,000 projects and over 300 internationally registered projects.
The most recent version at the time of writing is version 2011. The voluntary
system assesses various types of construction. These are New Construction
(offices, industrial, retail, data centers, education, healthcare, prisons, law
courts, multi-residential institutions, non-residential institutions, assembly &
leisure), In-Use, Refurbishment, Code for Sustainable Homes and Communi-
ties. The ten criteria evaluated in BREEAM are consistent throughout all types
of certifications, which are Management, Health & Wellbeing, Energy, Trans-
port, Water, Materials, Waste, Land Use & Ecology, Pollution and Innovation.
The last criterion is a bonus above the main credits of BREEAM. Rated build-
ings or communities are benchmarked as pass, good, very good, excellent
and outstanding. 29
Process
Certification for BREEAM is done via an independent and licensed assessor
and cannot be done by the design or project team themselves. After de-
termining the applicable certification type, the building owner or manager
defines the rating level wanted to be achieved and contacts his or her asses-
sor. The assessor then engages with the project team to develop the required
information, which after completion is forwarded to the Building Research
Establishment (BRE) for quality assurance and verification of data. After the
assessment certification is awarded. Unlike LEED and the Pearl rating system,
BREEAM prerequisite credits are dynamic, meaning that the higher the certi-
fication level the more prerequisites there are. These are available in a list on
their guiding manual 29.
Building Developer, Independent Licensed Assessor

Builder Figure 12: The BREE-
A B C AM rating process
Owner or Occupier
The process involves independent

Pre-BREEAM licensed assessors, as opposed to
Advice LEEDs GBCI 29
Consensus Quality
Standard Control
Formal
Assessment
Issue
bre Certificate
Cost
The same two types of cost associated with rating any project are present
like in LEED, certification and construction costs. While the first one is set by
BREEAM, the second one is based on a study made by Faithful+Gould 30, a
strategic advisor for the UK’s government.
Cost of certification could be divided into registration, review and certifica-
tion. Registering the project attracts a fee of 650 British pounds. The review
fees are dependent on the project size and hired assessor. This has been as-
sessed by the BRE to range between 5,000 and 15,000 British pounds. The last
payment of certification is between 350 and 850 British pound upon comple-
tion. Construction cost as per Faithful+Gould estimates an increase of 19
and 60 British pounds per square meters for very good and excellent rating
simultaneously.
Evaluation
BREEAM has an influence over the development of the building regulations,
which helped to rapidly change the codes to better suit the global efficiency
needs. Along with the regular benefits shown in the previous section, BREE-
AM’s independent auditing helps verification of quality and commissioning.
Conversely a building could be BREEAM certified without engaging in energy
efficiency aspects. The sections and credit weighting and distribution are be-
ing criticized, as well as missing credits such as for automated light controls.
Another critique on the system is that it is very exact, leaving little room for
changes. 31
2.3.3 Comparison table Table 01: Comparison

The following table presents a summary of the three rating systems. A study between LEED,
done by Thomas Saunders 32 showed that the benchmark of LEED platinum BREEAM and the Pearl
lies at the BREEAM Very Good level, while using both LEED and the Pearl
rating in Masdar City’s Siemens Headquarter achieved LEED Platinum and 3
Rating systems
Pearls 33. The comparison shows that it is very difficult to achieve a high Pearl
Created from analyzing each of the
rating. While both LEED and BREEAM have been overviewed, the pearl rating
will be detailed in the next chapter, however included in the following com- three systems from the information
parison to serve as a first introduction. provided in the assessment books
LEED 2009 BREEAM 2011 Pearl Rating 2010
Responsible organiza- US Green Building Council BRE Global Ltd AD Urban Planning Council
tion
Foundation 1998 1991 2010
Location Use International International Local
Mandatory by Law No No Yes
Accredited Profession- LEED AP BREEAM Accredited Professional Pearl Qualified Professional

als & enforcement (Voluntary) (Mandatory) (Mandatory)
Minimum Standards 8 prerequisites Minimum standards are tiered based 20 required credits
on the rating:
4 to 26 credits for Pass to Outstanding
Number of points 110 (including 10 bonus points) 132 (including 10 innovation points) 180 points
Number of Credits 57 credits 49 credits 86 credits
covered types New Construction New Construction (offices, indus- New Construction (Office, Retail, Multi-
Existing Buildings trial, retail, data centers, education, residential, School and Mixed-use)
Commercial Interiors healthcare, prisons, law courts, multi- Neighborhood Development
Core & Shell residential institutions, non-residential Villa (homes)
Retail institutions, assembly & leisure)
Schools In-Use
Homes Refurbishment
Neighborhood Development Code for Sustainable Homes
Healthcare Communities
Credit Weighting Sustainable Sites 23.6% Management 10.9% Integrated Development 7.2%
Water Efficiency 9.1% Health & Wellbeing 13.6% Natural Systems 6.7%
Energy and Atmosphere 31.9% Energy 17.3% Livable Buildings 20.6%
Materials and Resources 12.7% Transport 7.3% Precious Water 23.9%
Indoor Environmental Quality 13.6% Water 5.5% Resourceful Energy 24.4%
Innovation in Design 5.5% Materials 11.4% Stewarding Materials 15.6%
Regional Priority 3.6% Waste 6.8% Innovating Practice 1.7%
Land Use & Ecology 9.1%
Pollution 9.1%
Innovation 9.1%
Rating Classification Platinum ≥ 73% Outstanding ≥ 85% 5 Pearl ≥ 92%

and Benchmark Gold ≥ 55% Excellent ≥ 70% 4 Pearl ≥ 69%
Silver ≥ 45% Very Good ≥ 55% 3 Pearl ≥ 58%
(% Points) Certified ≥ 36% Good ≥ 45% 2 Pearl ≥ 44%
Pass ≥ 30% 1 Pearl ≥ 11%
Assessment / Review Design & Construction Review by Design Stage & Post-Construction Design & Construction Review by AD
Green Building Certification Institute Assessment by trained and licensed Urban Planning Council Assessors
through network of third party certifi- BREEAM Assessors
cation bodies
Registration Fees $900 USGBC members £650 new construction (free)

$1,200 non- members £100 in-use
Certification Fees Included in Review Fee £350-£850 (free)
Assessment Review Design & Construction Reviews: Design Stage & Post-Construction (free)
Fees < 50,000 sq. ft.: $2,250 (members), Assessments by third party assessor:
$2,750 (non- members) £5,000-£15,000 (varies by project size/
50,000-500,000 sq. ft.: $0.045/sq. ft. complexity)
(members), $0.055/sq. ft. (non- mem-
bers)
> 500,000 sq. ft.: $22,500 (members),
$27,500 (non- members)
Credit Appeal Fee Complex credits $800 per credit (free) (free)
all other credits $500 per credit
Credit Interpretation $180 per credit for members (free) (free)

Request Fee $380 per credit for non-members
Construction Cost over Certified 0.5-3 % Good (little or no cost) 1 Pearl 1 %

BaU Silver 3-4 % Very Good (19£/m2) 2 Pearl 3 %
Gold 5-6 % Excellent (60£/m2) 3 Pearl 5 %
Platinum 7-12 % 4 Pearl 8 %
5 Pearl 14 %
Availability of Public guide downloadable for Pre-Assessment tool and Scheme All Rating tools, manuals and reference
Information free Reference Guides cost $195 Manual available for free guides are free of charge (download-
(hardcopy) or $180 (softcopy) for each able from Estidama’s website). Hard
rating system. copies available at UPC (by request).
Masdar Institute , Abu Dhabi, UAE
Chapter 03:
ESTIDAMA - STATUS QUO
3.1 Introduction to Estidama and UPC
3.2 Overview of the Initiatives
3.2.1 Abu Dhabi Vision 2030
3.2.2 Supporting Initiatives
3.3 The Pearl Rating System
Introduction to the concept of Estidama in greater detail as it is the

main analyzed program including the PRS rating system. It is explained
in relation to the larger Vision 2030 and the supporting initiatives that
are embraced by the Estidama program, the so called heart of all the
initiatives, visions and plans. Overviews of the supporting initiatives are
described, which include the urban neighborhood development, pub-
lic realm design manual, urban street design manual and the develop-
ment review process. At the end a comprehensive description of the
PRS is given, which is the main feature of the Estidama program.
25 Chapter 3 - Estidama
3 Estidama - status quo
3.1 Introduction to Estidama & the UPC

The Emirate has been experiencing a rapid growth in the past years. People
from all over the world moved to the cities of the Emirate, resulting in an
exponential growth of the urban, economic and industrial development of
the cities. Accordingly, these developments also caused large environmental
implications and challenges. Urbanization is a natural and inevitable trend
affecting cities, and to be able to meet the needs of this growing popula-
tion within the resource capacities that are available, sustainability has to be
addressed at the city scale. Today’s cities are becoming more centralized and
condensed; a city is the place where the main business, education industry
and the government convey new project ideas and urban developments. It
is also the center where multi-cultural sectors meet and synergies between
public and private interests collide. Hence, it is of great importance that
especially cities become leaders in sustainable planning and developments
of feasible and reliable strategies of employment and monitoring the actual
implementation of these policies. While cities around the globe are grow-
ing rapidly, they struggle with achieving economic stability, environmental
preservation, social equality and the concept of a sustainable economic
growth. Estidama’s approach addresses exactly these issues in detail to reach
and develop sustainable cities in the Emirate 34. The UPC’s program Estidama,
meaning ‘sustainability’ in Arabic, reflects amongst others, successful urban
planning decisions and policies perusing sustainable cities and communities.
This chapter introduces the concept of Estidama, which is more than just a
rating method or a set of regulations for a community; it is a new vision to
be implemented in order to achieve a sustainable way of living for the Arab
world. The concept was initiated and later developed by the Abu Dhabi
Urban Planning Council (UPC) as an inspiration and a display of idealistic
concepts creating an environmentally conscious and responsible develop-
ment, which lies in the core of the UPC’s vision and initiatives. To be able to
grasp the concept, most prominent visions, frameworks, plans, manuals and
processes are showcased in this chapter, ending with an overview of the
Pearl Rating System, the driver and measurement tool of sustainability in Abu
Dhabi.
The Estidama concept, launched in 2008, was based on the late Sheikh Zayed Estidama’s Objective
bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s vision of a sustainable Emirate 35. The main and long
term objective of Estidama is to create and enhance Abu Dhabi’s physical Create and enhance Abu Dhabi’s
and cultural identity, while preserving and improving the quality of life of its physical and cultural identity, while
residents simultaneously. Reaching this vision requires out-of the box think- preserving and improving the quality
ing and cooperation between the developers, design teams and residents of life of its residents.
throughout the complete planning process. Because of Estidama’s holistic ap-
proach, starting with the construction methods to the choices the employers
make, the leadership of Abu Dhabi soon recognized the exceptional cultural,
climatic and economic development requirements of the region and the
need for a localized definition of sustainability. While reaching out to create a
bright and more sustainable future for the Emirate, its citizens and its resi-
dents, Estidama is eager to continue evolving and growing with the rapidly
changing concepts for sustainability. Therefore it is not Estidama’s responsi-
bility alone, but everyone in the Emirate, to implement these sustainability
concepts in the environment, social cultural and economic needs of the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC).
The initiatives of the UPC, Estidama and other related government sectors
show tremendous efforts in creating integrated processes inside and outside
the government, trying to change the mind-set of residents, developers,
designers and the government to embrace the evolving concepts of how to
live, build and grow in a sustainable way. This is obvious when looking into
the connections made between the regulations and their demand for early
multi-disciplinary integration. Of course, the unique opportunity Abu Dhabi
had, which is being able to draft all the guidelines at the same time and from
scratch, gave them the possibility to streamline all their processes and evolve
them over a well-defined long term vision. Other countries or cities added
the sustainability strategies to their already available codes and regulations
that in some cases create inefficiencies.
All of Abu Dhabi’s goals and agencies go forward according to the overarch-
ing vision 2030 that is tailored to its core, Estidama, which is based on the
integrated process of the four pillars: Environment, Economy, Society and
Culture.
Figure 13: Emirate-

wide Development40
Strategies
The road-map of Abu Dhabi’s Vision
2030 showing the hierarchy of each
Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Vision 2030 Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030
initiative
Plan 2030
Manuals
Master Plans
Development Code
The Urban Planning Council

The Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC), created by Emiri Decree num-
ber 23, was established in 2007 as the agency responsible for the develop-
UPC’s Mission
ment of Abu Dhabi’s urban environment. It is the expert authority for the Abu
Dhabi 2030 Urban Structure Framework Plan (known later as Urban Planning Develop the urban environment of
Vision 2030) published September 2007. Their scope is not restricted on Abu Dhabi according to the Vision
planning new areas, but also ensures best practice in the planning of existing 2030 as well as existing urban areas,
urban areas. 36 by providing and managing the
supporting initiatives.
The UPC is the main driver and supporter of the Abu Dhabi urban devel-
opment strategy. To be able to transfer the 2030 Vision into a physical set-
ting, UPC develops strategic plans and guiding principles for the influential
projects that will have a major effect on shaping the Emirate. For a proper
implementation of the their vision, a holistic analysis of the urban fabric, the
land available and its best use, environmental, mobility, infrastructure and
urban services have been intensively analyzed and hence integrated in the
City Development Strategy. One of the key priority areas is developing the
infrastructure with sustainable concepts and environmentally friendly ap-
proaches. The government, with the proper know-how available from UPC,
can therefore ensure the creation of an appropriately and well-designed and
managed complete urban environment for the Emirate. 36
The UPC is dedicated to fulfill five key issues in support of the implementa-
tion of the Urban Planning Vision 2030. The first role of the UPC is to develop
detailed plans for regions, districts, neighborhoods and blocks across Abu
Dhabi. Next, they assist in the implementation of all plans created by guiding,
monitoring and working with the implementation team and other Govern-
ment bodies. The third role the UPC has to fulfill is developing regulations,
guidelines and policies that will help guide planning and development in the
Emirate. Furthermore, they are expected to review and assess major strategic
developments to comply with the plans, policies, regulations and guide-
lines in-line with Capital 2030, Al Ain 2030 and Al Gharbia 2030 and external
Government requirements. The fifth role is incorporating and encouraging
Estidama principles of sustainability into the built environment through the
Estidama Pearl Rating Systems.
These five key roles combined with other initiatives, as mentioned in the
‘supporting initiatives’, ensure a gradual, appropriate and high quality sustain-
able development across the UAE. The process of revitalization programs
and building new developments requires time, but phasing the process will
enable citizens and visitors to see milestones of completed projects over the
coming years. 36
In addition to the five key issues, the UPC has other main tasks and missions.
One of the responsibilities of the UPC is granting planning permission for UPC and ADCED
new developments, on the basis of a highly dependable development review
process. This process enables the UPC to make good decisions and apply A strong partnership between the two
strict regulatory controls for developers, as well as to guarantee that the city entities has been made, as both work
is well prepared for the climate, economic and cultural growth. Another hand in hand on the Vision 2030.
important factor that overseeing these developments has is that the UPC can
make sure that the appropriate transport and utility infrastructure are provid-
ed for the growth. The core that forms this whole process is the principal of
sustainability. That way a long-term balance between supply and demand is
projected. In order to be a truly sustainable process, the UPC communicates
with other government departments, such as the Department of Transport,
the Environment Agency, municipalities and utility providers. Discussing
relevant development proposals and coordinating the approach and neces-
sary steps to comply with the infrastructure demand is a step that UPC is very
keen on doing. 36
The UPC has a strong partnership with Abu Dhabi’s council for Economic
Development (ADCED) 36 as it works on the second half of the vision, which is
the economic part. Together, with the help and coordination of other govern-
ment sectors, they have shaped the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030, the main initia-
tive of the Emirate.
3.2 Overview of the Initiatives

3.2.1 Abu Dhabi Vision 2030
As previously mentioned in 1.2, the UPC developed the Abu Dhabi 2030
Urban Structure Framework Plan (Urban Planning Vision) for optimizing the
The Abu Dhabi Urban urban development through a 25 year program. To plan ahead for the infra-
Planning Vision 2030 structure is a major step towards developed and visionary governance. The
2030 Vision sets the foundation for a socially consistent and economically sus-
“Developing physical plans and tainable community while preserving the Emirate’s cultural heritage. In their
policies to shape Abu Dhabi Emirate plan the word vision reflects the visionary guidance of government initiative.
as the leading global 21st century One objective of their mission is the branding for Abu Dhabi and the regions
Arab capital and ensuring factors of Al Ain and Al Gharbia. The capital, Abu Dhabi, is intended to communicate
such as sustainability, infrastructure its position as the base of government within the UAE. 37
capacity, economic growth and For a proper foundation of a suitable vision the social, cultural and economic
community planning are integrated living in the Emirates were analyzed in detail, in addition to workshops with
to provide a high-quality of life for leading urban planners and community developers. The Plan Abu Dhabi 2030
all.” 38 lays out the framework for development throughout the capital city, with
guidelines for all new projects which are formed by the following principles:
 “Abu Dhabi will be a contemporary expression of an Arab city which has

people living, doing and thriving in healthy, supportive proximity to each
other.
 Abu Dhabi will continue its practice of measured growth reflecting a sus-
tainable economy, rather than an uncontrolled growth.
 Abu Dhabi will respect, be scaled to, and shaped by the natural environ-
ment of its sensitive coastal and desert ecologies.
 Abu Dhabi will manifest its role and stature as a capital city.
 Abu Dhabi’s urban fabric and community infrastructure will protect and
enhance the Emirate’s Arabic values, social arrangements, culture and
mores of this Arab community.” 38
The plan was developed through consultation with local and global experts,
based on the vision of the Abu Dhabi’s Executive Council. In addition the fol-
lowing investigations were of major importance:
 Analysis of social, cultural and economic issues in the Emirates and fac-
tors that are currently driving the demand in the real estate sector
 Environmental analysis to help protect Abu Dhabi’s natural (desert and
marine) ecology
 Analysis of Abu Dhabi’s infrastructure and transport requirements and
 A study of housing requirements and settlement patterns across the
city.
The vision 2030 is split into two parts, urban planning and economic vision.
Subcategories are found in the graphic below. The main two initiatives are
explained in the following sub-chapter and major supporting initiatives are
showcased afterwards. 39
• Enhance • Diversify Fis- • Enhance Regula- • Encourage • Enhance Energy • Increase Na- • Increase Savings
Federal-Local cal Revenue tory and Super- Participation of Security to Meet tional Workforce and Depth of
Cooperation Sources visory Functions Nationals in the Future Demand Participation Deposits
• Enhance Trans- • Optimize over Banking Labour Force, • Ensure an and Employ- • Encourage
parency and Government and Insurance Especially in the Efficient and ability Financing of
Modernise the Spending Sectors Private Sector Safe Transport • Optimize the Economic Sec-
Judicial System • Leverage Fiscal • Leverage • Continue Infrastructure Allocation of tors and Projects
and Business Policy Tools to Monetary Policy Expanding • Ensure Avail- Workforce • Enhance Finan-
Legislation Respond to Eco- Tools to Control Skilled Labour ability of Efficient • Enhance Pro- cial Markets
• Streamline nomic Cycle Inflation Force Base and ICT Infrastructure ductivity of the Performance
Government • Develop Further Reduce and Promote ICT Labour Force
Processes Efficient and Dependence on Adoption
Less Specula- Unskilled Labour
• Facilitate the • Ensure Environ-
Investment tive Financial • Enhance Abu mental Sustain-
Process Markets Dhabi’s Labour ability
Market Pro-
cesses
1. Build an Open, 2. Adopt a 3. Establish a Re- 4. Drive Sig- 5. Develop a 6. Develop a 7. Enable Financial
Efficient, Effective Disciplined Fiscal silient Monetary nificant Improve- Sufficient and Highly Skilled, Markets to
and Globally In- Policy that is and Fiscal Markets ment in the Resilient Infra- Highly Productive Become the Key
tegrated Business Responsive to Environment with Efficiency of the structure Capable Workforce Financiers of
Environment Economic Cycles Manageable Lev- Labour Market of Supporting the Economic Sectors
els of Inflation Anticipated Eco- and Projects
nomic Growth
2. Ensure a Balanced Social 1. Build a Sustainable

and Regional Economic Economy
Development Approach that
Brings Benefits to All
Economic Vision 2030 Urban Planning Vision 2030

“For Abu Dhabi to contin-
“Abu Dhabi as a sustainable, diversified, high Developing plans and policies that shape
value-added economy that encourages
ue to create a confident, Abu Dhabi Emirate as the leading global
enterprises and entrepreneurship and well secure society and to 21st century Arab capital and ensuring
integrated in the global economy leading build a sustainable, open factors such as sustainability, infrastructure
to better opportunities for all” and globally competitive capacity, community planning and a high
economy” quality of life for all.
H.H Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan,
President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi
Environment Society Culture Economy

To create a sustainable Emirate that To raise the standard of living for To protect and enhance Emirati and To support and enable growth
protects and enhances the environ- all people living and visiting the Arab culture and traditions while in, and the diversification of, Abu
ment and natural resources for Emirate, through the creation of embracing contemporary living and Dhabi’s economy to transform Abu
present and future generations. vibrant, mixed-use communities respecting the diverse cultures of all Dhabi into a global capital city to
and the provision of a diverse range who reside in and visit Abu Dhabi. provide greater opportunities for all.
of housing.
• To promote and implement • To create complete communities • To ensure that Emirati culture and • To ensure appropriate transit
Estidama as the UPC’s holistic that enable people to live, work local heritage is protected, en- and infrastructure, in addition
approach to sustainability in the and play in attractive, vibrant hanced and celebrated through to residential, commercial and
Emirate. surroundings, with easy access traditional living patterns, sustain- industrial, leisure and hospitality
• To create environmental frame- to high-quality, civic, healthcare, able, high-quality Emirati archi- components are incorporated
works across the Emirate that educational open space and retail tecture and appropriate religious into plans to support economic
preserve and protect Abu Dhabi’s amenities. amenities. growth.
rich and varied environmental • To provide a diversity of housing • To respect and integrate, where • To ensure development supports
assets, such as the coastal, oases, choice to meet the needs of all possible, the international, where and provides for the growth sec-
desert and historic farming areas residents within a wide range of possible, the cultures of the di- tors identified by Economic Vision
for current and future generations income levels. verse population of the Emirate. 2030 and in the diversification of
to enjoy. • To revitalise existing communities • To incorporate areas for local and the economy.
• To create thriving, close-knit com- with high-quality amenities, trans- international arts, music, civic and • To transform Abu Dhabi into
munities that limit urban sprawl port, housing and recreational cultural usage that are acces- a leading Emirate that attracts
and its impact on the environ- options without compromising sible to all who live and visit the people and enterprises to its high
ment. the existing character and social Emirate. quality of life, supported by its
• To ensure new development re- fabric. • For Abu Dhabi City to manifest its vibrant communities, high-qual-
spects and is scaled to the natural • To create a safe, vibrant and role as the Capital of the United ity buildings, public realm and
environment. well-connected public realm that Arab Emirates and the national world-class transportation system.
• To create plans that respond to offers spaces for meeting, relaxing seat of Government. • To support the development
the desert climate, respecting and playing in for all members of of the entire Emirate to ensure
water assets and making use of the community. exemplary employment oppor-
sustainable energy and waste tunities are available throughout
techniques and technologies Abu Dhabi, thereby encouraging
where appropriate. residents to work close to their
homes and families.
3.2.1.1 Urban Planning Vision 2030

Figure 14: The first framework to be developed by the UPC in 2007 was the Plan Capital
Emirate-wide 2030. Its scale and approach were considered one of the first initiatives of its
39 (edited) kind in this region. It covered the area of Abu Dhabi Island and its surround-
Strategic Vision ing mainland. The Plan was a result of comprehensive analysis and research
to fully understand the context and area. Since the framework was estab-
Overall vision for Abu Dhabi, the lished, a master plan for Capital District was released in 2009 and others are
individual visions of ADCED and the in progress. (Khalifa City A, Khalifa City B, Shahama & Bahia, North Wathba,
UPC and the overarching principles Baniyas, South Wathba, Mohammed bin Zayed City, Musaffah, Wasat Madinat
and objectives that form these visions, Abu Dhabi and the Corniche Revitalization Area). The major highlights which
which can be used as a ‘checklist’ Plan Capital 2030 focuses on are livability within the city, the provision of two
to ensure that any new plans and growth centers downtown, the revitalization of existing locations across the
initiatives across the two realms fit metropolitan area and capturing culture and heritage through planning and
with the overall vision for the Emirate. design. The implementation of National Park Systems, Green Gradients and
a Sand Belt to prevent urban sprawl were provided by the Environmental
Framework Plan to focus on areas of environmental importance. 38
Plan Al Ain 2030 on the other hand covers a regional and urban structure
framework plan and was released in 2009 4. Al Ain is known as the ‘green city’
of Abu Dhabi. The main focus of this plan is the re-connection of the oases to
its surroundings, the revitalization of the city and the maintenance of its ar-
chitecture and local culture and heritage. The Al Ain Plan 2030 Regional Struc-
ture Framework Plan covers 20 settlements of the region and was released in
2011. 38
In addition, Al Gharbia 2030 Regional Structure Framework Plan is still in the
pipeline and would cover seven key settlements of the western region (Liwa,
Madinat Zayed, Mirfa, Delma, Sila’a, Ruwais and Ghayathi). Not only is Al
Gharbia the largest region of the Emirate and holds the majority of its oil and
gas, but it is also renowned for its agricultural diversity and animal husbandry
and beautiful natural coastlines. Key issues of the Gharbia Plan is to increase
the quality of life for its residents while maintaining sustainable, measured
growth while providing the community with amenities and a proper network
of transportation. The plan also aims at supporting the oil and gas sectors, at
the same time diversifying the economy and reducing out migration through
facilitating high quality employment opportunities. Moreover, the protection
of the beautiful natural environment of the region and its rich culture and
heritage remain a very important factor in the plan. The development of the
four framework plans took a lot of time and research, analysis and field visits
in the first stages. 38 Following are elements that were reviewed and analyzed
for each area plan:
 “Demographics
 Economy and industry
 Environment, ecology and biodiversity
 Existing settlements and land use
 Transportation networks
 Utilities and waste management
 Culture and society
 Archaeology
 Healthcare and education
 Tourism
 Agriculture and food production” 38
The process to define a framework plan includes contributions from various

inputs such as design charrettes, site visits, collaboration with other govern-
ment agencies, inspirational sessions, public consultation and research and
existing conditions analysis. The following process was utilized in the devel-
opment and creation of the framework plans:
Research and existing

conditions analysis Design charrettes
Figure 15: Framework

39
Development Process
Various contributions defining and
Public consultation Framework Plans Site visits
creating the framework development
process
Inspirational sessions Collaboration with Gov-

ernment agencies
Design charrettes are brainstorming sessions characterized by their inten-

sity, creativity and collaborative problem solving character. The different par-
ticipants usually come from different local and international backgrounds but
with the same or similar skills or expertise relevant to the area of discussion.
UPC’s technical charrettes to develop initial concepts for the framework plans
included members of the UPC’s teams, local municipalities or councils, Gov-
ernment agencies, urban planners, designers, architects and specialists. This
approach, where stakeholders get the opportunity to give their input from
the start and work together with the experts to develop guiding principles,
creates well developed and mature concepts and recommended policy
directions in a short period of time. The collaboration in the technical char-
rettes is a key input in the process. The UPC worked closely with governmen-
tal agencies to develop the framework plan. That way it was assured that the
outcomes incorporate up to date plans from other agencies and promotes
integration between the UPC and other governmental stakeholders. The role
of site visits is very important for the design team. It enables them to experi-
ence the feel of the area, the land, its formation, history and patterns first
hand. Another important input is talking to members of the public to gather
information about the area and its livability. Some inspirational sessions
were held with the Abu Dhabi Executive Council to better understand the
vision that the framework is based on. It was of great value to the UPC to get
public consultation; feedback from the people living and working in Abu
Dhabi. Many from the general public were invited to events and workshops
where they could discuss subjects like healthcare, education, public facilities
and transportation, as well as employment and housing issues. 38
Principles and objectives

The main principles developed for Plan Capital 2030 were the foundation of Principles and
all other framework plans and the creation of the Estidama Program. Re- Objectives
cently, a set of overreaching principles have been developed to complete
the picture for the Emirate, and with the completion of the other framework Main principles developed for Plan
plans with their own overreaching principles. The Estidama program of sus- 2030 were the foundation of all other
tainability, which is in the core of the UPC’s plans and policies, sets the four framework plans and the creation of
main principles of the urban planning vision. These are then categorized into the Estidama Program.
eleven key directions. The program is built on the main pillars of Estidama:
Environment
Focusing on the Emirate, the principle is to follow sustainable development
to protect and enhance the ecology and natural resources for current and
future generations by meeting the objectives:
 “To ensure new development respects and is scaled to the natural envi-
ronment
 To create plans that respond to the desert climate, respecting water assets
and making use of sustainable energy and waste techniques and tech-
nologies where appropriate
 To create environmental frameworks across the Emirate that preserve
and protect Abu Dhabi’s rich and varied environmental assets, such as
the coastal, oases, desert and historic farming areas for current and future
generations to enjoy
 To create thriving, close-knit communities that limit urban sprawl and its
impact on the environment
 To promote and implement Estidama as the UPC’s holistic approach to
sustainability in the Emirate” 38
Economy
The principle is to support and empower the growth and diversification of
the economy of Abu Dhabi to transform the city into a global capital provid-
ing better prospects by following the objectives:
The Four Pillars of  “To ensure appropriate transit and infrastructure, in addition to residen-
Estidama tial, commercial and industrial, leisure and hospitality components, are
incorporated into plans to support economic growth
 To ensure the plans created support and provide for the growth sectors
Estidama is organized under four identified by Economic Vision 2030 and in the diversification of the econ-
pillars. Unlike other programs and omy
theories it recognizes Society as a  To transform Abu Dhabi into a leading Emirate that attracts people and
separate pillar that needs the same enterprises to its high quality of life, supported by its vibrant communi-
ties, high-quality buildings, public realm and world-class transportation
weighting as the other three pillars. system
 To support the development of the entire Emirate to ensure exemplary
employment opportunities are available throughout Abu Dhabi, thereby
encouraging residents to work close to their homes and families” 38
Society
The principle is to raise the standards of living for residents and visitors of the
Emirate by forming communities that are lively and mixed-use and providing
housing for all ranges of income through following the objectives:
 “To create complete communities that enable people to live, work and
play in attractive, vibrant surroundings, with easy access to high-quality,
civic, healthcare, educational open space and retail amenities;
 To provide a diversity of housing choice to meet the needs of all residents
within a wide range of income levels
 To revitalise existing communities with high-quality amenities, transport,
housing and recreational options without compromising the existing
character and social fabric
 To create a safe, vibrant and well-connected public realm that offers spac-
es for meeting, relaxing and playing for all members of the community” 38
Culture
The principle is to protect and enrich Arab and Emirati traditions and culture,
at the same time provide contemporary living respecting the diverse cultures
residing and visiting Abu Dhabi, by following the objectives:
 To ensure that Emirati culture and local heritage is protected, enhanced
and celebrated through traditional living patterns, sustainable, high-
quality Emirati architecture and appropriate religious amenities
 To respect and integrate, where possible, the international cultures of the
diverse population of the Emirate
 To incorporate areas for local and international arts, music, civic and cul-
tural usage that are accessible to all who live and visit the Emirate
 For Abu Dhabi City to manifest its role as the Capital of the United Arab
Emirates and the national seat of Government” 38
The key directions incorporated in the Urban Planning Vision 2030

are:
 “Sustainability
 Livability
 Economic development
 Managed urban growth
 Connectivity
 Safe, shaded and walkable streets
 Housing diversity
 Community development
 Cultural heritage
 Natural environment
 Revitalization” 38
Sustainability
The availability of oil has brought a fast and considerable amount of wealth
to the UAE. Since oil is a finite resource it is of great importance to utilize it Key Directions for
very carefully and wisely. Since it is very difficult to reclaim depleted resources
or natural environments, Abu Dhabi’s future relies on the ability to save the Planning Vision
existing resources and utilize the wealth to explore alternative options like re-
newable energy production, energy efficiency and raise awareness. Resource Directions are continuing constantly
efficiency is a key issue of Estidama and a main factor in turning Abu Dhabi across all framework plans under the
into a truly sustainable city. 38 same 11 keys.
Livability
The new policies and developments have a direct impact on people’s lives.
Since livability includes the quality of how citizens and visitors will live, work
and relax in a city, facilities, infrastructure and open spaces are necessary to
provide safe and attractive surroundings. The new policies will be included
in the process to evaluate new planned projects on their fairness towards
livability elements. Living standards that are similar to international standards
are the core to decisions about new developments. Abu Dhabi developed a
rare potential, offering a combination of two life styles and urban identities
in the past years. It is safe and authentic, yet progressive with a lot of open
air living, characteristics gained from the desert and the sea. In addition, a
traditional way of life is lived but with the latest 21st century choices. It is a
booming place for business opportunities and also a place of government
and culture. Hence the Emirate should be defined by its nature, the island
and dunes, and also by its infrastructure, streets and developments. These
mergers will increase the livability of the city noticeably. 38
Economic development
The main goal of the Abu Dhabi vision 2030 is to move away from the depen-
dency on hydrocarbons and to diversify the economy of the Emirate. Some
industries have been identified as potential sectors to grow a more diversi-
fied economy mix in the Emirate. Some of these industries include tourism,
education aerospace and media. The role of the Urban Planning Vision 2030 is
to create the necessary physical infrastructure, like utilities, transportation and
buildings, in addition to technical colleges, R&D facilities and homes for em-
ployees of these industries so they may excel in these new fields of economy.
The diversified economic growth will develop a more sustainable economy
that is less dependent on crude oil prices and its depletion. 38
Managed urban growth

The Urban Planning Vision 2030 will guarantee new developments and
infrastructure (roads, public transport, utilities) to fulfill the needs of a rapidly
growing population in a sustainable way. With major new developments,
new infrastructure has to be strategically delivered, in order to ensure the us-
ers have the necessary amenities and facilities as well as strong transportation
networks within the UAE. Large open spaces will improve the quality of life of
the people living in Abu Dhabi. To preserve the identity of smaller towns and
villages, strict regulation will prevent urban sprawl. 38
Connectivity
Car Based Society The transportation in Abu Dhabi relies currently almost entirely on cars. This
however will not be possible in the upcoming 20 years when the Emirate’s
Abu Dhabi residents, visitors and cities continue growing. A more developed, multi layered, sustainable and
commuters rely mostly on private efficient transportation system has to be created to meet the needs of Abu
cars due to the lack of public Dhabi and reflects the demand and size of the city. A first Surface Transporta-
transportation. Until today there is no tion Master Plan (STMP) to improve the connectivity around Abu Dhabi has
been created by the Abu Dhabi Department of Transport together with the
rail transportation.
UPC. The objective of a network of public transportation system with a high
speed rail and rapid transit options, such as trams and buses, as well as sup-
porting initiatives for walking and cycling, is to reduce the usage of private
cars and the reliance on them. Therefore a new streets system has to be
developed to create safer transport and accommodate all transport modes. 38
Safe, shaded and walkable streets

Essential to the creation of attractive friendly places, are shaded and walk-
able streets. To encourage more people to walk short distances in comfort,
streets have to be improved and clearly defined pedestrian walkways and
pavements have to be provided. Due to the heat in Abu Dhabi in the sum-
mer time, well-connected streets to minimize unnecessary walking time in
addition to cool, shaded pedestrian walkways are needed to make walking
more comfortable. It is already planned to create a system of ‘shade-ways’ that
connect sidewalks and pedestrian paths. 38
Housing diversity
In the Abu Dhabi Emirate, a diverse set of housing facilities are required to
accommodate a full range of different income levels and household sizes. The
UPC initiative, Affordable housing strategy, works on implementing different
levels of affordable housing. The diversity of levels of housing is very impor-
tant to enable residents to choose whatever fits their needs. 38
Community development
The target of the community development initiative is to create livable and
comfortable places which mix residential buildings, shopping and services
Abu Dhabi City Grid while promoting a variety of community values. The planned neighborhoods
will include a range of housing choices, public spaces with good air quality
The wide streets of Abu Dhabi island and enable walking and public transit use through safe, shaded streets and
combined with the huge block sizes good public transportation systems. There will be places provided where the
make it very hard for pedestrians to community can interact, such as schools, recreational areas, open spaces and
walk during high summer months. parks, shops, cafes as well as mosques and hospitals. All the facilities will apply
the standards for special needs access. Through this approach a successful
integration of employment, housing, retail, cultural, religious, recreational,
community and educational facilities will be adapted throughout the towns
and cities of Abu Dhabi Emirate. The new housing projects have to fulfill the
needs of the Emirati Family. The traditional Emirati neighborhood system
‘fareej’ enables a group of houses clustered together to form a smaller society
to increase the interaction between them, while still protecting every one’s
privacy. The pattern of these houses, forms courtyards in the housing de-
signs. Mixing these systems with public spaces, amenities, shop, schools and
small streets, creates an interactive atmosphere that encourages walking and
cycling. Combining the traditional living arrangements with contemporary
design will be a main part in the new neighborhood designs. The merging
between old and new will create attractive homes and safe, vibrant neighbor-
hoods. 38
Cultural heritage
The unique heritage, culture and customs are of great importance and hence
it is vital to conserve it. Examples where the heritage and culture plays a Culture of Abu Dhabi
big role in people’s lives are the generations who spent half of the year out
fishing and pearl diving and the rest of the year farming and ranching in the Abu Dhabi’s culture is defined by
desert oases. This bond between the residents and their surroundings can be Arabia’s Islamic traditions. The
maintained by a visual and physical link between the city and the landscape. combination of international
In addition historic Arab and Emirati architectural elements, forms and pat- influences and commitment to local
terns are incorporated into contemporary forms creating an authentic plan heritage has creates the interesting
for the Arab Capital. It is very important that new developments are designed mix of new and old.
at a human scale to remain a pleasant living space even while the city grows.
Creativity will play an important role, as well as flexibility to successfully com-
bine the traditional and contemporary living choices. The Emiratis have a very
hospitable nature and are very welcoming to diverse populations as well as
their cultures and arts, which is reflected in museums, art centers and exhibi-
tions. 38
Natural environment
Abu Dhabi’s islands, sand dunes, native wildlife and coastlines all merge to
define Abu Dhabi’s character. The Abu Dhabi Planning Vision 2030 works on
protecting these resources and preserving the connection between people
and their environment. It is a priority to conserve these landmarks and
cultural and environmental amenities and then take decisions where new
developments could be located, creating a balance between developing and
conserving. Loosing or damaging the environment is a non-reversible pro-
cess and hence it is important to start planning with this thought in mind. 38
Revitalization
In its plan, the UPC also places a lot of focus on the revitalization concept.
Some ways to revitalize an existing community is through improving the
transportation system and developing a more pedestrian friendly city in ad-
dition to high quality community facilities and more sustainable housing op-
tions, while upgrading and developing on the already existing infrastructure
and built environment. Through this concept and by extending the life of the
existing buildings the government of Abu Dhabi can achieve their sustain-
ability goals. This strategy should also focus on creating an interactive, diverse
and more balanced urban environment. 38
3.2.1.2 Economic Vision 2030

An economic strategy was created by ADCED to work towards the realiza-
tion of the goals laid out in the Government’s Policy Agenda document. The
ADCED is placed to take part in the development of the strategy. The board
includes private sector and government, as well as representatives from the
Department of Economic Development (DED), the Abu Dhabi Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (ADCCI) and domestic and foreign business councils.
This results in a joint public-private cooperative structure for economic ad-
vice, which includes representatives of the main stakeholders, where ADCED
creates an open channel for economic matters. This structure’s objective is to
transform the Emirate’s economic base and incorporate global integration. 38
In order to achieve the Policy Agenda to create the Economic Vision 2030,
the economic environment was analyzed and key improvement potential
areas were identified in 2008 by ADCED. The state of the economy in 2008,
the business environment and the Emirati’s resources and steps that need
to be taken to ensure and accommodate economic growth were covered in
the Economic Vision 2030. The Vision is a result of combined efforts between
public and joint public-private sectors. Each section of the Economic Vision
2030 defines long-term targets to be achieved, and means and processes on

how the Emirate could achieve them. Therefore, the result is a road map for
the economic sector of the Emirate. Abu Dhabi currently has made a major
commitment to build a sustainable, diversified, high value-added economy
by 2030. An important activity would be widening the sectors of economic
activity, enlarging the enterprise base and growing external markets. Abu
Dhabi also plans to continuously improve productivity and create competi-
tiveness. 38
Since social and regional equality is very important and a key component in
the strategy, Abu Dhabi will train its youth to enter the job market and try
Economic Vision to maximize the participation of women, especially UAE Nationals. For the
Policies successful achievement of the economic targets learning from global experi-
ences and implementing them locally must optimize both regulatory and
Building a sustainable economy legislative structures. Hence Abu Dhabi is going to build a business environ-
and ensure the balanced social and ment that is open, effective and efficient. To sum up, the Economic Vision
regional economic development 2030 was developed to ensure that the designed strategy is realistic and fits
the trends and requirements of the stakeholders in the Emirate economy. 38
The economic vision is based on two policies that are split into seven focus
areas. The first policy is building a sustainable economy, which emphasizes
the need to build on non-oil economic sectors and activities. The second
policy is to ensure the balanced social and regional economic development
that benefits all, which includes women and expatriates. The seven focus
areas are:
1. “Build an open, efficient, effective and globally integrated business en-
vironment
2. Adopt a disciplined fiscal policy that is responsive to economic cycles
3. Establish a resilient monetary and fiscal markets environment with
manageable levels of inflation
4. Drive significant improvement in the efficiency of the labor market
5. Develop a sufficient and resilient infrastructure capable of supporting
the anticipated economic growth
6. Develop a highly-skilled, highly productive work force
7. Enable financial markets to become key financiers of economic sectors
and projects” 38
To measure the successfulness of the ongoing plan, ADCED has framed a five
point means of success to indicate the progress of its vision. These are divided
into the economic inputs and outputs. The inputs are the human, productiv-
ity, physical and financial capitals, while the outputs are the economic devel-
opment and stability. The following graphic summarizes these measures. 38
• Fiscal Stability • Aggregate Economic

- Fiscal Deficit Growth
Figure 16: - Fiscal Revenues Volatility

- Discretionary Spending
- Etc.
- Sustainable Real Growth
- Etc.
• Personal Wealth &
38
Measures of Success • Monetary Stability
- Inflation Rate
- Exchange Rate
Standards of Living
- Real Wages
- Average wage per
- Etc. employee
• Trade Relations - Etc.
Five point means of success to indicate - Trade Policy Reviews • Etc.
- Etc.
the progress of the vision
• Workforce Development • National Asset Forma-
- Total Workforce Economic Economic tion
- Unemployment Rate Stability Development • Domestic Investments
- Job Creation • Current Account
- Dependency Ratio - Net Exports
- GDP Output per - Non-Oil Net Exports
Employee • Aggregate Savings
- Etc. - Public Savings
• Skills Development - Private Saving
- Education Attainment • Capital Stock
• HDI Human Productivity & Physical & • Etc.
• Etc. Capital Competitiveness Financial Capital
• Total Factor Productivity

• Labour Productivity
• Capital Productivity
• Competitiveness
• Etc.
3.2.2 Supporting Initiatives

The UPC has been working on supporting initiatives that have been devel-
oped to assist realizing the vision 2030 in greater detail. These initiatives have
been designed to meet current needs, as well as being flexible for future
changes. The key question that formed the initiatives is how to create sus-
tainable communities that are safe, comfortable, attractive, as well as well
integrated in terms of physical and visual surroundings 40. Furthermore, these
initiatives should tackle the need for mixed use developments, which meet
the economic, social and environmental needs of the future. Additionally in
order to keep the developments of a high standard and up-to-date there is
the need for facility management and maintenance.
In parallel to Plan 2030, the manuals developed by the UPC are all based on
the Complete Sustainable Communities (CSC) initiative, which are all based
on the four pillars of Estidama. The CSC revolves around 8 principles summa-
rized in the graphic below. 40
Figure 17: Complete

SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMIC CULTURAL
Sustainable
40
Communities
Well Well Environ- Thriving Well Run Active, Flexible Well Served
Connected Designed mentally Inclusive
and Built Sensitive and Safe
With public
The eight principles of CSCs to meet
With good lo-
cal transport
A sense
of place Providing
private, com-
munity and existing and future needs by using
services and featuring places and voluntary ser-
communica- quality built spaces for With effective Cohesive with Built to ac- vices that are natural resources effectively
tion linking and natural people to live and inclusive a strong local commodate appropriate
people to environment and work that With a flour- participation, culture and people’s to people’s
jobs, schools, and a diver- are consider- ishing and representa- other shared needs both needs and
health and sity of open ate of the diverse local tion and community now and in accessible
other services spaces environment economy leadership activities the future to all
While some of the manuals, like the pearl rating system, the public realm
design manual and the urban street design manual have been published and
in use since 2010, some other initiatives are currently being produced. These
Figure 18: UPC
manuals have been identified as being essential for all types of projects de- Manuals Suite
40
veloped in Abu Dhabi, and organizing agencies have been assigned to each Summary
one of them to assist consultants to know which coordination is required
with which agency. The ten manuals are grouped
The following summary of existing and planned manuals shows the relation- and summarized
ships between the manuals, their use, aims and benefits. From the graphic,
one could see the links and relations of the manuals, which is presented in
greater detail after the next sub-chapter that discusses some of the Vision
2030 supporting initiatives.
Estidama Pearl Rating Safety and Security Community Facilities Street and Public Realm
System Planning Manual and Services Design
Mandatory sustainability Provides a complete set of Ensures the adequate number Creates ‘Complete Streets’ to
requirements and guidelines security and crime prevention and distribution of mosques, ensure land use efficiency
for the construction of all Villas, guidelines for building and community facilities and pro- through right-of-way and util-
Buildings and Communities landscape design grammed open spaces ity design guidelines
Lowers power, water and Improves safety at a lower cost Optimizes investment in facili- Enhances efficiency by de-
material demand by enhancing and reduces costly retrofitting ties while enhancing access creasing width of right-of-ways
efficiency
3.2.2.1 Neighborhood planning

The supporting initiative of neighborhood planning has been released in the
form of a brochure in 2010 to assist the design of context, culture and climate
related planning of neighborhoods in Abu Dhabi. The manual was supposed
to be published in 2011. It is to comply with all other relevant manuals and
regulations developed by the UPC. The manual is being designed to put for-
ward the detailed standards of the elements of the neighborhood 41.
There are 5 design principles that need to be present for any community,
whether existing or planned and they are not based on a hierarchy. These
comprise of being ‘complete communities’ that have a comprehensive set
of services on the district and neighborhood levels. These services include a
mosque, a park and a retail center. The second principle is ‘walkability’. Here,
the services need to be reached within a 5 minute walk (350m). Third is ‘safe
and legible circulation’ promoting a pedestrian safe circulation that is shaded
and connects people from their homes to the district nodes. Then there is ‘ef-
ficient use of land’ meaning reduced utility corridor to increase the pedestrian
realm and plan for future requirements. Last is ‘sustainable’ which is being
achieved by conforming to Estidama requirements. 41
There is an interactive presentation on the UPC’s website that shows an ex-
ample and explains the elements that create an Emirati neighborhood. These
elements are first the ‘fareej’ which is a traditional neighborhood system that
comprises of three elements: courtyard houses, ‘sikkak’ and ‘barahaat’. The
courtyard houses are best known from historical Arabian countries for their
privacy, responsiveness to desert climates and good layouts making it pos-
sible to have narrower external ‘sikkak’. The ‘sikkak’ are basically the narrow
streets around the courtyard houses, which are mainly for pedestrian use.
The narrow ‘sikkak’ make it easier to be shaded enabling walking even in hot
Figure 19: days. These ‘sikkak’ connect each house to the ‘barahaat’. ‘Barahaat’ are public
‘Fareej’ (Emirati spaces within the ‘fareej’ that serve as meeting points for residents. These
41 ‘barahaat’ are designed to meet the needs of close by facilities, such as a play-
neighborhood) ground next to a school. 41
Five elements comprising an Emirati
neighborhood Of course, for accessibility reasons there are vehicular streets provided around
image source (Vision 2030) 38 each ‘fareej’. Nevertheless, these are limited to the minimum to enhance the
pedestrian friendliness of the neighborhood. By intertwining many neighbor-
hoods with services a community is created. 41
‘Sikkak’ ‘Mayadeen’ ‘Barahaat’ Courtyard House Street

3.2.2.2 Public realm design manual

The 2011 international society of city and regional planners (ISOCARP) award
winning ‘Abu Dhabi Public Realm Design Manual’ (PRDM) in the category ‘Dis-
trict planning/ urban design’ 42 developed by the UPC has a key influence on
diverting the city and community into a more active and connected one, by
shaping the parks, streetscape, waterfronts and public places of Abu Dhabi
and AL Ain and later on the entire Emirate.
The public realm is defined as any publicly owned parks, pathways, streets,
right of ways, publicly accessible open spaces and any public and civic build-
ing and facility 43. As for the definition in the manual, it is stated that
“the public realm includes all exterior places, linkages and built form elements
that are physically and/or visually accessible regardless of ownership.” 44
Examples of elements that are included in the public realm are streets,
bikeways, bridges, transportation hubs, parks, landmarks view corridors and
public squares. The manual has been developed to be used as a tool to assist
designers, consultants, developers and municipalities in the design of any
of the four categories of public realm: parks, streetscapes, waterfronts and
public places. The implements of the manual are considered policies and
recommendations, which are used to measure and evaluate any public realm
project through its typologies and guidelines. As all guides and manuals,
the PRDM’s objective is to assist the implementation of the Plan 2030 in the
area of public realm, within the UPC’s Complete Sustainable Developments
initiative. The aim is to meet the needs of residents and visitors, developing
first-rate developments and designs, for current and future generations. 44
The vision of Abu Dhabi’s public realm is to maintain and enhance its tradi-
tion culture however work for the multicultural population as well. It is to
respond to the local climate in a safe and comfortable manner. The applica-
bility of the manual expands to both existing and planned urban areas, which
are defined in the Plan 2030. One of the key intentions is to improve the
distribution of open spaces and parks. This is planned by creating more parks,
landmarks, waterfronts, plazas and squares. Another intent is to make walking
in the city comfortable to encourage pedestrian activity. This is in line with
Estidama, which is a crucial element in the PRDM. Estidama requirements are
also seen in the PRDM in its aim to reduce irrigation needs. 44
Table 02: Public
The manual is divided into three parts. The first part explains the process, Survey Response 44
principles, policies and level of service. The second part focuses on the overall
public realm network for each Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, and goes into detail Key needs identified from surveys
on the typologies and guidelines, as well as the planning process for each of
and organized according to the four
the four categories of the public realm mentioned before. The third and last
typologies of the Public Realm.
part of the manual has a list of recommended and indigenous plants, as well
as their applicability and irrigation needs. The following highlights the most
important found concepts and aspects of each section:
Key Qualities for Ideal Parks Key Qualities for Ideal Key Qualities for Ideal Key Qualities for Ideal
Streetscapes Waterfronts Public Places
• Security • Safety and Security for • Proper Shading and Seating • Safety and Security
• Family Seating Areas Families Along Pathways • Proper Separation to Ensure
• Hygienic Restrooms • Property Separation Between • Increased Access for Pedestri- Family Privacy
• Game Areas for Children People and Vehicles ans and Cyclists • Variety of Shopping
• Places to Buy Soft Drinks • Adequate Seating • Naturalized Environment • Shaded Areas
• Comfortable Seating • High-quality Paving Materials • Food, Drink and Restrooms • Food, Drink and Restrooms
• Shaded Areas • Shopping and Dining
• Diverse Play Equipment • Cycling Opportunities
Guideline planning process

A key to creating such a document and make it work was using both bottom
up and top down approaches. This has been done by having stakeholder
meetings, including all government departments that are associated with the
public realm such as the municipalities, transport authority and culture and
heritage authority, as well as special consultants. Public surveys have been
conducted around the emirate with a high number of participants reaching
approximately 11,000 households. The key outcomes of the survey was 63%
reported missing community facility or facilities from their local area, as well
as 20% are missing parks in their neighborhood, while only 30% of total are
Policies for the Public visiting parks. The table on the left shows the key public survey responses
Realm and needs for the four categories, parks, streetscape, waterfronts and public
spaces. 44
Each Principle is detailed into general Principles and policies
policies, park policy, streetscape There are 9 principles identified in the PRDM that support regulatory process
policy, waterfront policy and public to achieve the goals of the vision 2030 in the public realm. These principles
place policy formulate the policies, which are serving as a more defined goal to the over-
arching principles. Each policy is clarified as a general policy, and then taken
into detail of each of the four categories of the public realm. The principles as
stated in the manual are:
 “Livability - The public realm is a safe and comfortable space, where di-
verse activities can be experienced by all, contributing to people’s physical
and mental wellness, and providing a high- quality of life.
 Identity - The public realm will be a unique expression of Arab culture,
heritage, values and traditions expressed throughout Abu Dhabi, the UAE
Capital.
 Access - The public realm ensures full access to Parks, Streetscapes, Wa-
terfronts and Public Places.
 Connectivity - The public realm is interconnected and enhances the mo-
bility of people by providing continuous land and water access for pedes-
trians, cyclists and other modes of transport.
 Place-making & Design Excellence- The public realm is made up of
high-quality, human-scaled and visually interesting places. The public
realm includes multi-functional, flexible and climate responsive design
solutions using high-quality, sustainably sourced materials.
 Environmental Stewardship - The public realm is responsibly designed
to achieve water and energy efficiency, and will respect important natural
assets and native flora and fauna.
 Inclusivity - The public realm will provide a safe and comfortable array of
diverse places and activities for all people to enjoy.
 Activation - The public realm will immediately be improved by ensuring
activities and functions are appropriately integrated and programmed
while also defining a clear operations and maintenance program that en-
sures continued contribution to the identity of Abu Dhabi.
 Shared Ownership & Implementation - The public realm will be devel-
oped through a cooperative effort of government and/or private entities
to ensure a high-quality resource that all stakeholders will contribute to
and enjoy.” 44
Level of service
Level of service describes the range and quantity of a particular type of facil-
ity to meet the needs of the population. In the context of the public realm it
is limited to its four categories, while only parks and waterfronts are quanti-
fied. The level of service in the public realm of Abu Dhabi has been catego-
rized into 5 levels of hierarchy, emirate, municipality, city, district and neigh-
borhood 44. The definition of each of the 5 levels is explained in the graphic
below.
Elements which serve the entire Emirate
Emirate
Table 03: Public Realm
44
Municipality
Significant attractions with a wide variety of uses and user groups
serving more 20,000 people
Hierarchy
Destination areas located adjacent and accessible to population centres Level of Service of the Public Realm
City serving less than 20,000 people are categorized according to scale
Accommodates large group activities and organized sports serving
District multiple neighborhoods of less than 10,000 people
Highly integrated public realm elements within walking and cycling

Neighborhood distance serving less than 1,000 people
Public Realm Network

The quantification of parks and waterfronts aims to identify and preserve
the appropriate percentage of area, while being situated within proximity
of every inhabitant. The public realm needs to be accessible as well as fairly
distributed to guarantee meeting the demands of the whole population.
The parks and open spaces also need to offer a wide variety of activities, with
a possibility to grow. Furthermore, there is a need to identify links between
parks and open spaces, combining their purposes with other development
plans. In the PRDM the requirements of parks and open spaces of current and
forecasted 2030 population has been identified with potential locations. All of
these concepts are found in the public realm network plans. 44
Typologies and Guidelines
The guidelines of the parks, streetscapes, waterfronts and public spaces are
Table 04: Typologies
44
designed to follow and implement the policies mentioned before. They are and Guidelines
set as a minimum standard and are categorized in three statement types:
shall, should and may, which represent mandatory, recommended and Each typologie has been identified
optional simultaneously. There are many typologies identified for each of the according to the various forms used,
four categories of the public realm which are listed below with the specific and each form follows the design
guidelines for each typology. 44 guidelines.
PARKS STREETSCAPES WATERFRONTS PUBLIC PLACES

• Art Park • Scenic Byway • Preservation • Cultural Destination DESIGN GUIDELINE
• Ceremonial Park • Ceremonial Route • Conservation • Heritage Feature LANGUAGE
• Community Gardens • Themed Corridor • Recreation • Mosque
• Sports Park • Transit Corridor • Urban • Landmark Destina- • External Linkages
• Conservation Park • Gateway tion • Access
• Desert Park • Pedestrian Corridor • Plaza • Internal Circulation
• Family Park • Pedestrian Crossing • Souk • Parking
• Heritage Park • Parking Area • Universal Access
• Linear Park • Mushtarak • Buildings
• Oasis • Sikka • Special Features
• Urban Park • Shading
• Meyadeen • Softscape
• Baraha • Hardscape
• Furniture
• Water Features
• Public Art
• Lighting
• Fences/Walls/Screens
• Signage/Wayfinding
• Services/Infrastructure
• Safety/Security
Plant list and irrigation guide

PRDM Planning The plant list serves as a guideline for irrigation needs and types identifica-
44 tion, which are suitable for Abu Dhabi. The types identified comprise of trees,
Process palms, shrubs, ground cover, succulents and perennials and climbers. The
matrix provided classifies the plant types according to their name, occurrence
1 - Define Project and their tolerance levels to the climate. Each type is also characterized ac-
2 - Review Policies cording to their irrigation needs, from low to high with two steps in-between.
3 - Identify Hierarchy There are also classifications for the suitability and applicability for each plant
4 - Determine Level of Service for each typology of each of the four public realm categories. Additionally, an
5 - Identify Typology irrigation guide is provided to help conserve water. This has been measured
6 - Apply Universal Design Guidelines according to stress levels studies for each type according to their irrigation
7 - Apply Typology Design Guidelines needs, for every month in a year, as well as depending on the plant age. 44 By
8 - Complete UPC Approvals Process utilizing this information combined with the use of efficient and maintained
irrigation systems Abu Dhabi would see a decline in the water demand.
3.2.2.3 Development review

In order to achieve the goals defined in the Plan 2030 there is not only a need
for the assisting manuals, but also a necessity for having a clearly defined and
easy to use application and submittal process. The development review has
been developed by the UPC to clarify the process, which has been designed
after getting stakeholders feedback.
The development review process clarifies the divisions between agencies so
that applicants know which part of each project will be reviewed by the re-
sponsible organization. It also clearly identifies the deliveries for each project
stage. The related initiatives include the public realm, transportation, utilities,
environment and safety & security. Recently, this process has been made
available online so that all project involved parties could have a transparent
overview of the project status. This online based system helps the review
process, as well as easing the method of communication. 45 According to the
UPC the review process is designed to:
 “Support the developer by giving them access to information and instruc-

tions to enhance the overall integration with the surrounding area
 It assists the UPC itself with the necessary data to make informed deci-
sions on development applications
 Ensure a transparent, reliable system for all development reviews” 45
The review department within UPC consists of highly skilled and innova-
tive planners, architects and urban designers. The team work, together with
the developers and their consultants, ensures innovative proposals consis-
tent with the Plan 2030. This involvement of UPC starts from managing and
reviewing the general idea through to the specific design proposals. For this
management to be successful, clear communication with developers, their
consultants and external agencies is necessary. For the review and approval
process the UPC also researches, designs and publishes large-scale planning
documents, for example the Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 Urban Structure Frame-
work Plan. These documents provide a framework and guidelines for the
developers. Similar plans are also in the pipeline for Al Ain and Al Gharbia. 45
Estidama plays a big role when it comes to the development review, as it
ensures having an integrated design process (IDP) and also addressing the
six categories of the pearl rating system (explained later), therefore, going
through the development review is a mandatory requirement of the pearl
rating system 46. The IDP process is reviewed in a manner that promotes and
ensures strategic and solution oriented thinking, collaboration and continuity
during the design phase and specifying the sustainability goals of the project.
This simplified process has identified three different development sizes, A, B

and C. According to each project a path has been drawn identifying the ex-
pectations for each stage. All development sizes abide by a four step process.
The first step is having an information meeting with an assigned UPC staff
member right after the plot has been secured. In this meeting the UPC staff
member explains the relevant policies, guidelines and deliverables, as well as
the IDP and the applicable pearl rating system. Step two is the preliminary
development option. In this step the UPC and other agencies have given the
applicant relevant information to start the preliminary development of the
site, such as the available infrastructure, transportation availability etc. the ap-
plicant has then to identify the Estidama strategy, which also has to comply
with Plan 2030 guidelines. Step three is the concept plan. Here a concept
plan, including the land use, densities, building form, site layout, services Figure 20: IDP process
and phasing is reviewed. Sustainability concepts of water, energy and waste during Development
45
are also reviewed. The fourth and last step is the detailed plan. This phase is Review
different for the large-scale developments. For small and mid-sized develop-
ments the UPC reviews the same outline in step three, but with greater detail Flowchart illustrating the detailed
going into the character, public realm and utilities. As for the large-scale de- steps of the development review
velopments this step serves as a transition into the sub-projects by providing process.
plot sizes and dimensions as well as usage. The following two graphics show
the streamline processes for each development type, as well as the Estidama
requirements for each of the four steps. 45, 46
Step 1: UPC Staff explain relevant Estidama policies to the UPC staff describes UPC assigns Pearl Assessor
The Information landowner representative, outline the Integrated Estidama Policy, IDP,
PRS
Meeting Development Process, and clarify which Pearl Rating
System is applicable to the development.
UPC assigns Pearl Assessor.
Step 2: The team is formed. Collaboratively, team members Set Estidama Form IDP team and
The Preliminary have planned for, and are implementing, the IDP. Framework organise Process &
Workshops
Development An Estidama Framework is set, with clear vision,
objectives, indicators and targets.
Options Assess Assess Comply w/
The team develops an understanding of the site and Natural Urban Regulatory
project’s natural, urban and regulatory contexts and Systems Systems Framework
identified opportunities and constraints.
Initial Development Options are formulated as well
as initial approaches to various urban and technical Identify Opportunities & Constraints
strategies.
Initial assessment of Development Options is carried Develop Preliminary Dev. Options
out with UPC DR and Estidama staff prior to submis-
sion of Concept Plan (Step 3). Develop Initial Approach to:
Natural Systems, Livable Community/Build-
ing, Precious Water , Resourceful Energy,
Stewarding Materials
Step 3: Team develops a Concept Plan and associated Con- Develop Concept Plan
The Concept cept Strategies.
Develop Concept Strategies with options for:
Plan Team continues to implement IDP. A workshop with
UPC DR and Estidama staff is held to review Concept.
(for Types A & B only) ing, Precious Water, Resourceful Energy,
Scheme performance is assessed against initial Stewarding Materials
indicators and targets.
Step 4: Team develops a Detailed Plan and associated Develop Detailed Plan
The Detailed Detailed Strategies.
Develop Concept Strategies for:
Plan Team continues to implement IDP.
Scheme performance is assessed against initial ing, Precious Water, Resourceful Energy,
indicators and targets. Stewarding Materials
A plan was developed for the next stages of design,
construction, commissioning and operation. Assess IDP Implementation
Performance Strategy
3.2.2.4 Urban Street Design Manual

The urban street design manual (USDM) has been developed by the UPC,
the department of transport (DoT), the municipalities and Abu Dhabi Police
to deliver the requirements of the population to improve walkability, con-
nectivity, safety and comfort, as well as environmental needs and health
improvement 47. This could be seen on account of current motor vehicular
based transport only, which hinders pedestrians from walking safely. The de-
sign principles are based on best practice examples from various European,
United States and Asian countries. As there are many involved government
agencies in the urban streets, the following cross-section shows the scope of
responsiblity of the USDM. 47
Figure 21: Elements of As with all other initiatives, the USDM is linked directly to the Plan 2030 vision,
47
Complete Streets and applies to the three areas of the Emirate: Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Ghar-
bia. The USDM helps the transition into a multi-modal society. 47 The manual
The elements shown in the figure are has been written to assist urban planners, designers, traffic engineers, civil
the complete street design elements, engineers and landscape architects to collaboratively deliver projects up to
while the boundaries represent the the requirements in the USDM and therefore Plan 2030.
scope of work of the USDM. The USDM is divided into three parts. The first part, Context and Process,
reviews the goals and design guidelines needed to be achieved, as well as
showing the design and review process to be used.
Abu Dhabi Urban

Street Design Manual
Landscape Public Traffic Landscape Traffic Street Signs

& Shade Transit Capacity Control Lighting
Development
Development
Code
Code
Pedestrian Cycle Road Safety Utilities Traffic Calming Parking

Realm
There are eight goals defined in the USDM, which are illustrated in the
graphic below and are as following 47:
Safety – making the streets safe for all users at all times, with an emphasis on
pedestrians especially children, elders and handicapped, by aiming at im-
proving network design and public awareness.
Land Use Context – respond to the function of the buildings looking over
the street to arrange for its needs, by designing according to the pedestrian
realm with the use of streetscape, landscape, signage and art.
Efficiency – design streets for efficient mobility for all types of users by the
expansion of public transport means, which are well connected, as well as
providing pedestrians and vehicles with shorter distances between crossings.
Sustainability – aid achieving Estidama principles by promoting walking
and cycling, leading to a reduction in carbon emissions, in addition to savings
in water requirements by reducing irrigation needs, along with shaded walk-
ways reducing the ambient temperatures and cumulatively increase comfort.
Public Health – improved through higher rates of walking and cycling
decreasing obesity and heart problems, as well as lower vehicle emissions
improving air quality.
Public Enjoyment – design for social interaction such as sidewalk coffee bars
endorsing pleasant experiences.
Economic Development & Tourism – draw investors into development to
increase property value.
Culture & Image – preserving and expressing local culture and traditions,
while being welcoming to other cultures.
The goals are driven from the design principles, and they are:
Figure 22:
 “The best transport plan is a good land use plan. 47
 Streets are community places.

USDM Goals
 Good street design starts with pedestrians. By following the design principles the
 Well-designed street networks help create sustainable cities. USDM goals shown could be achieved.
 Street design reflects the goals of the 2030 Plans for Abu Dhabi Emirate.
 Street design supports Estidama principles.” 47
Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and public

transportation users of all ages and abilities are able
to safely move along and across a complete street
Help to ease congestion by Promote Health Living (increased physical activity, lower
reducing vehicular reliance percentage of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc)
Improve safety, especially for children, Encourage walking, cycling and public Economic benefits (create livable
older adults and people with disabilities transport use communities and boost economic
revitalization)
The design and review process provides guidance on how to implement the
goals and principles by following a 5 stage procedure, which is not inter-
changeable in their order. First is the information gathering stage, which
shows how to get the information from each related initiative such as from
Estidama, utility requirements, urban design guidelines and the transport
authority. The second stage is developing the design concept by determining
or assigning land uses and transport plans, then conducting a transportation
impact study, to establish sections and plans. The third stage is to evaluate
the design. This is being done by undertaking the survey form provided in
the manual. Fourth stage is reviewing the design for approval by the relevant
agencies, which ends with the final stage of developing a detailed design
drawn by the engineers, designers and landscape architects. 47
The second part of the manual, Design of complete streets, classifies the
street typologies as well as organizes the users according to their prior-
ity, followed by a higher level of detail for each of the street, junction and
streetscape design. The various details are presented in the form of sections
and plans with the endorsed dimensions and details. The last section of part
two deals with retrofitting existing streets and junctions. This is planned to be
Table 05: Three- achieved through a three steps process which is shown below. 47
Step Approach to The last part of the manual has the supporting material, such as a sample
project, performance measures, standard details and various other useful
Retrofitting Existing tools. One of the resourceful tools is the online street design tool. This new
47
Streets feature enables designers to explore numerous options for new or retrofit
for all combinations of street types combined by the projects’ land use and
The three steps are illustrated to building heights. The tool is interactively displayed in the form of sections
show how to approach an existing and plans with plenty of editing possibilities. Even though the tool does not
street condition to do the required guarantee the design approval by any agency, still, it is possible to check if
retrofitting. the design meets the USDM’s standards and display any conflicts. 48
Step 1
De-clutter
Step 2
Pedestrian Realm Improvements
Step 3
Recreating the Street
(No change to curb or utility relocation) (Minor changes to curb and limited utility (Major changes to curb and utility
relocation) relocation)
This step involves removing unnecessary
or obsolete signs, poles and other sidewalk This step creates an improved pedestrian realm This step involves the complete reconstruction
furniture which no longer serves a purpose. that follows the USDM principles of streetscape of the street based on the Manual’s principles.
Evaluate the need for all street furnishings design, with minor changes to the curb. Refer Refer to the UCDM and coordinate with
based on use patterns at all times of the day to the UCDM and coordinate with relevant relevant utility agencies when major utility
and only replace those that provide a necessary utility agencies when minor utility relocations relocations are required. It incorporates all
function. are involved. Pedestrian realm improvements elements of the previous steps with additional
• Thoroughly survey the street for the include: efforts to create a complete street.
following elements that may be removed: • Well-defined Edge, Furnishings, Through • Recreating the Street may be triggered
• Permanent and temporary traffic signs and Frontage zones. by a major street reconstruction, such
and barriers that obstruct pedestrian • Cycle tracks, if applicable. as Salam Street in Abu Dhabi, utility
movement. relocation or the introduction of
• Pedestrian crossings, with accessible curb significant transport infrastructure such as
• Damaged litter receptacles, signs and ramps or raised crosswalks: the proposed Metro or tram lines.
benches.
• Can be added to existing streets • The design should consider adjacent
• Bollards or other unnecessary or without reconstruction. land uses and associated travel demand.
obsolete vertical projections within The dimensions of the traveled way and
the pedestrian realm. • Need to take stormwater drainage into
account. pedestrian realm should be determined
• Consider the use of multi-function pole accordingly.
systems which accommodate signs, lights • Add bollards at raised crosswalks
(optional). • This step may include some or all of the
and elevated trash receptacles. following:
• Relocate only high-quality furniture • Pedestrian-scaled paving indicating
sidewalk zones. • Road Diet
and/ or add new furniture within the
designated Furnishings zone. • Trees, shade structures and awnings to • Traffic Calming
• Conflicts with, or relocation of, existing provide shade in primary pedestrian areas. • Signalized Mid-block Pedestrian
utilities should be avoided. • Coordinated palette of street furniture and Crossings
streetscape elements. • Access Management
• Limited modification of frontage lanes, • Landscape works and new street
parking areas and taxi / bus lay-bys. amenities should be considered.
3.3 The Pearl Rating System

The main initiative used hereafter in the thesis is the pearl rating system (PRS).
The PRS is one of the first initiatives developed by the UPC to assess how
structures and communities impact the environment, consume resources
and affect people 4. The sustainable design, construction and operational
framework plan is reflecting the vision of Abu Dhabi 2030 to improve the
lives of all its citizens, as well as preserving and enhancing the environment.
The streamline of the PRS is seen in all other Manuals and initiatives, aiming
to achieve better design, construction and operational efficiencies, and vice
versa. It strives to increase quality to achieve healthier working and living en-
vironments with lower operation and maintenance costs, which accomplish
higher returns on investments and improve marketability 35.
So far, the pearl rating system has been designed and published for com- 20
munities, villas and buildings. The building certification covers offices, retail, Scope of the PRS
schools, residential and mixed use buildings 20. Even though there is no
specific special uses and healthcare rating system, still, some of these types of The PRS has been developed for
facilities have pursued and achieved the rating system. The community rating Buildings, Communities and Vills, a
system is made for developments of equal or greater than 1,000 inhabitants. mandatory assessment tool in Abu
For any development for greater than 20,000 inhabitants it is required to split Dhabi.
the project into sub-projects for them to be able to follow the certification.
Specifically for the community ratings, there is a need to ensure compliance
with the relevant 2030 master plan, as well as development codes, urban
street and public realm design manual 34. In this thesis the villa rating system
is not accentuated.
Prior to the launch of the PRS, developers would look at other internationally
recognized rating systems, such as LEED and BREEAM Gulf. The UPC saw the
need to develop its own rating system to be tailored to its hot and arid en-
vironment and very low water availability. This need was also due to the fact
that the UPC wanted to preserve the unique Emirati culture. Another reason
at the time of its launch was imposing the integrated development process
(explained later in this section), which encouraged developers to study the
whole lifecycle of the projects.
A product database has been developed by the UPC and Estidama which
complies with the rating system or promotes sustainable practices. This has
been done to help architects, developers, contractors and those responsible
for product specifications to choose the most suitable materials to be used.
This list includes water fixtures and fittings, insulation products, windows and
glazing, solar hot water systems and air conditioning equipment. Estidama
and the UPC do not certify products though; they have only been analyzed
and found compliant based on their technical performance 35.
PRS categories
The pearl rating system is structured into seven categories all driven from
the four Estidama pillars, environmental, economic, social and cultural. The
categories are Integrated Development Process, Natural Systems, Livable
Communities, Precious water, Resourceful energy, Stewarding materials and
Innovating practice. 34
The integrated development process is a key element in the PRS, which
endorses true cross-disciplinary teamwork to provide ecological and quality
management during the course of the lifespan of any project. Using an inte-
grated process can lead to cost reduction by many means, including avoid-
ance of last minute changes to comply with PRS requirements. It also encour-
ages defining the sustainability targets, monitor them and making sure they
are achieved. Natural systems promote natural resources management,
such as ecosystems and natural reserves, by following the three steps of
protection, enhancement and restoration consecutively. Beyond that, it gives
credit to habitat creation and creating sustainable food. The livable com-
munities section addresses the urban components that influence the quality
of the urban built form, through analyzing and assessing and improving the
outdoor comfort, connectivity, diversity, walkability and making communi-
ties safe and secure. The highly recognized section, precious water is aimed
at reducing water demands for indoor and outdoor uses. The hierarchy of
goals is listed as reducing demand, efficient distribution and using alternative
sources. This is being promoted through creating strategies such as moni-
toring and detecting leakage systems, minimizing water features, reducing
landscaping and promoting the use of indigenous plants and efficient water
features within buildings. As for the resourceful energy section, it targets
the hierarchical goals of reducing the demand followed by energy efficiency
through passive processes and then promoting the use of onsite and offsite
renewable energy sources. Efficiency of the infrastructure, such as lighting,
district cooling and smart grids, is driven at. Passive measures are not limited
to the buildings, but extend to the community scale as well, for instance by
reducing the urban heat-island effect and analyzing wind and shade and use
the analysis to layout the city grid for best orientation. Stewarding materials
addresses the need to recognize and act on the direct and indirect effects of
the mining, production, transportation, usage and disposal of materials used
in the life cycle of construction. The strategy placed is avoiding the use, then
reducing it and finally recycling. Another aspect of this section is waste man-
agement, which includes construction and operational waste. The last section
of innovative practice gives extra credit for addressing any or all pillars of
Estidama through innovative solutions, with a focus on culture. 20
A certified building or community has mandatory and optional credits. The
rating levels are ranging from one to five pearls. To attain a one pearl rating all
mandatory credits need to be achieved. For the two to five pearl rating levels
the list below shows how many credits are needed 20, 34.
Requirement PBRS Requirement PCRS Pearl Rating

Table 06: Pearl Achieved
Building and All mandatory credits All mandatory credits 1 Pearl
Community Rating All mandatory credits + 60 credit All mandatory credits + 55 credit 2 Pearl
20, 34
Levels points points
All mandatory credits + 85 credit All mandatory credits + 75 credit 3 Pearl

points points
The list shows how many points are
required for each rating level for All mandatory credits + 115 credit All mandatory credits + 100 credit 4 Pearl
points points
Communities and Buildings.
All mandatory credits + 140 credit All mandatory credits + 125 credit 5 Pearl
points points
Section weighting
Credits available for each section are based on custom local studies, which
are based on current availability of resources. A key result is an emphasis on
water and energy credit weighting compared to other certification systems.
The list below shows the exact figures for each building and community pearl
rating system 20, 34.
Credit Section Maximum Points PBRS Maximum Points PCRS

Table 07: Pearl IDP – Integrated Development Process 13 10
Building and NS – Natural Systems 12 14
Community Section
20, 34 LB/C - Livable Buildings/Communities 37 38
Credits
PW – Precious Water 43 37
The list shows how many points RE – Resourceful Energy 44 42
are available in each section for
SM – Stewarding Materials 28 18
Communities and Buildings.
IP – Innovating Practice 3 3
The pearl rating stages

As mentioned before, there are three rating stages for the pearl rating,
design, construction and operation. While the first two are already defined Figure 23:
and worked with, the third one is still not available. The pearl design rat-
ing is given for and after the design is completed. It is there to measure and
Links between the
20
reward only the design itself. This rating stage is also only available until the PRSs
construction is completed, when the pearl construction rating is awarded for
the project. This second rating has been developed to ensure that all design The third rating stage is planned to
pledged credits are achieved. As for the last stage, the pearl operational rat- exist soon, however it has not been
ing is there to indicate and assess the actual performance of the project after published yet.
two years of operation with a minimum of 80% of occupancy 34. The graphic
below shows the links between the stages and ratings of Estidama.
Pearl Community Pearl Community Pearl Community Pearl Community

Rating System Rating System Rating System Rating System
Rating Stages
Design Rating Design Rating Design Rating
Construction Rating Construction Rating Construction Rating
Operational Rating
To ease the process for consultants as well as for the government represen-
tatives there are two people, one from each party, assigned to the project.
From the Estidama team he or she is called the pearl assessor. As for the
consultants’ side he or she is a pearl qualified professional (PQP). To attain a
PQP role in any project the individual needs to pass an exam of technical and
administrative knowledge of the pearl rating system, to be able to facilitate
the process and provide the necessary quality assurance of the submission,
as well as for communication purposes between Estidama and the designing
team.
Key Team Members Figure 24:

20
UPC Estidama Team

Key Team Members
The graphic shows how the
Pearl Assessor interaction between the two teams is
done via the presenters.
Pearl Qualified Professional
Design and Development Team

The pearl rating process

The streamline process of getting the design and construction rating consists
Figure 25: of eleven steps, divided into three preparation, four design and four con-
Understanding the struction rating stages. First the project is registered to get an identification
20
Credits number and then assigned a PQP and conduct the workshop explained pre-
viously in the development review. Then the design rating starts with regular
The figure explains how to follow the reviewing and updating of the credits. After the final design is done the asses-
rating system and what each section sor reviews the credit submissions for any further clarification or changes
provides. before the design rating is awarded. The construction rating follows the same
steps of the design rating, but with the construction rating requirements and
documentation. 20,34
A credit template, as in the rating document provided by Estidama is shown
below to give an example. Credits marked with an R after the category refer-
ence are mandatory, while the ones with a number are optional. 20
Credit number and

title
SM-8: Hazardous Waste Management

Primary purpose of
the credit Intent To ensure the safe handling of hazardous waste in order to minimize pollution to the
ground, water and air.
Credit GENERAL
Description of what Requirements
must be achieved to Demonstrate the provision of at least one location point for the safe collection of
meet the intent of potentially hazardous consumer waste such as paints, batteries and oil.
the credit
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT/CLARIFICATIONS
None
Requirement CREDIT POINT S REQUIREMENTS

Achievement
1
(maximum)
Design Rating
Description of how Allocate a location on the development for the safe
the credit points will 1
collection of potentially hazardous consumer waste.
be awarded
1
(maximum)
Construction Rating
Demonstrate adequate space on the development for
1 the safe collection of potentially hazardous consumer
waste.
Description of Credit Narrative describing how the project int ends to meet the Credit Requirement s,
the submission Submission: including details on the size and location of the storage area and the estimated
requirements to Design Rating amount of hazardous waste to be generated; and
achieve the Design
and Construction Drawings clearly indicating the proposed location and size of hazardous waste
Ratings collection area(s).
Credit Updated narrative describing how the pr oject meets the Credit Requirements,
Submission: including details on the size and location of the storage area and the amount of
Construction hazardous waste to be generated; and
Rating As Built drawings clearly indicating t he location and size of hazardous waste
Clarification of collection area(s).
any calculations or
methodology
Calculations and None
Methodology
Any referenced
standards that
should be consulted References Center of Waste Management, Abu Dhabi: www.cwm.ae
Wind Tower at Masdar Institute , Abu Dhabi, UAE
Chapter 04:
APPLICATION: MASDAR CITY
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Overall Masterplan
4.3 Case Study 1: Masdar Institute
4.3.1 Energy
4.3.2 Water
4.3.3 Materials
4.3.4 Miscellaneous
4.4 Case Study 2: Siemens Headquarters
4.4.1 Energy
4.4.2 Water
4.4.3 Materials
4.4.4 Miscellaneous
4.5 Assessment and SWOT Analysis
Presentation of a practical implementation of the preceding chapter,

where the PRS is applied on two case studies in Masdar City, one on
the community and another on a building scale. Major affecting credits
are showcased, how they were targeted and how they got achieved,
to better understand the implementation measures and help form a
better analysis in the succeeding chapter. The chapter ends with an
evaluation of the case studies in the form of a SWOT analysis.
53 Chapter 4 - Application
4 Application: Masdar City
4.1 Introduction
Masdar is an enterprise established in 2006, which operates through its five
integrated units; the Masdar institute, capital, power, carbon and City. The
word Masdar means ‘the source’ in Arabic, referring to the vision of Masdar
which is
“To make Abu Dhabi the preeminent source of renewable energy knowledge,
development, implementation and the world’s benchmark for sustainable de-
velopment” 49
The planned and implemented measures to achieve this mission are through
the Masdar Institute as the source of education and innovation and human
capital of all other units, whereas Masdar Capital is ensuring investments in
renewable energies and clean technology corporations, such as wind and
solar energy, as well as resources including water and waste management.
Masdar Power uses the know-how developed from the research, and focuses
on the power generation and operation, such as concentrated solar power
(CSP), geothermal, photovoltaic and wind energy. Masdar Carbon deals with
projects that aim to reduce its carbon emissions through waste handling,
energy efficiency and carbon capture and storage (CCS). As for the last part of
the organization, Masdar City is the clean technology cluster and sustainable
urban planning and development branch. 49 Figure 26: Masdar
The city is planned to occupy a six square kilometer and is located 17 kilo- Organizational
meters from downtown Abu Dhabi. When completed an estimate of 40,000 49
people will reside the city. Along with that, numerous research companies
Structure
and businesses will be located in Masdar City, such as general electric (GE),
The five integrated units of Masdar
Siemens, BASF and the international renewable energy agency (IRENA).
The allocated budget of the overall Masterplan is 15 to 18 billion US dollars, that support the Vision 2030.
financed by the Abu Dhabi government. 49
INSTITUTE CAPITAL POWER CARBON CITY
• Innovation • Investment • Energy • Carbon • Clean

• Over 30 research • Clean energy generation abatement technology
projects • 100 MW CSP • CDM Projects cluster
• Energy and plant Shams 1 • Sustainable
• Human capacity material • Energy urban
development efficiency • 17MW Solar efficiency under planning and
• Nearly 180 • Environmental tower Gemasolar EON Masdar development
students from 25 resources • 1GW London Integrated
countries Array wind farm Carbon (EMIC)
• Environmental • Carbon storage
services • Masdar PV
producing • Abu Dhabi CCS
advanced network
thin film solar
modules
• Wind farm Sir
Bani Yas
Masdar is directly supporting the UPC’s Vision 2030, both the economic and
urban planning visions, by branching out of the oil based investments and
focusing on education, renewable energy and technology 50. In addition to
Masdar and Vision that, it sets a good example for Estidama driven developments, even though
Masdar started before the commencement of the UPC. It does that by many
2030 means, such as developing according to best practices containing history
Masdar is directly supporting and tradition tapping, their development of clean energy transportation,
the UPC’s Vision 2030, both the energy efficient design, improving the supply chain and practice and many
economic and urban planning more. Masdar City’s professionals are aiding as an additional resource to the
visions, by branching out of the oil UPC, Department of Transportation, Waste Management and the department
based investments and focusing on of municipal affairs on a range of added urban planning issues, including
education, renewable energy and giving insights and information from the practical point of view of what does
technology 50 or does not work. Masdar City is also providing major education outreach
resources to the public and in local schools 51. The Masterplan and the case
studies of a community and building are showed in the following sections.
4.2 Overall Masterplan

The aim set to be achieved by Masdar for the Masterplan is to be a carbon
neutral development in operation, as well as diverting all the waste gen-
erated in the city from landfills. Another aim is providing the residents of
Masdar city with the highest quality of life without compromising on the
environmental footprint goals. 52 As stated before, the Masterplan is to be of
mixed use nature, combining residential, hotels, leisure, offices, research and
light industry with the supporting facilities to achieve complete sustainable
communities (CSC) as explained in chapter 3.
The Foster+Partners design of the Masterplan is inspired by the traditional
Arab city 53. It incorporates traditional concepts that are known for centuries
to have worked best for the regions climate. The Masterplan is designed to
have a relatively very high density (compared to current practices in this
region), which is 135 people per hectare 54. The integration of all uses within
proximity makes it also possible to have the city function with no or mini-
mum vehicular streets, making it a pedestrian friendly city 55. As an alterna-
tive, there are some routes for electric based public transportation, whether
its regular cars or Masdar’s state-of-the-art personal rapid transit (PRT) system.
For the time being planned landscape of indigenous or low irrigation plans
will aid in reducing the ambient temperatures. This is grouped with the water
features, such as mirror pools and evaporative cooling towers 52. On top of
that, Masdar City is running on 100% renewable energy, considering the
annual average use over annual on-site production. To be able to achieve
these high standards Masdar introduced renewable energy pilot projects for
testing, and embraced the one planet living concepts as well as initiating the
future build, a platform of rated and tested products and materials.
Figure 27: Artist

Impression of Masdar
City
Courtesy of Foster + Partners 53
Figure 28:
58
Green
Criteria
energy water waste recycled VOC content
reduction reduction reduction packaging The Future Build 15 sustainability
assessment criteria
recycled reusable biobased maintenance indicative

content content /cleaning price
durability availability renewable code of TBF

energy conduct ranking
The Future build

The future build is an initiative by Masdar, the first of its kind in the region,
which assists architects, engineers, specification developers and contrac-
tors to identify materials and products that provide environmental benefits
assessed by third parties 56. Besides that, it is a platform for news, discussions
and information about the latest green building products. The future build
offers training services for companies to reduce their environmental footprint,
whether it is in the product, supply chain or overall businesses 57. In conjunc-
tion with that they provide life cycle assessment (LCA) and process chain
analysis provided by sustainability experts 58. This enables manufacturers to
assess the complete life cycle of their products, displaying the environmental
impact in a transparent way, which leads to possibilities of enhancing their
processes. The LCA includes carbon footprint, water footprint, ecological
efficiency and energy management and more. Another benefit of the future
build platform is advertisement. On their website, there is the possibility to
have products and services displayed, provided with relative information on
how “green” the products are and connected on the platform to certification
systems and sustainability criteria. Each product, according to how thor-
ough its analysis was made, will display its information, green attributes and
relevance or possibilities to achieve certain certification credits such as for
Estidama or LEED. The future build helps with the spreading of awareness and
making the transition to sustainable buildings easier.
One planet living

One planet living (OPL) is a global initiative that has been endorsed by
Masdar City development. It is based on ten principles of sustainable de-
velopment, developed by BioRegional and WWF International 59. The aim of
OPL is to help the transition or movement from the current developments to
sustainable developments based on the ten principles. These principles are:
zero carbon, zero waste, sustainable transport, local and sustainable materials,
local and sustainable food, sustainable water, natural habitat and wildlife, cul-
ture and heritage, equity and fair-trade and health and happiness. To develop
this vision a holistic approach of closed loops has been shaped. This vision is
recognized by an action plan covering the indicators and targets, sustainabil-
ity integration and the footprint analysis and infrastructure design by Masdar
City. The developers have used OPL to benchmark their Masterplan and to
keep the development to a certain standard. As of the initial design of the
Masterplan, Masdar had exceeded the OPL standards, which are summarized
in the table in the annex 60.
4.3 Case Study #1: Masdar Institute

The Masdar institute for science and technology (MIST) Phase 1A is the first
completed project within the city. It has a GFA of 63,174 m2, completed in
November 2010 with an estimated budget of 500m US dollars 61. This devel-
opment (neighborhood) has been chosen to be showcased as it represents
a major leap from the business as usual design and construction methodolo-
gies prior to the mandate of Estidama and the pearl rating system.
To clarify again, the MIST has not been analyzed or rated by Estidama’s Pearl
Community Rating System, and henceforth the comparison is based on the
author’s benchmarking of the outcome of the facilities with the PRS targets.
This has been driven by comparing both, the PRS and the MIST outcome to
Abu Dhabi’s baseline. According to the outcome, MIST if rated should be a 3-4
pearl community.
The community has six buildings: 3 residential buildings with 102 apartments,
2 laboratories and classroom buildings (including the administration) and one
knowledge center (auditorium and library). This is the first part of 3 phases
which was completed in 2010, hosting around 150 students per academic
year. The second part of phase one is expected to be completed by the
beginning of 2013. The following part shows some of the pearl community
rating criteria and how they were achieved.
Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 1A (Completed) Phase 1B (under constr.)
Figure 29: Proposed55

Masterplan
Proposed Masterplan of Masdar
Institute for Science and Technology
North
Figure 30: MI Phase 1A61 3 3

Floor Plan 3 2
5
1 Reception 2 1 2 3
2 Laboratory
3 Housing
4 Library
4
5 Wind Tower
2 3
0 10m
4.3.1 Energy
LC-9: Improved Outdoor Thermal Comfort; and
RE-1: Community Strategies for Passive Cooling; and
RE-2 Urban Heat Reduction
The intent of these credits is to improve the outdoor micro-climate through
early community design and land use decisions, and reduce the urban heat
island effect in the public realm and especially in pedestrian walkways 34. This
has been achieved through orienting the whole community northeast-south-
west, which provides the public realm with shade most of the day all year
round. In addition, this orientation provides best wind flow from the prevail-
ing wind direction after going through the planned linear park. The proximity
of the buildings (i.e. narrow building to building distance) enables building to
building shading, lowering the reflectance of sun rays on the ground result-
ing in lower ground temperatures. Additionally, colonnades for pedestrians
are provided.
North/South East/West Northeast/Southwest
The North-South orientation An East-West alignment The Northeast-Southwest Figure 31: City
55
Grid
of streets allows sunlight results in an increase in orientation of the city fabric
penetration to the urban cooling load requirement due provides optimal shading. Orientation
fabric with a subsequent to the exposure of external
increase in cooling loads. walls to sunlight.
The City grid is placed Northeast/
Southwest for best natural ventilation
and shading.
71oC
o
66 C Figure 32: Felt55
51oC o 46oC
Central Masdar Institute 47 C Masdar Institute Temperatures
Abu Dhabi Fully shaded Masdar Institute Added active
Desert (unshaded) colonnades Lush green garden water feature
Comparative analysis showed

temperatures felt are drastically lower
in Masdar City.
Another main feature is the Windtower. The Windtower is 45m in height, and
is a modern version of the traditional Arabic design, which is designed to
capture the cooler wind from above and direct it to the public realm level.
The Windtower is triangular in shape with operable louvers on the top. These
louvers work with sensors to open and close according to the present wind
direction. The sealed inner membrane of the tower is made of PTFE material.
Furthermore, there are mist jets on the top level that humidify the air on its
way down resulting in cooling the wind (evaporative cooling). The lighting on
the Windtower serves as a measurement and mostly education tool to notify
and keep residents aware of their energy consumption. Basically the light
indicators (in the form of raising bars) light up according to the campuses en-
ergy consumption. Blue color for low to regular consumption, and it transits
to red when consumption is higher.
Shading Fire Escape Finishes Façades

Figure 33: Wind Tower shaded colonnades provide located externally to Heavyweight finishes Lightweight,
shade to low angle sun eliminate the need for AC provide thermal mass reflective ETFE
55
Down :
1 Louvres
2 Mist Jets
3 Monitoring
4 Inner Sock
Right:
Image showing elements of MI
® Ismail Khater 2012
1
2 3
4
RE-5: Energy Efficient Buildings

The intent of this credit is to reduce the energy consumption of buildings
within the community and limit the size and burden on the community infra-
structure. This has been achieved through various methods. 34
Air conditioning load reduction methods have been placed by locating
the fire escapes of the buildings to the outside, meaning reducing the AC
load required through the reduction of the floor area. For the fire escapes
horizontal louvers are provided to shade them. A different approach has been
used in the lobbies of the buildings. The air conditioning in these lobbies is
set to 30 degrees Celsius, to act as a transitional space between the outdoor
and indoor climates, to limit the thermal shock effect. This transition is usually
ranging between 6-8 degrees Celsius between the two environments. 62
Shading provision is another major aspect to achieve the goal of energy
reduction. External louvers are provided to reduce or illuminate direct solar
heat gain indoors, as a secondary measure during high sun angle times, while
the buildings already shade themselves due to proximity. The residential
units have a modern version of the Islamic architectural element ‘Mashrabiya’,
which are latticework which operates as a shading and privacy protection
element without hindering the views from the inside.
Façades design is made in such a way that they reduce the heat transfer
through high thermal mass, insulation and innovative construction. As an
example, the laboratories are covered with lightweight Ethylene Tetrafluoro-
ethylene (ETFE) material, a plastic with a high insulation value that is inflated.
The windows of the institute are equipped with high performance double
glazed glass that minimizes thermal transfer. 62
Lighting reduction of artificial systems presents another aspect for energy
reduction to specifically achieve minimization of electrical lighting load and
heat. Various areas within the campus are lit naturally in an indirect way,
and where artificial lighting is needed, it is provided through efficient high
frequency lighting fixtures. Another method used is by painting the interior
walls with bright colors, mainly white, which also lowers the need for artificial
lighting by bouncing the rays on the white surfaces. 62
Smart sensors are supplied all over the campus. These range from lighting
sensors to CO2 sensors which adjust the needed mechanical ventilation and
lighting according to the demand. 62
RE-4.1: Renewable energy: On-site

RE4.2: Renewable energy: Off-site
The intents of these credits are to endorse/promote the use of onsite renew-
able energy to compensate for reductions due to transmission losses, as well
as to create large-scale renewable energy facilities. Both of these credits aim
to reduce reliance on fossil fuel based power generation. 34
Masdar City is well known for its provision of renewable energy in its various
forms, extending from the on-site 1MW rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panels,
which also reduce the solar heat gain from the roof area, to the off-site but
close by 10MW PV farm. The evacuated tube collectors (ETC) provide 75% of
the hot water demand. Excess power from the 10MW plant is then fed to the
grid of Abu Dhabi. Several pilot projects exist as well in Masdar. There is the
beam down project (BDP), same concept of the concentrated solar power
(CSP) that works by directing the beam to an elevated tower, except in the
case of the BDP the beam is diverted again to the ground level. This elimi-
nates the power needed to elevate the heated fluid to the top of the tower
resulting in lower energy needs. Other pilot projects are using geothermal
energy and thermal cooling, in which multiple-effect absorption chillers are
driven. 62
Ex cess power Roof Top P V PV array

ETC returned to the (1MW ) (10M W)
Abu Dhabi grid
Figure 34: Power 62of
Masdar Institute
Diagram showing how the Institute
Buildings are powered.
75% 30% 70%

SHW Masdar Institute
Reduced cooling
Solar hot water demand and Efficient fans and
system Efficient lighting efficient cooling pumps
systems
3%
15% 18% Figure 35: Annual 62
45% Energy Consumption
Technologies providing % annual
energy savings against UAE business
as usual (incremental contribution).
Additional contribution from PV’s Proposed design
66% 51%
4.3.2 Water
PW-1.1: Community Water Use Reduction: Landscaping
PW-1.3: Community Water Use Reduction: Water Features
The intents of these credits are to encourage water efficient public realm
landscape design through plant selection, irrigation technologies and man-
agement, and minimize evaporation losses in water features and the use of
recycled water. 34
The campuses softscape comprises of native species, locally sourced and low
water demanding plants. The outcome is a low 6 liter per square meter per
day water demand, which is reduced by using treated sewage effluent (TSE)
water. The water is treated on-site by a membrane bioreactor (MBR) plant.
Waste from the treatment is expected to be used for composting and waste-
to-energy when the supply and demand is present. 62
Water features are minimized in the campus. There is only one mirror foun-
tain and the mist jets in the Windtower, which create a cooling effect and are
shaded for lower evaporation rates. There are no outdoor pools.
e
th nd
m r ou
fr o r g
ted nde
c u F il
Figure 36: Masdar55 l l e om
fr
ter
e d
nd o
aa c
s e ater
W
Water Strategy des

Water isol ar al inated
us ing s power
Po
R a in
to tabl
be e
Diagram explaining the water us W
wate
nd e
at in ta
er ps
d
ou
er k
nd bac
r is c o
strategy of a sustainable development
gr
So
ur c
dow fil ter s
e
nu
l l ec te
and aimed for by Masdar City.
and
T he ceaned and s ter

is cl y to be us e or ed
r ea d
d
ol l ec ted wat
Reduced consumption
through high tec h
appliances
Wa te r
d to.
..
is u
s ed
for
C
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ir r
he
at t
ig
ion h
us
Tr e a Fl
dis c te d wa ter ly
ef fic ha r ged to highys te m s
ie nt c l ea ning s
PW-3: Water Efficient Buildings & Plots

The intent of this credit is to endorse reductions in the water consumption
of buildings within the community, as well as limit the size and load on the
community infrastructure 34.
Measures taken to achieve the intent include high-efficient appliances such
as low water demanding laundry machines. Other appliances include low-
flow showers and water taps, which reduced the consumption to 179 liters
per person per day, which is efficient compared to Abu Dhabi’s average of
390 liters consumption per person per day 62. Along with that, water leakage
detection has been installed and reduced to 1%. Water meters are also used
to inform the users of their consumption.
Figure 37: Masdar55

Water Savings Business as usual
390 liters per person per day
Water savings compared to Business
a Usual.
Masdar Institute Campus
179 liters per person per day
54%
4.3.3 Materials
SM-3: Recycled Materials
The intent of this credit is to increase the demand for recycled materials and
therefore reduce the amount of waste going to disposal. 34
The use of recycled materials is a major aim in the development of Masdar
and included in their own key performance indicators (KPIs). Masdar seeks to
maximize the recycled content, through having about 90% of the steel from
post-consumer recycled content. The use of building aggregates as a substi-
tute or addition in concrete was also present. All the woodwork is from FSC
certified post-consumer material, as well as all the Aluminum. Recycled stone
is also used for kitchen work-tops. 62
SM-5: Improved Construction Waste Management
SM-6: Improved Operational Waste Management
The intents of these credits are to reduce the long-term environmental im-
pacts associated with construction and operational waste collection, trans-
port and disposal. 34
This has been achieved by obliging contractors to separate construction
waste during the building phase, resulting in recycling of a higher percent-
age rate than 70% by weight. Most of the waste is being recycled on-site in a
material recycling center. The bulk of the waste is being used in the construc-
tion of Masdar City. Concrete waste is crushed and used as an infill. Excavated
sand stays on-site for later filling as well (common in Abu Dhabi is to divert its
location by transporting it in trucks). Diversion from landfills of the construc-
tion material is 96%, a very high rate for the Emirate. 52
As for the operational waste management, Masdar sets a high solid waste
stream waste strategy. Separated bins are provided as a first step of separa-
tion, followed by another sorting which divides materials into recyclable
and none-recyclable waste. As for now, no recycling facility is available, but
planned to be near or on-site. The bio-waste will be composted and used as a
fertilizer for landscaping.
Waste collected
and sorted Recyclable
Recycling
Figure 38: Operational
62
Products Consumer
Waste Strategy
Non-Recyclable Waste - to - energy Diagram illustrating the waste
(planned pilot strategy at the Masdar Institute
project)
Campus.
Bio-Products
Composting
Figure 39: Material

55
Recycling Centre
Masdar City and its contractors are
iverting up to 96% of construction
waste from landfi ll and using it in the
build of the city.
4.3.4 Miscellaneous
LC-1: Transit Supportive Practices
The intent of this credit is to optimize public transportation investment
through development practices that facilitate higher use of transit facilities. 34
This credit is tackled by the innovative personal rapid transit (PRT) connect-
ing the institute to other public transportation, which connects to the city.
The PRT station is located within the required 350 meter radius. The walkways
to the underground station are also shaded. This is achieved through having
no vehicular streets within the campus. The PRT system comprises of electric
vehicles that are driverless that are controlled by magnets embedded in their
pathway. These carts can reach 40 km/h. Unlike any other rail public transit
system, the PRT has lay-bys that prevent the need for waiting time of the
carts in front, where they also get charged. The PRT system is running under
the whole facility. 52
High-speed
Train
Figure 40:62
City Mobility Mas s T
r ans
it
Airport
Diagram explaining the proximity of
city landmarks to the Masdar Institute
LR T Public
Campus. Station Green Space
PRT/Bus
Station Pl ayground
Neighborhood Places of
Center Worship
Public Shops
Green Space
2x
= 42
School Work places
Metro
4.4 Case study #2: Siemens HQ

The Siemens Headquarters located in Masdar City adjacent to the MIST is
expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2013. The project is valued at
170 million AED, with an area of 20,000 square meters. The main function of
the building is being an office building, with the main tenant of Siemens AG
occupying 12,000 square meters of the building 33. The building has a com-
pact plan, designed through parametric modeling. There are nine courtyards
located within the floor plate providing necessary natural lighting. Unlike
MIST the building is constructed on the ground level and is elevated towards
the institute to solve the connectivity with the adjacent site as shown in the
image.
The building is expected to achieve LEED platinum and Estidama 3 Pearl
building certification, to fulfill local requirements as well as getting LEED for
international recognition 63. The design of the architecture has been provided
by Sheppard Robson. The aim set for the design was to be as efficient as pos-
sible, set on the ground of highest standards of Masdar and LEED. Each floor
has an area of 4,500 square meters, achieving an efficiency of 90%. This has
been realized through column free floor plates, with 15 meters span, by using
post-tensioned flat slabs providing highly flexible spaces for future changes.
The building is performing 44% better than ASHRAE energy model baseline.
The following credits from the pearl building rating system have been se-
lected to show the achievements for further analysis.
Figure 41: Stacked

Floors Diagram
Floor Plans showing the 9 attires
configuration.
Courtesy of Sheppard Robson
4.4.1 Energy
RE-1: Improved Energy Performance
RE-2: Cool Building Strategies
The intent of this credit is to reduce the energy consumption of the building
in the operational phase and reduce the cooling demand 20.
By providing an energy model performance analysis that achieves Masdar
KPIs, the building will save above 40% of energy compared with ASHRAE
Parametric design baseline 90.1 2007. This has been done through passive and active measures.
The external glazing has been limited to 35% of the façade area. These are
Parametric design is the generation shaded by another added layer that has been parametrically designed to
of geometry from the definition of a achieve 100% shading on all orientations of the façade, without compromis-
family of initial parameters and the ing the views and natural lighting requirements.
design of the formal relations they
keep with each other. It is about the For the cool building strategies the roof has been covered with high albedo
materials with a solar reflectance index (SRI) higher than 78. The nine atria are
use of algorithms to generate an
shaded, but provide natural lighting. The overall envelope has an air leakage
order of mathematical and geometric
rate of 5 cubic meters per hour per square meter.
relations that let you explore many
results that the variability of the RE-6: Renewable Energy
initial parameters allows The intent of this credit is to reward projects for their use of onsite and offsite
renewable energy, which reduces CO2 emissions and therefore reduce the
reliance on fossil fuels 20.
Some points of this credit are achieved through the onsite solar collectors
on the roof, which provide three quarters of the demand of hot water used
in the building. Offsite systems achieve 20% from the 1MW power plant in
Masdar City.
Energy monitoring are also not only included, but displayed for the tenants
and visitors, which could affect their behavior and may provide further reduc-
tions.
4.4.2 Water
PW-1: Improved Interior Water Use Reduction
PW-2.1: Improved Exterior Water Use Reduction: Landscaping; and
PW-2.2: Improved Exterior Water Use Reduction: Water Features
The intents of these credits are basically water reduction. These range from
interior potable water reduction, to exterior landscaping and water features
reductions through irrigation strategies and the use of recycled water 20.
For the interior reductions water saving devices have been installed, includ-
ing dual flush toilets, low flow taps and showers as well as waterless urinals.
For the same reason as with the energy monitoring, publically displayed
water meters are provided to expand the awareness of the users of their
Water Features consumption.
No water features have been For exterior water use a variety of locally grown low water and native plant
incorporated in the design of Siemens species have been selected. The total area used for landscaping does not
Headquarter. exceed 10%, while the irrigation rate is limited to 6 liters per square meter per
day. The water used for irrigation is from the allocated water budget from the
treated effluent water of the building. As for the water features, none have
been incorporated in the Masdar Siemens Headquarters.
4.4.3 Materials
SM-10: Recycled Materials
Figure 42:
The intent of this credit is to increase the use of recycled materials to reduce Exterior View
the amount of waste going to be disposed 20.
As per Masdar’s KPIs it is mandated to achieve an even higher benchmark
than set by Estidama. This is achieved through having over 80% of the steel
used in the structure having 90% of post-consumer recycled content. The
Portland cement is also reduced through the use of ground granulated blast
furnace slag. Furthermore, the column free design enabled material reduc-
tions of 60% and made the office space even more flexible to accommodate
a high range of offices according to their demands.
SM-13: Improved Construction Waste Management
SM-14: Improved Operational Waste Management
The intents of these credits are to reduce the long-term environmental im-
pacts associated with construction and operational waste collection, trans-
port and disposal 20.
The operational waste has been planned to be separated and recycled as per
Masdar’s solid waste stream waste strategy. A room adjacent to the loading
bay is provided for the waste separation and storage, with a target of 80%
diversion from landfills.
Construction and demolition waste is being recycled with a higher percent-
age rate than 70% by weight. Most of the waste is being recycled onsite in
the material recycling center. Substance of the waste is being used in the
construction of Masdar City. Diversion from landfills of the construction mate-
rial is above 90%.
4.4.4 Miscellaneous
LBo-1: Improved Outdoor Thermal Comfort
The intent of this credit is to improve outdoor thermal comfort during transi-
tion months and further reduce thermal discomfort during summer months
in public spaces and walkways 20.
The outdoor spaces underneath the building will be fully shaded. Parking
structures are also fully shaded, providing a walkable environment.
LBo-6: Public Transport
The intent of this credit is to encourage the use of public transport by build-
ing occupants and visitors 20.
As a car free development this credit is achieved through having the building
adjacent to the MIST and therefore the PRT system. The Masterplan also in-
Figure 43: corporates the network of the Abu Dhabi planned public rail system. As there
Podium View are no vehicular streets and only narrow pedestrian streets, which are shaded,
this encourages users and visitors to walk and cycle.
4.5 Assessment and SWOT analysis

This section analyzes the case study of Masdar Institute and the Siemens
building. The assessment method used is a SWOT analysis, to balance inter-
nal and external aspects of the development of Masdar City. Strengths and
weaknesses are determined by internal elements, while the opportunities
and threats are external forces. In this analysis the aspects looked at are the
pillars of sustainability defined by Estidama: Environmental, economic, culture
and social. Data used for the analysis are derived from interviews 52, 64, own
analysis of the project through literature review as well as site visits.
Because of the financial crisis, the project has changed in terms of budget,
delivery time and some design aspects. The budget fell from 22bn US dollars
to 18bn US dollars. The delivery of the project is now expected to be 2025.
Major elements that have changed are the abandonment of the PRT system,
restricting it to what has already been built to cut the cost on the infrastruc-
ture needed (raising the buildings seven meters). Still, other methods of fossil
fuel free transportation are looked at. Another major change is not having
PV on the roofs of the new buildings; instead, additional PV will be installed
next to the 10MW plant in Masdar City. Looking at the positive side of the
crisis, it gave the developers the opportunity to realize the importance of the
economic aspect, which after that all projects need to be financially viable.
Another outcome was the pace of development, which slowed down to
building one neighborhood at a time. This strategy helps the next phases to
learn from the previous ones, avoiding disastrous economic pitfalls.
Strengths
One of the main strengths remaining in Masdar is its realized ambition to
retain solely reliability on renewable energy. This is kept through Abu Dhabi’s
excess of available capital and Masdar’s high benchmarks and goals they have
committed to. Looking at Masdar City Masterplan as a whole, and not a single
building, it could be considered being decentralized in terms of energy.
Architectural features such as the modernized version of the ‘Mashrabiya’ and
the courtyard designs give the development its identity of a modern Arabic
city by combining the past and the present, which is one of the goals of the
cultural pillar of Estidama. Similarly, being highly dense and mixed in the
functions remains a strong point over the Abu Dhabi business as usual urban
sprawl, a relatively unique component. The outcome of density, shade and
mixed-use is a walkable development: a rare thing in the UAE.
Furthermore, passive measures have reduced the energy and water con-
sumption alone by 50% respectively, which should be implemented in all
upcoming developments.
Weaknesses
There still exists a controversial problem of the concept of creating entire
cities from scratch. On the one hand Abu Dhabi is in need of developments
to meet the needs of the growing population, on the other hand the isola-
tion of Masdar City and lack of existing building renovation plans reduce the
weight of its impact. While the capital is present through the oil rich Emirate,
the development is too expensive and this money could have been invested
in existing developments that are seen as more socially crucial. Masdar city is
impartially too expensive.
The desires set by Masdar are too ambitious, leading to a downsizing after
realizing the importance of the economic sustainability. This is not only seen
in the elimination of some features, but as an overall goal of being a carbon
free city.
Seeing the monitoring LEDs on the Windtower lit in red in all my visits made
me conclude that even though it is possible to stay within the estimated
energy consumption there is still a lack of either awareness and/or practice
by the occupants. As a final argument, there is a lack of social diversity in the
development making it incomplete and exclusive for a certain niche of the
society.
Opportunities
As the development is still ongoing and thriving, there is a lot of potential
for changes to be done to reach the highly ambitious goals. This could range
from ground breaking technology from the renewable energy explorations to Knowledge Transfer
local food production with the residues of the water treatment. Methods of
awareness rising are also prospects seen as an outcome of Masdar, combined While the city cannot be copied,
with a ripple effect which could turn the whole building industry towards technology and processes used are
more sustainable practices. This is not limited to consultants’ designs, but also transferable.
a potential to uplift the whole supply chain.
Not that Masdar could be copied as is, there is a huge potential for knowl-
edge transfer from the institute, as well as process transfer from the Masdar
City developers. This process transfer could make it possible to achieve the
highest standards in other new developments around the region.
Another main opportunity which is already on its way to realization is the
diversification of the economy, the main aim of the economic vision 2030.
Threats
Many external threats for Masdar City stand, as it is a long term project. One
problem that could arise is a cutoff of finance for the project. Along with that
is the highly vulnerable area with climate change, especially the water scar-
city problem. Building in a desert climate imposes the threat of sandstorms,
which affect the efficiency of the PV panels dramatically and with the water
shortage it becomes very resource intensive to clean them. Another long
term outlying threat is population growth, which could result in incapability
of carrying the capacity while maintaining dependence on renewable energy.
There are other threats that are already affecting the development. One of
them is the lack or shortage of skilled workers that are familiar and trained
to deliver to the high building standards. Design and materials are highly af-
fected by the methods and accuracy of implementation. Another threat is the
lack of infrastructure. As an example, there are no proper waste separation
and treating facilities for domestic garbage. Finally, the highly subsidized wa-
ter and electricity is affecting all the visions in a negative way, making it nearly
impossible to change the users’ behavior, leaving it up to the conscience of
the consumer since there is no financial pressure that reflects the real price of
the resource. The following table represents a summary of the SWOT analysis:
Strengths Weaknesses
Table 08: Capital availability Development too expensive
SWOT Analysis Passive & compact design Isolation of the city
Walkable pedestrian friendly development New construction
A summary of the finding of the SWOT
High benchmarks Lack of involvement in existing buildings
analysis of both Case Studies
100% run by renewable energy Lack of social diversity
Decentralized development Occupants behavior uncontrollable
Mixed use neighborhoods Goals too ambitious
Regional identity
Opportunities Threats
Knowledge transfer Climate change – water scarcity/sandstorms
Economic diversification Financial drawbacks
Ripple effect Lack of infrastructure
Uplift supply chain Lack of skilled workers
Awareness raising Population growth
Exploring and inventing new technologies Subsidized resources
While there remain many obstacles in the way of the development of Masdar
city, in my opinion, it is a needed initiative to step away from our comfort zones
and business as usual, to try to systematically reach far for solutions to our
environmental problems. Learning by doing is not the most financially effective
way, but in this case I see it as a definite way forward.
Yas Viceroy Hotel, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Chapter 05:
ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Interview Outcomes
5.2.1 Distinctions of Estidama
5.2.2 Data Analysis
5.2.5 Effects of Estidama on Consultants
5.3 Outcome Evaluation & Recommendations
5.3.1 Interview Data Evaluation
5.3.2 Effects on Consultants
5.3.3 PRS Credits
5.4 Strategies
5.4.1 Public Awareness
5.4.2 Economic Incentives and Disincentives
5.4.3 Utilities, Services and Infrastructure Enhancement
5.5 Action Plan
The data from the interviews combined with the literature review from
chapter three, findings from the case study from chapter five congre-
gate in this analysis. The analysis is split into three parts, analysis, evalu-
ation and recommendations. In the first part, the data from the inter-
views is filtered and visually presented when possible. The second and
third parts are interconnected. Through the first evaluation all aspects
are analyzed, then filtered, followed by recommendation strategies
addressing the main findings to be of greater priority and influence.
The chapter ends with an action plan combining all the strategies in a
timed framework.
71 Chapter 5 - Analysis & Evaluation
5 Analysis and Evaluation
5.1 Introduction
The Vision 2030 combined with all supporting initiatives and integrated back-
ing from different government agencies in Abu Dhabi signal the recognition
of the need and opportunities for improvement of the built environment to
address the resources scarcity issues, as well as the realization of the necessity
to develop in a sustainable manner. The biggest opportunity Abu Dhabi has
is building new developments, which provides the chance for leapfrogging.
This could be seen in their policies, such as Estidama, as well as in the physical
environment and testing fields, such as Masdar City and its initiatives.
Nevertheless, there are opportunities that have not been taken advantage
of, as well as tweaks to the newly implemented frameworks, which could
enhance the overall performance of the state. In order to find these, exclusive
interviews were conducted to identify the strength, weaknesses, opportuni-
ties and barriers of the policies and implemented measures.
This chapter highlights the findings from the interviews, which are analyzed
to come up with a comprehensive evaluation and recommendations to Leapfrogging
assist the development of Abu Dhabi’s initiatives. The methodology is split
into three parts: the first part illustrates the interview outcomes, where the The concept is seen in being able to
distinctions of Estidama are displayed, as well as the data analysis and effects skip less efficient or more expensive
of Estidama and the pearl rating system on consultants. The second part is technologies and processes and move
evaluating the data from the first part, identifying the benefits along with directly to more advanced ones.
the barriers and gaps. The last part details the recommendations for the two
scales, the rating system and city-wide strategies, and is concluded by an
action plan to put the results into a time frame with its resource allocations.
Referenced interviews are available in the supplementary booklet.
5.2 Interview outcomes

This section will examine the interviews and surveys which are an integral
part of this thesis. The analysis is presented in a graphical format whenever
possible, to help visualize the data outcomes. Through these findings it will
be later on possible to evaluate the PRS and Estidama initiatives. All infor-
mation indicated in this section is based on the interviewees’ opinions. The
findings show that there are many advantages such as the distinctions of
Estidama and the benefits of the program. On the other hand there are still
many disadvantages which could be optimized.
5.2.1 Distinctions of Estidama

This part is focused on the differences seen in Estidama compared to other
certification systems and initiatives like the ones discussed in chapter two,
as well as the process of stakeholders perceiving the new system. Estidama
is the overall or more holistic umbrella program of sustainable development,
which has been explained in chapter 3. Therefore, it is crucial to differentiate
between Estidama and the Pearl Rating System (PRS). Estidama is connected,
or better integrated, inside all initiatives under both the planning and eco-
nomic initiatives. This is the internal (governmental) integration part.
How the PRS is different than other systems

A closer look into the system reveals a number of significant differences
compared to other certification systems. The PRS is differentiated from other
systems by including the integrated design process (IDP). This enables cross-
disciplinary teamwork. The PRS is also the first mandatory rating system. All
projects in Abu Dhabi need to be at least rated with one pearl, while all gov-
Main Differences ernment buildings need to be two pearl rated. The rating system is tailored
to the climate of Abu Dhabi. About 50% of all the credits are for water and
Mandatory energy performance and savings. The added fourth pillar is also a pioneering
Culture sensitive aspect, where it is encouraged to promote traditional Arab design as well as
Government initiative directed design for women and children privacy seen in the culture.
Local system Furthermore, the PRS is not based on a business model. As a result there is
Integrated design process no competition for other rating systems to monopolize the assessment and
marketing of buildings and communities. The government does not charge
for the rating in any of the assessment stages, nor for any documents or clari-
fication requests.
How the PRS is perceived by project teams

As per the interviews with Estidama staff members, some of the system users
(developers and consultants) were first enthusiastic about the implementa-
tion of the program at an early stage, when Estidama was looking for pilot
projects to test the system. However, even though it was announced early
that the program will be mandated, users were caught by surprise followed
by what was described to me as the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bar-
gaining, depression and then acceptance.
After it was realized that no new projects in Abu Dhabi would be getting
building permits without following the new submission path, anger started
rising. The most affected group were small consultancies and villa owners,
which had limited or no experience with such programs and requirements.
Others have tried to by-pass the process on the basis that their projects were
developed on a fast-track basis leaving no time for the required submissions.
Reluctant users then tried to bargain their way out of the submissions. Others
did not understand how to comply with the requirements, which initiated
the Estidama Villa Products Database (EVPD) 65, a database of products that
comply with the one pearl requirement. This has been developed for con-
sultants, contractors, owners and any relevant stakeholders. The database
Acceptance includes water fixtures and fittings, insulation products and systems, windows
and glazing, air conditioning and solar hot water equipment. Still, this data-
The system is evolving fast and being base is only serving villa projects.
accepted on a wider scale after two
years of launch Two years after the implementation, there seems to be much more accep-
tance, which came by time and experience. Less persons are challenging the
PRS and the change in mentality started to be seen in consultants. While the
change takes time and is difficult, people are not realizing their return on
investment with the current energy and water prices.
5.2.2 Data analysis

This part is focused on the data derived from the interviews with consultants,
contractors and developers. This data is examined later on in the evaluation
section. By going through the interviews and surveys, information has been
classified to identify the patterns and categories, which lead to the interpreta-
tions and associations displayed below. Data analyzed include the direct and
indirect sustainability drivers, preference of certification system usage, com-
prehension of the system, awareness of the rating system, associated direct
costs, barriers and gaps of Estidama and the PRS and the disadvantages seen
in the implementation.
Sustainability Driver
Even if some consultants had the knowledge, means and awareness to do
responsible sustainable design there are direct factors that drive the sus-
tainability aims. Direct factors are influencing the aims directly without any
intermediate steps. From the interviews an assessment of the most prevail-
ing drivers were found to be determined by the clients. This is followed by
the cost factor, then the state laws and regulations, which in this case are
Estidama and the Pearl rating system. Lastly, there is the influence of the
consultants as well as existing projects seen as best practice examples that
are being designed to achieve similar results. The figure below shows the
percentages of these drivers.
Indirect factors are classified as secondary causes that involve intervening as-
pects influencing the aim, and hence, the direct drivers. The higher these fac-
tors are, the higher the aims are. These factors are high resource prices, such
as water and energy, providing incentives, creating competition, increasing
the awareness of all stakeholders, increased evidence of climate change and
its associated problems. The figure below shows the effects of the indirect
factors in percentages derived from the survey.
2%
7%
BEST PRACTICE
INCREASED
EVIDENCE
Figure 44:
16% Sustainability Drivers
INCREASED
18%
LAWS & REG.
48%
AWARENESS
36%
RESOURCE
Left:
CLIENTS
20%
COMPETITION PRICES
Direct Sustainability Drivers
Right:
26% 27% Indirect Sustainability Drivers
COST
INCENTIVES
PROVISION
Preference, comprehension and awareness of the PRS

Questions asked for the preferences of certification systems include two
parts. The first is indicating whether the user prefers using the PRS, any other
certification or has no preference. Most answers were headed for the PRS as it
is local and mandatory.
The second question refers to whether or not any certification system should
be mandatory or voluntary. In this question the PRS system of mixed, volun-
tary and mandatory, has been added as it constitutes most of the answers
given. The majority said to have a mixed system, which sets minimum
requirements and gives the option and recognition of above mandatory
achievements.
Figure 45: 19%

System Preference 16%
NO PREF-
VOLUNTARY
ERENCE
19%
Left:
Preferred Rating System
19%
OTHERS 65% MANDATORY
72%
MIXED
Right: ESTIDAMA
Preference on obligation
Understanding the system to be able to implement it plays a vital role in

achieving its aims, as well as the complete awareness of the principles, aims
and procedures. The first aspect displayed is the awareness of consultants,
contractors and clients. It is based on four levels of awareness ranging from
fully aware, as seen in pearl qualified professionals, partially aware for people
who have general interest or had to deal with some of the credits, to people
who have minimum or no knowledge about the system. There has been no
case where someone had no knowledge at all about the system.
Figure 46: Awareness

& Comprehension 30%
FULLY AWARE
63%
PARTIALLY AWARE
7%
MINIMUM
KNOWLEDGE
Top:
Awareness of Rating System
Bottom: 17%
VERY EASY
45%
EASY
21% 10%
AVERAGE HARD
7%
VERY HARD
Comprehension of Rating System
As for the ease of using the system, a five tier survey has been done to under-
stand how comprehensible the system is. Although 45 percent thought the
system was easy, 73 percent found the system to be above average. The 80
percent of people who thought the system was hard or very hard were also
the ones who had minimum to partial knowledge of the system.
To assess the methodologies of marketing and awareness of the program,
persons were asked how they learnt about Estidama and its initiatives. This
has been done in order to identify the strong and weak methods. While the
largest percentage learned about Estidama through involvement in projects
that had to be certified, the smallest percentage learned about it through
advertisements, press and awareness campaigns.
Figure 47: Learning AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

about Estidama
MEDIA (ADVERTISEMENT & PRESS)
Methods and percentages of how
people learned about Estidama and WEBSITE
the PRS
ESTIDAMA WORKSHOPS
IN-HOUSE PQP
INVOLVED IN PROJECTS
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Benchmarks of the PRS

Benchmarks are not easy to be set and are driven by many factors. Reasons
found for setting the benchmarks as well as developing them are split into
demand and supply. The demand side comes from the need to minimize
environmental and resources depreciation, as well as people’s demands to
have better living conditions through their awareness. The supply side is ex-
pounded by political motives, such as regulations and visions, in addition to
the provision of incentives and affordable technology, means and methods
of implementation.
The next statistic defines the perception on the PRS benchmarks from the
interviewees’ point of views. Results are set by five choices from very low to
very high, with a mean of being ideal. Of course, the interviewees’ view is
related to the current time, meaning that it includes aspects such as that the
program is relatively new and also tied to the baseline or business as usual
methods of construction used right before the implementation of the PRS.
While the majority saw that the benchmarks are set below the ideal, they
have indicated that it is not advisable to upgrade them right now because of
many factors such as market readiness, lack of incentives and the need to test
the first batch of outcome first, so that the system could be optimized.
60% ABOVE IDEAL 37% BELOW IDEAL 63% Figure 48: Perception
of Benchmarks
40% The graph shows the perception
based on the 5 categories stated. The
majority felt the benchmarks are set
below average.
20%
0%
VERY HIGH HIGH IDEAL LOW VERY LOW
Associated direct cost increase

Direct costs are those seen in the design, submissions and construction, until
the stage that the building is built and ready to be occupied. As mentioned
before, there are no submission fees required by Estidama or the UPC.
Consultants stated a range of 1 to 7 percent increase in the design fees. These
include documentation, meetings, coordination and research needed to
comply with the PRS (1 and 2 pearls). Due to the fact that the system is new,
it is hard to rely on these figures even after removing the outliers from the
statistic. Furthermore, some consultants stated that they, themselves, have a
hard time assessing the exact fees, time and resources needed for the newly
implemented PRS.
Even though calculating construction costs over business as usual could be
seen as a generally simple task, in the case of pearl rated buildings it is not as
straight forward because of the lack of data. Contractors conceded a range
from 3 to 18 percent increase over business as usual, excluding the outliers,
which ranged up to 40 percent. An analysis made by Estidama shows a range
from 1 to 15 percent increase over business as usual for residential, offices
and communities, based on a theoretical study made by Estidama, including
both design and construction fees. This study is based on the third quarter of
the year 2010 66. The range depending on the level of pearls achieved is listed
in the graphic below.
Figure 49: Cost 1 PEARL
2 PEARLS
The percentages shown represent
increase of cost over BaU including 3 PEARLS
both construction and design fees.
4 PEARLS
5 PEARLS
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12%
Benefits of Estidama and the PRS

Many benefits have been stated before in all previous chapters. These specific
benefits are weighted according to the subjective opinions of the interview-
ees. They have been divided into two categories, first there are benefits of Es-
tidama as the overarching principle of the vision 2030, and the second one is
specific about the benefits in the PRS. While some fit for both, their weighting
is different according to the viewpoint, whether it was Estidama or the PRS.
The biggest benefit of Estidama seen as is fighting climate change and
preserving the environment. The second leading benefit is how Estidama is
set as both a market based instrument and a command and control mea-
surement at the same time, which is unique to Abu Dhabi. In doing this, not
only the leaders in sustainability will benefit, but also any weak performing
buildings will be pushed to improve, leading to a widespread enhancement
in the built environment. This was followed by the market transformation in
Abu Dhabi, where a lot of high performance materials are entering the mar-
ket. Having a strategic planning authority with a clear vision makes it easier
to widen the participants in achieving the aims, as well as the creation of a
sense of belonging. While this vision involves a lot of authorities, ministries
and departments, the integration of Estidama in all of them and how con-
nected they are is of great advantage. Another benefit is having the authority
to enforce the change. While this is very subjective and dependent on the
culture, it is seen as something positive in Abu Dhabi. Last, the initiation of Es-
tidama as a government entity prevents the private sector from charging fees
or a premium for certifications and avoids monopolization of that market.
Figure 50: Benefits of As for the benefits of the PRS, the highest mentioning rate was having local-
Estidama & the PRS ized benchmarks for buildings and communities, which was not present
before the PRS. The next aspect felt was the change of resource consumption
Left: reductions in new constructions. This was followed by the design and con-
Benefits of Estidama struction culture change to include early integrated strategic planning with
Right: set goals and whole building thinking. The last two benefits in the PRS are the
Benefits of the PRS elimination of submission fees and the standards set in the PRS to prevent
“greenwashing”.
MONOPOLIZATION PREVENTION PREVENTING GREENWASHING

AUTHORITATIVE INSTRUMENT ELIMINATING SUBMISSION FEES
INTEGRATED INITIATIVES WHOLE BUILDING THINKING
CLEAR STRATEGIC PLANNING VISION EARLY STRATEGIC PLANNING

MARKET TRANSFORMATION RESOURCES CONSUMPTION REDUCTION
COMBINED FORCES OF MBI AND C&C WEIGHTING TAILORED TO REGION
REDUCING CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS BENCHMARKING FACILITIES
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Estidama Pearl Rating System
Barriers and gaps of Estidama and the PRS

This part is split into two parts exactly as the previous part, Estidama and the
PRS. Here, most of the mentioned barriers, disadvantages and missing ele-
ments have been combined and presented. The ten most mentioned aspects
for each have been chosen and weighted.
Barriers and gaps for Estidama include the lack of incentives, highly subsi-
dized energy and water prices, the lack of supporting utilities such as waste
treatment and public transportation. Another barrier seen is the lack or low
client awareness of sustainability needs and requirements. There have also
been some consultants complaining about the inconsistencies of the require-
ments and delivery processes between Estidama and Abu Dhabi Municipal-
ity (ADM). Minor barriers included not having regulations for suppliers on
their products, which reduces the transparency of the purchases. The use of
building information modeling is not encouraged or looked at. Inclusion of
the community in the decision process is seen as very low, and the market
of Estidama is seen to be unfair on the basis that it is only mandated in Abu
Dhabi and not the whole emirate.
PRS specific barriers and gaps were topped by the lack of regulations and
certification for existing buildings and operational rating. Second is the lack
of social and economic aspects in the PRS, for example there are no require-
ments for social interaction areas in offices such as for lunch breaks. The
process of the PRS was criticized for being intensive in bureaucracy and pa-
perwork, as well as being resource intensive requiring extra team members.
The process is also not optimized such as seen in other rating systems, where
submissions are online based giving more interactive access to all stakehold-
ers. Local material availability has been mentioned to be very limited and
Figure 51:
there are inadequate researches and case studies to help the developers and Barriers & Gaps
consultants. Less mentioned was the absence of specific rating systems for
many building typologies. Some mentioned that some credits seemed to be Left:
copied from other systems and are irrelevant for Abu Dhabi conditions such Barriers & Gaps of Estidama
as the bike racks and shower facilities. As for the benchmarks, some were Right:
perceived to be aiming too high, such as the water credits, while others were Barriers & Gaps of the PRS
supposed to be mandatory such as a minimum noise level and embodied
energy in materials. Consultants were also asking to have a feedback loop to
be able to learn from their designs after monitoring their performances.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT NO MANDATORY NOISE LEVELS
MARKET FAIRNESS IRRELEVANT CREDITS
BIM PROVISION EMBEDDED ENERGY NOT INCLUDED
SUPPLIER TRANSPARANCY TYPOLOGIES NOT SPECIFIC
CONSISTENCY OF PROCESS (ADM & UPC) WATER CREDITS TOO HARD
LOW CLIENT AWARENESS RESEARCH AND CASE STUDIES NOT AVAILABLE
LACK OF MARKET READYNESS LOCAL MATERIALS AVAILABILITY
INSUFFICIENT UTILITIES PRS PROCESS IS DIFFICULT
SUBSIDIES ARE TOO HIGH LACK OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS
LACK OF INCENTIVES MISSING EXISTING BUILDINGS & OPERATION
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Estidama Pearl Rating System
5.2.3 Effects of Estidama on consultants

There are many influences on the consultants which seem to have taken
place since Estidama and the PRS were launched. These impacts are mostly
on the processes used in any design methodology, such as meetings oc-
currence and participation, as well as how their design methods changed
to integrate the Estidama and PRS goals and requirements. Consultants also
replied with what they aim to achieve in the near future to better suit the
vision.
Meetings and participation
Meetings participation and multidisciplinary work has been carried out with
higher rates, as well as more frequent meetings. From an integrated de-
sign point of view the only missing participants were cost consultants and
contractors. These were not present in any consultants meetings except for
Masdar’s Siemens Headquarter.
Regular Participants:
 Architects  Project managers
 Urban planners  Structure engineers
 infrastructure  Clients
 Interior designers  PQP (sustainability consultant)
 Mechanical, Electrical and  Landscape architect
Plumbing Engineers
The rate and amount of meetings vary according to project size. To assess the
occurrence of meetings a building size of 10,000 to 25,000 square meters of
Figure 52: Meetings GFA is considered. There are four types of meetings. The first meeting types
are internal meetings within a multi-disciplinary consultancy that includes
Structure and each department on its own. These meetings take place at least once a week.
Occurrence Then, there are biweekly meetings that include all departments within the
consultancy. Monthly meetings usually include two design members (ac-
Key: cording to the discussed topics) and a project manager and the client. The
Weekly fourth meeting type is with government representatives, such as from the
Biweekly Pearl assessment team. These meetings occur two to three times over the
Monthly whole design phase of the project. Credit clarification requests and details are
2-3 times/project handled on a one to one basis between the assigned pearl assessor and pearl
qualified professional. The visualization below represents the structure and
meetings as prescribed by the consultants.
URBAN DESIGN
TEAM
LANDSCAPE DESIGN COST GOVERNMENT
TEAM
INFRASTRUCTURE CONSULTANT AGENCIES
STRUCTURAL TEAM TEAM
LEAD LEAD PROJECT UPC

STRUCTURAL LS & INFRA. PQP MANAGER CLIENT
ADM
LEAD LEAD LEAD
INTERIOR MEP ARCHITECT
INTERIOR DESIGN MECHANICAL TEAM ARCHITECTURE INTERNAL CO-

TEAM ELECTRICAL TEAM TEAM CONTRACTOR
PLUMBING TEAM ORDINATION
List of changes made by consultants because of Estidama:

 Higher Insulation rates and more efficient wall sections Main Consultants
 Better glass selection (based on U-values meeting targets) Improvement Aim
 More outdoor shading as per requirements
 Meeting the Solar hot water demand of 50%
 More internal and external coordination The most targeted aim of
 Commissioning agent is assigned from start of project improvement by consultant is the
 More analysis on orientation, climate and context integrated process, which needs more
 Less water features and landscaping to meet strict water savings targets study, monitoring and update.
 Timeline of project changed to have the workload more up-front
 Early stakeholder involvement
 Energy model requirements met from the start of the project
 Plant selection is based on water and locality preferences
 COP of chillers is higher in performance
Improvement aims of consultants

Due to the enforcement of the PRS consultants are rapidly trying to improve
their processes. When asked what they think they would like to change to
better suit the needs of beyond business as usual and achieving higher
economic, social and environmental goals they had some criteria which they
found to be in need for improvement.
The most suggested feature was improving the integrated design process.
This was demarcated as wanting to integrate the establishment of pearl cred-
its earlier in the design process than they are actually doing, as they find that
less cost and time is needed the earlier the coordination starts. At the same
time, they see a need to meet more often for coordination, especially at the
early stages of design. Another particular deficit is cost, time and resources
allocation. At present, it is hard for consultants to estimate the right amount
of resources needed for the PRS coordination and documentation.
Another aim is to improve the education and technical skills of employees.
The suggested method was having in-house workshops and presentations
from experts in the fields of study. Topics that have been mentioned were
mainly focused on sustainability, such as design measures for resource sav-
ings, as well as process improvements. The main hindrance mentioned was
time, as they find the idea very appealing in theory, however practically it is
difficult to allocate the time for it.
Moreover consultants feel that over the next years sustainability measures
should have no additional cost and should become business as usual, having
no premium for sustainability.
5.3 Outcome Evaluation & Recommendations

This section will evaluate and discuss the data from the previous section, to
further identify the strategies needed to be recommended. Results are based Main Drivers & Missing
on interviewees’ data magnitude as well as prominence seen by the author, Elements
so even some of the less dominant aspects are promoted. Overall data are
first evaluated followed by the benefits, gaps and barriers. From all the inter- The two main drivers found from the
views there are two themes that are presumed: the two largest drivers are
interviews are economic incentives
economic incentives and awareness. These are the two overarching features
and awareness.
of the assessment. And the two crucial missing elements are the absence of
Main missing elements are existing
operational and existing building certification. The shortages of the utilities
and operational rating as well as
and infrastructure (such as waste handling and public transportation) are also
sufficient utilities and infrastructure.
affecting the results of the PRS and Estidama initiatives, as they depend on
them.
5.3.1 Interview Data Evaluation
Indirect and direct Sustainability Drivers

From the results shown in the previous section it is clear that the biggest
indirect burden is subsidized energy and water prices, which led to the lack
of return on investments for the users, making it a weak selling point for the
developers and a narrow demand by the occupants. Electricity prices are
0.027 euro/kWh in Abu Dhabi 67 based on the tariff of 15 Fils per kWh for
non-nationals and 5 Fils for nationals 67 with the average exchange rate of 4.8
dirhams to 1 euro 68. Compared to the average EU-27 price of 1 kWh (0.184
euro) 69, Abu Dhabi’s electricity prices are 85% less. Similarly, water prices are
vastly subsidized as well. Studies show that domestic water and electricity
prices increase awareness and lower consumption 70.
The second largest driver is incentives. Incentives have many forms in the
field of sustainable building. To summarize, they could be split into structural
incentives, such as expedited review, density and building height bonuses
which are the only ones given in Abu Dhabi 71, financial incentives, such as
tax credits, fee reductions, grants and revolving loan funds, or other incen-
tives such as technical or marketing assistance 72. The only mentioned incen-
tive of building heights is very vague and not guaranteed by any regulations
or laws, therefore making it not a highly viable incentive for developers. The
lack of other incentives is therefore a vast burden and is encouraged to be
developed.
Clients Influence The largest factor affecting the sustainability level directly is the client him-
self. This is due to the control he or she has over the financing of the project,
To have more proactive clients they which is the second largest difficulty. Both are connected in a way. In order
to have more proactive clients they need to be made conscious and aware
need to be aware about sustainability
about sustainability, its implications and advantages. This links directly to the
through awareness campaigns
results of the awareness campaigns that show that Estidama is not widely
spread over the media. More awareness campaigns, competitions and studies
are needed to activate the potential of client movement towards investment
in green buildings.
As for the costs associated with green developments, one could argue that it
has many facets that influence the behavior of clients. These are ranging from
mid-stream attempts to incorporate sustainability measures, lack of consul-
tants experience with low cost measures leading to late high cost additions,
lack of clear goals to insufficient incentives and low return on investments.
Therefore, the direct and indirect complications to the drivers need to be
addressed in order to widen the spectrum and goals of green construction to
be more accepted and push the market to achieving higher goals than the
current set of mandatory aims.
Preference and comprehension

Most answers to whether or not users prefer the PRS indicated that they do
favor it. This is directly tied to other elements such as that it is clear and easy
to use, as well as having a larger positive impact towards goals of certification
systems because it is tailored to the specific climate and needs of Abu Dhabi.
While some criticize the PRS for being copied from many other certifica-
tion systems that have been out for some years, I argue that the best way of
achieving good results in such a short period has to come from learning from
others and developing what has been already in use. The criteria for deter-
mining a rating system preference could be seen as the reasons behind the
vast choice of the PRS, which are comprehensiveness, user-friendliness, sup-
port, value, education, versatility, challenge and use as a management tool 73.
The system has been designed to be fairly easy to use, with very little
problems reported on the credit content from a comprehension point of Compulsory Programs
view. This factor is very important to draw more audience to understand and
implement the system, as well as lowering the clarification requests that take Being one helps close the gap
a lot of time. between top and low performers by
Favoring a compulsory system over having it only voluntary is a strange raising progress rate from the lower
behavior that needed to be studied further. Findings are that awareness of performers
interviewees and their desires to see real change is the main factor, a result of
belief in the need for change towards sustainable living and practice. Further-
more, the lack of standards prior to Estidama is a main driver to that request.
While most interviewees were consultants, they are also residents of the UAE,
meaning that there is a demand for more quality construction. Optimization
is being done to have one path of submissions, unlike other rating systems
that go in parallel to standard regulations, making the PRS more preferential:
a crucial step for Abu Dhabi and a leapfrogging initiative, as the market was
not ready to embrace change voluntarily. This will help close the gap be-
tween top performers (top) and the low performers by raising and avoiding
negative or slow progress from the lower performers (bottom).
Awareness
Estidama has undoubtedly taken great strides in the dissemination of re-
gional awareness. The certification system could be viewed as a learning tool. Improvement Criteria
There are awareness campaigns for the public that are issued online on their
website addressing measures anyone could take up to reduce their environ- Improvement needed in the
mental footprint, encouraging the public to reduce water, energy and waste awareness campaigns include client
by providing easily comprehended ways to do so 74. As for the professionals, education, publishing case studies,
there are introductory systems, free of charge, as well as detailed training ses- capacity building and the general
sions that are given on a regular basis, whether or not attendees take the PQP public.
exam or not.
However there is still much to be improved. The most aware people are the
ones directly involved with the program. The awareness campaigns seem to
have taken very low effects and are not widely spread. There are two features
that need to be improved, one is in the Estidama program and the other is
in the PRS. Estidama needs to improve their awareness campaigns to reach
more people, which could also be assisted by demanding the awareness
credit in the PRS, as well as enhancing the marketing and media usage. Public
education on sustainability needs further attention if it is to successfully
become a point of distinction influencing users to select certified sustain-
able product over conventional alternatives. Moreover, there is a need for a
government or a non-government organization to take the lead in capacity
building, to complement the certification system in the stage where the con-
struction industry is still undertaking the shift towards spreading this tool and
methods. The prevalent type that needs immediate attention is the client,
as they are currently the main drivers of the sustainability goals beyond the
regulations. Further details for action are discussed in the recommendations
section.
Along with the previous mentioned awareness criteria, there is a need for
more published work to be available. There is a lack of comprehensive and
transparent data to help the industry and decision makers. Research studies
in the form of reports and case studies and statistics would help the overall
industry develop and raises its awareness. For example, improved studies
could lead to better understanding of MEP equipment sizing that will reduce
the safety margin set by over-sizing the equipment, leading to reduced mate-
rials, equipment and costs. Finally including the general public in the decision
making process through active involvement creates not only a strong sense
of belonging, but could raise interest and education as well.
Benchmarks
The current benchmarks are perceived to be generally below average and
more stringent benchmarks are wished for. This is very controversial because
the system is fairly new and many developers, contractors and consultants
are still not up to a level to embrace higher benchmarks since they need
more time to get the knowledge, as well as the market needs to mature first.
Still, there needs to be constant pressure to be able to develop. This should
be on various levels, especially on suppliers to be able to have more qualified
high performance materials and drive the cost down.
On the other hand there are some benchmarks that are presently set too
high. This could be seen as a deficit in setting more detailed benchmarks.
To give an example, a credit such as the use of recycled material is set to two
specific percentages and split to five categories. If a category is set too high
it will not be addressed because of financial difficulties and market shortage.
Rather than that methodology it could be inverted to have more steps of
percentages to the same categories and decouple them from one another.
This could have the effect of trying to achieve some amount in each category
rather than focusing on one material aspect. Achieving this will stimulate the
market to evolve faster and will provide more competition.
Typology
Another aspect is the typology and stages of the PRS. Currently there are
three types: villa, buildings and communities. These types cover design and
construction stages. There is a need to expand the covered types to address
all building typologies in greater details, which are continuously increas-
ing. Other rating systems overcame this issue by adopting and developing
more schemes to address more details and typologies. This was criticized to
have a negative effect because of the complexity it creates, which is still not
present in the PRS. This could be avoided by recognizing that the similarities
between the schemes are far more than the differences, and therefore a com-
mon scheme with detailed sub-schemes would be the more efficient way
to progress, as for example what was done in BREEAM 29. Still, as there are
many differences in existing buildings and operational certification systems
there should be another main scheme specifically for these. Details are given
in the recommendation section. Providing existing building certification will
tackle the current bulk resource consumers, while the operational rating will
verify and hold the developments up to the standards that they have been
designed to reach. Both could also be based on one scheme with a path
including refurbishment while the other one only focuses on operation and
maintenance.
Figure 53: Proposed 1 BUILDING COMMUNITY

Typology Structure
The proposed structure recognizes
2 NEW CONSTRUCTION EXISTING OPERATIONAL
similarities first. The methodology is

based on a 3 stepped approach: 3 SPECIAL TYPES
MIXED-USE
COURTS
DATA CENTERS
1. Define Scale
RESIDENTIAL INDUSTRIAL
2. Define Stage
3. Define Type OFFICE SERVICES FIRE STATION
HOTEL POLICE STATION
EDUCATION
HEALTHCARE
VILLAS
Weighting
Weighting of credits plays a very important role over the outcome of any cer-
tification system. As mentioned before, about half of the weight is addressing
energy and water reductions as a consequence of climate conditions, water
scarcity and consumption behavior. This is considered to be a good strategy
to challenge the greater subjects. On the other hand, this has an extensive in-
fluence on other aspects, making them easily negligible because of their lack-
ing or a shortage. As Cole et al. 75 debates, most available certification systems
including the PRS offer little or no weight on social and economic aspects in
their evaluation. This has also been acknowledged by some of the interview-
ees that said that the reason behind this is not having social criteria high on
the agenda as well as having the certification system designed and written
by the engineering community. There needs to be a properly balanced align-
ment as these certification systems are addressing sustainability as a whole
and not the environmental issues alone. Additionally, some developments Balanced Weighting
could get away with achieving highest ratings while still lacking main criteria
as a whole. This is seen in studies made for example on LEED platinum rated Social and Economic aspects should
buildings 76 that show relatively similar trends between certified, silver, gold get more weighting in the rating.
and platinum rated buildings. This issue creates negative impacts on the reli-
ability and credibility of the rating system.
Avoiding this issue could be achieved by having some kind of a wider separa-
tion between the levels and requiring provision of all aspects. A method of Dynamic Weighting
realizing this is having dynamic prerequisites. The meaning of this is having a
tier based set of prerequisites, the higher the pearl rating the more prerequi- Prerequisites could be raised with
sites are required. It could be set as a prerequisite to optional credits ratio. each level of rating.
Transparency
Transparency of certifications is also tied to the reliability and credibility of the
rating system. At present, the conveyed information used to inform the pub-
lic and users about the buildings is a single number of pearls. For someone
who has no understanding on the benchmarks used this number would not
be meaningful as it is not transferable into generally known and used indica-
tors, such as kWh per square meter or liters per day, or even compared to
current baselines of the city, stating a percentage increase above the baseline
in the specific aspects that affect the decision of a user.
This issue is easily avoided without any extra cost, as the information should
already be calculated within the rating stages, as well as having a higher
pressure and impact on developers and contractors to deliver what they have
promised. As a proposal, the rating certificate could be set to include more
tangible criteria, adding the water and energy savings over the baseline to be
publicly displayed with the pearl level.
Another subject is the long term goal of Estidama and the PRS. Currently
there are probably plans to diversify and extend the PRS, as well as making
the benchmarks more stringent. These future goals should be conveyed to
the public in figures such as done by the EU in the Europe 2020 targets 77, for
example setting the reduction levels to a certain percentage as well as the
renewable energy generation. All of which are to be set in phases. Benefits in
doing so are setting aspirations that drive and shape the changes in the mar-
ket and research, committing to goals that have to be achieved even when
policy makers change and last, making the public more aware of the future
plans of their city.
Figure 54: Proposed

ENERGY SAVINGS
Certification 26% /BaU
The proposed certification is to include
more data than just the level of rating, WATER SAVINGS
as a mean to convey further helpful 45% /BaU
information in a transparent manner.
47 DISTANCE TO
(Estidama logo and rating) 150M PUBLIC
TRANSPORTATION
Updating the PRS

Updating the certification system to address benchmarks modifications is
becoming a standard in most certification systems. These are mainly done by
having incremental advancements in the indicators compared to the original
baseline. This could be prescribed as the bottom up approach. This is a very
complex task which requires constant monitoring of the market changes and
relies on the feedback from certification systems users to comment on the
new benchmarks set, how they are achieved and what costs are associated
and whether or not they will be implemented. A deficiency in the bottom up
approach is hitting the exact benchmark that is not too high and not too low.
A way out of this is defining the levels, indicators and criteria that meet long
term sustainability goals and inverse the system to be a top down one, which
could be perceived better from the users as they would have a clear vision of
the goals. Another benefit is the easiness of upgrading the system. Through
continuous monitoring of the performance of buildings and communities it
will be easier to know the timing of raising the performance bar, as well as to
which level.
While many other rating systems lack the authority to drive the market
through acting as regulatory bodies, the case with Estidama as mentioned
in the previous section is being both, a command and control as well as a
market based instrument. This reduces the time governments need to adjust
their regulations to follow best practices and certification systems. Through
that, the pace of upgrades is expected to be higher.
Figure 55:
EARLY ADOPTERS 13.5%
EARLY MAJORITY 34%
LATE MAJORITY 34%
Adoption Curve
INNOVATORS 2.5%
LAGGARDS 16%
The voluntary case is illustrated in

the solid bell curve with the given
percentages (adopted from Everett M.
ADOPTERS
Rogers “Diffusion of Innovations).

The dotted curve represents
Estidama’s PRS improvements
estimation caused by mandating the
rating and combining C&C and MBI’s.
TIME
Assessment methodology
The assessment methodology could encourage innovative design or hinder
it by setting too many restrictions in an innovation discouraging way. In the
interviews some were arguing that prescriptive methods tend to hinder the
design in some ways. On the other hand performance based methods are
seen to be expensive and time consuming in some aspects, for example do-
ing performance based energy analysis requires great details in the develop-
ment of the model and also requires an appropriate amount of expertise
and having the software tools. Certification systems should not discourage
innovative designs by setting restrictions. At the same time they should not
overload the designers and put technical and economic burdens on them.
A solution is providing both prescriptive and performance based methods to
suit the whole range of small and large businesses. By having more than one
way of doing the analysis consultants could use the path that is best suitable
for each specific project type, size and function.
Financial barriers
As mentioned in the beginning of the section, economic aspects are one of
the main drivers of sustainable development progress, and therefore need
critical attention. Many have criticized the PRS and Estidama for not providing
incentives, which holds to be factual. There is enormous potential for provid-
ing financial incentives which will be discussed in detail in the strategies sec-
tion. Incentives should address short term as well as long term strategies.
One of the major problems faced occurs when the developer is not the
end-user, leading to what is called the ‘agency problem’ 78, defined as when Incentives
someone (developer) looks after the best interest of another party (user)
rather than his or her own interest. In this case the authorities should provide There is a huge gap between
methods to internalize the benefits to the developer. Methods used are fairly developers and users as there are
new, and need support from legislation. One of the methods used in Ger- no financial incentives given to
many is increasing the rent cap. For example, if the rent cap in Abu Dhabi is developers to go beyond regulations.
set to 7% every two years it could be increased or the intervals changed to a
shorter period of time. Market incentives should also be provided, to promote
the adoption of usually unaffordable technologies.
On the other hand, from the interview results there are many observations
that note higher costs such as having the commissioning agents and con-
tractors present from the beginning of the process, increased paperwork that
is time intensive, and extra knowledge and team members’ obligation. Afford-
ability of these issues is the main challenge. Nevertheless these aspects need
to be looked at while keeping the whole life cycle cost of the development in
mind. The main principal is having the owner consider the cost over the life-
cycle of the project and not just the initial cost to realize that these expendi-
tures do actually lower the maintenance and operation of the properties. This
is only plausible by having a financially positive outcome with profits. This is
doubtfully the case if Abu Dhabi’s subsidies stay as-is.
The market as a whole takes part in the financial disputes. As mentioned
in the interviews, enforcing a certification system with its requirements on
Abu Dhabi alone in the UAE creates an imbalanced market when looking at
all emirates. This could lead to the shift of developments and developers to Market Fairness
focus on other locations for the attractiveness of lower regulations. A wider
implementation or comparable regulations is therefore recommended. An imbalanced market with only
Another market aspect is readiness, meaning how extensive the support- Abu Dhabi following Estidama could
ing industries are equipped to address the technical and economic needs of cause developers to shift capital to
the regulation. Many interviewees addressed this issue by stating the lack of neighboring Emirates.
required materials, equipment and agents. The result is higher prices through
higher demand that is currently not met. Another face is reliance on imports
which drive the prices even higher. Local manufacturing is therefore needed.
5.3.2 Effects on Consultants

The effect that Estidama and the PRS have on consultants shows great
improvements as well as providing feedback to the system. As listed in the
previous section, the establishment of the IDP in the rating system enhanced
and encouraged more integrated and cross-disciplinary work. Mandating a
minimum performance of the facilities required a huge amount of changes in
the processes, design and education of consultants towards more conscious-
ness about the sustainability issues. Therefore the PRS had a general positive
effect on consultants.
What is still missing is providing a feedback loop to further enrich consultants’
progression. This could be done after implementing an operational rating by
Missing Information sending the feedback to the consultants, as well as providing more research
as stated before. The integrated design process should be conveyed in a
As consultants reported lacking
more practical way as stated in some of the interviews, which is provided in
information and case studies, an
the next page. Another measure that could be beneficial is easing the certifi-
open source online communication
cation process by providing more optimized ways of submission, interaction
platform is suggested, that includes and design tools. For the submission optimization an interactive online tool
all stakeholders. could be provided that would include a login process to each project to give
all stakeholders and participating parties the ability to view the progress of
the project. Interactions should include means such as blogs, Q&A forums as
well as data platforms that are based on peer to peer with no or minimum
fees. These forums should not be limited to consultants and should include
suppliers, manufacturers and developers to keep them all up to date and
provide the designers with state of the art products, as well as help manufac-
turers and suppliers know what the industry is looking for. Estidama’s EVPD is
a good starting point, but lacks means of interaction as well as it is limited to
villa specific products. Design tools could include BIM technology. This would
highly improve the performance of design and could work as a standard-
ized tool of communication between the different parties and stages of the
project, as well as providing data for the operational phase. The downsides of
incorporating BIM as a regulation is its huge cost implication combined with
the high risk provided because of how new these software packages are.
The integrated design process, which has been taking place by the consul-
tants, has been criticized by its own users. The main reason found for having
issues implementing it is the lack of structure. Even though there are many
variations to the process relying on project size, consultants diversity (multi-
disciplinary) and size, as well as location of stakeholders and producers, there
are basics that if followed, then the integration could see significant enhance-
ments. Furthermore, many have tested, reported and documented their
processes, which could be used as a base structure and later on varied to suit
each consultant. The following is an explanation of a methodology:
The method requires all disciplines to be on board from the very first step of
project initiation, and depends on the level of collaboration between team
members. By doing so, a holistic vision could be shared, generating improved
results in a timely manner. This process ought to be achieved within the same
timeframe and allocated budget of any given project, with the difference of
the intervals and period of payment. This process is to be followed over the
whole cycle of the project. 79
Even though there might be different visions of an integrated design process,
there is an agreement on the key differences between the integrated and
conventional, business as usual design process, which are highlighted in the
following list.
Integrated Design Process Conventional Design Process

Inclusive from the outset Involves team members only when essential Table 09:
79
Front-loaded — time and energy invested early Less time, energy, and collaboration exhibited in
IDP vs CDP
early stages
Decisions influenced by broad team More decisions made by fewer people A summary comparison between
IDP and CDP, showing the main
Iterative process Linear process
differences.
Whole-systems thinking Systems often considered in isolation
Allows for full optimization Limited to constrained optimization
Seeks synergies Diminished opportunity for synergies
Life-cycle costing Emphasis on up-front costs
Process continues through post-occupancy Typically finished when construction is complete
The image below shows the level of involvement of team members, which
is directly related to the projects’ environmental and economic performance
because of later stage problems and last minute changes avoidance. One
could see how by setting the work more up-front that the required effort at
the later stages decreases.
PD SD DD CD BC BO/PO
Intensive high
involvement
Figure 56: Design
79
Team Involvement
Periodic high
involvement
Comparison between IDP and CDP
Moderate
level of involvement.
involvement Key:
Sustainability Opportunities
Periodic low CDP
involvement
IDP (design)
Sporadic or
IDP (contractor)
no involvement
0 3 6 9 18 42
Duration (months)
Generally, the integrated design process could be seen as an interactive

one, which is flexible and not a strict procedure. It could, or even should be
different for each project; therefore one cannot draw a specific schedule for
all projects. As team members learn from each other’s experiences in the vari-
ous involved disciplines, it is an ongoing learning practice. The following is a
list of attitudes, principals and strategies embraced in the integrated design
process. 79
Attitude Principle Strategies

Inclusion and collaboration Broad collaborative team Careful team formation
Table 10:
79
IDP Key Concepts
Outcome oriented Well-defined scope, vision, Team building
goals, and objectives
Attitudes, principles, in combination
Trust and transparency Effective and open communi- Facilitation training for team
cation with the strategies are listed
Expert facilitation
Open-mindedness and creativ- Innovation and synthesis Visioning charrettes (with com-
ity prehensive preparation)
Brainstorming
Rigour and attention to detail Systematic decision making Goals and targets matrix
Decision-making tools
Continuous learning and Iterative process with feedback Post-occupancy evaluation

improvement cycles
Comprehensive commissioning
As mentioned before, the process requires involvement from all disciplines

in the project. These include architects, planners, engineers (MEP), structural
engineers, project managers, cost consultants, landscape architects, inte-
rior, lighting and material designers, as well as other experts dependent on
the project type. 80 Usually key members missing are contractors and cost
consultants. For these enormous meetings and coordination a new role for
organization is needed. This role has been described as an IDP facilitator. The
succeeding image shows the time dynamics and interactions between the
members across the whole building phases. As the up-front work aims to
avoid last minute crisis, last minute changes are minimized. 79
When it comes to Building design, there are a set of defined needs which
should be considered first as a main objective that all members would strive
to achieve. These start with the functionality of the building, which is op-
timized to fit with energy efficiency, water savings and material reduction
measures that will be chosen. The analysis of the envelope would consider
the climate it will be built in as well. Mechanical systems are then reduced
from the standards through passive measures and avoided oversized systems.
Controls are then chosen according to the type and user criteria. Lastly, and
this is usually where designers previously started, a selection of available re-
newable energy sources are explored, to add to the efficiency of the building
as a whole entity.
To fully comprehend and adjust the buildings energy performance and
Figure 57: Integrated production, an energy model is required. This is vitally important to be tak-
Design Process ing place in the early design phase to build up decisions according to the
findings. 81 This is specially the case in complex shaped buildings where it is
Key: difficult to use the rules of thumbs (e.g. north-south orientation). With today’s
technological advancements and programs available, this task is no longer
Project Constraints considered as time consuming or expensive.
Exploratory Design Process
All Team Workshop
Focused Workshops
Iterative Process
Additional Iterations
Front End Back End
PD SD DD CD BC BO PO
Scope
0 3 6 9 18 42
Duration (months)
5.3.3 PRS credits

When looking into the credits in greater detail they have proven to be largely
balanced between pushing the industry towards higher standards without
paralyzing the projects flow. As mentioned in the interviews with Estidama
team members, this was not the case from the start because there was gen-
eral rejection from stakeholders, however it is something that was solved by
time. Nevertheless, there are credits that could achieve higher standards by
raising the aimed benchmarks as a consequence of either being too lenient
or having a larger demand for it. Other credits may be too ambitious. Even
when they are very high on the agenda they still need more support to be
able to accomplish them. Right now these high credits could see a reduction
in their demands or segmenting them to have lower effects without hinder-
ing being able to reach higher achievements. Subsequently, there are some
credits that could be mandated as prerequisites as well as additional credits
to the rating system that do not exist. Finally, some of the credits could use
more clarification to be easier to understand and precise in their require-
ments, calculations and submission methods.
First explained are aspects that could see some reductions. As stated before,
the methodology should not be removing or just lowering the benchmarks, Higher Credits
but having a broader spectrum of credits to have greater flexibility and Benchmark
encourage developers to pursue more credits. First is the energy monitor-
ing. Currently it is mandated to have sub-metering for all different kinds of Adjustment
end-use equipment with details reaching hourly monitoring. This equipment
is costly and requires services and area and is generally not the norm yet. A broader spectrum of credits would
Therefore, it is advised to have less mandated equipment and maybe have encourage developers to pursue
the higher regulation set as an optional credit. The same could be applied the hard credits by achieving lower
to the material reduction and design for flexibility credits, which are already requirements, helping development
optional credits. Rather than setting the full credit to one high percentage, by time.
this credit could be divided to have a range of percentages. Other examples
are regarding the cost to benefit ratio, as well as flexibility of the methodol-
ogy. For instance a requirement of shading bicycle pathways is beneficial if
the rate of cycling is very high in reality or expected to be. As for now it is less
of a priority compared to shading for pedestrians. As an example for flexibil-
ity, the provision of organic waste treatment should not be limited to onsite
only. A semi-centralized treatment facility for each community to share could
also be a possibility. In this way, the impact is better since there would be
more wastes to treat, which make the management and maintenance costs
feasible.
The second aspects discussed are those that could see some higher require-
ments and benchmarks. The feature mentioned the least in the interviews Lower Credits
was noise. Architects tend to focus on the aesthetics, engineers on function
and the noise aspect is greatly neglected. As Julian Treasure said “we are los-
Benchmark
ing our listening” 82, there is a need for greater attention to the noise aspects Adjustment
in design. Therefore, a prerequisite of a separate maximum day and night val-
ues is recommended/suggested to be added to the PRS. Another objective is Credits that need higher benchmarks
water reduction. This is one of the highest required aspects in Abu Dhabi and are noise, water, social and economic
therefore it is encouraged to further raise the requirements and standards. aspects.
To avoid resistance of developers it could be done in a way as prescribed
before, by adding more credits that could be achieved with more efficiency.
One measure that could be put in place right away is disallowing any plants
that are invasive in nature or that require a lot of water for irrigation. As for the
energy aspects higher efficiency materials could be rewarded, such as better
glazing. For renewable energy there should be a bounding limit by country
or radius of where the renewable energy is coming from, as a means of forc-
ing the growth of local renewable energy production. As cited before, social
and economic aspects are widely neglected or fall short on their weight, such
as in the last section of the PRS ‘Innovating practice’ where cultural architec-
ture and practice are encouraged. This section should see more divisions to
more specific requirements as well as more overall weighting.

The last aspects discussed are the ones that are currently not available, but
Credit Provisions could be amended in the next version of the PRS. One greatly mentioned
difficulty is the energy model. Currently prescriptive methods are limited to
Prescriptive methods for energy villas. To further ease the process for smaller developers and consultants it is
calculation should be added to the recommended to add the prescriptive method to the building rating as well.
PBRS. Feedback from users should Smaller changes are needed in terms of clarity and comprehensiveness of
also be mandated. The use of BIM the PRS, such as more detailed descriptions as well as including all measur-
technology is seen as a great added able criteria. For example, the interior water reduction credit does not include
value, therefore should be considered dishwashers and washing machines. Another addition that could be added
as a plus. to the PRS is reinforcing shared facilities. The intent of this credit would be to
encourage developers and tenants to share equipment and facilities as much
as socially accepted, on both community and building scales. To give an ex-
ample, washing machines could be provided for an entire building in a room,
which would reduce initial cost, maintenance cost and plumbing fixtures. The
final aspect discussed in this section is incorporating users’ behavior and feed-
back. Feedback is of great value to help improve the design in many aspects,
especially because the design relies on many assumptions about consumer
behavior. Therefore a localized study is needed to rationalize these assump-
tions and better understand the information to be conveyed to both the
designers and tenants. Last, there could be a credit specifically encouraging
the use of BIM technology over the whole period of the project. The level of
details could define the credits achieved, to have the process more incremen-
tal and benefit from the initiation to the end of the use of the software.
5.4 Strategies
In this section strategies for the most prominent weaknesses identified from
the analysis will be made. These are awareness campaigns for awareness
raising, financial incentives and enhancement of utilities and infrastructure.
In relation to the PRS and Estidama, these play vital roles in supporting the
initiatives to achieve their goals. Improvement strategies will be showed
including methodologies of implementation and examples.
5.4.1 Public awareness

Increasing awareness is a strategy to develop drivers for sustainability. It is
also a method of increasing knowledge by educating and informing people
about the various strategies needed to achieve the goals. There are various
achievements which could be accomplished through the raising of aware-
ness, which lead/point towards the aims of the Estidama and the PRS of pro-
moting sustainability. This is of course split into specific measures and actions
which drive towards the overall goal. Many awareness campaigns have been
successfully implemented and studied, which helped shape this outline 12, 83,
84, 85, 86
. The ultimate goal of awareness campaigns is to achieve a degree of
motivation so the members of the community can participate in the deci-
sion making process at a more informed level and that they can participate
in the realization of the decisions taken. There are four steps to any aware-
ness campaign, which are: identifying the message, identifying the audience,
communication methods and measuring the results. Estidama’s awareness
campaign 74 is a good starting point for identifying the messages; however it
lacks structure, consistency, clarity and diversity of media usage.
Identifying the message: A good awareness campaign is one where the
message is clearly communicated, effective and is understood by the broad-
est audience. The message must deliver the issue and what needs to be
done. It also needs to be focused to increase its success.
Identifying the audience: The different stakeholders and users related

to any project make up the audience. In order to maximize effectiveness of
these campaigns they need to be tailored to each category of the respective
audience. The first target audiences are industry, which includes developers,
owners, contractors, designers and manufacturers. Second target audiences
are the consumers, including home buyers and owners, as well as children in
schools, youth in universities, academics and the general public.
Communication methods: The methods can vary but preferably should be
consistent. Methods should be as diverse as possible, to reach people regard-
less of their mode of communication. Methods should include but are not
limited to websites, e-banners, TV spots, radio spots, street banners, newslet-
ters (digital and print), brochures, press releases, presentations, public and
focus presentations and workshops, information books as well as unconven-
tional methods, such as social network sites and mobile applications, includ-
ing interactive blogs that will include the audiences input and feedback. As
there is a huge Muslim community in Abu Dhabi that visits mosques at least
once every Friday, there is a huge potential to reach out to people through
preaching as well. This is also the case because of the influence religious lead-
ers have over the population.
Measuring results: This task needs to be taken once before the initiation of
the campaigns and after that it will be done after finishing each campaign. Table 11:
The reason for doing so is to track the effectiveness of the campaigns, as well Awareness Matrix
as identify the trends of preferred communication methods. After gathering
the required information, including the effectiveness and preferred methods, Summary matrix of the proposed
an update and then re-initiation should take place. target groups combined with their
The following table is a summary matrix of the proposed audience combined messages, activities and means of
with their messages and means of communication. communication.
COMMUNICATION
TARGET GROUP MESSAGE ACTIVITY
METHOD
Developers Environmental benefits of green Create media and workshops that explains the benefits Focused workshops
Owners building of sustainable building, manufacturing, maintenance and Information books
Constructors design Blogs
Designers Incentives for sustainable building Explain the current and expected incentives with case stud- Seminars
Manufacturers ies showing how long the payback periods are, methods of Technical publications
Social network
INDUSTRY
financing and expected revenues

Website
Business opportunities of green Encourage and promote the initiation and expansion of
E-newsletter
products green products and explain how they will be supported by
increased incentives and regulations
Quality advantages Explain the advantages of improved quality over the period
of use of buildings, appliances and products in general
Inform about databases Give information about the available tools of communi-
cation, interaction and products promotion with walk-
throughs of how to use them
Schools Eco-friendly products and labels Explain the differences between products, help identifying mobile applications
Universities eco-products and the benefits of their use TV spots
Academics Building reputation and credibility Build the reputation, trust and credibility for green products Radio spots
General public through showing the differences, their advantages and Street banners
savings E-newsletter
Public presentations
CONSUMERS
Resource saving advantages and Explain the advantages of saving water and electricity
Press release
methods and also explain the methods of achieving these savings
through less consumption behavior and smart appliances
Encourage less waste generation Promote less material usage and encourage waste separa-
tion
Encourage healthy living Promote healthier living behavior through explaining the
benefits and methods, such as less usage of vehicular usage
Green products database Inform about reliable information sources and explain how
to use these sources, as well as explain indicators with
examples
5.4.2 Economic Incentives and disincentives

Incentives could be broadly defined as anything that motivates people to act
87
. The term disincentives refer to the act of discouraging a certain behavior
such as excessive water and electricity consumption. This section will convey
some financial incentive strategies which could be placed in Abu Dhabi to
assist with the implementation of Estidama’s and the PRS goals, as well as
targeting the existing buildings and behavior of people.
Water and electricity pricing

Subsidies have existed in Abu Dhabi since the formation of the government.
Subsidies in Abu They exist on fossil fuels, water and electricity prices. Even when they could
be justified in theory that they support social prosperity, experts’ opinion
Dhabi argued that the subsidies have a net negative effect 88. They have extensive
environmental, economic and social impacts and usually result in more con-
Water and electricity subsidies reach sumption, placing pressure on government budgets and funding that could
85% for nationals and 50% for have been diverted to other priorities such as alternative energy sources 89.
expatriates, discouraging reduction
in consumption as well as building Prior to 1997 electricity and water prices were based on a flat fee of 50 Dhs
efficiency. per month. After introducing the unit price system a reduction of around 30%
occurred 90. This is an example and proof that prices do have a huge effect on
the usage of the resources and should play a big role in the saving measures
the city wishes to see. Abu Dhabi has no plans to increase water and electrici-
ty prices 91. The current subsidies on water and electricity, which reach to 85%
for nationals and 50% for expatriates 92, are discouraging as they promote
neither a reduction in consumption nor more efficient building.
Moreover, traditional resource prices have been set at the same level for
broad classes of customers, such as residential or industrial, and are fixed to
a set price regardless of the supply and demand and not reflective of price
hikes seen in the hourly cost.
There are three measures which could be done to increase the incentives
to build more efficiently and be more conscious about the resource prices.
These are reductions in subsidies, tiered pricing slabs and time based pricing.
Subsidies phase-out
Much literature has proven that phasing out of subsidies leads directly to re-
ductions in energy and water usage 93, 94. Since the subsidies percentages are
so huge, it is necessary to create a reasonable phasing out plan that would
be noticeable but not too dramatic in pace so as to avoid calamities or cause
opposition. Besides that, benefits for the rich are higher than the poor, be-
cause richer households consume more resources. From other examples such
as in Indonesia, Ghana and India 95 there are proven methods of subsidies
reductions combined with effective public relations campaigns to make the
phasing accepted. The proposed plan is to take advantage of the pearl rating,
as it will ensure the reduction of energy and water consumption in coming
developments. Phasing out would be split to national and non-national resi-
dents. An average 5.8% increase between now and 2030 would lead to the
complete removal of the subsidies. Of course this could be enforced on the
higher users, and plans for low income should take place.
Tiered pricing
The principle of tiered pricing has been already adopted in many countries
and cities, such as Egypt, china and Dubai 96. By using tiered pricing social
fairness is ensured, as low consumers do not get affected, while high con-
sumers are driven to lower their consumption through higher price tiers. The
method of doing this is to have each tier limit priced differently and stated on
the bills for costumers. The following is an example of the tiered pricing sys-
tem in Dubai, which is a relatively close example of what could be achieved
in Abu Dhabi.
Electricity Tariff Water Tariff

Residential / Com-
Industrial Residential
Industrial & Com- Table 12: Dubai Tiered
mercial mercial
Consump- Slab Consump- Consump- Slab Consump- Slab
Pricing 96
Slab tariff
tion/ month tariff tion/ month tion/ month tariff tion/ month tariff
0-2000 23 fils / 0-10000 23 fils / 3.5 fils 0-10000 3.5 fils Example of tiered pricing system
0-6000 IG
kWh kWh kWh kWh / IG IG / IG already applied in Dubai. The higher
2001- 28 fils /
10001
38 fils / 6001- 4.0 fils 10001- 4.0 fils the consumption, the higher the unit
kWh &
4000 kWh kWh kWh 12000 IG / IG 20000 IG / IG price.
Above
4001- 32 fils / 12001 IG 4.6 fils 20001 IG 4.6 fils
6000 kWh kWh & above / IG & above / IG
6001 kWh 38 fils /
& Above kWh
Time-based pricing
The principle of time based pricing is having a dynamic price that reflects
two things: first the demand of the resource (the higher the demand the
higher the price), and second the actual production price (in case of electric-
ity). There are many ways of having time based pricing, ranging from hourly
real-time pricing to fixed time-of-use pricing 97. Because real-time pricing
is complicated and requires sophisticated metering, here it is suggested to
have the fixed time-of-use pricing, divided into three categories, on-peak,
mid-peak and off-peak pricing. On-peak would be calculated according to
the daily consumption graph taking the highest measured five hours of the
day, while mid-peak is three hours before and after the on-peak and the
off-peak is the rest of the 24 hours. Added to that a seasonal pricing could be
added, where summer months have a higher rate than the winter months
because of the higher summer months consumption. The effect of having
time-based pricing will reduce production costs as well as reduce resource
consumption. A recent study done by Fraunhofer institute 98 states that 53%
of the interviewed population responded with “yes” that they will adapt their
behavior according to the prices. The two figures illustrate the time-based
pricing suggestion on an hourly and monthly basis, while the suggested bill-
ing method combining both time-based and tiered pricing would be calcu-
lated and displayed as in the following table.
Electricity Tariff Time-based Multiplier Seasonal Multiplier

Table 13: Suggested
Billing Method
Consumption/ month Slab tariff time/day multiplier season multiplier
0-2000 kWh 10 fils / kWh 22-11 hr 0.9 low (september-april) 0.9 Suggested method combines tier and
2001-4000 kWh 15 fils / kWh
time based methods, based on two
8-11 & 16-22 hr 1.1 high (may-august) 1.1
multiplier factors.
4001-6000 kWh 20 fils / kWh 11-16 hr 1.4
price multiplier
25 1800 1.6 6000
consumption kWh
consumption kWh
1600 1.4
5000
20 1400 1.2
1200 4000
15 1
1000
0.8 3000
800
10 0.6
600 2000
0.4
5 400
1000
200 0.2
0 0 0 0
1 6 12 18 24 1 6 12
time per hour months
Regulating renewable energy development

Figure 58: Time Based
There is a need for regulations for renewable energy development in Abu
Pricing Dhabi to promote the technologies and encourage investors to enter the
market. Currently there are no mechanisms that promote individuals or larger
Left: investors to enter the energy market. The main incentive to promote renew-
Daily Pricing able energy development used worldwide is guaranteeing that the govern-
Right: ment or power purchase company will buy the electricity generated from the
Seasonal Pricing renewable energy producer. There are three types of payment: feed-in tariff,
Key: net metering and power purchase agreements.
Price Feed-in tariff
Measurement The feed-in tariff compensation method is usually highlighted by the fact
that the producer gets a higher compensation rate than the retail price. This
is regulated by the amount they can produce and is usually set to a specific
price. To promote development in the technology this tariff declines over the
years. Common producers are home owners who install PV panels on their
roof. The tariff is also guaranteed for a long period (i.e. 20 years). Feed-in tariffs
also require two meters, one for the generation metering and the standard
meter for consumption. 99
Net metering
In the net metering method the compensation is exactly the retail price. This
method requires no additional meter, as most meters can work in reverse 100.
Producers get to pay the subtracted outcome of what they produce subtract-
ed from what they have consumed. In the case that they have excess produc-
tion they can either transfer their credit to a different time or get compen-
sated in monetary terms (depending on the policy). The disadvantage of net
metering is that it is less profitable compared to current feed-in tariff policies.
Power purchase agreement
Power purchase agreements are usually used for larger producers 101. They do
get compensated lower than the retail price, except in some cases of solar
power. The seller is obliged to deliver the agreed upon volume and is penal-
ized if they do not do so. 102
Figure 59: Different Net FiT PPA

Connection Methods
INVERTER INVERTER INVERTER
Net metering, Feed-in tariff and
FiT PPA
Power purchase agreement meter
STANDARD
meter meter
connection methods. STANDARD
GRID GRID
meter
STANDARD
GRID
meter
Green loans and leases

Green loans are loans that could be taken to invest in renewable energy,
energy efficient fixtures and appliances, existing buildings retrofitting and
generally any resource saving technique, which would result in the reduction
of CO2 emissions through the reduction in resource consumption. To give an
example, households could get a free sustainability assessment by an Esti-
dama assessor that would result in a report provided by the assessor high-
lighting measures that could be taken as an action plan to retrofit the house.
This method has been used for example in Australia 103, 104. The government
then provides the loans on a low or no interest basis.
Green leases are for new and renewal leases, where the owner and the ten-
ants agree on operational recommendations set out in the green lease to
abide by the set performance for energy and water use, share data, fit-out
and refurbishment for owners and occupiers and as many other clauses as
agreed upon by both parties 105. Both tenants and landlord undertake the
specified set of responsibilities which include supply, maintenance and op-
erational use of the building as well as social and ethical considerations. There
are other methods that are not widely used but available in Germany, which
are based on the rent cap. In that case, an increase of the rent cap is permit-
ted by the government in case the owner takes the initiative to retrofit the
existing building, creating an incentive for the developer 106.
Energy Performance contracting

As stated before there are no initiatives taken to tackle the performance of
the existing buildings even though there is a huge potential to reduce emis- Green Financing
sions and resource consumption if these buildings were to be refurbished.
The main obstacles are financial in nature followed by the lack of technical Schemes
knowledge. Energy performance contracting is a solution that will target
resource consumption reduction without relying on owner or tenant invest- By applying the schemes explained,
ment. Abu Dhabi government would be
saving the need to expand the utilities
Energy performance contracts (EPC) are innovative forms of contracting that needed to meet population growth
were developed to overcome the obstacles identified above, providing a per- demands.
formance based procurement and financial mechanism. EPCs are performed
by energy service companies (ESCO) that engage the facilities to improve its
efficiency, guaranteeing the outcome savings will pay for the capital invest-
ment over a specified period of time. What the ESCOs do is analyze the
facility, evaluate what the levels of savings could achieve, offer to implement
the savings project with guarantees over a definite time period and after the
construction they monitor and verify the performance 107. This guarantee as-
sures the payment of the capital investment could be paid by the utility bills
savings 108. The user will be paying the agreed share from the savings and will
enjoy the full savings after the completion of the contract period. Depending
on the scheme and contract terms the risk is divided between the user and
ESCO.
There are three considerations for any EPC. These are viability, capital and
risk. The fundamental consideration is having a viable project that is justi-
fied to take the next steps of financing and implementation. This is studied
depending on the payback period, which is usually between 3-20 years 109.
To implement this in Abu Dhabi it is suggested to include Estidama and the
PRS teams to take part in the assessment of the projects, verifying the viability
of these projects. This would require extra resources or a whole department
that would focus on these types of projects. After confirming the viability of
the project the capital source is looked for. This could either be the ESCO, the
developer, a bank, public fund or from energy utilities. As the energy utilities
are government owned, it would be of their own interest to finance these
projects because of the double savings they would achieve, first by the return
on their investment and second by reducing the subsidized energy genera-

tion. The last consideration is risk, which is at large endured by the ESCO due
to equipment and performance shortage. Since this is the added value of
ESCOs they should cover most of the risk and all of the technical risks 110. The
following figure illustrates the financial allocation of the project. The tilt in the
graph represents the energy price increase.
Figure 60: Contracting
Energy Operating Costs

Financial Scheme 110 Guaranteed savings covers
Customer
Savings
the investment value
Previous costs
After the contract period the customer
will receive all savings
New, reduced costs with

Performance Contracting
Guarantee Period begins Contract expires

Time
There are numerous benefits for implementing EPCs. The benefits are driv-
ing the built environment towards sustainability goals. Environmental goals
are reductions in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Economic goals
are through savings in capital and allowing more activity in the construction
industry which create jobs. Social goals are through improvements in indoor
quality.
There are many types of cash flow in EPCs. The most known two are ex-
plained hereafter. Shared savings contracts are the ones where the ESCO
arranges for the capital. They may either pay from their own capital or take
a loan from a third party such as a bank. After completing the project the
customer pays the ESCO from the savings based on the percentage which
they agreed upon. This method incentivizes the customer to take extra saving
measures. Since the ESCO pays for the installations they also retain owner-
ship of it until payment is completed. Banks would usually not prefer giving
too many loans for one ESCO; therefore this method reduces the amount of
projects one company could take. The second type is guaranteed savings
contracts. The main difference is that in this case the customer takes out the
loan from a third party. Performance risks are guaranteed by the ESCO, and
differences between the guarantees and actual savings are paid by the ESCO.
The customer pays the ESCO for their services and the third party financier. As
the ESCO does not need to take loans in this case, smaller ESCOs could take
many projects without the financial burden. Still, the reputation of the ESCO
plays a role in the financiers’ decision. 108 The following figure illustrates the
main differences between the two types.
Energy Investment Loan

Third
Figure 61: Cash Flow Customer ESCO Party
Scheme 108 Financier
Share of Savings Repayments
Top:
Cash flow in shared savings contract Payment for Work Loan
Bottom: Third
Cash flow in Guaranteed saving ESCO Customer Party
contract Financier
Energy Works Repayments
Savings Guarantee
5.4.3 Utilities, services and infrastructure enhancement
This section will discuss some strategies which could be implemented to

assist the infrastructure and utilities to achieve higher efficiencies and more
sustainability goals through short term, long term and temporary measures.
Some of the ideas are derived from other countries, which require verification
of social acceptance and willingness of behavioral changes. There are two
main measures discussed. One is the resource management, where sug-
gestions for utility improvements are recommended, and the second one is
proposing dematerialization and ephemeralization alternatives to the current
materialized economy and behavior.
Resource Management
The challenge of improving and redeveloping the utilities and infrastructure
is a complex, long term task. The aims already exist in the plan 2030. To be
able to achieve these goals Abu Dhabi needs to work on decentralization
initiatives, combined with incentives and by including the general public in
taking some of the load of water, energy and waste production and treat-
ment, as this currently does not exist.
Water treatment is solely the responsibility of the Abu Dhabi Water & Electric-
ity Authority 111. The same is true for waste treatment. However decentralized Decentralization
wastewater treatment and solid waste treatment has faced much negative
criticism, such as inefficiencies, hygiene and safety problems. Additionally
Schemes
there are scalability problems that make such projects not feasible because
of the amount of wastewater and solid waste available for treatment mak- Abu Dhabi needs to work on
ing the projects not economically viable 112. As a solution, a compromise decentralization initiatives, combined
between the completely decentralized and centralized system is suggested, with creating incentives, by including
meaning treatment projects that work on a neighborhood or district level. the general public in taking some of
This would solve the scale issues, as well as providing more control over the load of resource production and
maintenance by assigning management companies to the services. In the treatment.
case of organic waste there are no scale issues, and therefore it is recom-
mended to further promote decentralized decomposition systems 113.
Furthermore, the PRS for communities could play a vital role in recognizing
and giving credit to such initiatives, though the government would have to
provide the legislation for this market to be created.
Water consumption in public spaces has been addressed by the PRDM,
where lists of measures and plants have been identified. Irrigation methods
and schedules are also well researched 44. The existing landscape could see
more improvements, such as irrigation efficiencies described in the PRDM in
terms of scheduling and the use of wastewater.
Solid waste separation is being enforced by the PRS for new developments 34.
Currently solid waste is all collected together without separation. There needs
to be a plan for developing solid waste treatment plants, and there needs to
be initiatives to tackle the existing buildings as a way of preparation for when
the treatment plants are developed. Another problem of waste is the collec-
tion method. A solution for this issue is described in the next sub-section.
The energy sector has seen a lot of initiatives in the past decade in Abu
Dhabi. This could be seen for example in the Masdar initiatives discussed
in chapter four. Still, all production is centralized and owned solely by the
government. Systems as discussed in the previous section (PPA and FiT)
would reduce the burden on the government to create new plants, as well as
improving the renewable energy market.
Servicising Alternatives
Technological improvements based on dematerialization strategies are
insufficient to reduce the ecological impacts of products due to population
growth and rapidly shrinking prices of these products which leads to con-
sumption growth. There is a need to address the levels of consumption in
order to reach true sustainable solutions. Ephemeralization is therefore insuffi-
cient to meet people’s demands of services.
Dematerialization An approach to dematerialize the consumption is based on the product
servicing concept. It is widely seen in western countries, with proven work-
Schemes ing strategies and is economically viable 114. The concept is simply to deliver
services rather than products. It requires business models to do the shift from
Measures taken to dematerialize product-based to service-based models. The benefits include the overall
consumption behavior include aims of Estidama for sustainable development, and lowering the environ-
servicising, such as car and mental impacts. The approach could also be accomplished in some instances
community facilities sharing. Products without businesses, having the small communities (building to city scale) use
could also be driven by lending methods of sharing which are controlled by their own regulations.
options with take back guarantees.
The following are examples of implemented servicising and sharing schemes:
Car Sharing Schemes: there are two types of car sharing schemes, one is
based on a business model, where a company provides the cars and custom-
ers get to hire these cars on a short term basis. Examples of existing car shar-
ing businesses are Car2Go 115 and GoGet 116. Customers become members
of the service by providing personal details and billing information to get a
membership card with an RFID, which is used to access the available cars. The
cars are distributed over the city or in some countries cover more than a city.
A study made by GoGet indicates that each GoGet car on the road reduces
a total of 7 cars. Advantages of the system are not worrying about mainte-
nance, insurance and all other car owning related issues. In some areas there
are also dedicated parking spaces for the service vehicles.
The second scheme is community based car sharing, where community
members who own cars offer carpooling services in exchange for money.
There are also companies that facilitate the communication platforms for
this service for free. The disadvantages of this system are reliability and safety,
which is also why the communication platforms were introduced. These plat-
forms give options for rating the drivers and their cars after having completed
the journey. These two schemes could play a role in traffic reduction in Abu
Dhabi; at least until the planned public transportation alternatives are opera-
tional.
Facilities, appliance and materials sharing: the concept of sharing facilities
is of course available in Abu Dhabi, such as sharing a GYM or a Pool by a
building or complex of buildings. It is proposed to widen the sharing to more
users on the basis of providing better services. For example rather than hav-
ing 4 buildings with 4 GYMs they can share one with better equipment and
services such as trainers.
Another idea is sharing appliances, such as washing machines. A laundry
room could be provided within each residential building where tenants
could share the machines. This would reduce the amount of space needed
for each apartment by 1 square meter, as well as saving in plumbing piping
and electricity wires. By having centralized laundry facilities maintenance and
operational costs are reduced. However, this requires social acceptance from
the tenants.
The same concept could be applied to materials, such as floor carpet tiles in
offices, printers. The production company would be renting the materials,
which results in having them responsible for the end of cycle of the material,
as well as maintenance. An example is Interface, a commercial carpet and
interior furnishings company that leases its products 117. Other options also
seen in some of the developments in the UAE are leasing all kitchen applianc-
es. This reduces the initial investment needed from the tenants while making
it possible to reduce maintenance costs and be able to purchase high perfor-
mance appliances to ensure the goals of the certification are met.
The last example is using centralized systems for waste collection. An ex-
ample is the system applied in al Raha Beach development 118. By having one
collection point or facility for each cluster in the city, the collection process is
made easier, reducing traffic congestion as well as greenhouse gas emissions.
Another advantage is being able to pre-treat the waste by separating it prop-
erly, as well as compressing it to reduce space. The use of these improved
facilities also reduces the amount of space required by the municipalities for
waste collection rooms in each building.
5.5 Action Plan

In this section an action plan is created to further put the findings from this
chapter into a road-map with a timed plan. The aim of the action plan is to
show the possible developments that could be done to further assist achiev-
ing the vision 2030. The action plan is developed for the key components
found from the analysis, which have the biggest potential to affect the City
and work towards achieving the vision 2030 through codes, targets, aware-
ness, incentives, utilities provision and capacity building. Furthermore the
plans objectives are to overcome market, financial, technical and institutional
barriers.
The plan is an iterative one, meaning that the stepped process is to be re-
visited after the completion of each cycle. It also takes advantage of already
implemented measures and initiatives; however necessary developments in
these initiatives are required. There are four main phases in this action plan.
The first step is the assessment, where all the preparatory steps are taken to
be able to start planning. These include data collection, metrics and indica-
tors identification, current conditions analysis and a general SWOT analysis.
An intermediate aspect between the assessment and the planning phases
is prioritizing. The results are filtered according to their importance, feasibil-
ity and hierarchy. The second phase, planning, is where the initiatives are
created. Goals, objectives and methodologies are defined. The definitions
are then evaluated before starting the third phase of implementation. In the
third step the details of the planning phase are implemented by producing
the required actions and providing their resources and measures. Continu-
ous support and maintenance for the implemented measures are kept up to
reach the monitoring phase. In this last phase of the first cycle, performance
and quality are monitored, as well as a new log of data is created. Feedback is
then provided to and from involved stakeholders and teams, which could be
in the form of reports. The end of the process is the beginning of it, by means
of having the data for the assessment.
The plan is divided into short, medium and long term actions which are to
be addressed by the PRS team, Estidama and the whole government of Abu Figure 62: Proposed
Dhabi simultaneously. The short-term plan is 0-2 years. It targets swift chang- Action Plan
es to the PRS program to keep developing the market. The mid-term plan is
0-5 years. It targets businesses and societal behavior change by addressing The action plan includes the four
awareness aspects and creating incentives and disincentives in command steps: Assessment, Planning,
and control as well as market based instrument measures. The long-term Implementation and Monitoring.
plan is 0-20 years. It targets the transformation of the utilities, their networks It has three time periods: Short, mid
and the overall infrastructure of the city. While the overall assessment is to and long -term.
be done for each timeframe of the plan, it is necessary to add intermediary
evaluations to address the course and progress of the plan. Especially the
long term plans which need to be revisited, as technological advancements
could change their course dramatically.
Prioritize Evaluate Support & Maintain
Assessment Planning Implementation Monitoring
Facilitate integrated Create professionals

• Collect data educational workshops • Monitor and measure
• Establish baseline design processes
Add missing elements progress
• Conduct interviews and • Perform audits
surveys Update PRS • Assign corrective actions
Create strategies ad- Create typology
dressing opportuni- system and include • Quality control
ties and weak points existing buildings
Create profession-
Update benchmarks als communication
Define water, energy forums
and waste reduction
goals Create tiered prerequi-
• Identify available data site system
• Define metrics and Support education
and awareness of the Adjust weighting
indicators Expand product
industry platform
Short-term plan (0-2 years)

Identify messages for Create communication
public awareness platforms • Publish reports
• Communicate with
Create research institutes
awareness Identify communica- Provide needed
tion methods resources • Coordinate information
• Identify weak points campaigns with all government
• Identify opportunities Distribute media agencies
• Assess already imple- Identify audience Provide awareness
categories material with clear through all approved
mented policies methods
messages
Support energy perfor- Create regulations for
mance contracting renewable energy
Create
incentives & Utility pricing strate-
disincentives gies
Create supporting laws
and regulations for Market incentives and
• Organization readiness Provide green loans disincentives plans
and leases loans and leases
• Assign responsibilities
Mid-term plan (0-5 years)

• Develop processes • Feedback from public
• Conduct integration • Feedback from profes-
meetings on government sionals
level Identify servicing Implement phasing Continuous research
Improve utili- strategies out of subsidies and development
ties
Phase out of subsidies
strategy Create laws and
regulations to support
Decentralized systems decentralization of
provision utilities
Master Thesis - Ismail Khater
Improve in- Public transportation

• Identify needs frastructure plans Market plans for public
• Identify unmet needs transportation
and gaps Short term alternatives
• Forecasting Create policy frame- • Return to beginning of
work supporting process and repeat
Waste collection plans decentralized waste Identify and minimize
handling
100
risks
Long-term plan (0-20 years)

Dubai International Financial Centre , Dubai, UAE
Chapter 06:
CONCLUSION
A conclusion of the thesis, where main features and findings are item-
ized, followed by answering the hypothesis and suggesting future
work and research.
103 Chapter 6 - Conclusion
6 Conclusion
This study has considered the effectiveness of Estidama and the PRS assess-
ment system, as well as the effectiveness of the supporting initiatives on con- Thesis Objective
sultants and the built environment en route to realizing the visions and plans & Research
of sustainable development. Analysis of the current status has been prepared
resulting in the identification of strengths, weaknesses and opportunities that Methodology
have led to the recommendations, which have been structured into an action
plan. This research could work as a guiding framework of improvement out- Study and analyze Estidama and the
lines for Estidama and the PRS, as well as for other certification tools which PRS, to assess its effectiveness, effects
could benefit from the considerations. and provide recommendations and an
action plan.
The method of research included literature review for an understanding of Research used Methodological
the system and supporting initiatives, a case study with site visits to test the triangulation in literature review,
implementation of the system which helped in shaping the results, as well as as well as interviews and reports
interviews conducted with a wide range of system involved participants in assessment. Data triangulation to
the building industry in Abu Dhabi. The interview results helped in identify-
include most views
ing the analysis points of the thesis as well as develop the evaluation criteria,
data significance and recommendations.
I stand by the stated hypothesis that certification systems, in this case Esti-
dama’s PRS, enables and positively affects the building industry, consultants
and construction, leading them towards the transformation to sustainable
development. To realize sustainable development, establishing assessment
tools is undoubtedly the right way to move forward.
Key findings were that the localization of the certification system is more
preferred and has a higher potential in the long run. Another key finding is
that mandating a minimum level of the certification has a higher potential
of encouraging developers and consultants to do more than the minimum
because of being in the process of attaining the certification, especially in
this region as it was lacking strict building codes and incentives. This would
also lead to the construction industry and supply chain to be driven by the
scheme to provide the necessities for accreditation. Furthermore, the man-
date works on all developments unlike voluntary systems which are targeted Key Findings
only by the top performers, leading to a faster and higher percentage of im-
provements. Finally, the integration of all participants was found to be a high Findings reach far beyond the
priority and effective method to achieve higher levels of sustainable devel- certification system itself as it does
opments. This also includes the collaboration needed between government not work in isolation from all the
agents and their initiatives. Certification systems, laws and regulations should other initiatives and plans
go hand in hand, or better yet, combined as one tool as seen in Estidama.
However, findings reach far beyond the certification system itself as it does
not work in isolation from all the other initiatives and plans. Despite the
growth and recognition of Estidama and the PRS assessment system the
industry in Abu Dhabi is still undergoing a technical and cultural shift towards
using the tools to their full magnitude. There are several aspects challenging
the current system, leading to further improvement requirements and con-
tinuous evolving to maintain the momentum developed thus far. The most
dominant hindrances could be categorized into three groups: first, the need
to enhance and expand the PRS, second, support for the scheme through
awareness campaigns and financial incentives, and third, providing neces-
sary laws and regulations that would enhance the utilities and infrastructure.
Improvement details are provided in the evaluation, strategies and action
plan sections.
The results in this study provide main insights concerning the field of Esti-
Further Studies dama and sustainable development, based on the research conducted in
Abu Dhabi, which is mostly unexplored. It was found that there is a lack of
Include a broader spectrum of studies, data and statistics on PRS certified buildings and communities, as
well as of the certification influence, progress and efficiency. This was the
monitored facilities and users
main hindrance of the study which needs to be considered, which is mostly
feedback, as well as making a
due to the relative newness of the program initiation. Another limitation was
comparison of regional certification
not being able to include the building users into the study, which is of great
systems
importance to have a complete assessment as they ought to be incorporated
into the assessment of the PRS. Filling these gaps would dramatically improve
the robustness of the findings and evaluation.
Therefore, the next step of studies would include data analysis from a broader
spectrum of monitored facilities as well as feedback from users, after being
able to acquire more available quantitative data. A valuable additional step
could compare the Gulf regions’ certification systems as they share similar cul-
ture and climate conditions, to get a side by side comparison. A further step
could study the methodology and action strategy by including the social and
economic criteria into the certification to balance the sustainability pillars
weighting.
Few would disagree that the increase in application and development of

certification systems assessment has provided considerable theoretical and
practical knowledge, awareness and experience. These systems hold the
potential of contributing further sustainable building practices. It is essential
to shift the mind-set of people from thinking that ‘going green’ is a premium
as it is a necessity.
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The United Arab Emirates: Initial National Com- tion (Non-Domestic Buildings), Technical Manual.
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Convention on Climate Change. Abu Dhabi : Abu Show You How. Version 2. Abu Dhabi : Masdar,
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worldbank.org/country/united-arab-emirates. tions: An Overview and Strategic Guidance for viewer: Ismail Khater. October 10, 2012. UAE: Abu
Schneider Electric Employees. Massachusetts : Dhabi, Masdar City: Energy Efficiency Engineer,
12. Master of Public Administration in En- LEED AP.
vironmental Science and Policy. Sustainable Strategic Communications, 2010.
Water Management: Assessment and Recommen- 32. Saunders, Thomas. a discussion document 53. Foster+Partners. Masdar Development.
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Columbia University, 2010. ment methods for buildings. London : BRE Global partners.com/Projects/1515/Default.aspx.
13. Smith, Bruce. Demand Side Management - , 2008. 54. Hartman, Hattie. architectsjournal: Masdar
Plans and Challenges in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi : 33. Sheppard Robson. Siemens Middle East City, Abu Dhabi. [Online] December 2012. http://
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14. EWS-WWF. The UAE Ecological Footprint
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EWSWWF, 2011. 34. Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council. The Abu Dhabi : Masdar, 2011.
15. Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council. Next Pearl Rating System for Estidama: Community Rat- 56. Masdar: The Future Build. thefuturebuild.
Generation Sustainable Planning. Abu Dhabi : UPC, ing System. Version 1.0. Abu Dhabi : UPC, 2010. com. [Online] December 2012. http://www.thefu-
2009. 35. Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council. turebuild.com/about-masdar-city/page.html.
16. Porritt, Jonathon. Capitalism as if the World Estidama: Unique Approach to Sustainable Urban 57. Masdar City, The Future Bild. Training in
Matters. United Kingdom : Earthscan, 2005. Development. [Online] November 2012. http:// Sustainable Supply Chain. version 2. Abu Dhabi :
www.upc.gov.ae/sud/index.html. The Future Build, 2011.
17. World Commission on Environment and
Development. Our Common Future. New York : 36. Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council. An 58. The Future Build, Masdar City. Sustain-
Oxford University Press, 1987. Overview of the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Coun- ability is Only a Click Away. version 2. Abu Dhabi :
cil. Abu Dhabi : UPC, 2011. Masdar, 2011.
18. United States Green Building Council.
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LEED. [Online] [Cited: November 15, 2012.] http:// Planning Council. [Online] [Cited: January 15, real-life guide to sustainable living. Chichester :
new.usgbc.org/leed. 2013.] http://www.upc.gov.ae/abu-dhabi-2030. Wiley, 2010.
aspx?lang=en-US.
19. BRE Environmental Assessment Method 60. One Planet Living, BioRegional. Masdar
. BREEAM. [Online] [Cited: November 15, 2012.] 38. Urban Planning Council. Abu Dhabi Vision Outline Sustainability Action Plan: benchmark
2030. Abu Dhabi : UPC & ADCED, 2008.
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against One Planet Living (TM). Surrey : BioRe- 81. Kendra Tupper, Caroline Fluhrer. Energy 100. Hoffmann, Winfried. Feed-in Tariffs or Net
gional Development Group, 2008. Modeling at each Design Phase: Strategies to Metering? What’s the Difference? applied materi-
minimize Design Energy Use. New York : Fourth als. [Online] [Cited: February 22, 2013.] http://blog.
61. designbuild-network. Masdar Institute of National Conference of IBPSA-USA, August 2010. appliedmaterials.com/feed-tariffs-or-net-metering-
Science and Technology, United Arab Emirates. what%E2%80%99s-difference.
[Online] December 2012. http://www.designbuild- 82. Treasure, Julian. TED Talks: Ideas worth
network.com/projects/masdar-institute/. spreading. Why architects need to use their ears. 101. Wijayatunga, Priyantha D C. Regulation
[Online] [Cited: January 5, 2013.] http://www.ted. for Renewable Energy Development: Lessons from
62. Masdar City. Exploring the Masdar Institute com/talks/julian_treasure_why_architects_need_ Sri Lanka Experience. linkoeping : World Renew-
Campus. Version 1. Abu Dhabi : Masdar City, 2011. to_use_their_ears.html. able Energy Congress, 2011.
63. Siemens. Siemens Real Estate: Architectural 83. Barbara Smith. Financial Education:What 102. Shah, Chandra. Power Purchase Agree-
award for future Siemens regional headquarters in Makes a Successful Public Awareness Campaign? ments. s.l. : U.S. Department of Energy: Federal
Masdar City. Munich : Siemens Press, 2012. New Delhi, : OECD and PFRDA International, 2006. Energy Management Program, 2011.
64. Interview with: Chris Wan. Interviewer: 84. Florida Solar Energy Center. Green Building 103. DEWHA. Independent Inquiry - Green Loans
Ismail Khater. 2012. UAE: Abu Dhabi, Masdar City: Public Awareness Campaign Plan. Florida : s.n., Program: review of procurement processes and
Manager, City Design. 2008. contractual arrangements. 2010.
65. Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council. 85. GREEN PRO: Promoting Green Products. 104. AECOM Australia Pty Ltd. Green Loans:
Estidama Villa Products Database. [Online] [Cited: Awareness Campaign Strategy and Road Map. Review of Householder Perspectives. Fortitude
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86. Carbon Trust. Creating an awareness cam- 105. Better Building Partnership. Green Lease
66. Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council. paign. United Kigdom : Carbon Trust, 2012. Toolkit: Working together to improve sustainability.
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Construction Industry Professionals. Abu Dhabi : 87. FAO INVESTMENT CENTRE. Incentive Sys-
UPC, 2012. tems for Natural Resources Management: Role of 106. Andrew J. Nelson, Oliver Rakau, Philipp
Indirect Incentives. s.l. : United Nations, 1999. Dörrenberg. Green Buildings: A niche becomes
67. Abu Dhabi Regulation and Supervision mainstream. Frankfurt : Deutsche Bank Research,
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Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi : ADWEC, 2010. Energy Subsidies: Lessons Learned in Assessing
their Impact and Designing Policy Reforms. Shef- 107. Regenthal, T. Tetreault and S. ESPC
68. Exchange Rates . Live Currency Exchange field : Greenleaf Publishing, 2004. Overview: Cash Flows, Scenarios, and Associated
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www.exchangerates.org.uk/EUR-AED-exchange- 89. Koplow, D. and Dernbach, J. Federal Fossil- tracts. s.l. : U.S. Department of Energy, Efficiency &
rate-history.html. fuel Subsidies and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Renewable Energy, 2011.
Case Study of Increasing Transparency for Fiscal
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natural gas price statistics. eurostat. [Online] [Cited: ment, 2001. O’Riordan, Toni, Mercer. Efficiency & Renewable
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71. Interview with: Abdulla Ahmed. Inter- gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/no-plans-
viewer: Ismail Khater. October 22, 2012. UAE: Abu mance Contracting Association, 2000.
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92. gulfnews. Utility bills to show subsidised
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73. Elisa Campbell Consulting. Assessment of 2010. tion Committee Water and Electricity Sector. Law
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94. Bram Smeets, Ali Bayar. Sustainability of
tidama.org/estidama-40-day-build-up-campaigns. economic growth in Abu Dhabi - a Dynamic CGE 113. Das, A. Saji. Generation of Energy through
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couver : Green Building Roundtable, 2007. systems. Pneumatic Waste Collection Systems as
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CIX Annex
VIII. Annex
Relationship Between Pearl Rating Systems 34

Community Building Villa
Integrated Development Process
IDP-R1 Integrated Development IDP-R1 Integrated Development IDP-R1 Integrated Development
Strategy Strategy Strategy
IDP-R3 Guest Worker IDP-R3 Guest Worker IDP-R2 Guest Worker
Accommodation Accommodation Accommodation
IDP-R4 Community-Dedicated IDP-R4 Basic Commissioning IDP-R3 System & Envelope
Infrastructure Basic Commissioning Performance Verification
IDP-1 Life Cycle Costing IDP-1 Life Cycle Costing IDP-1 Life Cycle Costing
IDP-2 Construction Environmental IDP-2 Construction Environmental IDP-2 Construction Environmental
Management Management Management
IDP-3 Sustainability Awareness IDP-5 Sustainability Communication IDP-3 Sustainability Communication
Natural Systems
NS-R1 Natural Systems Assessment NS-R1 Natural Systems Assessment NS-R1 Natural Systems Assessment
& Protection
NS-R2 Natural Systems Protection NS-R2 Natural Systems Protection NS-R1 Natural Systems Assessment
& Protection
NS-R3 Natural Systems Design & NS-R3 Natural Systems Design & NS-1 Landscape Design & Manage-
Management Strategy Management Strategy ment Plan
NS-1 Reuse of Land NS-1 Reuse of Land
NS-2 Remediation of Contaminated NS-2 Remediation of Contaminated
Land Land
NS-3 Ecological Enhancement NS-3 Ecological Enhancement NS-2 Landscape Enhancement
NS-4 Habitat Creation & Restoration NS-4 Habitat Creation & Restoration
Livable Communities, Livable Buildings and Livable Villas
LC-R1 Plan 2030 LBo-R1 Plan 2030
LC-R2 Urban Systems Assessment LBo-R2 Urban Systems Assessment LV-R1 Urban Systems Assessment
LC-R3 Provision of Amenities and LBo-3 Accessible Community LV-3 Community Facilities & Active
Facilities Facilities Urban Environments
LC-R4 Outdoor Thermal Comfort LBo-R3 Outdoor Thermal Comfort LV-R2 Outdoor Thermal Comfort
Strategy Strategy
LC-1 Transit Supportive Practices LBo-6 Public Transport LV-4 Public Transport
LC-4 Accessible Community LBo-3 Accessible Community LV-3 Community Facilities & Active
Facilities Facilities Urban Environments
LC-7 Active Urban Environments LBo-4 Active Urban Environments LV-3 Community Facilities & Active
Urban Environments
LC-8 Travel Plan LBo-9 Travel Plan
LC-9 Improved Outdoor Thermal LBo-1 Improved Outdoor Thermal
Comfort Comfort
LC-11 Pearl Rated Buildings Within LBo-2 Pearl Rated Communities LV-1 Pearl Rated Community
Communities
LC-12 Safe & Secure Community LBi-10 Safe & Secure Environment
Master Thesis - Ismail Khater CX
Community Building Villa

Precious Water
PW-R3 Water Monitoring & Leak PW-3 Water Monitoring & Leak PW-R2 Water Monitoring
Detection Detection
PW-1.1 Community Water Use PW-2.1 Exterior Water Use PW-2.1 Exterior Water Use
Reduction: Landscaping Reduction: Landscaping Reduction: Landscaping
PW-1.2 Community Water Use PW-2.2 Exterior Water Use
Reduction: Heat Rejection Reduction: Heat Rejection
PW-1.3 Community Water Use PW-2.3 Exterior Water Use PW-2.2 Exterior Water Use
Reduction: Water Features Reduction: Water Features Reduction: Water Features
PW-2 Stormwater Management PW-4 Stormwater Management PW-3 Stormwater Management
PW-3 Water Efficient Buildings PW-R1 Minimum Interior Water Use PW-R1 Minimum Interior Water Use
Reduction Reduction
PW-3 Water Efficient Buildings PW-1 Improved Interior Water Use PW-1 Improved Interior Water Use
Reduction Reduction
Resourceful Energy
RE-R3 Energy Monitoring & Report- RE-R2 Energy Monitoring & Report- RE-R2 Energy Monitoring
ing ing
RE-1 Community Strategies for RE-2 Cool Building Strategies RE-2 Cool Building Strategies
Passive Cooling
RE-4.1 Renewable Energy: Onsite RE-6 Renewable Energy RE-3 Renewable Energy
RE-4.2 Renewable Energy: Offsite RE-6 Renewable Energy RE-3 Renewable Energy
RE-5 Energy Efficient Buildings RE-R1 Minimum Energy Performance RE-R1 Minimum Energy Performance
RE-5 Energy Efficient Buildings RE-1 Improved Energy Performance RE-1 Improved Energy Performance
Stewarding Materials
SM-R1 CCA Treated Timber SM-R1 Hazardous Materials SM-R1 Hazardous Materials
Elimination Elimination Elimination
SM-R2 Basic Construction Waste SM-R2 Basic Construction Waste SM-R2 Basic Construction Waste
SM-R3 Basic Operational Waste SM-R3 Basic Operational Waste
Management Management
SM-2 Regional Materials SM-9 Regional Materials SM-4 Regional Materials
SM-3 Recycled Materials SM-10 Recycled Materials SM-5 Recycled Materials
SM-4 Reused or Certified Timber SM-12 Reused or Certified Timber SM-6 Reused or Certified Timber
SM-5 Improved Construction Waste SM-13 Improved Construction Waste SM-7 Improved Construction Waste
SM-6 Improved Operational Waste SM-14 Improved Operational Waste
Management Management
SM-7 Organic Waste Management SM-15 Organic Waste Management
Innovating Practice
IP-1 Showcase of Regional & Cultural IP-1 Innovative Cultural & Regional IP-1 Innovative Cultural & Regional
Practices Practices Practices
IP-2 Innovating Practice IP-2 Innovating Practice IP-2 Innovating Practice
CXI
Land Acquisition
Enquiry
UPC Planner Assigned
Enquiry
Information Meeting
Annex
Small Development
Large Development Medium Development
One Plot, one principal building
more than 125,000m 2 GFA 75,000m 2 to 125,000m 2 GFA
up to 75,000m 2 GFA
Prepare and submit preliminary Prepare and submit preliminary Prepare and submit preliminary
development concepts development concepts development concept
Development Review Processes 45
External External
agency input preliminary concepts agency input preliminary concepts preliminary concept
Changes Changes Changes

Required?
Pre-Application
Required? Required?
Prepare and submit Prepare and submit

concept masterplan concept development
External External
agency input concept masterplan agency input concept development
Changes Changes
Required? Required?
Concept
UPC concept approval UPC concept approval
(with conditions) (with conditions)
Prepare and submit

Prepare and submit Prepare and submit
development regulations and
detailed site and building design detailed site and building design
guidelines
External
agency input detailed site and building design
External External
development regulations Changes
agency input agency input detailed site and building design
and guidelines Required?
Changes Changes
Required? Required?
Detailed
UPC approval UPC notice to proceed UPC notice to proceed
Obtain external agency Obtain external agency

approvals (NOCs) approvals (NOCs)
UPC approval UPC approval
Apply for municipal permits Apply for municipal permits
Medium Medium or Small

Small
Development?
Start B Medium Start C Small

Master Thesis - Ismail Khater
Development Review Development Review

Process Process
CXII
CXIII Annex
Masdar Indicators and Targets (OPL) 60
Zero Carbon
Indicators Masdar Targets
2
1. Percentage of energy supplied from renewable 1. 100% on completion of each phase .
sources. 1
1.1 Tonnes of carbon released in generating the power 1.1. Net zero tonnes (CO 2 released in Energy from Waste
consumed for operating the site
Target energy consumption for building typologies

3
calculated by Transsolar (iteration 4) :
2
Energy consumption (kWh/m /a): Sens Lat Elec
72.8 50.5 29.0
Laboratory 118.5 107.4 96.6
Housing 68.4 76.9 20.7
Education 63.3 67.0 25.3
Community Support 115.5 85.2 84.1
Production 202.5 106.0 203.8
Catering/Retail 223.9 195.2 154.8
Diverse 98.3 124.0 67.7
Energy consumption for domestic hot water

2
(kWh/m /a):
Housing 15.8
Community Support 7
Catering/retail 27
Diverse 4.4
3. Embodied carbon of construction materials and 3. (a) Track embodied carbon of construction.
plant
Zero Waste (Operational)

1.1 Over 99% by 2020
1.2 Percentage waste minimisation 1.2 30% from baseline
1.3 Percentage of waste arisings recycled and 1.3 By phase 2:
composted Recycling 50%
Composting 16%
Thermal treatment 33%
Zero Waste (Construction)
3 2
1. Volume of construction waste generated 1. 13m /100m
following monitoring data collection, for later phases
Sustainable Transport
4
1. Tonnes of CO 2 emissions due to transport within the 2 /year
city zero emissions zone
2. Percentage of land based journeys to and from 2. 55% by private car and 45% by public transport by
1 This is a baseline requirement of OPL,
Masdar 2020.
see Common International Targets in
Appendix 1in original document.
3. Air transport 2 BioRegional recognises that 100%
summarising baseline monitoring of air transport renewable energy supply does not
and setting incremental annual percentage reductions.
capture all of the potential sources of
carbon emissions on site. However ac-
resident knowledge and transport behaviour and setting
cording to the Common International
annual targets for increasing and behaviour change. Targets of OPL the aim is to produce
100% of the energy demand of build-
Local and Sustainable Materials ings from on and off site renewable
Indicators Masdar Targets sources, in whatever mix of renewables
1. Embodied CO 2 of construction materials 1. Phase 1 research target; suggest less than
2
is appropriate to the site. The purpose
600kgCO 2/m and track embodied carbon of of this broad target is to make steps
Construction (excluding podium). towards reducing our carbon impact,
1.1. Subsequent phases work to achieving the target set and the overall goal of achieving net
out in phase 1, continue tracking embodied carbon of zero carbon, whilst allowing for inno-
construction. vation and flexibility in development.
Masdar is exceeding the OPL target.
scheme. 3 These figures represent one method
2. Percentage of recycled materials in construction. 2. Phase 1 benchmark recycled content of construction of achieving the carbon neutrality
2.1. Subsequent phases increase recycled content of target designed by the Masterplanning
5
construction up to 25% total by mass for phase 6 . team, they represent a reduction in
3. Percentage of sustainable timber 3. 100% of timber from most environmentally
consumption of approximately 80%
compared to the Abu Dhabi baseline.
Local and Sustainable Food Comparable data of best practice en-
Indicators Masdar Targets ergy efficiency in the desert environ-
1. Ecological footprint of food consumed in shops and 1. Consumption consistent with achieving overall ment has not been available for this
restaurants at Masdar personal consumption of 0.6 global hectares/person phase of the project; any data made
2. Organic food or food produced using low- 2. Produce report on availability of organic and available going forward will be used
environmental impact agricultural techniques low environmental impact food in the region.
6
to benchmark these figures. For OPL
consumed from on site shops and restaurants. 2.1. Minimum 75%, by weight, of total food consumed by these figures demonstrate a significant
2020 to be low environment impact reduction in energy consumption from
3. Vegetarian restaurant on site 3. One vegetarian restaurant on site by phase 4. the country specific baseline and are
One additional vegetarian organic restaurant on site therefore considered to be in line with
by phase 6. the zero carbon goal.
4. Farm shop on site 4. One farm shop sourcing regional produce by phase 4.
Master Thesis - Ismail Khater CXIV
Local and Sustainable Water

1. Water consumption
1.1. Domestic 1.1. 140l/p/d (37l/p/d ‘new water’, remainder of water
7
supplied from on site recycled sources)
2 2
1.2. 3.85litres/m /day (reduced to 2.35litres/m /day with
greywater recycling)
2. Percentage of water supplied from recycled sources 2. 100% by 2020
(either direct or indirect recycling)
Natural Habitats and Wildlife
1. Conservation of existing biodiversity
then any valuable species to be relocated.
2. Enhancement of biodiversity 2010 – 2015 2. Budget to be agreed to invest in at least one UAE
Biodiversity project by 2015.
3. Conservation of existing biocapacity 3. Very low existing biocapacity so no target needed
4. Enhancement of biocapacity 2010 – 2015 4. Budget to be agreed to invest in one regional project
to support increasing local biocapacity by 2015.
Culture and Heritage
1. Built form and building design will integrate local 1.1 Build Masdar using narrow streets for shading.
culture and heritage in the context of Masdar. 1.2 Use wind catchers in the city for passive ventilation.
1.3 Build a walled city, using the wall for protection from
the elements.
2. Financial and personnel support to integrate local 2.1 Masdar cultural events calendar
culture and heritage into the operation of the city. 2.2 Community majilis
3. Built form and building design will have visible 3.1 Integrate renewable technologies into the cityscape
demonstrations of sustainability. 3.2 Implement a zero emissions zone for transport
3.3 Provide segregated waste collection facilities
throughout the city
4. Financial and personnel support to demonstrate 4.1. Annual door knocking and poster awareness raising
sustainability in the operation of the city. programme about recycling, combined with recycling
government to stimulate recycling industry in the

region.
4.2 Annual ‘waterwise’ awareness raising programme to
encourage low water use, combined with water
infrastructure.
Equity and Fair Trade
1. Fair wages and working conditions (best 1. Everyone employed during construction and operation
international labour standards for wages and health of Masdar from day 1 of their employment
and safety) within the context of federal and regional
laws.
4 Masdar brief sets a zero emissions 2. Capacity of a local project that supports a 2.1. Identify target project e.g. Al Ghadeer women’s
zone within the zero emissions area disadvantaged 8 group in society.
defined by Systematica in the Mas- 2.2 Set target for increasing capacity of that project by
terplan. 100% by target group compared to their current
baseline by 2015 e.g. number of disadvantaged
5 This target can be achieved at OPL
Brighton; through use of concrete employed.
frame constructed with 58% recycled 3. Level of support provided to a disadvantaged group 3.1 Identify group/business opportunity.
content, recycled and reclaimed land- to set up a business related to construction and/or
scape materials and some reclaimed operation of Masdar e.g. recycling, catering, sand
timber studwork. bags for construction.
6 Consistent with achieving a footprint Health and Happiness

of 0.6 global hectares, using REAP
modelling.
1. Built form and building design will integrate health 1.1 Zero emissions zone to improve health
7 Calculations from WSP water model and happiness principles. 1.2. Provide walking and cycling lanes throughout the city
in the Masterplan. 1.3 Natural daylighting to buildings from courtyards and
streets, solar control glazing with daylight
8 Defined as ‘Groups or populations transmission > 65% 9
within a country who, compared with 1.4 Avoid formaldehyde and other VOCs (volatile organic
the majority of the population, suffer compounds) and phthalates 10 e.g. PVC carpet
from poorer health, fewer opportuni- backing, wall coverings, ceiling tiles and wiring.
ties or reduced access to services may 1.5 Build library at Masdar
be called “disadvantaged.” Disadvan- 1.6 Build community centre at Masdar
tage may be the result of discrimina- 2. Facilities provided for each demographic group at
tion (race, gender, ethnicity), poverty, Masdar at Masdar (age, ethnicity, sex, income)
geography (rural residence), or other
causes.’ Universities and the health of badminton court, skate park, crèche
the disadvantaged, D Blumenthal and 3. Events run for each demographic group at Masdar 3. 1 Ongoing program for each group by 2015 e.g. yoga
class, reading group, drama workshops, cooking
C Boelen, World Health Organisation,
groups
2001
4. Celebration of festivals
9 Source: Masdar Masterplan Vol 2-3 4.2 Annual celebration or event provided for all major
Transsolar festivals for all countries represented at Masdar.
5. Residents satisfaction levels 5.1 Annual monitoring survey to be produced
10 Source: Healthy Building Network, 5.2 70% of residents reporting that they have a higher
www.healthybuilding.net quality of life from where they previously lived
5.3 Average resident knows 15 of their neighbours by
name
CXV Annex
Interview Questions
Interview questions varied according to the profession of

each individual. The following is a list of the combination
of most common questions used in the interviews:
 What are the advantages and disadvantages of

 What defines your projects’ design sustainability Certification system?
level?  How do you define sustainability?
 Where you involved in any project that had to be  What does it take to plan and build a sustainable
certified? community?
 What was your involvement? What was your role in  In your opinion what is needed to make a para-
the project? digm shift to convert the built environment into a
 What type of meetings did you participate in? Who sustainable one?
was involved? What was their occurrence?  What are the interlocking connections between
 When using a certification system in a project, do the industries, consultancies and regulations need-
you prefer one over another? And why? ed for a Certification system to work and develop
 How many people are certified? And what kind of well in the market?
certification?  What is still missing in Certification system? And
 What are the fees associated with rating a project? what do you expect in Certification system future
 The integration of a Certification system in the developments?
planning process: How is it done? What are the dif-
ferences? Pro’s and con’s?  How is Estidama embedded in the public realm
 What’s the process you go through to learn, submit design guideline?
Estidama documents?  Who should/is involved in the creation of the
 What did you have to change in order to incorpo- public realm design guidelines? How is the public
rate the mandatory Certification system usage of consulted?
Estidama?  What is being done in order to achieve the guide-
 Is the Estidama process easy and clear? Do you lines?
struggle to do any Estidama related work?  How are the guidelines linked to codes, plan 2030,
 What are the difficulties you face when dealing Estidama and development reviews?
with Estidama/UPC and ADM?  Are there revisions done to the guidelines along
the process of realizing it? What creates those
 Do you think Certification system should be man- changes and who?
datory, voluntary, or a mix of both?  What is different in Abu Dhabi’s public realm guide-
 What would you do differently in order to achieve a lines other than in other cities?
better sustainable design?  Is environmental awareness incorporated into the
 When do you revise the benchmarks? And what public realm plan? And how?
reactions do changes cause?
 How would you rate Estidama’s current goals to  How is BIM incorporating or helping sustainable
other Certification system? design?
 How would you rate Estidama’s goals to an ultimate  What are the benefits of using BIM? (environmental,
sustainable goal? economic, social)
 Is Estidama pushing the market too far, or not  Could you speak briefly about the effect of using
pushing far enough? BIM in the following? (Energy – Materials - Water)
 What are the advantages of BIM in each stage of
 What is in your opinion the reason behind not the project?
moving faster towards more sustainable buildings?  What are the disadvantages of BIM?
Master Thesis - Ismail Khater CXVI
Consent Form
Ismail Khater
Architectural Engineer B.Sc.
REAP Masters Student M.Sc.
Alsterkrugchaussee 212 –22297 Hamburg

e-mail :
i.khater@live.com
ismail.khater@hcu-hamburg.de
Cell +49 (0) 176 – 7033 -1886

Cell +971 (0) 56 – 265 - 6365
Internet: www.hcu-hamburg.de
Abu Dhabi, October 2012
You are being requested to participate in a qualitative interview conducted by Ismail Khater, who is a
Student in the Master Program Resource Efficiency in Architecture and Planning, at HafenCity University,
Hamburg. The interview is for his thesis entitled: “Certification Systems as a Tool for Sustainable Architecture
and Urban Planning - Case Study: Estidama, Abu Dhabi”.
Purpose: The objective of the thesis is to develop an understanding of the impact, challenges and opportunities of the certification
system requirements.
Selection: You have been chosen for the nature of your work, your work experience as well as the nature of your project locations.
Participation: Your participation in this study is voluntary. This means that your decision will be respected, whether or not you
want to be in the study. If you decide to join the study now, you can still change your mind during the study.
Risks: No risks or discomforts have been identified for this interview. If you feel stressed during the study you may stop at any time,
and you may skip any questions that you feel uncomfortable answering.
Procedure: The procedure is having the interview questions sent to you via email for reviewing first. Then, you could identify any
questions you wish to eliminate, or you could decide to do so during the interview. Additions to the interview that you see helpful
are welcomed.
Payment and Benefits: there is no monetary payment associated to this interview. Although this study is not designed to help
you personally, the information you contribute will help answering the hypothesis and connect your experience with the objective
of the study.
Time and Location: interviews are to be conducted within your facilities for your convenience at a mutually suitable time.
Confidentiality: Your contribution in the form of an audio recorded interview will be written in the annex of the thesis, with an
acknowledgement of the speakers (identified by name, biography and a picture of your face which will be next to the biography).
While this is the case, this interview is intended for the sole purpose of the thesis specified above. All audio files will be deleted
after the thesis writing is completed or within 6 months (whichever comes first).
I give permission to be interviewed by the researcher Yes No

I give permission to have my picture taken Yes No
I agree to have the interview audio recorded Yes No
Your signature below indicates that you have decided to participate voluntarily to this study and that you
have read and understood the information provided above. You will be given a copy of this form to keep.
Participant’s Name and Signature :
Interviewer’s Name and Signature:

CXVII Annex
Raw Interview Data
sustainability drivers (indirect) awareness of system

high resources prices 16 36% fully aware 9 30.0%
incentives provision 12 27% partially aware 19 63.3%
competition 9 20% minimum knowledge 2 6.7%
increased awareness 7 16% no knowledge 0 0.0%
increased evidence 1 2% 30 100.0%
45 100%
comprehension of PRS
sustainability level (direct) very easy 5 17.2%
clients 13 48.1% easy 13 44.8%
cost 7 25.9% average 6 20.7%
laws and regulations 5 18.5% hard 3 10.3%
best practice 2 7.4% very hard 2 6.9%
27 100.0% 29 100.0%
preference of certification to be used Learning about Estidama

Estidama 17 65.4% Involved in projects 12 39%
others 5 19.2% In-house PQP 7 23%
no preference 4 15.4% Estidama workshops 6 19%
26 100.0% Website 3 10%
Media (advertisement & 2 6%
preferred type press)
mixed (like Estidama) 18 72.0% Awareness campaign 1 3%
mandatory 4 16.0% 31 100.0%
voluntary 3 12.0%
25 100.0% perception of benchmarks
very high 1 3.3%
high 2 6.7%
ideal 16 53.3%
low 8 26.7%
very low 3 10.0%
30 100.0%
Master Thesis - Ismail Khater CXVIII
Cost of Estidama benefits of the PRS

5 Pearl 12% benchmarking facilities 12 29%
4 Pearl 8% weighting tailored to region 8 20%
3 Pearl 5% resources consumption 7 17%
2 Pearl 3% reduction
1 Pearl 1% early strategic planning 5 12%
whole building thinking 4 10%
benefits of Estidama eliminating submission fees 3 7%
reducing climate change 13 31% preventing greenwashing 2 5%
effects 41 100%
combined forces of MBI and 9 21%
C&C barriers and gaps of the PRS
market transformation 6 14% existing buildings & opera- 13 34%
clear vision strategic plan- 5 12% tion
ning social and economic aspects 6 16%
integrated initiatives 4 10% PRS process 5 13%
authoritative instrument 3 7% local materials availability 4 11%
monopolization prevention 2 5% research and case studies 3 8%
42 100% water credits too hard 2 5%
typology 2 5%
barriers and gaps of Estidama embedded energy 1 3%
incentives 16 31% irrelevant credits 1 3%
subsidies 11 22% mandatory noise levels 1 3%
utilities 6 12% 38 100%
market readyness 5 10%
low client awareness 4 8%
consistency of process (ADM 3 6%
and UPC)
supplier transparancy 2 4%
BIM provision 2 4%
market fairness 1 2%
community involvement 1 2%
51 100%
Library Building - Masdar Institute, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Certification Systems as a Tool for Sustainable Architecture and Urban Planning - Case Study: Estidama, Abu Dhabi Master Thesis - Ismail Khater
and Urban Planning
Case Study:
Estidama, Abu Dhabi
Book 2: Interviews
Ismail Khater
April 2013
I Selected Interviews

and Urban Planning
Case Study:
Estidama, Abu Dhabi
A Thesis Presented to:

HafenCity University
By:
Ismail Khater
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree:

Master of Science in
HafenCity University, Hamburg, Germany

April, 2013
© 2013 Ismail Khater
Approved By:
Professor Wolfgang Dickhaut
(Date) (Signature)
Master Thesis - Ismail Khater II
Selected Interviews
Abdulla Ahmed Balalaa Planning Manager, UPC 1

Adi Afaneh Associate Assessor, Estidama, UPC 4
Carlos Amaya Senior Associate Assessor, Estidama, UPC 7
Jean Philippe Coulaud Director Corporate Communications, UPC 10
Michael Stott Senior Associate, Public Realm & Neighborhood Planning, UPC 13
Peter Stair Associate Planner, Estidama, UPC 16
Talal Al Ansari Associate Manager, Urban Design, UPC 18
Camilo Chacon Senior Design Consultant, ADM 21
Carlo Thomas Senior Associate, Discipline Lead - MEP, Stantec 23
Charles Blaschke IV Project Manager, iTech - General Manager, taka solutions 27
Chris Wan anager, City Design, Masdar City 31
Daniel Frawley Regional Design Technology Manager, Woods Bagot 35
Dharvish Moinuddin Mechanical Engineer, LEED-AP, PQP, Stantec 39
Dina El Karimy & Ansam Ahmed Architect & Senior Architect, Burthill 42
Erik Hokanson Principal, Stantec 45
Iris Eckstein Landscape Architect, Obermeyer 49
Hemsa Ibrahim Green Building Certification and Daylight Modeling Professional, iMCC 50
Ivar Krasinski Design Director, STR-EDGE 52
Jason Kamihira Senior Architect, PQP, QSAS, Stantec 55
Liam Farrell & Serkan Akyuz Senior Associate Landscape Architect & Landscape Architect, Stantec 58
Martina Konrad Sustainability Manager 61
Michel Abi Saab Energy Efficiency, Senior Engineer, Masdar City 65
Rasha Abdul-Khalek Architect (LEED AP BD+C), Atkins 67
Reham Hussein & Lamees Himmo Senior Architect & Architect, Stantec 69
Waleed Hashem Project Manager-LEED AP, PQP, Obermeyer 71
Anonymous 74
1 Selected Interviews
Abdulla Ahmed Balalaa

Position: Planning Manager, UPC
Country of Origin: United Arab Emirates
Biography: Abdulla holds a master’s degree in Urban and regional planning
from Paris Sorbonne University and a bachelor’s degree in applied science
civil engineering and a master’s degree in leadership management from Cam-
bridge University in the UK. He is working now in the UPC as an urban planning
department manager, and he holds a development review department called
enabling facilitation and customer service development review.
Ismail: can you tell me more about the role of your department? the main purpose. And we worked closely of the department of eco-
Abdulla: it’s basically the department responsible of reviewing the nomic developments which is considered the government body who
entire private and government sectors’ developments in the emirate is granting licenses for contractors, designers and consultants and we
of Abu Dhabi, and when I say the emirate of Abu Dhabi we are talking worked with and told them we don’t need any more contractors, de-
about almost 87% of the total area of the United Arab Emirates. So ba- signers and consultants to be registered at the government without
sically the department’s role is reviewing the developments through being certified because this is a direction of the government. So this
an application submission process and we go through that review and argument is happening, not even in our level as department manag-
the review is designed and scaled into three different stages; first is the ers but even organization and government level. This will ensure that,
pre concept stage and it’s a stage before the developers go and put I mean if you are bleeding you want to stop the bleed first and then
the concept together and then once the concept is being put all to- you can clean and cure, we are bleeding if we put such initiatives and
gether we review the concept and then the detail, so it’s pre concept, such certifications and exams for people, and department of econom-
concept and detail. For the 3 stages we only review planning of course ic development still is licensing and registering people who are not
you cannot separate planning from infrastructure and structure, we certified, then you are not solving the problem. You want to start from
do review that as well, but we do review plans not implementations. there stop the bleed first then you want to go and work out with what
you have which the existing already registered people.
Ismail: what are the reasons behind creating a certification system
here in Abu Dhabi? Ismail: Estidama sets three certification stages; design, construction
and operation. Could you elaborate more on that?
Abdulla: mainly the UPC was formed to be the regulator of the boom-
ing happening in Abu Dhabi, especially in real estate, projects and de- Abdulla: design; you want to make sure that the design, let’s take an
velopments which is in touch with the economy in different aspects. example of a building; how can you make sure that this building is sus-
Now talking about sustainability, when the UPC was formed there was tainable? First of all in a country like UAE we have a harsh climate, hot
no Estidama at the beginning and then you know the direction of the and humid country, one of the items Estidama is calling for is minimiz-
country of the UAE, even the leadership in Abu Dhabi government is ing the size of the windows, why? To reduce the amount of heat get-
towards sustainability and that’s a direction the whole world is going ting into the space, relatively you will lower the use of air conditioning
to. That’s why we thought of this initiative and we started working on something like 60% of energy wasted, so you can eliminate this from
it and today we are implementing it. We came up with the sustain- the design. Another example; the building orientation, you want to
ability initiative which would be covering all the UPC aspects in the make that the building is designed in a way that provides shade to the
future, currently it does but we want to take it a more level of detail people who are walking downstairs. The third thing you want to assign
especially with the planning and policies department. So currently Es- the plotting of a building in a way that it won’t prevent a wind corri-
tidama is an initiative created by the UPC basically rating the master dor, we even studied the wind direction because if the wind is going
plans community’s development and it measure how sustainable are that way why build a barrier there? All of this can be prevented in the
these developments. design stage. Construction phase; use of recycled materials credits to
be more sustainable, if you want to talk about operational stage I will
Ismail: what are the differences in Estidama compared to other cer- give you an example; if a building is being operated you are capturing
tification systems? And how is the culture pillar being embedded in the waste for example and this waste can be used for recycling or to
Estidama? produce heat or something then you are sustainable in the operation
Abdulla: you are answering the first question by saying how the cul- as well and lots of other examples like; automatic lighting; its’ off when
ture is embedded. What distinguishes Estidama from other sustain- you pass by it switches on, in office buildings lowering the partitions
ability initiatives as LEED, BREEAM and Green Star is adding the culture, to provide more sunlight and all of these in the operation stage.
most of the well-known sustainability initiatives look from social, en- Ismail: in your opinion what is the added value of certification systems?
vironmental and economical point of view. And cultural is something
we don’t compromise with in the UAE as it is part of our identity, so Abdulla: certification systems will support us as the government. First
that’s why we added one more pillar which is the culture pillar. of all it will support the society and the people to have a good place to
stay at, a sustainable place to stay at when these projects are delivered.
Ismail: what is still missing in certification systems and how do you see Second, on the long run it will save cost to the government by ap-
that changing in the future development? plying the sustainability concepts. Third: The certification system will
Abdulla: setting a certification system will allow us to go scientifically distinguish for us who is good and who is bad so we can know who
and achieve our goals. For example; we now have Estidama, it’s an ini- to give the job to, not as UPC of course but as implementation when
tiative and it’s approved by the government and to prove that we have people have projects. Today Estidama is mandatory, let’s say Ismail is
successful stories; developments being approved, construction deliv- certified and Abdulla is not, then Abdulla will never get a job in the
ered and done, it’s operating now and it’s sustainable. That shows that government because it is mandatory, you can see the difference.
it is something not difficult and can be done and accepted by the so- Ismail: If we take plan 2030 as the main vision, how are other support-
ciety. Now, how can we achieve this in a scientific way is to change the ing initiatives being integrated into this plan?
mindset of people plus the people who are working on that field such
as; contractors and consultants. How can I know that you will be up Abdulla: first of all urban planning is a new science, not only in UAE
to the level of putting together a sustainable development or design? but across the world, you cannot compare it chemistry or math it is a
We created the certification system which will allow you to distinguish relatively new science especially in our region. Number two, when we
those who are available and able to get this job done for you, that’s came as the government and we put together our urban planning
council we wanted to establish a planning culture, we want people to be designed, what is the length and width of the roads, is there a side
know there is something called urban planning which will basically in- walk, cycling paths all this is introduced in urban street design manual.
crease the quality of life, we want this message to be spread. How will Which is considered another mode of transport; you can walk and you
it increase the quality of life? We will show you and then we produce can cycle.
plans and once these plans are implemented, here you go and you Ismail: is this also done for existing developments?
can go and visit city of Vancouver or city of New York there are lots of
successful examples of well urbanized cities. Three, how do we want Abdulla: yes, we are doing this revitalization plans for existing areas,
to start this? We need to think in a strategic level first, we put together we take sector by sector for example, review them and make sure that
plan 2030 which is the guiding principles and strategic framework these sectors are all linked somehow together so we look at it as a
for the Abu Dhabi metropolitan; the island itself and the neighboring whole and as a concept first and then we go into phasing it, so look at
mainland, once we put 2030 plan it sets guiding planning principles, this not only in cycling and walk ability but even in roads and streets
it tells you how to produce a good plan, at the same time parallel to networks.
this there are certain guidelines that are implanted within plan2030 Ismail: is environmental awareness incorporated into public realm
such as; population, heights, showing where are the high and the low plan?
density in the metropolitan of Abu Dhabi. Those are somehow regu- Abdulla: yes absolutely, we do everything from environmental point
lated, it is not a detailed one like the code but they are regulations so of view, even in development review when we look at a project and
we have to make sure that these regulations are implemented while review it. We ask them for environmental analysis for the site of their
we do planning works here either development review or planning developments and we not only that we review we comment on it and
policies. This is strategic plan 2030, take this to one more level of detail, we send it to the environmental authority to verify it, if they have other
the UPC is working on approving master plans for developments and concerns they have to come and tell them. So we go to that extreme
producing master plans for existing areas and new areas. So we have with environment.
to maintain what plan 2030 is saying in terms of the guiding planning
principles and of course the heights and population. Keeping in mind Ismail: what about public consultation?
plan 2030 is aligned with economic 2030 so it’s not just being put in One of the guiding principles in urban planning is doing public con-
place without looking at the economic factor, so it’s all integrated. sultation, if you are from Cairo, nobody knows Cairo better then you,
Ismail: now the strategic plan you just explained how is it being em- especially that Cairo is big, your neighborhood nobody knows it bet-
bedded into the codes? Is there something like building code change? ter than you, you have been there for 20 to 30 years, you know every
stone in that land. So we do a public consultation day, if we want do
Abdulla: we don’t have building code we have development code. a master plan for a certain area, we bring all the people who are living
What is the difference? Building code will tell you stuff about construc- there and we sit with together and ask them what are the things you
tion that’s building we don’t do this. we are the planning authority but guys are lacking? What are the issues and problems? We are UPC we
a development code will tell you what’s the length between the wall are the government we want to help you we want to make this place
of your villa and the land level itself, will tell you how long a utility cor- look better, we want you to have an easier life, and then based on their
ridor should be, how wide is the road, what is a maximum length of a inquiries we go back to the office short list this stuff and while we are
side walk, what should I book for future capacity of infrastructure for doing urban planning we will look at these things and try to make
the city after 10 years from now. This is all planning, but not construc- things better. And once we finalize the plan we do something called
tion we don’t go into type of cable….etc. for example you get a piece report back day we go and say these are the pictures this is what you
of land we inform you about the setbacks between the villa and your guys said and this is the plan which incorporates them all. This way
wall and that you are only allowed to have one villa per plot, the plan- you ensure that people are happy they are the end users of your plan
ning code tells you that also something like you are not allowed to go and basically you have given them what they want, and give them a
outside your plot boundary, you are not allowed to have plantation or higher sense of belonging, this is best practice not only here but all
car outside your plot because it’s a utility corridor, the floor area ratio of over the world, even though the UAE is not like the United States or
the building should be one these are all planning codes. the UK; as government we can go and do stuff whatever we want, but
Ismail: how is Estidama the initiative embedded into plan 2030? that’s not the right way of doing it.
Abdulla: the difference in Estidama is that it goes into construction, Ismail: so could you tell me about your experience, how was it con-
why? Because they monitor, Estidama team today they do auditing ceived? Were the public really active about it?
in construction sites but that’s the one and only team within the UPC Abdulla: everything is done by public Emirati people are very de-
who looks at such things. Why? Because that’ what they are mandated manding. If you give them the opportunity to ask you they will ask
to do, they stay with you in the design stage, they tell you how you you and then they will take you by their car and let you ride with them
can be sustainable in design. Then they want to make sure that you are and they will take you to see this and that. Which is absolutely great,
meeting what you guys have agreed upon before so you make that that is a tangible example of something we are lacking we need this.
development sustainable. So they go on and audit the site in terms of So actually they are extremely active and sometimes it’s not only one
material use, and that’s legal by the government. UPC development day it’s 5 or 4 days. As a manager this is tough for me I have work to be
review is allowed to audit, for example if you are a private developer done. Because all we care about in the UAE and that comes from the
or government as well, we give you a maximum height of 20 floors leadership and founder of the country is the people, we do everything
in one of your buildings and you went and did 22 this shouldn’t pass for our people.
from the municipality, because if the municipality will give only what
we give you but when it comes to construction and you did some- Ismail: what is the effect of such programs as Estidama and sustain-
thing wrong we as UPC are empowered to sue you. The first step is ability initiatives on the society and country?
UPC and then we send our approval and regulations of development Abdulla: I will be frank with you, once we introduced Estidama people
to the municipality, and then they will give construction permit based were challenging it they didn’t want it, people hated it. But if you go
on our planning and they will do architectural and structural reviews, through a specific road every day from your house to work, but then
which is something that has to be done with construction, we don’t I come one day and pick you up and take you to work using another
see this. road you won’t feel comfortable, although at the end of the day at the
Ismail: a sustainable measure of plan 2030 is transportation Abu Dha- same time you are at work, because human beings always refuse to
bi currently is highly a car based society, and in vision 2030 there is plan change, even if it’s for their own benefit. We proved scientifically we
to change it into a transit oriented city. How will this happen? had researches that Estidama is saving people money on the long run
due to minimizing the energy use and water use and stuff like that. So
Abdulla: all of the guiding principles in plan 2030 are promoting Abu you save money out of this, why are you against it? That’s only because
Dhabi to be a transit oriented city. We can do this by introducing an- it will cost them to implement Estidama something like 2% more, take
other mode of transit, now everyone can see that Abu Dhabi is car this 2% percent from this amount and measure to how much you are
oriented city, we introduced with the collaboration of department of saving on the long run you are winning this 100% so it was a bit chal-
transportation, the buses now there are public buses which somehow lenging at the beginning. But then once we started doing our out-
covers a great area of the city, it covers the majority of the city. Now reach programs for example now Estidama is embedded in schools
we are working closely with department of transport and the federal we have a great relationship with Abu Dhabi educational council, they
authority of railway which 75% funded and owned by Abu Dhabi, on built 10 schools, 10 sustainable schools with the UPC, this is one of the
booking for them the lines and how we can link these not only freight projects we are proud of, 10 schools reached 3 pearls. This is a great
but passengers as well and we are also involved with the department success story to be told. Sustainability I think is a new concept we are
of transport to put with them surface transport master plan for Abu not only looking at it from technicalities but we even implement to
Dhabi. So plan 2030 and the UPC is encouraging through master plan- get it out. Now we do press releases about sustainability, we go to sus-
ning works introducing different transit modes. On the other hand the tainability conferences we talk about what we have done, we promote
UPC as a regularity authority published manuals; one of them is called Estidama. So now there is acceptance and that is why the government
the urban street design manual, one of the things we are calling for is is buying into the program and it’s going well. And now we are maxi-
introducing to the roads and showing sections of how roads should mizing and it is going it’s just a matter of time.
Ismail: the integration of the certification system into the planning towards more sustainable communities and buildings?
process, how is it done and what are the differences? Abdulla: it’ new, that’s it. For me personally this is the one and only
Abdulla: If you are putting together a master plan you have to involve thing. It is a mindset, it is a topic that needs to be studied and embed-
the Estidama team because even if you are putting a master plan, they ded in schools’ curriculums, we should teach our children from today
will tell you how sustainable it should be, they will tell you if you put that when brushing their teeth to close the water tab, we have to instill
the parking lot here it will be easier to move and that is more sustain- this in them at a young age, they should know that people are dying
able. Estidama today is involved in everything in master planning work in Somalia and Djibouti because they can’t find water nor food and we
and even in development review when we review development they are sitting here wasting water. Second, I think governments should
review with us from Estidama point of view. For example we do a few enforce some kind of, I am not saying taxes, but the water issue in
developments from different perspectives transportation, infrastruc- Abu Dhabi should be given more thought, we here pay 50 Dirham
ture, environment, urban design, urban planning as well as with Es- and open the water all day long. So you know that water costs the
tidama sustainability. So we review it from different perspectives and government more than petrol?! And also the desalination of it costs
then we have comments on each aspect and then we sit with the more than petroleum refining costs. Can you imagine that and we are
developer you have to make this and that, modify this or this looks considered one of the top countries that consume and waste water?!
absolutely fine….etc. And it’s all of course in the developer’s benefits. This is very unfortunate.
We have received a lot of thank certificates from developers they value Ismail: how do you define sustainability?
UPC’s input and Estidama’s input as well.
Abdulla: sustainability for me means not being selfish, how can we
Ismail: any conflicts between municipality’s policies and Estidama’s not be selfish? Think of the next generations coming, you are dying to-
requirements and the vision 2030? morrow, have mercy for the coming generations don’t prevent them
Abdulla: vision 2030 is being put by the UPC, approved by the govern- from having the good things you had in your life. When you think of
ment and by the executive council which is the government board, no it that way, and that there are people already suffering today because
one can say anything about it, there is no conflict, there is no doubt, lack of resources and you have all that, think how precious is this and
everyone has to meet it. I will tell you what happened, there was no you will go sustainable. Electricity, lighting and water these are bless-
council before everything was run by the municipalities and UPC ings, our grandfathers didn’t have that, some of them died either be-
formed with the vision, we finished the vision and then we announced cause of thirst, hunger, of cold or of heat, and they were Bedouins they
the council, we worked on the vision 2006/2007 and then we finished never live in one place. Egypt for example you have civilization, you
it we announced the council. The council being formed we pulled the have the Nile. We are not like that; my grandfather lived in the desert
responsibilities of planning from all the government agencies because not because he likes it because there is water, once it’s finished they go
today we have a planning authority, they are responsible for this. And find someplace else. This is how precious water is, and wherever there
together we want to achieve 2030 vision. Now when I put a public is water there is life; plants, humans and animals all are there because
realm design manual from the day one I start working I have 3 repre- of water. If we know all of this we will be sustainable.
sentatives from the municipality because they will be implementing Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
this later on so it’s good to be involving them from the beginning, in-
tegration is always there. But when I told you that we do only planning Abdulla: I think integration would be the right word here, as we in-
because I was talking about the role of the organization only, but that tegrate the resources that we have, we integrate our sustainability re-
doesn’t mean we don’t talk to municipalities or don’t involve them. searches, how can we use recycled materials. Sustainability, we have
We have continuous task force meetings with the stakeholders; mu- to switch it on and we start doing it there are examples which people
nicipalities, department of transport, Abu Dhabi tourism and culture start seeing these examples prove that it works. When we see a suc-
authority and environmental agency all of these we have continuous cess story for sustainable projects that reduces water, electricity and
direct task force meetings. But as I only put policies and not imple- energy consumption that uses recycled materials then what would
ment them, the one who does implement them should be involved stop us. And it creates its own market and the government supports
with me from the beginning and that’s what we do. that with decisions, which is the whole case with Estidama.
Ismail: what incentives does Abu Dhabi provide for the promotion of Ismail: in your own opinion what is needed to make a paradigm shift
sustainability? to convert the built environment into a sustainable one?
Abdulla: right now there aren’t any, but there is an idea of bonuses. Abdulla: it is all about education, it all started after the Kyoto protocol
You can say that they are in the pipeline. For example; if Ismail is a in Japan in the late 70’s this was like yesterday, we studied that in the
developer and he wants to develop a hotel, he is mandated to be sus- 80’s, and it is new science. We need time and let’s be smart the current
tainable by 2 pearls level but if he becomes more sustainable like 3 or situation is costing us money, the government has to be smart with
4 pearls for example then I would be more than happy to give Ismail this, the best example for sustainable countries after Germany is the
more space like one floor extra. This will enhance the sustainability Scandinavian countries; Sweden and Norway they are amazing. We
initiatives, as a council I can’t give you something like 3 or 4 floors extra are one of the most petrol rich companies, we were some Bedouins
this is too much; this has an impact on infrastructure it creates more who had nothing then petroleum appears and then we have every-
load. Lots of bonuses and incentives that can be done, this is one of thing we must conserve it; this is the black gold how to conserve it, by
the ideas.. these things like sustainability.
Ismail: what is in your opinion the reason behind not moving faster Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Adi Afaneh
Position: Associate Assessor, Estidama, UPC
Country of Origin: Jordan
Biography: Adi has 10 years of experience in environmental sustainability. He
acquired his bachelor degree in environmental science from the University of
London. His career start was marked with a solid 4 years of experience at a con-
sultancy, where he was involved in numerous projects in Jordan and Palestine,
which were funded by the World Bank, USAID and the EU. Moving to the emir-
ates he worked at the Dubai Municipality as a senior environmental planner
in the planning department, where his work included projects related to the
waste department, environment department and green building regulations
with the building department. He is currently an associate assessor at Estidama
UPC since 2010, working on assessments of Pearl Rating applications, for the
design and construction audits, as well as part of the training.
Ismail: what are the reasons behind creating the certification system? version two, obviously, time, connections, updates, clarifying a few is-
Adi: it is a green building rating system, reasons behind it is to deal sues. Other regulations and rating systems around the world every 2
with the lack of efficient use of resources mainly; energy and water to 3 years they do this update version. As a component what is missing
related, obviously other sustainability related issues such as waste, ma- maybe the operational, which we hope to have soon.
terials, indoor and outdoor quality of buildings. So it is to help Abu Ismail: what is the process consultants go through to learn about Es-
Dhabi be more sustainable, help buildings become better for users tidama?
and occupants, help utility companies in conserving water and energy Adi: training started in August 2010 and going up until today around
resources which are heavily subsidized and cost a lot for the govern- 5,000 people got trained. The training is not a prerequisite, it is a pre-
ment. requisite that each team has a pearl qualified professional; which is a
Ismail: what is different in Estidama compared to other certification certificate you need to obtain by taking an exam, other than that we
systems? do our best in offering trainings for whoever wants to attend, free of
Adi: we are here talking about the Pearl Rating System of Estidama, charge of course. And they can come in and ask whatever question, is
Estidama is the umbrella program; it’s a sustainability program that’s it enough? Can be for some, can be not enough for others depends on
placed to instill sustainability throughout Abu Dhabi’s future vision background, knowledge and experience. Also activeness of a person,
2030. So the pearl rating system of Estidama is different as it is tailored but once project teams are hired for a project, our doors are always
made for Abu Dhabi, 50 % of the weight of all the requirements deals open for meetings, clarifications and workshops with them. And this
with water and energy, which is not the case in other rating systems is something we are very proud of; we are trying to implement some-
obviously, it did take into account Abu Dhabi’s climate, and current thing that is very ambitious. We don’t want to give anyone the excuse
building and construction practices, it deals with culture issues which saying “I didn’t know or didn’t understand or didn’t realize I needed to
you don’t find in other rating systems and it emphasizes quite a bit the do this or that” and over the phone people call us lots of times and we
idea of Integrated Development Process. We have a whole category answer. But I think a lot depends on the seriousness and activeness of
for that it’s just instilling good planning, scheduling and management project teams. They need to be serious, intelligent, pay attention and
practices throughout the life cycle of the project. It is trying to instill should start the process as early as possible.
all these good practices in a project; this is in all projects as a number Ismail: Estidama sets three certification stages; design, construction
of these credits within the IDP category are mandatory. But a very im- and operation. This is quite different from other certification systems.
portant difference between our rating system and others around the Why has it been designed to be set like this?
world is that it is mandated, other certification systems are voluntary. Adi: design is the intention to do something, construction you actu-
The first and main output so far is the pearl rating system which is our ally build it but the example I give is; imagine you are designing the
certification system. And we are involved with other initiatives such as best car ever, you actually built this best car ever and then you started
the public realm design manual, we have thoughts and ideas about driving it and you don’t maintain it at all for 2 years imagine yet you
instilling sustainability not only outside of the rating system, but being don’t maintain it for 5 years, when you only maintain it when you hear
involved in sustainability initiatives or initiating initiatives in the future. a sound in the engine by then it’s probably too late. The car is going to
We have obviously our training which we see extending to univer- break it’s not going to be the best car ever anymore; same thing is with
sities and extending to schools, we have some thoughts and plans the building. So a lot of mechanical systems and there are some re-
about that; it is in process of being put in place. Anything related to quirements for example; regards to all the HVAC systems and elevators
sustainability and Estidama that we can work towards or implement or and so on. Some parts of this region as a whole, probably these things
include or contribute to or initiate, we will be doing that, even though are not always done in terms of best practice or the way they should
it is not the pearl rating system or the certification system. So Estidama maintain it, not only reactive maintenance, it needs to be proactive
is not only about the pearl rating system, it’s bigger, wider, it’s about with the plan and idea to maintain efficiency, because you design and
sustainability as a whole, so some thoughts are about getting more construct levels of efficiency in terms of saving energy….etc. to ensure
involved in waste management on city level with the relevant au- that your building continues to operate the way it should be, so this is
thorities, we have some thoughts that might be involved with them why the operation rating system comes in. And very important in all
or other things might be related to infrastructure, maybe utility level that we do is trying to instill best practices throughout the life cycle
demand management. So it’s not enclosed within the rating system. of the project. And again going back to the benefits of all of this to all
Ismail: what is still missing in the certification systems and how do you stakeholders; owners, designers and users. This is the whole idea of
see that changing in the future developments? the operational. Why typologies? We actually have some breakdown
Adi: obviously it’s a new system, its 2 years old and we continue to for different typologies within the region, for the rating system. And
want to improve and change and update and we are learning quite a why don’t we have a clear break down like other rating systems? No
bit. We are going to include an operational rating to complete the life particular reason maybe we will have it in the future. Its part of the
cycle of the project. Not that it’s perfect or complete but it is an ongo- development and improvement and other rating systems are running
ing process of development and feedback from the market, from what for 15 to 20 years, ours 2 years and 2 months old.
worked and what didn’t, what is still missing, what is clear and what is Ismail: what is the added value of certification systems? And how cred-
not, do we need to clarify anything? There are thoughts to widen our ible are they?
training, diversify it and update content, target new groups…..etc. So Adi: it’s added value to all stakeholders, better building for users, bet-
it’s an ongoing process of improvement and feedback. We had a draft ter building performance, designer teams are going back to practice
what they learned in architecture 101, deign 101, mechanics 101 in is Estidama certified, it only meets the performance requirements and
terms of proper calculations for ventilation systems, making use of this why it’s available on their website. It makes it easy for contractors
natural daylight, proper passive design and so on. It benefits owners, and design teams to be able to find and for you it gives you advantage
occupants and utility companies. If you want to zoom out, it benefits because you are listed on the website.
the country, benefits the globe as whole. Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s goals towards an ultimate sus-
Ismail: so what are the difficulties you face when dealing with consul- tainability goal?
tants, clients and environmental experts? Adi: I rate it quite highly, because it’s really ticking the boxes of so
Adi: we used to face more issues when started than today, for the ob- many important components of sustainability. I will start from the end,
vious reason it’s something new not a lot of people want it, not a lot it is trying to achieve water and energy efficiency, waste efficiency,
of people thought it would be reviewed at the level we try to achieve, better material use, better recycling rates, less harm to the ozone, ob-
not a lot of people thought we would have audits on site and actually viously reducing water and energy intensity to this part of the world,
go and find time to document. And it wasn’t about taking it seriously reducing green house gas emissions on a global level so all these mark
it was about not knowing or understanding, maybe sometimes fear of up on what you call ultimate sustainability goal. But stepping back it’s
the unknown is something normal. Again good example with cars the really educating people to be able to do all of this; you are educating
first time someone drives; you are first worried and not sure but then it all the suppliers, designers, manufacturers, owners and consultants to
becomes the normal. Owners were worried about cost and how much do this. Varying levels of education obviously but still it is one bit of
and they didn’t understand and some suppliers were trying to capital- change at a time. In a few years you will create that, all the training we
ize on this fears by taking advantage. But now we have around 500 are doing we are trying to instill the understanding of sustainability,
PQPs, around 250 projects, people are starting to get it we have the so we are targeting as many and as much as possible. We have big
EVPD which has over a 1,000 types of materials that people can refer projects, without any names mentioned, with thousands of workers
to so it’s no more a matter of I can’t find this or it is too expensive, or on site; which they are aiming to train every single individual on site,
I can only find one supplier for this and so on. Obviously it’s a natu- imagine if you train 10,000 or 20,000 workers again it maybe an ounce
ral progression that probably just needed to happen, a cycle of new of knowledge added to each person or maybe they won’t understand
and unknown to becoming familiar, becoming known and becoming it fully, but if this ounce shifted to one friend or two, is it achieving? It
something that people have done and found doable. But also we at- is. And all of this we are still talking about the pearl rating system, not
tempt through the training to continue, through this EVPD. So I think other programs that we hope to implement in the future.
all of that sort of decreased, we still see issues with type of quality of Ismail: is Estidama pushing the market too far or not pushing it far
submission, but it’s much less than we used to see before. We still get enough?
some consultants which we spend time with whom we have met 3 to
4 times before in meetings. We get them to a certain level in a project Adi: I think just right, because if you don’t get anybody out of his com-
and we expect them to come the following project to start from this fort zone they will insist on staying there and this applies to individu-
level, but we find they go back to zero again, but it’s very minimal als too. Market when we first started was all about complaints can’t
probably out of each 10 maybe 1 consultant. We still get these from find this, it is not available, or I can’t sell my product or I can’t but the
time to time, but we are seeing quality is improving and more people product. I think markets are adaptable, I think the ultimate main reason
are getting it. behind implementing is a good reason and important reason for all
involved. Are you going to please everybody? No way, does it have to
Ismail: were there any conflicts between municipal policies and Esti- be done? It has to because Abu Dhabi is trying to be a leading city in
dama requirements and vision? And how are they being solved? all aspects as well as sustainability, I think we are moving towards that
Adi: we attempted at the very beginning, and this actually relates to and it will become a leader, it is a leader so far in the Middle East I think.
how is Estidama is different, we did our best to align, discuss, review Establishing and doing can be a model that can be copied. So I think
or get feedback from different stakeholders; municipalities, Depart- it’s just right, I don’t think we over burdened it and I don’t want to say
ment of transportation, environment agencies, department municipal we need to push more. The way it’s happening it’s happening good.
affairs and some other agencies, so we tried not to create any con- Ismail: what incentives does Abu Dhabi provide for the promotion of
flicts. There are always issues in such things, especially when it’s new sustainable water, energy and material usage? Are there any incen-
and mandated and it is linked with the municipality process in that tives?
it’s linked with building parameter. There are no benchmarks for ef-
ficiencies that are mandated so far except for Estidama, . So we are not Adi: we don’t have yet, but we have thoughts that might be imple-
in conflict with their architectural and structural departments. Chal- mented in the future. It could be like you are mandated for 2 pearls
lenges, in terms of number of stakeholders, dealing and agreeing it’s a if you do 3 we will give extra GFA in terms of zoning, instead of your
normal thing. Probably the initial stages of implementation, we were zoning limits you to 10 floors we give another. This is a good thing, it
coordinating and talking quite a bit about it, but things are moving. might not impact the actual zoning of the area quite a lot, it’s just one
Will this continue? Will we see new issues? I don’t think any place can floor really we are not talking about and area zones for 10 floors and
smooth running, these things pop up, but we deal with them as they you are putting 50 floors in it. This might be a very good incentive. So
come up, especially when we move forward or want to change. it’s like I am spending more but I will get to rent a floor more, which
will make that up. This is one example, there are others like; moral rec-
Ismail: is there any database that you use showing building perfor- ognition, marketing, publicizing you as a project or as an owner or as
mances? And is it available for the public? a design team, that is important and most time it is as good as money
Adi: the EVPD is a database of materials and suppliers and it’s available. for you, it can also be showcasing. From around the world there are
Database for building X I want to rent in it, can I open a database and possibilities other than; tax reduction or customs or something. And it
see what rating it has, so I can decide to pay that much money or not? can be educating about the improved cost savings you might be able
We don’t have such a thing. We did have an idea, it didn’t materialize to achieve in terms of life cycle cost not only looking at the capital
yet and I don’t know if it will happen. That materials database covers cost. Even though it is subsidized at the moment, but still if you own
five types; glazing, air condition systems, water fixtures and fittings, a building and you include efficiency practices you will save energy
solar hot water systems and insulation material. These are the main and water and it will impact your pocket quite a bit, even with the
five that are included in required credits and the most impacting on subsidized water and energy. And subsidies change around the world,
the points you can get. So if you have an AC and you want to get it on in this region and even other emirates in UAE, tariffs changed and it
the database what we do is; you come to us and lets us know you have could change here as well. So you are always thinking ahead, getting
this product and we put your name down on a list and we carry out people to understand and realize this and not only look at the capital
a training for the EVPD for suppliers groups and the training happens cost is an incentive in itself.
every 4 to 6 months and the update of the data happens every 4 to 6 Ismail: when do you revise the benchmark? And what reactions does
months, so far as it is really intensive work. So you approach, you get it cause?
invited, you attend, during this training you learn for your product the
AC what are the performance criteria for Estidama, although we hold Adi: in general, probably when we feel that people are able to meet re-
that for people to do some research, and let you know what type of quirements, practices have changed, and it becomes sort of the norm,
submission or certification or tests are required to be submitted from the market has transformed quite a bit, consultants are comfortable,
you to us to be looked at, accepted and once we accept your proofs contractors are comfortable and we have a number of buildings al-
your specific product, it’s not company x it is product x, y,z with model ready built and so on. Then we can take it a notch higher, or maybe
no. and specs, this item gets put on the list. You get an EVDP reference it will depend on technologies when they are improved so better ef-
no. and model no. and contacts of your company, this way people will ficiencies are possible to meet with current costs or time.
be able to open and say ok my requirements are x then, let’s say for Ismail: what’s in your opinion the reason behind not moving fast
example water fixtures; I am looking for bathroom tabs that are 6 liters enough towards more sustainable buildings?
per minute at 413 pressure, when you open the database you will be Adi: my personal opinion, it’s about proper targeted education, not
able to find all the items that fit your requirement then you pick and just your typical give a presentation or go speak to a school kind of a
choose. We don’t certify or stamp them so you cannot say this product thing. It really needs to be a curriculum throughout the life cycle of dif-
ferent stakeholders, which is better done at younger ages. I really think Arabic translation, but I think Estidama with its goals for education and
its more behavior change than education, the word education is very teaching and approving and changing practices and behaviors with
open and over used. So its education, its training, its behavior change, the goals for resource management, waste management and so on. I
and its environmental sustainable psychology interventions that need think this is sustainability for me. I think it’s Estidama as a program. And
to happen. Beyond that it’s capability to plan, to implement plans so far what is happening with what we aim to achieve and do.
when you do them, and the seriousness of governments about them. Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
Estidama is good practice here, if you think about other places in the
Arab world, it’s not happening or sometimes happening by necessity, Adi: if we take integrated development process for a community as
they do not have water running all week. I mainly say it is education, a whole including all stakeholders with different ages and different
training and behavioral change more than the technical. backgrounds, different professions, suppliers, contractors, users, waste
generators; which is all of us mainly, the community. It’s about tar-
Ismail: how could you evaluate and measure the contribution of certi- get education, for me educational behavior changed for me I think
fication systems to the built environment? it’s the heart of everything. Because if you have challenges with parts
Adi: obviously design, benchmarks, calculations and energy modeling of community or some of the stakeholders or the government agen-
you specify according to these studies and designs and you imple- cies, maybe some private sector companies it’s educating, talking to
ment your specifications and we audit the implementation of specifi- them, explaining to them and making them understand. I will give the
cation that they are met and so on. Then it’s operational and monitor- example of the owner who was angry at this and I said “do you save
ing, we do have a number of requirements for monitoring for example; money for your children?” he said “yes of course for the future” I said
for exterior water irrigation, for exterior water use, for energy moni- “why don’t you save some water and energy for them?” and he got
toring and reporting as where we require the monitoring of differ- what we are trying to do!. So it’s targeted messages, educating and
ent components and systems and distribution boards above certain training depending on the background but not just to get it across,
kilowatts and all these types of meters we require data logging capa- to actually make it happen. So if you think of waste management and
bilities, comparisons and so on. And we ask for a written confirmation how much challenges goes into it in terms of finance, planning…..etc.
that this data will be provided to Estidama if and when requested. The you will really have to target everyone in different stages in different
reason behind this is research and development. levels with different means, this is just what it takes. And plan for it, for
Ismail: how do you define sustainability? the life cycle of the community which is probably continues forever.
Adi: it is Estidama and what we are doing, it instills, not only as the Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Carlos Amaya
Position: Senior Associate Assessor, Estidama, UPC
Country of Origin: Colombia
Biography: Carlos is an Environmental Engineer, who holds a master degree
in Energy Studies. He has work experience in resource efficiency and sustain-
ability in Colombia, Australia, UK and the UAE. Currently he is working as a
senior associate assessor at Estidama, UPC in Abu Dhabi. He likes sports and
supports Arsenal and Barcelona football clubs.
Ismail: What are the reasons behind creating the certification system? status. We are in the process of developing benchmarks that we would
Carlos: it’s to improve the sustainability performance of the built en- only know for certain once the operational rating is up and running
vironment in Abu Dhabi or any developments tiding to the plan 2030 in a few years how effective everything has been. I don’t believe you
which is a development plan for the next 18 years. So through the could just claim a sustainability performance unless you can verify it
rating system we will help achieve the vision of making Abu Dhabi a with numbers and measurements and benchmarks etc.
more sustainable city. Ismail: The integration of the certification system in the planning pro-
Ismail: What is different in Estidama compared to other certification cess: How is it done? And what are the differences? And what are the
systems? pros and cons?
Carlos: Estidama is part of a more holistic umbrella program of sus- Carlos: Because it’s a mandate and its part of the planning author-
tainable development and it’s a mandated certification system for all ity any new development that is planned to be built is made aware
new developments, it’s the only mandated system in the world I be- as early as possible of the future requirement for the rating system
lieve. And it’s also been tailor made for Abu Dhabi depending on the and Estidama. So from the very early stage of the planning approval
climate conditions and cultural context. Estidama is incorporated in the process. The client and the develop-
er need to make commitments for the sustainability from the early
Ismail: What do you think is still missing in the certification system? beginning in the pre-concept stage and then you move forward in
Carlos: At the moment it only tackles new buildings villas and com- a more detailed obtain the design rating which will then lead to the
munities. It should also be enhanced to include existing buildings and building permit to allow them build. I don’t think there are any cons
to include all the resource efficiency issues like industry for example, to to be honest, because sustainability is something that has to be done.
have a policy for industrial processes, which would be very beneficial And despite reluctance from people and wrong perceptions that this
because a lot of water and energy goes into the industry. will cost more or it’s difficult, reality is that resources are being deplet-
Ismail: How do you see that changing in future developments? Is it ed and we need to do something about it. The developments are not
planned somehow? going to stop so we will need more energy and more water especially
in this part of the world. So at the very beginning the more people
Carlos: There are no specific plans as such but I think it’s something is aware and the more integration happens through this projects the
people will start realizing. Once the government and leadership start better, the easier it is later on especially because its mandated. They
to see the benefits of the rating system as it is, there is no reason why will leave it too late when the developers want a building permit it’s
it should not be expanded to other areas. going to be a big headache for them, for us for everybody. It makes
Ismail: Estidama sets three certification stages: design, construction sense to make it as early as possible.
and operation. Could you elaborate on the details? Ismail: What are the difficulties you face when dealing with consul-
Carlos: to improve the sustainability performance of a building, a tants? clients? environmental experts?
community or a villa unit you need to understand what the design Carlos: At the beginning of the program there was a lot of reluctance.
intent, is that’s when the design process comes into play where the It’s just this issue of human nature, the fear of change. The construc-
design team and developer put together or basically design the build- tion industry is used to doing business as usual for many years and
ing. And the design could be very efficient, so you have a vision of suddenly a new policy comes in place where they have to change
minimizing energy consumption or water consumption, have better things. They are trying to make a very big step change from business
ventilation or better shading etc... And then at construction it’s more as usual. So at the beginning there was a lot of reluctance and nega-
difficult because they have to prove the design intent. And a lot of tivity about it but two years down track we have changed the value
changes always happen during construction. The contractor is on of doing Estidama and for every developer for every contractor and
board and wants to save money on materials and things change on for every consultant the first project is very difficult. But after they go
site so its quiet difficult to work it through and at the end maintain the through the process with us and we help as much as we can they real-
planned certification. But so far a lot of projects 99% of the projects ize it’s not that difficult. We’re trying to implement best practices, im-
have achieved it. And once it’s built it is also important to maintain prove the quality of construction and put more attention to detail so
that efficiency status, especially on a resource efficiency point of view, it’s helping and making things better. So they realize that in these ar-
water, energy and waste. So that’s when the operation comes in place eas it makes sense and then they move forward. Obviously not a 100%
to make sure that the buildings are being operated and maintained as would be the case. There people who still don’t believe in Estidama at
efficient as possible and also the developer continues improving their all and the why don’t you do anything about it but I think at least the
framework and strategy to help reduce the energy consumption and majority is. We’ve been able to change the nature and mentality of the
water consumption. majority of the stakeholders throughout the last two years
Ismail: How credible are CS? Ismail: So how would you rate Estidama’s goals compared to other cer-
Carlos: In my personal point of view they’re not very credible because tification systems?
they are very much design intent and I’ve seen studies for LEED for Carlos: I do not have a lot of experience with rating systems. This is my
example where buildings that have been certified for LEED actually do first time I have been involved in a rating system. I have been working
not operate as they claim and are not as sustainable as they said to be. on sustainability for many years now but not on rating systems. Even in
So unless you can verify and measure and monitor the sustainability Masdar using a rating system was like using a swear word. They didn’t
performance of a building it is very difficult to claim a sustainability want to hear anything about rating systems. So it’s difficult for me to
compare against others. pretty basic. People don’t understand that we are running out of re-
If all of the buildings become rated, it would be a huge improvement. sources. People don’t see like I said before a bill of how much water
One of the challenges is to help move forward in that process with they use. The main reason is the lack of awareness in general on the
other stakeholders in the government like utilities for example. If we community wide levels, and the need for a sustainable living standard.
make buildings more sustainable but if we keep the utilities without Ismail: What are the advantages and disadvantages of the certifica-
any change, if we keep the pipes in the ground as they are in the mo- tion system?
ment, if we keep buildings substations to generate excessive power, Carlos: the advantages of Estidama itself are that the construction in-
the change is not going to be much if any at all. It has to be a holistic dustry is improving. From a policy point of view, this will resort in bet-
approach at the utility level as well to make the government realize ter living standard for people. They will have better quality buildings
we are actually saving energy we are actually saving water so we need which could be more efficient from the resource point of view but
to generate less. We need to build smaller substations. We need to they will also be better environments for people working, living to be
desalinate less water. Unfortunately at the moment there is still the outside or inside. Disadvantage: I think one of the issues was that they
status quo of excessiveness. Everything is oversized. Water is wasted have to implement it from the beginning and mandated for every-
far too much. Estidama is trying to remove that probability issues and body. Also the market place is a bit slow in catching up which is also a
trying to make it efficient in systems. So the next step is behavioral result of that impulsive implementation in the beginning.
changes to the community to the owner to the user to the inhabitants
and also to the utility side to make things more efficient. So I think this Ismail: How could you measure the certification system contribution
is the first step and once we have a lot of buildings rated and when to the built environment?
the existing buildings program is introduced then we need to take it Carlos: once we have the operational rating in place we measure in
further and we need to look at the utilities. And also with the help of terms of resource consumption. There needs to be some sort of KPIs
raising the awareness of the people that use the buildings, that would around living standards. How better people are living in an Estidama
make a big change. Here in Abu Dhabi it is contradicting that fossil fuel villa for example against a non Estidama villa or how students are
is still subsidized. That is working against Estidama. performing in a school that is three pearl which most of new schools
Ismail: Are there any plans of incentives? are at the moment, against typical school in a timeframe of 5 years or
something.
Carlos: That has been discussed in the past in terms of lowering the
subsidies for energy and water. You are right, there is no incentives at Ismail: How do you define sustainability?
all for people to use less. A lot of people do not even see a bill, how Carlos: for me it’s a mindset of living within the constraints of the re-
much water or energy they use. It doesn’t make sense. And I agree sources that we have available and looking into the future in long term
with you its contradictory position there. So what other things the ambition. Because a lot of governments and policies have a very short
government is looking at is developing programs for DSM. So that the term vision so it’s a mindset and a code for a way of living. For me the
government money that is used for subsidies is put into improving the most important thing is resource efficiency.
efficiency of existing buildings and in that way save a lot of the subsidy Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
that is put into the utilities. And I think that the next step will be to
look into doing a different structure, to incentivize more of less usage. Carlos: to begin with it needs the commitment and involvement
There is much potential to have a lot of savings from energy and water from everybody. What we call IDP to create a development process.
usage from there but the executive authority has been working on a So everybody needs to be involved in the original vision and in the
lot of pilot studies and a lot of economic studies to see the potential development and implementation of that vision, from the client to the
of improvement and its very promising and I think the next years too government to the design team to the contractor to the workforce. So
well see a lot of going forward. that why we need to implement Estidama from the very beginning of
the planning process and by doing that it’s important to understand
Ismail: could it also be including things like products, like a minimum first of all the need for community, where it’s going to be located, what
standard for efficient appliances? group of people it is going to serve and a contribution that will satisfy
Carlos: They have already started to be developed, but there’s a sign in the needs of those groups for the next 20, 50 100 years and then come
that corner from QCC (quality conformity council) and the first confor- together and brainstorm ideas, get as much people as possible from
mity scheme they developed was for water fittings and fixtures. They the government level and community level to develop something
are certifying products from a quality and a sustainability point of view. that is going to be sustainable for future generation. Discussion with
The sustainability part is taken from Estidama. So they are certifying utilities, designers market place, developers contractors. It’s a lot of ef-
products that comply with the Estidama requirements (liters per min- fort and it’s important that everybody is aware of the issues and work
ute or flushing for toilets and so on). So we work kind of hand in hand towards the same goals to reach.
in this. They have a committee for the built environment. They look at Ismail: do you think education needs to change in some way? What
energy, water and waste. So we’re looking at water fixtures from usage would be needed?
point of view, AC units from the energy point of view. There is a lot of
focus on street lighting at the moment with ADM. They are develop- Carlos: yes, necessarily in the lack of awareness of sustainability issues.
ing standards which are pretty complicated and very technical. Hope- So right now any concept of sustainability or sustainable development
fully we will improve the lighting which is excessive. This new QCC needs to be part of any curriculum in schools and universities and at
has been in place for only a year or so. They are going to be looking at the general public level. This requires a lot of training and courses and
certifying products. needs a lot of education that continuous to make people aware of the
issues. Schools and Universities should teach students tol be able to
Ismail: Do you think that Estidama is pushing the market too far or not think about the implications of their designs. The façade for example if
pushing hard enough? they put a lot of glass, does it make sense, does it work? Maybe it works
Carlos: a bit of both. When it came into place, this mandate for every- somewhere else. And mechanical engineer will be able to say do we
thing it was probably too much. All parts of the world have done it and need those many chillers or can we do it differently or can I design a
they’ve started on the governmental level and tried and tested it first more efficient system from the capacity through the pipes. So this will
then moved forward to the private sector. It was a big shock in the behave a significant input. I also think it’s more on the other side. It’s on
ginning because every single villa and biggest building was required the developers’ side and clients side that they prefer this. They see a
to comply which was probably difficult and understandably there fully glazed building somewhere and say this is what I want and some-
were a lot of issues and legal issues and reluctance from the market times they will neglect to look into alternative solutions even if they
that has been relaxed a little bit especially from individual villas but at look better. I think the client and developers’ side is more difficult. And
the same time I don’t think if you make it voluntarily or too voluntarily they don’t have any incentive to make it more efficient because they
it is very difficult to be taken by developers on a voluntarily basis. So do not pay the operation costs for the buildings. They sell the build-
I think it has to be a policy. Let me tell you an example when you go ings and the tenants pay the operation. So it’s not so much the issue
to a doctor and they say you are sick. What do you prefer to get cured of the architects being aware but more what they have to do because
bit by bit or as soon as possible? We live in a sick world with fewer it’s the clients’ requirements.
resources and less water so we need to find a cure as soon as possible Ismail: are there any set goals for energy or water for the UAE?
because this is not slowing down. If we don’t try to find a cure as soon
as possible everybody is going to die. Carlos: at government level the only set level I am aware of is 7% for
renewable energy by 2020. One of the issues in the UAE is the lack of
Ismail: what is in your opinion the reason behind not moving faster benchmark data; there isn’t enough information to understand how
towards more sustainable buildings? much water or energy is being used in buildings per square meter for
Carlos: I think one of the main reasons is the lack of awareness of the example.
general public and even at the government level of the need of liv- Ismail: Are there any outcomes available comparing a rated versus a
ing sustainable lives. And sustainability has a lot of different definitions business as usual building?
and we need to take that into account of what it means for different
people. And from the resource efficiency point of view I think that it’s Carlos: Yes, very little, we did a comparative study between two health
facilities, similar layouts, one in al Ain one in Abu Dhabi, one Estidama Carlos: No but Masdar wants to control that. The government wants
and one not Estidama. We did it theoretically, so it is not 100% accu- to channel that through Masdar because they own a solar plant.
rate, we do not want to release it without 100% certainty. It’s been al- Ismail: what’s the process of getting rid of construction waste materi-
ready 6 months, and we will have the full data package after 1 year. The als?
theoretical study shows at least 30% improvements water and energy.
Carlos: Concrete is mostly crushed and used as aggregates for foun-
Ismail: What’s the governments’ plan for water recycling? dation work and things like timber, plastic, paper metals cardboard
Carlos: The plan is to build a treated sewage network for irrigation and and all are recycled. As far as Estidama every building has to make sep-
community developments. Some already exists but needs extension. arate operational waste to be able to recycle. I worked in the project
There needs to be a water balance between buildings and treated wa- management company between the contractor and Masdar so I spent
ter for landscapes. It can’t be a 100% balanced. There are limitations 50% of my time on site. All materials had to be checked by me. There
because of the Emirati wide strategy. Until it is in place we assess build- were many issues like the contractor wanted to use non-compliant
ings individually. People have to get a license from a regulatory body materials until the contractor realized that it’s no use and he changed
which is still difficult. They think there are not enough capacities in his attitude.
the market place to maintain and operate this kind of plants. They are Ismail: What is your opinion on Masdar institute?
afraid of contamination and health issues which they want to control.
So it is partly positive and negative. Individuals wish to go decentral Carlos: There are two critical things. Its costs too much and the eco-
and have their own systems. But allowing that will hinder the individu- nomics weren’t thought through. The business model wasn’t good, in
als who wish to seek that. Not hindered by Estidama but other regula- terms of sustainability it was good but to spend that much money for
tory authorities. For villas for example the regulations say you have to a project to show just how green it is just isn’t a good example. The
build an underground and a roof tank.. the reason for that is that in the plan is changing now and everything has to be more feasible.
beginning there was not much pressure on the water supplier so they Ismail: What u like most and least about MISC
had to allow storage in villas. But that is no longer the case. Now stor- Carlos: What I like the most is the design of the building and that you
ing underground there are issues like leakage which wastes water and see that it actually works. The passive measures are really working.
it get contaminated and you cannot drink it because the cross con- Knowing what it costs and the lack of economic issues is what I like
taminations. We are trying to work on a bypass concept in pilot proj- the least.
ects in Estidama to change these regulations but it’s a slow process.
Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Ismail: is it possible to buy renewable electricity? Or renewable cer-
tificates?
Jean Philippe Coulaud

Position: Director Corporate Communications, UPC
Country of Origin: France
Biography: Jean Philippe Coulaud graduated 1979 with an MBA in political
science from the Institute of Political Studies, France. He also holds an MBA in
Communication and a degree in marketing research from GM Institute. Since
then he has been holding different positions at General Motors in France, the
USA, and Switzerland, highlighted by his previous work for Ferrari Maserati
Group as a marketing and communication director. Since June 2008 he has
been directing the marketing and communication department in Abu Dhabi’s
Urban Planning Council.
Ismail: Could describe the role of the department, the communication regional master plan, it means you know the capital for the metropoli-
department, and what your role within the department is? tan area , Al Ain for eastern region and Al Gharbia for western region
Jean: So I can explain to you about the structure, we have three Major it took as 3 years to develop this regional master plan. Then we enter
departments: communication, corporate communication and mar- what we call the second phase because planning approach we can
keting department. First one, is more of strategic its public relations divide it into 3 distinctive steps; first step frame work plan, second step
and public affairs. Its works for example when we are presenting vision we call it master plan which means we go to distinctive area for ex-
2030 to foreign dedications, we are working a lot with all the embas- ample we are now working on the Abu Dhabi island (5:49) so it’s part
sies and most of the time we are developing this presentation with of this capital 2030 frame work plan it’s one area and then it was from
all sorts of government agencies, because when foreign dedication year 3 to year 4. We are now entering third phase, developing what
is interested to know vision 2030 it’s not only about urban planning we call blocks. It means within this Abu Dhabi area for example, to
vision it’s about economic vision. So the vision 2030 book, it’s a good give you a concrete example, we are now dealing block per block so
example because as both urban and economic vision are fully inter- it means the whole of UPC still strategic role because we are still at
twined. We decided to edit a book that is a kind of sum up of both the origin of policy guidelines, but we go from regional plan to more
visions and then we can communicate more efficiently to all the dif- local and clear distinctive area. It’s logical in a way but sometimes its
ferent architect audience because as I mentioned sometimes people people that have difficulty to understand how our role is moving, this
are there to see the global picture and not only urban planning but is the plan. And this is why if you look at this, because this is what we
to understand the role urban planning is playing within this global are promoting now what we call the complete sustainability concept.
picture, this is the global approach. So and then we have what we We already announced the concept itself but I think it will be officially
call marketing, it’s mainly developing all the communication material; announced in mid-November. You have for example the driving force
audio, visual and printing. Then we have third sector which is called Estidama, because it is the driving force of everything the UPC is do-
event management, because it’s not only managing the events that ing. Sustainability, it’s at the origin of everything and then we have for
we organize by ourselves but also managing UPC participation to all example key policy guideline that UPC has produced, safety security
the different conferences. Also sometimes we organize investment manual, development regulations, community and facility standard,
from outside of the country and so we are preparing a receipt, briefing public realm design manual and urban street design then we have
bag and contacting the media on site. This urban management part here the development code that can capsulate most of this ingredi-
is quiet important for us. And we have another, an additional person ents at Emirati level. It’s fantastic because it’s a walk like a puzzle. For
that is playing the role of the link between all, it’s an editor English example now we are producing a video and what we want is to dem-
and there down stairs we have same person for Arabic because as onstrate that like a puzzle piece after piece and then you have the
you know our key target it was not there at the start of UPC when we whole complete concept. We also have now the ALDAR academy it’s
started 4 years ago but now more and more we are communicating 6 schools also and we are developing Estidama school program with
to the communities so we need to communicate to people in Arabic. them, it means we want to create kind of think tank but with kids. We
Previously when we were establishing UPC and promoting the usage want the kids also to start thinking about how they will envision their
of strategic frame work plan I would say it was 60 percent English 40 city in the future but in line with this key policy guidelines complete
percent Arabic, but now it’s changed to 80 to 20 percent , so we are with the sustainability concept.
communicating more and more in Arabic. Ismail: in your opinion is the effect of such programs such as Estidama
Ismail: what is different in Estidama compared to other certification and what you just explained about the education part of the urban
systems, I think before you started you said the cultural aspect? planning concept on the society and culture?
Jean: it is the integration of the four pillars; economic, social, cultural Jean: this is a key challenge that is why communication is impor-
and environmental. The objective is to treat these four pillars with tant. It is important to engage with people and to make sure they will
equal importance. So as I mentioned we are now starting because we understand about midterm benefit of the complying with Estidama
have the requirement and urgency to deal with this, first we initiated regulations and as you may know in the region people are not used
the pearl system because we need people to refer to something con- to saving water or energy so it is all about educating people…this
crete so that all the developers, all the architects, all the professionals was not an update of the benchmark this was the first benchmark. So
know what Estidama means completely, they have to comply with what we are doing in terms of communication, we are trying to use
this rating system, but above all that is that special type of communi- different channels. For example; we are developing a lot of this social
cation what we really want to put as a role Abu Dhabi is playing on the media campaign, we have a program called UniverCity and last year, to
regional level as a kind of benchmark taking the initiative promoting give an example, the person in charge of P.R. she developed a targeted
sustainability at large not only for cause of environment but because campaign dedicated to a university called “My Sustainable Abu Dhabi”,
we know that they are linked together the four pillars. it was a social media campaign and it was like a contest, you know we
want the people to generate interests so as to have maximum follow
Ismail: what is still missing in the initiative of UPC or Estidama in the up on specific question and then to address key concern and to an-
certification system? And what are the current plans for development? swer to this concern. Same thing same approach with this UniverCity
Is there anything within the communication department that you are programs we are now developing the webinar concept, so it means
planning to do in the near future? every time we have a press conference dealing with a new initiative
Jean: yes as I explained to you when we first started UPC, we start from developed by UPC we replicate it exactly with the same format same
scratch in 2007. The first 2 years we were asked to develop this overall people on stage but we go on the campus and we have 50, because
of technical constrains or because we can only meet with 50, we have in 2008 but as a matter of consistency it’s the only way to make sure
50 student who are interacting with UPC representative and to carry that people will be ready, will absorb the essence of urbanism. So we
out this part of the subject and during two hours have like a seminar have to stick with it through everything. I was asked for an example
but online. they were sending a SMS for the new team because they produced
Ismail: what are the outreach programs of UPC and Estidama and a new tool same thing when just a SMS message 3 sentences they
what are their aims? send me a proposal, I say no please it has to be aligned with our key
message, and I think it’s start to work but it’s a long term process for
Jean: when we talk about outreach programs what we are doing is the recognition on the ground, it is how consistent the branding is and
more and more with the 3 municipalities here in Al Ain, Al Gharbia how consistent the messages go with the same language the same
and Abu Dhabi, we are developing the first workshop and also pub- quality, everything is very consistent. This is something that also makes
lic consultation. So with public consultation we are used to do it for people interested, makes people aware just when you see those two
UPC because as you know, UPC prior to unveiling a new master plan, colors you associate them with UPC, Estidama and plan 2030.
we first contact the community and we explain what we are planning
to do and get their feedback. And I would say most of time we can Ismail: what are the difficulties you face when dealing with the public,
manage to integrate some of their requests when it is realistic for sure, consultants and clients and environmental specialists?
sometimes it’s not, but we never unveil any document any urban plan- Jean: I would say that it’s all about making sure that, for example when
ning document without making sure that first we have contacted the speaking about Estidama, because in Estidama the key challenge is
different orients of people and citizens who are living in this area. And the perception of the initiatives and people, the key challenge is to
for Estidama we are doing the same now. More and more we hold make sure they understand that they will get midterm return on their
these lecture sessions, we invite, I think last time it was a 120 persons investment, they are not convinced at all at the start so that’s why
coming from developers, from general public. It’s starting to become when I visited this morning this villa mock up, the first that we have
a little bit more popular, but it takes time. Also because sometimes we now, I thought this will help because now we have a concrete exam-
have difficulties to reach, because people really do not read the press ple people they can visit the villa and they will see ”ooh, look” if we
in the region some of them but not all, so we try with SMS, with this decided to develop this kind of windows or this kind of design for the
new tool but it takes time because people are not used to participate. way we are rotating some rooms. Everything is logical and it’s already
Even if it’s with public consultation, for example if it is really linked to explained concretely or it works to make sure it will save energy, wa-
the area where they live they are very interested because they feel very ter, everything. So this is really the key challenge to make people un-
concerned but when you ask them to come to discuss about sustain- derstand what concrete benefit it will bring to them on the midterm
ability it’s still pretty vague. not the long term. And policies, you see also when you speak to the
Ismail: How do you inform the public about initiatives? And how do communities you see that our job comparatively is easy comparing
the specialists get their updates? for example to the municipalities, because municipalities when they
contact the communities we are now entering the implementation
Jean: it’s mainly first through a campaign, for example most of the phase, and the implementation phase may sound more sensitive than
time when we contact the press and we have different format of press strategic overview, but not really because strategic over view people
meetings depending on the subject if it’s not a sensitive but a very know more and more because all of the communication tools, they
technical subject instead of inviting 25 journalists we limit it to maybe know that the decision that has been made at the early start will drive
6 to 8 of the key influential media and we invite them here for exclu- lots of things afterwards so that’s why more and more they are ques-
sive media briefing different from other official press conference. Then tioning even the strategic plan. What is interesting for us because of
we produce a press release and also a media kit, so it means when they the feedback, and also it helps to understand that it’s a long term ap-
go online when they go online when the go back to their office they proach. Otherwise, when you are only stuck to communicate when
have at their disposal a 20 page more detailed explanation of what you implement it’s a different policy plan and guidelines it’s more dif-
the initiative is, but it’s a not a copy of the master plan it is something ficult for people to understand what was at the essence of this new
that we have chosen making sure that the visible media will find what direction or new initiative.
they are looking for but it’s an extrapolation of the press release. And
then what we do also one week or two weeks later through the social Ismail: how do you see Estidama’s benchmark? Is it pushing the market
media campaign we also use this document for public if they want, too far or not pushing far enough?
they can go to the website and they can have access to it. For the first Jean: No, because if you look right now the moderate is only 2 pearl,
2 weeks it’s mainly targeted to the media we want them to have this we really want them to go step by step. I don’t know you discuss this
exclusive information and then afterwards we transfer to the public with the other team maybe they spoke about this pilot project from
domain. So everyone can go and have access to this more detailed 2007 till 2009/2010 the first two years, they worked closely with devel-
information about the initiative that was launched 2 weeks ago. It is opers on I think it was 12 to 13 projects because they wanted first to
interesting because first you have the media impact and then you can experiment the ingredient of this new initiative and not to come to
maintain this interest through the internet channel but towards the the developers and say you have to comply without having experi-
public and what we want is them to interact with us, we don’t want enced working on developing this with them. This was very interest-
only to inform them we want to get their feedback because if it’s a ing and sometimes we forget to remind this to people that during 2
little bit new here, but sometimes when you have critics it helps that years we worked closely with developers on selected number of piolt
has not to be negatively perceived it’s an added value for us. projects to test everything and to get their feedback.
Ismail: is social media usage part of the plan so you use social media? Ismail: is Abu Dhabi planning on having any incentives to promote
Jean: everything, yes. But at different level that for example now if we their sustainability initiatives?
invite the media for media briefing or media conference we inform Jean: I think I can’t answer this question. I know they start to think
public at the following day we will find a story published in the media about it but I don’t know about any decision.
about the subject. We use it as a teasing also to create an interest be- Ismail: when do you revise the benchmark when do you start “well,
cause sometimes people maybe will not read the newspaper, so we now we can go further and demand more” do you have a preference
use social media also to inform them this. We then monitor the result of how this would go?
of social media, but we don’t have the right support yet we do not
have web master but we will get there at some stage. Jean: I think that this will evolve by itself for example when I visited
this morning this 2 pearl villa mockup, the developers also showed me
Ismail: How and why has there been a brand made for Abu Dhabi 2030 a prototype of the 3 pearl villa mockup. Jointly they are all working,
and Estidama? for them at a certain stage Estidama will become a marketing added
Jean: you can see it is something very unique; people can identify value itself, they will sell this product Estidama logo and because of
themselves to something. And vision 2030, when we explain it to the recognition the brand is gaining year after year at a certain stage it
them we also explain the communication strategy because the brand will really become clear in terms of marketing and this example speaks
has to support and promote all the ingredients of your communica- for itself because we didn’t ask them to start to work on this, but be-
tion strategy, it’s like what we call corporate umbrella. So for the early cause there is a competition between all of them they want to dem-
start you have to integrate communication strategy key ingredients to onstrate that they are the first to comply with a 3 pearl, which is not at
make sure they will be reflected and they will be helped by the brand the moment, but we expect it will become. We want to have the clear
image. You know we have for example a clearly defined message plat- commitment and engagement of all the key players in the market and
form and this was long before creating vision 2030, it was at the origin, this example means it is coming.
the essence, this is why to create the brand. Desert and marine it’s Ismail: In your opinion what is the reason behind not moving faster to
something new, it’s a little bit but this was at the origin. Conveyance of more sustainable communities and buildings worldwide?
the sea and the desert, this is Abu Dhabi.
Jean: I think mainly because of the financial crisis, I think this was
Ismail: is there part like of a legacy? a key aspect not here but certainly in Europe even in the U.S., I re-
Jean: yes, it’s logical but sometimes people they cannot understand member even reading a story in France when I was there 2 weeks ago
that we are referring all of this 6 or 8 key message that we have defined they had this incentive when you wanted to purchase solar panels for
your home but because of the financial crisis it was too costly for the website they have this product database. This means we are more and
government so they needed to stop, but in terms of damage it was more, not only selecting, but giving support I mean technical infor-
huge because you have a lot of companies who were born because mation to the companies which are developing this new materials to
of this incentive because the demand in the market was huge. People make sure it will help to comply with the new regulations. So this is a
wanted to invest and because you know it was more affordable than complete brainstorming concept at the early start. I think 50 percent
before and then the government stops this incentive, so you have a of the meetings we have are even from foreign companies who are in-
lot of people from the company laid off and economically speaking it terested to know about this regulation to make sure they will develop
was a disaster and this is only one example you can imagine the rest. their appropriate product and material to comply with it. Because you
Ismail: How would you define sustainability? know when you have something coming from one initiative it may
also help to play the role as an added value to your product if you are
Jean: if you translate sustainability to French it’s long term develop- not only focusing on the region so it was most of them are interested
ment, it means you cannot expect to evolve without have addressing in Estidama development.
the sustainability factors. it’s part of the normal move to the future. This
is why I like, don’t think I am promoting Estidama, but I really like the Ismail: how do you measure what you are doing? As the initiative, the
approach of integrating these fourth pillars because it means sustain- plan 2030 is there like a milestone you set?
ability can only be considered at large and it’s not the case most of Jean: yes, I would say for us right now the whole map of the long term
the countries they are still focusing on one aspect. It was mainly at the vision is clearly defined. But what we do sometime is adjust it because
early start environment, now because of the financial crisis they were you may have some new development coming that was not originally
forced also to speak about now about sustainability in economy but it planned so if it’s relevant then we ask to modify the plan for this area
was not of their initiatives. So what I really like in Abu Dhabi from the and to make sure that in time of measurement all it could affect the
early start the leadership, this four pillars were integrated and treated rest of the area, so this is what we are doing on regular bases. But I
with equal importance. So I think my definition of sustainability would would say 80 percent of the big picture will not change this is also the
be this integration of the fourth pillars and the way we don’t have consistency and advantage of having this long term vision because it’s
choice if we don’t integrate this it will not work, your society or your like a puzzle when it’s already existing and maybe you can change one
development as a human as a company as an economy will not work, piece, but you will know exactly where it can fit without affecting the
we don’t have choice this is the logical evolution of the world. Sustain- rest, being fully integrated it gives you this flexibility if you don’t have
ability, it’s not a choice it’s ….. I would say a vital parameter. this long term vision it’s more difficult because you can take a direc-
Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community? tion that at the end may affect the overall development plan, and this
What do you think is vital to achieve a sustainable community? is not the case with UPC because we already have this 3 key regional
master plan in place. So now are job is sometimes we readjust is we
Jean: what we really want to achieve here, taking the example of Abu have a specific request. But it works like this.
Dhabi, is making sure that we will provide the citizen with kind of har-
monious life style so it means you will have close to your home all the Ismail: Is there anything you wish to add?
facilities that you need in your daily life. Something to strive more and Jean: I think it’s a terrific experience, because I think it happens once in
more to limit the use of the car, this is something, especially here, we your life to have the opportunity to be in a team that is working from
are not concerned at the moment but this is also the evolution. And to the early start, started from scratch, it’s like creating not only a city, in
make sure people know we love social cohesion (30:50) I think it’s also the case of Abu Dhabi it’s creating the capital of the emirates. So we
the final achievement of building or creating this complete sustain- are also working with the same interest in developing the western re-
able community will provide to society to assert and to reinforce this gion and the eastern region, so we have this I would say diversity that
social column. This is something very important. makes the job fantastic and also you are able to see from the other
Ismail: what are the interlocking connections needed between the side the recognition of the Abu Dhabi map is gaining more and more
industries, consultants, the certification system and regulations all of momentum. But starting from scratch happens once in a life, it’s a fan-
those together to be able to develop towards sustainability? tastic challenge.
Jean: it’s exactly what Estidama is doing, because if you go to Estidama Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Michael Stott
Position: Senior Associate, Public Realm & Neighborhood Planning, Planning
Policy, UPC
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Biography: Michael is a qualified urban planner and urban designer with ex-
perience gained from Canada, Central Asia, the MENA region and across the UK
where he has added value to a diverse range of project types for both public
and private sectors clients. He has been responsible for the design and project
management of numerous complex, large-scale, multi-disciplinary projects.
He was also responsible for developing the award winning Abu Dhabi Public
Realm Design Manual, and regularly advises public and private sector clients
on opportunities for delivering public realm and green infrastructure benefits
through the planning and place-making process.
Ismail: Please describe your role and your departments’ role around the table to develop policies that will work on the ground and
Michael: Sure, our department is a strategic policy as well as a met- that we are all jointly buying into to deliver.
ropolitan Abu Dhabi planning, I work in both departments, so for the Estidama in terms of an approach with the public realm design man-
ad metropolitan I’m the design team leader, which means that any ual, if you work to the principle guidelines policies regulations within
design and planning project as well, any physical design we do in- the public realm manual you are achieving the principles of Estidama.
house I would lead on. I’m also the project manager and senior advisor The future manual will sort of give you the ability to have a pearl rating
for the public realm, both the manual and all public realm projects, for the different aspects of the public realm.
whether its street, park, waterfront, plaza, public space design. The de- Version 2 of the public realm manual will have a materials sourcing
partment also has housing design guidelines, we have building design library and will have a stronger irrigation guidelines. One of the current
guidelines, local vernacular design guidelines, mosque development ways that we control the development of the public realm is through
regulations, community facilities regulations. We do a lot of special irrigation budgets, business as usual you would see watering at 120 l/
analysis in terms of the level of service capturing the minimum dis- m2/day, according to Estidama and the public realm design manual
tance between facilities, performance of those facilities, writing down (PRDM) specifications we are watering parks no greater than 4.5 l/
to development code, how should Abu Dhabi develop and what’s the m2/day, streetscapes 1.5 l/m2/day, so it’s a huge change and you can
next stage of built form going to look like, so here we apply this to the quantify that amount, you know that saving 18.5 l/m2 on a streetscape
affection plan, what can you built on that plot, and how does that plot will save the government this amount of money, so there are things
interface with the public realm. We do a lot of different things. that we are doing currently that are changing how the public realm of
Ismail: So, you were involved in the public realm design guideline from Abu Dhabi is developed for the positive. One of the other things that
the start? we always tell people is when we talk about these irrigation it sounds
Michael: Yes, from the very start, three years we have been working low but you have a continuous street canopy at a 1.5 l/m2 you can
on it. it’s been live since last year and we are about to start version 2, still have a green park, it’s about the distribution of these resources
which will have a heavier focus on Estidama and the integration of the within your plot, if you choose to just plant exotic plans (highly water
community rating system directly into the manual, and have OPEX, intensive) you get little, however, it’s also your opportunity to choose
CAPEX, cost, we would have a materials library, we will have a two differently.
tier rating system for the public realm in terms of whether it’s an Esti- Ismail: How are the guidelines linked to codes?
dama rated park for example or not, and incentivize people to regula- Michael: You have got Estidama and 2030, you then have the three
tory framework to use it. The manual is a government policy therefore regions, then it breaks down to Khalifa A Khalifa B, capital district, etc.
compliance is mandatory, and what we are trying to do in version 2 is (graphic online), so all of them feed into each other, all of them are
incentivize to go beyond the mandatory requirement and do some- interlinked. These are all done here, supported by Abu Dhabi develop-
thing more for the greater public good. ment code which sets the plot size etc.
Ismail: How has plan 2030 been made? How is 2030, UPC, Estidama Ismail: Who was involved in the making of the PRDM?
and ADM connected?
Michael: About 20 different government agencies, public private,
Michael: The UPC is the strategic planning arm of the government, TDIC, DOT, AD police, health authority, AD sports council, etc.. We
so we develop the masterplans, the framework plans, we are the require NOCs from most government agencies, so we worked quite
owners of the vision brand and what we have is a process whereby close with them and the actual vision of the Abu Dhabi PRDM was
at the very top we have Estidama and vision 2030, underneath that formulated by the municipalities through the DMA and ourselves, so
we have a separate 2030 plan for every region (al Gharbia, al Ain and it was a joint vision from the start. So we knew what we were starting
capital). Underneath that we have separate development frameworks with and it was up to the UPC to come up with a manual that says this
and masterplans which deliver the vision which in turn deliver on the is how we are going to deliver it.
principles of Estidama and the highest level of AD economic vision
2030. Working down, we then have the 9 policy manuals, which also The public was involved, we had two surveys, one was the UPC style
deliver and tell you how to implement the goals and principles of vi- your life survey, which is a huge emirate wide survey, and the other
sion 2030 for each of the areas, and again connected back up. We are one was a PR specific survey which was about what do you think are
currently in the process of quantifying the benefits of those manuals, missing from the pr. One of the interesting things that we found out
again quantifying it as a strategic agency isn’t necessarily to do within from the style your life survey was that the (forward by email the pre-
product in terms of how it is built, but we know from the start exactly sentation) that one of three people don’t have a park near their house,
how much things are going to cost the government in terms of water, yet 30-40% of the entire population the one thing they do visit in the
in terms of maintenance, the ongoing operation of any public asset. emirate is a park, which means that we are forcing people to drive
The relationship between the UPC and ADM, it’s more so the relation- greater distances.
ship between the UPC and the department of municipal affairs which Ismail: What is being done in order to achieve the guideline?
is the governing body of ADM, WRM and AAM. So the three regions Michael: So the guideline is approved by executive committee for
each of the municipality governed by DMA. We work extremely closely implementation, the DMA is solely responsible for its implementation,
with them, and they are also part of envisioning and formulating the meaning that any project any municipal asset; the DMA is hold ac-
entire documents are meant to represent best practice globally but countable to its development according to the principles regulations
best practice of stakeholder consultation governance, getting people policies design guideline of the manual. We also review and approve
every park that comes, whether it’s through development review de- to come about support us, know that if you in the same way if you
partment or municipality, we review whether or not this meets the go to a blue flagged beach, if you go to an Estidama park there is a
guidelines. We don’t say yes or no, it’s a dialogue, and we say we would minimum amount of things that that individual park will do or plaza or
like you to look into this way or give alternatives, so there is knowledge streetscape or waterfront.
transfer. We make ourselves available as an agency far more than any Ismail: Integrating the certification system in the planning process,
other government agency in any other part of the world. how is it done? And how is it different?
Ismail: How are revisions done to the guidelines? Michael: It’s a life cycle issue more than anything, that’s why we are
Michael: We update the manual in line with two years of feedback updating the manual so we can move into the design and construc-
we have received from various stakeholders and private and public tion certification of public realm, one of the biggest struggles any-
stakeholders. With all of our manuals we do an implementation, a where in the world is getting people to understand that the upfront
live period, with the USTM it was the same thing, we have an it on investment pays, there is a cost to bad design and a benefit to good
the ground being used for a year and we look back with the agencies design, the cost isn’t as bad (let’s say 10% upfront) compared to ongo-
and the different master developers who were using it and say: what ing operating and maintenance you are saving huge amounts, and
works? What doesn’t work? And even part of our tendering process is water as well. Incentivizing the development of the public realm or
a response from the various consultants about what they feel as uses any buildings, I don’t think our role is to incentivize but it’s more of
of the manual works and doesn’t work, we are not just getting the an education and help people understand through the various differ-
government sector saying we changed this or we didn’t like this, we ent dissemination projects we have, upfront 10% saves you 50% over
get the actual consultants who were using it to give us feedback, or the next 10 years, which is why we are in the process of quantifying
review the manual on our behalf and understand how people on the the value of our manuals right now, so especially government and
ground are using it and whether or not it’s in need to change. As this leadership could get a standing up effect of these costs, one of the
happened before, people feel the policies need to be clearer, there struggles you constantly have is describing the value to a quantitative
needs to be a stronger regulatory framework so they understand ex- thing, peoples happiness and health, how do you measure that, it’s
actly what they need to do, or don’t, so part of the process of updating very difficult to measure, however, over the long term you can, people
the manual in this sense is getting rid of the stuff that people don’t are more productive, but it doesn’t have a quantity, tangible is always
necessary feel are working. If we are saying that it’s not clear at what money. These are the kind of issues we are working on right now.
the population triggers are for park provision for example we will take Ismail: What are the difficulties you face when dealing with consul-
that piece out, rewrite it, consult with the municipalities again and put tants, stakeholders and others?
it back in. It’s all of our policies and all of our manuals are live docu-
ments, so we actually maintain the ability to update them on an ad- Michael: It’s just generic, change is always difficult, when you have
hoc basis, when the DOT comes and says for example we don’t feel done something in a way for 30 years and then an organization such
that your guidelines covers this green infrastructure in the right way as ours comes along four or five years, what makes us any better at it
on a highway, we will revise it. than the way it has been done previously, this I think relates back to
the quantitative benefits of good design. We get challenged a lot, for
Ismail: What in your opinion (regarding the PRDM) stands out com- example our road width here is kind of 4-4.5m wide, we have changed
pared to other policies worldwide? that to 3-3.5m wide, if you are an engineer that has been working for
Michael: We have been recognized twice internationally, first price 30-40 years on that level and we are saying no, it is different now, and
for urban design planning policy framework once by the Canadian here is why, the perception of road width has a great effect, we have
institute of planners for urban design. One of the facts that we sub- been in meetings where people have laughed at us, but they have
mitted is that nowhere else worldwide currently has a manual that been working for 40 years with the same thing, and what we are com-
covers an entire country, granted we are a smaller land mass, a single ing in to say is that what you have been doing is incorrect. So, we
emirate, however most people would take for example Dubai down- always have to deliver it by saying what you have done isn’t wrong, but
town and write a public realm guideline just for that. Because nothing currently we have to quantify and say narrower lanes slows down traf-
previously has existed in the emirate with regards to design of open fic, equaling less road deaths, check! Things like this, or greater access
space and improvising levels and things like this, we said no we need to parks and recreation lowers the obesity rates, check. The irrigation
to write it for the emirate and set a high level strategy which includes rates, has been a long term struggle, we have the support of leader-
best practice guidance and regulations, but also sets a tone for how ship to do it, but again someone who has been watering a palm tree
we want to see the emirate develop for 2030 and beyond, so I think at a 180 l/m2/day vs. 60 they have cause to argue with us, but there
we have achieved and gained a lot of recognition internationally by are things at the level that we have in terms of benchmarking and
the approach we have taken, the manual you see is about 200 pages, research proofs the point that it can and should change.
however there are 500-600 pages behind it, research and benchmark- Ismail: What is missing in the manual?
ing that allowed us to write that shorter document, so we don’t delve
into the finite details of your paving patterns, what we regulate and Michael: This goes back to why we are updating the manual, so we are
get into is that the minimum acceptable footpath for example is 1.8m updating the manual to allow for Estidama certification for the public
which allows two wheelchairs and two strollers to go by, that is more realm in isolation of buildings, villas, communities, so this is the big
important to us than the paving patterns itself, although we do best change.
practice on that. The municipalities in turn take that minimum width Ismail: How have the benchmarks been defined?
and best practice in terms of material selection and formulate their Michael: This is based on what we know plants need and trans-va-
own identity and paving patterns they are going to use and adopt, porational rates, plants are quite easy to understand (drawing of tree
which we also feed in as well. It’s not a technical specification; it’s a structure showing its roots) if you have a tree for example we can mea-
policies and procedures and processes for developing the public sure how much this tree need before it needs watering, and according
realm to serve the entire emirate, so it’s a bit of a different approach to the horticulture experts we used in the development the manual
that hasn’t been taken before, it’s the integration of parks and recre- is what you should be doing is measuring the stress level of the least
ation masterplans, the national parks association planning standards, versus the moisture of the roots for example, so we know that when
it’s a federal level document, so it’s very strategic, and then each of the the stress levels should be watered, watered twice a day with the same
individual municipalities currently developing landscape masterplans amount it is not good, so the roots actually get week because they do
further detail out the manual as it relates specifically to them. It’s an not have to look for water and tap, we are watering around the tree.
ongoing evolution, and we have set the strategy and we think the We also know that when we water at 2pm you lose 50% to evapora-
strategy is right. The whole point of the update is to make sure we are tion, so measuring this, the plants stress, the evaporation rate, allows
staying strategic and giving people the framework in which they can us to arrive at a figure which we know works. Jeff Sanderson, who has
develop more detailed tourist club public realm plan, Mushrif public been here long enough to have worked with sheikh Zayed and has a
realm plan, etc. one of my roles on the AD metro team is developing lot of experience here, he did a study in al Ain that showed that you ac-
the specific public realm plans for the island and mainland, so we have tually help the plants and trees and landscape on the long term if you
manuals. The other part of my job is to work on a smaller micro scale water them and wait till the roots dry, the values we have prescribed
to macro scale of the emirate wide policies. It’s fairly interesting stuff. for the plants are based on some of the work we have done in the
Ismail: How is environmental awareness incorporated into the public oasis in al Ain and international trans-evaporational studies and similar
realm? arid climates like phoenix, they have done a huge amount of research
Michael: Of course, we have wrote it with the Estidama team, so I in turf studies, which say that for example if you are cutting your grass
think all of that is fairly clear when you read the manual which bits to less than a quarter inch the grass requires more water and it dies
deliver on Estidama, and we have actually designed in a process of because the evaporation rate at an inch is higher. So, we know what
working with the ADM to build an Estidama park in Shahama, and that we have been doing is not working, if we take the ideas that we know,
would be the sum total of all of our efforts in a single park, how we palm trees need 60l of water every 3 day, you can then divide that into
use these materials, how we use the design guidelines to actually get an interval rate and prescribe it to the irrigation, and using a stress test
environmental friendly park, and hence the need for the rating system to know how much it will survive.
Ismail: How would you rate Estidama’s current goals compared to oth- again always come on the journey with us as opposed to a top down
er certification systems? And to an ultimate sustainable goal? approach, because I think here especially in the MENA region a top
Michael: I think we are doing well, and one of the current push we down approach will never work, we can say you must do this, and then
have right now is to get people to understand that Estidama isn’t just this part says we will not do this, and then you get conflict.
a pearl rating system, it is something that is embedded in the govern- With Estidama we have a schools program; we can start at the young-
ment at the highest level so we have got the principles of sustainabil- est age helping children understand why we are doing things and
ity according the Estidama program which sit exactly alongside vision what sustainability looks like so that they can start to recognize things
2030, as for all of our manuals, one of the ways we are achieving those as well. It will be the generations that are in their early 20s that really
is developing these policies and procedures underneath it to support take this forward and develop it into something, so change isn’t easy
it, I think it’s great, and in the last year we have made substantial in- and there is no such thing as a quick fix, because a quick fix generally
crease, we have had much more buy-in in terms of how we deliver has a knock-on effect in the future.
this, I worked for the code for sustainable homes in the UK and it was Ismail: What are the advantages and disadvantages of CS?
a similar process, it is very difficult to convince people to pay more up-
front to get it in return, so I think this is the right program for the area, Michael: Advantages, it is recognition most of it more than anything
and as it develops more and more we have a version 2 of Estidama else, which is insurance, assurance against defects and liabilities. Look-
coming out sometime next year, which is an update, meaning the pol- ing back to the blue flag example earlier, you know that this is certified
icy is the same but we might for example give you more approaches to that standard so you know this is what you get, and people will
to how to achieve it. We are fortunate enough to have government choose to go places that are certified a certain way, just like in Freiburg
leadership buy-in that says no, it is mandatory. people were given the choice, if you are not interested we don’t want
you, if you are interested and you want to make a contribution come
Ismail: Do you think Estidama is pushing the market too far? Or not on in! So Freiburg is obviously successful so people bought in and
far enough? lived there and love it, or Bo1 in Sweden, all of these developments,
Michael: Not far enough, you still only need to have a one pearl villa, so either you buy in or you don’t, and offering people the choice is
which is equivalent to standard building code in the UK. So this is why a good approach. Just like here, you have a choice whether or not
I’m saying we are not forcing people, we have manuals and guides for you want to live in Masdar city when it’s built, we are not forcing you
villa owners, contractors, architects that show you just how easy it is. to live there, you have to buy into the lifestyle and the commitment
Really, achieving 1 pearl is achieving a level of standard which is status to making certain environmental or sustainability choices, I would do
quo in the rest of the world. Not until you get to level three, then you that based on the certification, knowing that I was doing something
really start to change fundamentally. positive.
Ismail: What’s in your opinion the reason behind not moving faster to- Ismail: How do you define sustainability?
wards more sustainable communities and buildings? Michael: How do flexibly build and create communities now which
Michael: Change is difficult, people like to see tangible examples on also have the same flexibility and meet the needs of future genera-
the ground, and because we are still a very young organization here tions, so what we are doing now not to compromise what our children
especially difficult, but, that said, a lot are coming on board, and the are doing. My footprint shouldn’t be greater than my child’s’.
modeling for example done for the shading in the new Louvre build- Ismail: What does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
ing, this is groundbreaking stuff, we have got the evidence, but it’s a lot
slower, in the UK for example I have worked on a building one of the Michael: A lot, it takes all of the things we are working on, political
new towns, Eco-towns and the government paid to build entire new buy-in, it takes government investment, buy-in from the people who
towns, and this is an ongoing still 20 years away from being complete, are going to live there, it takes education, everything, it’s not just about
but the government actually had to build them, on a scale of entire design and getting it on tracing paper. There are so many aspects,
Abu Dhabi island we build new cities in the UK and western Europe, which is why we use the four pillars of Estidama because we know
so it is difficult, and people like to see it working, living, breathing. This it takes social understanding and a cultural shift in terms of how we
is the challenge and it takes a lot of government upfront investment, live and what our expectations are, making an economic argument
or a lot of public private partnership. Because everything is still quite making it worth, it takes a thriving economy to push these things, and
fresh we are still just figuring out how to make it work so that people environmentally responsible buildings and a lot.
Peter Stair
Position: Associate Planner, Estidama, UPC
Country of Origin: United States of America
Biography: Peter Stair graduated with a BA in Human Biology from Stanford
in 2003 and a Masters of City Planning from the University of California-Berke-
ley in 2008. He has co-authored books and book chapters on urban planning,
public health, and sustainable energy systems, with the Worldwatch Institute.
As a sustainability consultant with Buro Happold Consulting Engineers, he has
advised on the design of sustainable masterplans and buildings in a range
of different countries and climates. Now with the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning
Council he is helping to implement and develop the new Estidama Pearl Rat-
ing System.
Ismail: what are the reasons behind creating the certification system? see this changing?
Peter: [The Estidama Pearl Rating System] exists both as a regula- Peter: Well the Operational Rating System still has to be flushed out,
tory minimum to improve sustainability, and especially water, energy and that’s a key stage. It only becomes relevant 2 years after the Con-
and waste performance in the government -- which is part of what’s struction Ratings are given, so we’ve have some time to develop that.
needed for continued prosperity in Abu Dhabi as there are obvious We are also improving our project and data logging. Not only do we
resource constrains -- and it also serves as a framework for pushing monitor our own response time and collect information that’s use-
projects beyond the mandatory mandates. ful for future projects, but we are also starting to track the predicted
Ismail: what are the differences in Estidama compared to other certi- energy and water savings in order to compare that, relatively, with
fication systems? building performance during operations. Also [we want] to map all
our projects, so we can see them all geographically, and then this map
Peter: Estidama is a larger vision of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi govern- could provide a public interface with information about each project,
ment. And the particular manifestation of it today, which is being real- so people can understand more about the sustainable components
ized on the ground, is the Pearl Rating System. of each building that has been built, and where they can see an ex-
It’s a rating system that’s tailored to this region. There’s a heavier ample. An eventual part of the Operational Rating could be mapping
weight on water and energy, which are more crucial components of ongoing building performance, and aligning more with the utility
sustainability for this region: about 50% percent of the credits come companies. Ultimately if Estidama is successful, neighborhoods built
from water and energy. And there is also a fourth pillar of sustainabil- of Estidama buildings will require smaller infrastructure. That’s a much
ity integrated into the rating system beyond environment, social and further stage in the program.
economy. It’s culture. This is [both] a foundation of the rating system [In general] I would say things that are missing are things that are natu-
harkening to the resource management of the Bedouins, who had rally unfolding and are starting to happen.
to deal with very harsh and scarce circumstances, as well as credits
that focus on shading (as an important priority component of walk- Ismail: the integration of the certification system in the planning pro-
ing, walkability) and innovation -- adapting traditional designs and ap- cess of a project, how is it done?
proaches into a modern context -- and focusing on issues like privacy Peter: Well we do check to make sure that they follow the IDP from
for women and children, active urban environments, or following tra- the beginning, as part of the Design Rating submission. In terms of
ditional Arab designs for streets and neighborhoods. larger projects that come through [the UPC] Development Review
The second advantage to [Abu Dhabi having a difference certification [process], there’s an Estidama component of that, and the [UPC] plan-
system], besides having the credits tailored for this region, is our abil- ners are familiar with Estidama. Even in meetings that are not about
ity to implement it as government agency. It’s much easier for us to Estidama particularly, they are bringing up issues of sustainability; in a
implement while also training the [local] market and providing good way [the UPC planners] function as a part of the design team through
customer service. As assessors here on the ground, we can meet with their comments. And obviously the larger vision of the Estidama is one
people and projects to discuss the details and the requirements. We of the pillars of [Abu Dhabi] Plan 2030.
are not relying on reviewers 3000 kilometers away or more to provide Ismail: what are the difficulties you faced when dealing with consul-
input via a cookie-cutter [generic, bureaucratic] approach; we can re- tants, clients and suppliers?
ally customize our support. As a government agency we can also push Peter: The difficulties now are different than they were at the begin-
suppliers to improve and provide documentation that their products ning. At the beginning you can see that they went through the stages
comply with the Rating System. And we can co-ordinate with other of grief. Initially it was denial, ”Okay, Estidama is planned for Septem-
government bodies, both focusing on aligning particular Estidama ber, but we will see if that actually happens.” When it actually did hap-
credits, but also on the larger purpose of sustainability. We are thor- pen, consultants were caught by surprise and started negotiating
oughly aligned with the building permit process, [for example] so en- the process of trying to get out of the requirements, to say that their
forcement is much easier for us. So, aside from just having a rating projects were too far along , which usually was because they ignored
system written for Abu Dhabi, it’s important that we are here on the the announcements of the Mandate. And then it was anger and then
ground. depression and then acceptance.
Ismail: could you explain more about the integrated design process? At the same time, even at the beginning there were consultants who
Peter: Yes. A key component to that is the phasing of the Rating were very enthusiastic about Estidama, saying, “This is so great. We
System, which goes from Design to Construction then all the way have been needing a program like this.” There are people who saw a
through Operational Rating. These are a way of ensuring quality; that lot of resource waste, or who have experience in LEED or BREEAM or
the best ideas were carried through; that the most efficient practices Green Star and saw that a void needs to be filled here.
are considered from the beginning; that people are benefiting from Really I think the key point with consultants’ reaction was that there
the perspectives of different disciplines; that there’s a thorough hand- are so many different constituencies and levels of sophistication to
off communicating both the priorities of sustainability as well as the deal with. Initially the biggest issue was the part of the Rating System
details of the requirements; and that ultimately more sustainable that was enforced by the Municipalities -- smaller single-owner and
buildings are constructed on the ground, and then, 2 years afterwards, villa projects. The villa requirements were at the same high level of
they are being maintained efficiently and sustainably. the Building Rating System, and yet the experience of the architects
Ismail: what’s still missing in the certification system? And how do you designing those was limited. And simultaneously the Municipalities
were less equipped to provide them the support than we are, because to improve their designs.
it wasn’t a rating system they wrote. That difficulty was the biggest Looking at sustainability issues in the Emirates, and what we can do,
risk for the program at the beginning, and it’s been addressed partly there is obviously an issue which is not yet part of the Pearl Rating
by time -- as people have become more familiar, attended more train- System: the existing buildings. Improving the efficiency of existing
ings -- and partly by the introduction of the Temporary [1 Pearl Build- buildings is an important priority, but it really requires a larger gov-
ing and Villa] Program, which focuses on just the basic energy, water ernmental coordination. We have been part of an initiative, but it’s not
and materials requirements. Still there are some who try to get out something that the estidama program is leading. That’s a huge effort
of the Mandate, but now it’s many fewer. Now the resistance is more that needs to happen
credit specific, either consultants or clients asking a lot of CCR’s [Credit
Clarification Requests] that are not particularly clear headed about the Ismail: do you think Estidama is pushing the market too far or is not
intent of the credit. pushing it far enough?
Then there’s always projects that are fast tracked. A very high percent- Peter: I think we can push further now. We want to be careful and be
age of projects are described to us as a priority for some important clear with design teams what they can expect and not always change
person in Abu Dhabi, and therefore they want us to meet with them the yard sticks, but I think we can push further. We are trying to push
and tell them what to do before they really engage with the Rating more sophisticated projects from a 1 Pearl to 2 Pearls and finding that
System themselves. They want us to fast track our assessment process, they often can achieve that fairly easily just on the bases of their type
which is already pretty quick. They want to get a building permit be- of building and the owner’s project requirements…
fore they are finished with their documents, before they have had all We can push in the other efforts as well, I think there is room for that,
their team assembled. Estidama acting as a coordinator between agencies, helping to make
But for the most part there is acceptance and even enthusiasm for the sure that different policies are aligned and not redundant and comple-
program. mentary.
Ismail: Is there a database you are using? And is it available for public Ismail: what incentives does Abu Dhabi provide for the promotion of
showing building materials, performances? sustainability and water, energy and material usage, are there any in-
centives?
Peter: There is the Estidama Villa Product Database, which probably
others have described [to you] pretty clearly. The EVPD was introduced Peter: The government already has a very significant incentive, in that
as a temporary initiative to deal with one of the key obstacles to im- it is spending a lot of money subsidizing electricity and water. So when
plementation of the program -- communication to the suppliers, who government-funded projects save water or energy, they can signifi-
hadn’t been very practical about finding out what products the Pearl cantly reduce the subsidy required. And the government builds a lot
Rating System was asking for, especially products needed for required of new buildings, so there’s a strictly financial incentive that the gov-
credits. Now [the EVPD] is functioning as a handy tool for design teams ernment (as a whole) has already. The payback period on better, more
as well as assessors in the Municipalities. But it’s really only developed efficient design can be very short on such projects, -- if you spend this
for villas, so sometimes it causes confusion as teams try these products much on insulation, it will pay for itself in the form of reduced subsidy
for buildings. costs in a short period of time. There’s talk about other incentives in
the future, for the private sector too.
It was intended to be temporary, but we don’t have any intention of
scraping the EVDP right now. We will see what happens. In regards Ismail: but somehow what you said about the subsidies in water and
to [Masdar’s sustainable products database] The Future Build, we’ve energy, it’s kind of reverse……
been engaged with them since before they started. They have a ques- Peter: The government is moving in the direction of Dubai already
tionnaire that they distribute [to suppliers] and it includes questions [where water and energy cost more]. The current Abu Dhabi utilities
that pertained to some of the optional Estidama credits, which are not send out colored notifications. I don’t know if you have seen this ad-
covered in the EVDP. So products can associate themselves with par- vertised, but, the bill will be red or green. If it’s red, it means you are
ticular credits in The Future Build. But we’ve been very careful with the using more than average for your type of building, and if it’s green you
wording of that [association] and using of the Estidama logo on that are more efficient than average. It’s a kind of feedback. It’s not yet an
site, because we don’t want to give the impression that if somebody “incentive,” but I think that more of that sort of feedback is where Abu
uses this product they automatically get a particular point, and also we Dhabi is heading.
don’t anyone to call themselves, to market themselves, as having an Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
“Estidama Product” -- it’s just “technically compliant” with Estidama. So
if we move forward with maintaining products database like EVDP, one
issue that won’t need to be resolved is the impression that companies
can pay money to have an “Estidama Product.” The EVDP is free to be
listed in and that’s really important because we are not trying to favor
any particular suppliers: we are trying to improve the overall market.
So any exclusiveness, or charging people, is against the mission we’re
serving.
Ismail: is there a database for measurements (Abu Dhabi wide) of
building performances on a unit and community scale?
Peter: Well the utilities have something. But it’s difficult to get that
data and so far we haven’t been using it as part of the Pearl Rating
System implementation. There’s privacy as well as security issues with
sharing that. We have our own kind of database within our project
log, but that contains only predicted energy savings according to the
energy model and predicted water savings according to our water cal-
culator, and targets for materials recycling. All of that might not be that
related to the actual performance of the buildings. AS we look forward
into Operational Ratings, tracking data is something we are keen to
do, because we want the feedback comparing an energy model pre-
diction to the actual performance and we are sure that the numbers
would be very different and we want to know what the correlation is
and how we can improve what we ask for in our Design Rating.
Ismail: is there a database for measurement on a single unit and if
there is a map?
Peter: Yeah, that’s second part of [data collection], the mapping. It
would be part of [the UPC’s existing] “Geoplanner” and depending
upon how this evolves, it might, for example, map the predicted water
or energy savings as a percentage [compared to a baseline].
Ismail: How do you rate Estidama’s goals and progress towards the ul-
timate, how I call it the “Ultimate Sustainability”?
Peter: I think it’s an effort towards sustainability that it’s not simply
green-washing for public relations or prestige. One measure of suc-
cess has been that it’s not necessarily simple for some projects to get
an Estidama Rating. Especially some of these projects, they really had
Talal Al Ansari
Position: Associate Manager, Urban Design, UPC
Country of Origin: United Arab Emirates
Biography: Talal holds a Bachelor degree in Architecture from the School or
Architecture and Design, American University of Sharjah. He was working in
the Urban Design Studio as an Urban Designer, working on different projects
such as Emirati Neighborhoods Masterplans and open spaces. Currently he
is a member of the Policy team working on creating policies and regulations
for the emirate such as Public Realm Design Manual and Commercial Signage
Regulations.
Ismail: what are the reasons behind creating the certification system? Estidama sometimes covers the shading structures or the louvers like
Talal: Basically the leadership and the government had a goal which is simple technical stuff that you can have on the building facade. So
sustainability, so when they realized the importance of it, the UAE has when you have that from the beginning, that sustainable energy will
had the highest consumption level of fuel, energy, water and waste be part of the design integrated rather than forced on as skin. There-
production…etc. So the idea came that we want to be sustainable. fore we monitor the design part. In the construction phase it’s like us
That’s why we have the Masdar initiative. We have Estidama co-ordina- making sure that whatever you are committed to in your concept and
tion, all the stake holders and so on. There was a realization about that design is actually implemented in the site itself. Therefore we even
you can have the system, but in order for it to be applicable you need wait; we don’t give you the final certificate which is the operation up
to educate and in order to educate you need to train people, in order until, as far as I know, there is a specific period of time to make sure all
to train people you basically need to differentiate between people; the systems you have proposed are actually installed and functioning.
those who know about Estidama those who studied it and worked Ismail: in your opinion, what is the added value of a certification sys-
on it and those who have general knowledge about it. So the certi- tem?
fication system came from my point of view to give those architects, Talal: I think the added value of it is for general population now, just
engineers, and those interested people like a certificate to announce like Europe; they are aware of sustainability and everyone is trying to
that they are aware of the requirements, they know what the goal is, support sustainability. So to me I see that value of it is more towards
they know what the bigger picture is and they know technical details the developer himself, let’s say if he has truly sustainable buildings it
also. Because at the end anyone can claim to know about Estidama, means there is more interest from the public toward this developer or
because you have clients, developers, you have huge investments on, the retail business, even like government orientation on how we can
so the last thing you want is for them to be misled in that sense. That’s support you to go through that direction. I think that it benefits the
why the certification is not optional in that sense, now there is a direc- owner of a building more and developer that can add a lot of value
tion that all government buildings will have to be 2 pearl, all Emirati to them. What we gain from it is that we have sustainable buildings
villas 1 or 2 pearl…etc. since we are forcing a specific ranking, or a or sustainable community in the future that the whole Emirate would
minimum requirements we need to make sure that everyone is quali- follow hopefully. But there is always that benefit for the owner, so yes
fied and the only way we can do that is by training them and certify- its electricity, water….etc. but the added value is that they are certified,
ing them. Because some of them just attend without really having full so it’s something to be proud of.
intentions on adapting it.
Ismail: what is the connection between plan 2030, Estidama, UPC and
Ismail: what is the highlight in Estidama compared to other certifica- the Abu Dhabi municipality?
tion systems?
Talal: vision Abu Dhabi 2030 is actually two main visions; the eco-
Talal: well, the highlight in Estidama is that you have the four pillars; nomic 2030 and the planning 2030. The planning 2030 is what UPC is
social, economic, environmental and they introduced something im- responsible for. So our role is actually to manage that vision into mak-
portant which is the cultural. At the end they wanted to tailor some- ing it happen in reality. Estidama is the main pillar or feature that feeds
thing for this region, something for the UAE and the Gulf area, because into plan 2030 it basically controls everything else, so whatever we
the Gulf area has that common culture and common weather in that do; policies, guidelines, regulations, streetscape, anything you name,
sense. That’s why Estidama stands out from the LEED, BREEAM and the it has to be sustainable in that sense. So Estidama is the overall kind of
others, as those are applied as an international standard for sustain- principal that applies to everything we do. Now all of them they work
ability. That might make a lot of sense in the European countries, be- as one unit even with ADM there’s always that coordination support
cause they have the available technology, materials, resources, educa- between us and them. It is not the official way, but it’s more like we are
tion…and so on. But here we wanted to create something that was the planning authority and they are the implementation or execution
more for us, our heritage, our technology, and our techniques, how kind of authority. Therefore, there is always that coordination of what
they used to live in the past, the courtyards they used to have, materi- is the best way of doing it, because you can plan stuff but in reality can
als…etc. so we realized there is a gap in LEED. LEED satisfies the city make no sense or we can create stuff but plan better in other ways, so
overall principles, but when we looked at how we wanted to work it is that constant communication. The whole thing, the combination
here UAE, especially for Abu Dhabi. We realized we need to introduce of 2030, UPC, Estidama and ADM is literally working together towards
other things, to look at things differently. That’s why they introduced one goal; which is that big umbrella of Abu Dhabi 2030 system.
the culture, because culture is something they wanted to sustain, to
celebrate, to keep and maintain in the future as well. So culture was Ismail: how is Estidama embedded in the public realm design manual?
brought in as a main pillar of Estidama as well, that’s the main differ- Talal: both complement each other, the public realm is to cover ev-
ence in Estidama. erything that is public even if it’s privately owned but is publicly ac-
Ismail: Estidama is setting three certification stages; design, construc- cessible in that sense, so the public realm compliments Estidama’s
tion and operations that is going to come next or really soon. Could initiatives and ideas in that sense, through the materials we use, con-
you elaborate on the reasons why you chose to be in these 3 stages? struction…etc. Now that is even going to be a stronger merge, so the
public realm hopefully at some time will have the Estidama elements
Talal: personally I would say, the main direction you had was that. It’s that can also directed from the management itself. These two things
basically making sure that Estidama’s principles were integrated from work together all the time. We have Estidama for buildings and com-
the early beginning of the early stage, even when it comes to concep- munities; the second one is concerned with all the open spaces, the
tual you will always be thinking of Estidama requirements, because parks, plazas, neighborhoods, streets and roads…etc. so those ele-
ments that count as community, sustainable community in that sense, cific period of time, I think three years they give a certificate and then
has those elements which are covered more in details in the public five they give another certificate. They want to maintain the idea that
realm design manual. Therefore; this will have these guiding principles the building will be monitored, if the building is not functioning as
that if you follow in your design for streetscape, park, plaza or water a sustainable building anymore you can’t call it certified nor sustain-
front connectivity those would count as points for Estidama as well. able, nor an Estidama certified building, so that license or name will
Then you can say my community design is 2 pearl or 3 pearl depend- be taken away from you, up until you put it back to its agreed upon
ing on the criteria you reached at the end. So that’s the aim, to bring condition or performance.
them back together. Ismail: How do you define sustainability?
Ismail: do you think Estidama is pushing the market too far or not Talal: sustainability, to me personally, means us living the lifestyle my
pushing far enough? grandparents had but in a modern way. Meaning, they were raised in a
Talal: what I am saying is what the UPC is doing, generally what we harsh environment with limited resources, materials, technologies, ed-
do once we introduce something new; whether a manual, a guideline ucation and food supply so they knew in order to for them to survive
or a regulation. We don’t hit the full extreme in that sense because in this harsh environment they will need to adapt. And sustainability
we know people need time to adapt, developers, architects, engineers means, you don’t exhaust your resources it means; if you have 10 palm
and owners as well; even material providers or construction workers. trees I will cut 4 of them for my house ceiling and flooring, maintain
So we don’t put what we want; the ideal perfect manual situation right the others for food and shade. If I have 10 goats I can kill 2 or 3 to be
there. But we create those baby steps so that we phase it out; phase woven as tents and I can eat, while the others I can keep for milk and
one, we do the things we know is doable and achievable that can so on. We are a wealthy country, full of resources of oil and gas and so
satisfy people without taking time to adapt. Once we reach that tar- on, therefore we are full of electricity and water especially desalination
get, that’s when we revise the whole thing and then start pushing it from units are amazingly supplying us, that’s why we got used to it
a bit further and so on. Because the culture here is used to a certain and we don’t need to feel that we are aware of it, that’s what we are
technology, certain materials and design ideas, so when you force trying to do bringing that awareness. We are lucky to have the tech-
something new, even when it’s about setbacks which is the easiest nology we have and the resources we have, but we have to maintain
thing. If you tell an owner of a land that we changed the setback from it, to consider it and think of the next generations. One day all will be
3 meters to 5 meters, and you will give him all the justification; you will finished, one day we won’t have electricity to run 24/7 like we do now.
have more parking space, the kids will have more breathing space, So why bring that one day tomorrow when we can have it a hundred
you can do this, and you can have a ceiling outside, you can have a years from now, because we are more aware of that. It’s literally work-
garden….etc. they are naturally used to reject. Instead of saying it is ing with the environment, as the environment works for us.
5 meters deal with it, we say let’s push it 3.5 or 4 meters. And then Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
sometime later we would go for the 5 meter, so people would gradu-
ally understand and grasp it. At the same time it’s good for us to assess Talal: I would say awareness, if everyone was aware of the importance
the impact; is it really going in the right direction we hoped for? Or is it of sustainability as in Estidama or sustainability in general, it will be an
causing problems in technicalities? Are there issues that we neglected easy job, because it will be taught for a child, cutting flowers, throwing
we are not aware of that are suddenly arising now.....etc. So it’s good stuff, throwing gum on the floor which is to say not sustainable, so this
for both parties, as the public get used to it and adapt it slowly without behavior is the parents’ who are the owners which means they want
shocking them with new regulations and manuals, as for us to assess to build houses or buildings, it’s the work it’s everyone else, it’s more of
what we are doing and what we are proposing. It’s more like testing that the awareness thing. If everyone is aware of, at least the general
a certain area with a couple of buildings, to see if it works or makes principles of what sustainability is, that will reflect automatically as a
sense, perfect then adapt, improve, enhance and push. natural behavior to a sustainable community.
Ismail: when do you decide to revise a benchmark? Ismail: what is needed to make a paradigm shift to convert the built
environment into a sustainable one?
Talal: I would say reviewing is always there in that sense, it’s basically
as soon as we issue something we keep track of the implications, de- Talal: it’s more of the education level, educating the public about it, it’s
velopments and the constrains that come with it , the pros and cons. creating the realistic policies, guidelines and regulations that support
So we are always aware of what is happening, we don’t just issue it. And basically time, you need patience with it.
something, hand it over and it’s done. No, we sit with the stakeholders Ismail: what are the interlocking connections needed between indus-
after a certain period of time; we say what the implications are? What tries, consultancies, and regulations for a certification system to work
are the complications you are having? We always listen to them. That and develop well in the market?
is why we always have this communication with the stakeholders. So Talal: if you don’t have one of those that you listed, the whole thing
once we issue something that everyone agrees on, we know some fails. The industry will produce these sustainable materials and sus-
problems will arise like benefits…etc. Let’s say it’s constantly commu- tainable technologies, the consultancies are basically the knowledge
nicated between everyone; like regarding this specific policy they say that they know how to use these elements to create something new,
“we are facing those issues. How do we deal with them?” do we just modern and creative. Regulations is basically complementing what
ignore it and force people to work with it or do we give exceptions in should happen in that sense, so it’s more like guidance; saying if you
that sense? So whenever that benchmark comes at the end and it’s want to have, and should have, a sustainable building these are the
time to see and revise everything, you already have a good collection minimum things you should do. It’s guiding the people to what is best
of data from owners, developers and consultants. These data we can and how it should be done and then it’s that, should part of it. That’s
look, see, adapt and try to work with it at the end. As long as it doesn’t why the government decided all government buildings are to be 2
impact negatively a specific policy that we think is good in that sense; pearl minimum, we don’t care you have the technology or not, work
let’s say we want sustainability, but the public are refusing sustainabil- it out and make it happen. The government should set the example,
ity, we can just go with it. government buildings should set the example that all developers and
Ismail: what’s in your opinion, the reasons behind not moving faster owners should follow at the end. So there is that enforcement, but it’s
towards more sustainable buildings and communities? in the sense; we don’t just sit at our desks creating policies just to make
Talal: I think it is adaptation; we know and realize that people need people’s life hard. That we set to meet every stakeholder, even devel-
to take some time to adapt to it. Plus sometimes we do not have all opers are involved in it, asking them what the complications are….
the technologies available or we don’t have specific materials. That is etc. So that when we put those enforcements, everybody is aware,
why now maybe even Estidama could advise on that, to try to create therefore; it has an impact in the sense that we know that it’s a must
a list of suppliers that are certified as Estidama suppliers for specific and it’s a should but follow it on your own ease and pace. We have the
materials. At the end the suppliers are always aware that this material system here.
is sustainable, this means there is a demand on him as well. How is that Ismail: let’s say you have a design workshop for example, who is in-
going to reflect in the market and the prices? I think they are trying to volved in them?
maintain the prices as it is. But the idea is; don’t force big changes all Talal: it depends on the skill, for example; if it is about Emirati housing
of a sudden; like one day you are not sustainable, and the other day then its internal meetings, so meet with all the representatives of each
you are just completely sustainable. It’s hard, people don’t change that department, we sit and discuss. The meeting includes departments
way. Everything takes time in that sense. like; transportation, GIS, sustainability, public realm, policy team and
Ismail: how can you evaluate and measure the contribution of certifi- planning team…etc. we do the design, we sit with them, they give us
cation systems to the built environment towards sustainability? their briefing and ideas and we work together in that sense.
Talal: as far as I know, we do monitoring. Design phase, construction Ismail: do you ever take opinions from Emiratis who might live there,
and operation. But there is always constant communication with the like the housing project you mentioned?
building’s owner and building’s performance itself. So that we can Talal: It is the other way around, what I am talking about is a small
make sure whatever you put in the drawings, is actually constructed, thing, the bigger thing that we do is public outreach, so when we
whatever is constructed is actually functioning. And then after a spe- come saying we will do a Masterplan, which is master planning a huge
district, that’s when the whole of UPC organizes public outreach, it’s for it. So that, by itself, is a unique entity that luckily other countries
a huge tent inviting people from the neighborhoods asking them; are looking at as an example saying “what are you guys doing issuing
what do you want? What are you needs? What do you expect? What something like public design realm manual? And what is it about?”
do you think about that design? We even put pictures of spaces, even Its uniqueness is challenging because the culture was not used to it,
in Europe, if you like that put like a red star beside it, if you hate that when you go to London, it has hundreds of years of planning whether
put an orange star next to it. So we have that therefore; from what we it was officially, formally or not. But people got used to that there are
get of this we have a lot of ideas about what is needed in that sense. specific qualifications or specific qualified people with specific back-
That’s why you have the policies and guidelines reflecting the needs grounds and studies, we are doing that. We are always relying on con-
of them, literally it’s a relationship going back and forth with them. sultants; like international expertise to come and advice consultants to
These things influence what we do, that’s why we do all these concept come like; I don’t know in 1970 back in time the Japanese guy, back in
research about how do we orient the plots before it was a standard the seventies, he came and did all the roundabouts in the municipal-
grid, but now it’s about creating a more neighborhood feeling, so let’s ity. But now is like the time of changes, people within the city itself
break that and shift, introduce a park, why not try a triangular shape trying to influence what’s better for the city. That’s why it is important
to break that dryness of it, why don’t you create that opportunity here to have people involved like the Emiratis, foreigners no matter how
as there is shortage based on GIS information for example, and day experts they are; they will get you the international knowledge, what
to day retail spaces like laundry that we need to in cooperate. We do they think is best, they will take the idea of home, whatever home is
all that so that we can have a sustainable community; they basically Sydney, South Africa, the states or its Europe. They will bring it here
live and they have all the daily uses with them. That is why our job is and try to tweak it as much as you can, while understanding the cul-
more challenging, we bring everything together into a neighborhood ture and needs to propose something, yet it’s more of us and when I
form maybe for 200 plots sometimes, and even though it’s small we say us it is not just Emiratis who lived, but also the experts who lived
continue to make sure it’s sustainable. Even though you are doing it here for the past 20 to 30, years they are part of the culture now, this is
by yourself, we are still considering all the neighborhoods around it the culture; a mix of diversified people here and there basically.
and how does it work. Because if you realize there is a shortage some-
where there, it doesn’t mean you just neglect it but actually you intro- So no one really knows how things should be or what is best, better
duce the quantity there so it satisfies here as well, if they don’t have the than that people who lived and will always live here. Because we do
everyday space or the possibility of it, we retrofit something within. It’s not see it as, here its ok I will for the UPC here for 5 years then I will
a really bigger challenge I think and then we have to bring the 2030 go back home to London and you know that’s it. While I look at as I
plans and the transportation 2030 plans for metro and trams so we am doing something that will impact my life right now and my kids
have to reserve the connections. It’s already complicated enough, but which mean I will be even influenced by it. That is way it’s unique for
that is the fun part of it. us, that’s why we are always happy with what we do. There was like
international awards with Estidama and the public approval because
Ismail: is there anything that you wish to add? these manuals are just tailored for us, we look at our needs, our situ-
Talal: all I want to say is generally speaking, as an entity, as UPC once ation; economical, cultural and religious part of it, everything. What
it was established it was always a unique thing within the gulf and the defines us as an emirate of Abu Dhabi, with all nationalities, all back-
Middle East. It is literally a planning agency that is looking at the big grounds, all economic situations; poor or rich, is to create something
picture. It wasn’t like let’s look for tomorrow, that kind of thing; we are that is more tailored for us. That is what I think is the success of UPC, it’s
also looking at the past whether it was good or bad, how the families challenging you have so many variables to consider, but it’s fun. And
used to live, the fabric, the culture and the need. How things changed if we do it right hopefully, we will get to something that will lead to
with time, and how things are evolving and so on. We study the past that vision 2030, which is that complete sustainable environment and
we see today’s needs and so on and we predict for the future and work developed, hopefully.
Camilo Chacon
Position: Senior Design Consultant, ADM
Country of Origin: Colombia
Biography: Camilo Chacon is an Architect by education with 17 years of
extensive Interior Design experience especially in Corporate Design having
successfully completed over 80 projects. He has performed successfully in
management and strategic planning roles with solid PM abilities within a PMI
environment. A charter member of the Colombian Sustainable Architecture
Council, he moved to the UAE in 2007 where he led the Interior design team in
Burthill. Since 2011 he is a senior design consultant at the Abu Dhabi Munici-
pality, working in the strategic design team doing projects for the 2030 plans,
rehabilitation of communities, regulations to enhance the city image and the
way people function in the city.
Ismail: What defines your design sustainability level? for regulations in terms for the industries it is always a top down ap-
Camilo: Well, I’d say my design sustainability level is defined and leg- proach. So the community is not very much involved for that, but for
islated by having to achieve at least a two pearl rating. So we need to the commercial activities the community is going to be involved. The
start with that. Even though I do not design the buildings, I have to process is the opposite of what should be, we regulate and then in-
have certain things into consideration, to make it easier for the design- volve and ask the community if it is alright with them. So we should
er and developer to implement it in a sustainable way. Those things have it the opposite way, but at least it started to happen.
are basically taking the massing and amount of levels and orientation, Ismail: When you use a certification system in a project do you prefer
how they interact with the city. In Abu Dhabi it is very confusing, there one over another? And why?
is no social integral approach to sustainability, so I think sustainability Camilo: I think Estidama and leed have a lot of voids here in this re-
is just understood from a building point of view, not the community, gion. So, I really don’t have any preference, although I think leed is a
not the city, not the urban planning, and that is basically based on little more consistent, but none of them are very well adapted to the
politics and land use, and how land has been divided, and who is go- region. Of course Estidama is more adapted, but I do not go a lot into
ing to develop the land. depth into the certification.
Ismail: Where you involved in Estidama rated projects or other certi- Ismail: How would you learn about Estidama?
fication?
Camilo: We have an overall knowledge about Estidama, we do not go
Camilo: Yes, all of the projects developed in the municipality have to into the certification because it is not part of our work, so we do have
be pearl certified, I do not personally go through that process, but I the principles and apply them, which are the same for any project in
do have to set it up for that to happen.so we study the site, we have the world, and they are exactly the same.
different types of sites, for example Musaffah which is the industrial
zone of Abu Dhabi, there are lots of problems in terms of waste, in Ismail: What are the fees associated with certifying a project?
terms of social things that are going on, so what we are intending to Camilo: When I was working in Burthill, I know the extra cost for the
do is make it not only beautiful but also sustainable in terms of waste certification was 20% on the consultants’ side.
management, and social relocation as well. People are being evicted Ismail: What do you have to change in order to reach the mandatory
from their small stores, the conditions where they are working are in- Estidama requirements?
human, and so it is not just about the image. We are going from the
level of interior design to urban design in those projects. Other proj- Camilo: There are differences, I had to go through a project that was
ects are the new plots, which are going to be developed, what we do not designed for the certification, and in the middle of the road the cli-
is we study infrastructure, access roads as well as all the investments ent decided to go for the certification, so there were a lot of things that
that are going to be there, and how to involve the investors and make change from the conception of the project, basically you lose about
the project happen. Therefore, we have to set the path for the project 50% of the work, unless you have started with a sustainability concept.
to become at least 2 pearl Estidama, even if the project will be de- It has a huge implication in terms of going back, and clients only see
veloped by a private investor. For example: there is a plot on sheikh it as a marketing benefit, so it would have been better to have a clean
Zayed road, and we see the need for drivers to have a rest area while start and have the cards on the table, knowing what your goals are
they are driving (ex. From Saudi Arabia to Ras al-Khaimah) to lower the and what you have to comply with, and what will affect your design.
accidentally rate, so we start building the solution: making an afford- It’s very hard for designers to change their designs, once they have de-
able place to rest with the amenities that need to be in place. We start signed something it becomes more difficult to give it away, because
thinking about doing the area with the amenities and maintenance of it is change.
the cars, and that it could be economically viable to a private investor, Ismail: Do you think certification should be mandatory or voluntary?
that’s one of the huge things about the municipalities, they cannot Camilo: I have a divided opinion I would say: one me, says all of the
bear to have so many assets, because maintenance takes up all of the projects should be sustainable, and the other one says, in this country,
resources. What the municipality does is set up the plot, set up the starting from the fact that people are living here and having this kind
malls and then call up the private investors to invest in that, and the of environment it is not sustainable. So just to start with that, we are
land is still from the municipality, the project still from the municipal- completely screwed, the rest are patches, what we are doing is patch-
ity, and they make an agreement, let’s say, to run the facilities for like ing, so the most sustainable thing to do is not live in the desert, it is a
30 years. Or, they can renew it again to a different person. All of these rough environment.
settings need to have a lot of sustainability involvement. I’m not going
to go through the problems they have, the amount of the rubbish in I think it should be mandatory, at least while the problem of losing en-
politics that’s involved in that, why the projects don’t get the certifica- ergy in a clean renewable way is politically available, economically vi-
tion, it’s money, the “Wasta” (Arabic for: using one’s connections and/or able, so yes, I think it should be mandatory until we can overcome the
influence to get things done). controlling base energy usage. I think half of the expenditure in sus-
tainability is trying to cut off the energy consumption and the other
Ismail: What types of meetings did you participate in? And what was half is renewables etc.. If you have a clean zero impact energy source,
their occurrence? then half of the problem is solved, until then it should be mandatory.
Camilo: Like I said, meeting with private investors, stakeholders like I do not think it should be phased by having it lean to strict, I think it
the municipality representatives, people from the UPC, and people should be the opposite, start strict and gradually become less and less,
from Estidama but not very often, it is definitely multidisciplinary, but it will be embedded in the minds of people, and when you have the
sustainable energy then your problem will be solved. Why would you other markets. With this type of economy, that has to ship everything
not use the energy if it is renewable.. It’s a power game. here to process anything, it is not sustainable. Perhaps now it is run-
Ismail: The integration of the certification system in the planning pro- ning, but it is not sustainable.
cess, how is it done and how does it differ? Ismail: When do you revise the benchmark?
Camilo: Of course you have to set up your goals and methods, and Camilo: That’s a difficult question. Whenever the community is able
then incorporate them into your schedule and workflow, you involve to produce, and has come to a certain grade of sustainability, which
different stakeholders in different stages, the integration of the differ- will take a lot of years. As it gets implemented gradually it will happen,
ent disciplines is completely different from the traditional way. There because it will be in the minds of people, it’s a big thing now but will
needs to be a full integration from the start so that all the parties are become a norm later, in the future will be a part of everyday process,
involved and know about the project and have a saying in how the as well as the way of thinking, so later you will not even need a sustain-
project can be improved, and then everyone goes and do some work ability team.
and then they come together and double check that their initiatives Ismail: How would you rate Estidama’s’ goals to other certification sys-
are being achieved, that’s the way I see a sustainable project should tems? And to an ultimate sustainability goal?
be, which is not the case now, it is a different way, it is a matter of hu-
man ego. Camilo: I’d say it is a copy of them; it is still in the development. I think
Estidama is going in the right direction; it is still baby steps, as I said
To be honest, if you have everything clear from the start not only will before you need the involvement of the community, not just a promo-
it enhance your workflow, but everyone will work in a more relaxed tional marketing thing, rather live it. Once the whole community gets
pace, more room for thinking rather than produce produce and redo, involved it will happen naturally.
everything is thought through from the beginning. I do not see any
cons in that. Ismail: What’s in your opinion the reason behind not moving faster to-
wards sustainable communities?
Ismail: What would you do differently in order to achieve a better sus-
tainable design? Camilo: Well, there is still huge economic implications regarding
doing anything sustainable, the initial investment is higher and the
Camilo: Like I said before, early involvement of the stakeholders, and economy is not that good, so you see that people are more willing
I think there is always a lag of resources in the project, you always find to work through sustainability when the resources are there, and you
that research is being neglected, not bringing in new ideas, new tech- have the money to invest in something like that. But, when you need
nologies, new things around the sustainable design to integrate them at this time fast solutions and projects, people will avoid any initial
and being part of the team. And this is how I see a better sustainable investment, so it is an economic factor. And some people just don’t
design, combined with education of the client, the government enti- care, it is sad but true.
ties, the community, everyone. Educating people about sustainability
is very important. It’s a zeitgeist! Ismail: What are the advantages of using a CS? And disadvantages?
Ismail: What are the difficulties you face dealing with Estidama, UPC Camilo: A lot of advantages, everything that goes into integrating
and ADM? new ways of thinking will eventually turn into new initiatives, these
initiatives turn into development, development turn into new ways
Camilo: There is a mess situation right now; it’s a political struggle of thinking, new thinking creates new technology, technology helps
of power right now. UPC and ADM should be one, the UPC of any man evolve. A disadvantage is that they are monopolized by certain
country in the world should be integrated in the municipality work, bodies and privatized like LEED. So in terms of the spirit of the certifica-
we have a department of urban planning in the municipality, why?.. I tion, I think Estidama is going to be a better system simply because it
don’t understand, it doesn’t make sense, so it is difficult. The fact that is not set-up as a business model to profit.
Estidama at some point made it so difficult for people to certify proj-
ects, construction has been halted, and in the middle of a crisis you Ismail: What does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
cannot afford that, the whole economy goes to a drain. It’s true that Camilo: Well, for me it’s the most important thing, communities, it’s
people do not change easily, “Wasta” is used, people who had been the zeitgeist!
working in projects for 3-4 years ad Estidama comes in place and you Ismail: What is needed to do a paradigm shift to turn the built industry
cannot pass your project through Estidama, the concepts of the proj- into a sustainable one?
ects were just designed earlier than Estidama, and they cannot get
certified or any pearl rating. You have to look on both ends, people Camilo: A shift of the government policies making initiatives the
who have invested a lot of money in projects, and people who have world needs, such as education, and an evolution of the economic
just started developing projects now, you have to take the first ones system and how it works.
into consideration even if it is wrong, but still, they have invested off a Ismail: What’s the added value of certification systems?
huge amount of money into doing something and they should not be Camilo: I think from a broad perspective the CS adds another layer of
halted. There should be a clearer cutoff point. knowledge and will to research and advance into change the mindset
Ismail: So, is Estidama pushing Estidama too far or not far enough? of people, it opens little doors for your thought process to come up
Camilo: The market is not ready for Estidama; the economic implica- with different solutions. It adds a huge layer into society.
tions are far too big for the sudden change. You have to consider the Ismail: What is still missing in the certification system?
whole economic system in place, it is driven by a lot of small compa- Camilo: It’s the failure to involve communities, only considering the
nies that have stock materials, that sell products and suddenly they environmental part of sustainability. It needs to involve the commu-
are out of business, or have to go get other materials to put them into nity more.
their portfolio, so it is not only the consultants and investors. They
warned and said Estidama will take place, but the awareness was too Ismail: How credible are certification systems?
little, and people were unprepared for the change. Camilo: I think they are about 80% credible; the rest is rubbish just to
Ismail: How do you set a benchmark? How do you set it? promote products and businesses, which are being developed by the
sponsors.
Camilo: In terms of benchmarking, I know Estidama is based on other
certification systems, and you cannot expect the same compared to Ismail: How do you define sustainability?
other countries. The country has lots of factors that make it a very Camilo: For me sustainability is a collective consciousness that we are
unique place to be at, it has very limited resources, it might have part of the ecosystem in the world and we should integrate with it in
the money, but the resources to build a solid economy is limited. A a less or non-intrusive way.
country that cannot produce and only extracts, what happens is (my Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
thoughts) it’s a very fragile economy dependent of the variables of
Carlo Thomas
Position: Senior Associate, Discipline Lead - MEP, Stantec
Country of Origin: South Africa
Biography: Carlo Thomas is a Mechanical Engineer, who oversees the coordi-
nation of all engineering disciplines with other disciplines such as architecture
and interior design. He is working as an MEP discipline lead in Stantec.
Ismail: what defines your design sustainability level? we meet enough times? Probably not, were they responding quickly
Carlo: the budget; it is one thing that is never clear. What I tend to find enough to match the rate in which the design was progressing? No, so
is that a lot of requests for proposals tend to indicate that they require because they wanted a good position, back at this time, in terms of an
sustainable design or a sustainability rating with respective systems, organization they were struggling with calculators and we were run-
but the clients themselves do not know why are they including it in ning backwards and forwards, it was more of hindrance than help. But
the RFP. And when it comes to discussions on that this may cost a we supported them because we knew that the idea was the correct
little bit more money to implement, the team collectively cannot eas- one, so we didn’t have a problem with them it was simply ligaturing
ily establish what the initial cost is to provide this sustainability service. into their position.
Above that one of the comments I always make is approximately 90% Ismail: so when using a certification system in a project, do you prefer
of what we do is inherently sustainable, so it becomes very difficult one over another and why?
to quantify where the money actually is, because for me to design an Carlo: if you look at LEED credits it is not that conscious of water,
efficient air conditioning system with low energy consumption, for ex- so simply based on location water is a key resource here. You should
ample I would need to consider the lighting, I would consider the fab- look at water because now we are desalinating to provide drinking
ric, the glass, the walls, the materials used it is a string effect, so I can’t water or desalinating to provide water for processes, so logically the
quite say that it is this element or that. If I have to pay more for building respective sustainability system would need to be respectful of the lo-
fabric for example to reduce the size of the air conditioning system, so cal condition and otherwise it would not be really applicable. So LEED
everything is interlinked and you can’t quite quantify it. Simply looking associated with Dubai is more of a star that somebody got for doing
around in the Middle East and I do think that the UAE is leading the something, but Dubai never really understood why they were doing
charge because with Estidama being a very good vision for Abu Dhabi it, it was simply sold to them by somebody. Abu Dhabi in contrast to
with regards to the UPC’s 2030 vision, looking around the middle re- that has a real vision for Abu Dhabi, simply looking into the way they
gion because this is so new there are not enough historical data to are thinking. The UPC, from the vision their website, it’s clear that Abu
understand what it means. Numbers typically of 5% ,7% or 3% are Dhabi is the city of the future here and then speaking worldwide and
thrown around to provide, for example an Estidama complying to the in 20 years time or when we get to 2030, there is no doubt if they con-
project you need to add 7% on your estimated construction cost and tinue the way they are, that it will be the best city in the Middle East.
people throw numbers around like that, but they are not quite sure So simply, Estidama is an applicable guideline because it respects the
what it really means or where is it coming from. local conditions.
Ismail: so you were definitely involved in a project that had to be Esti- Ismail: do you think plan 2030 is economically and time wise viable?
dama certified.
Carlo: in order for something to work; you have to get the people in-
Carlo: yes, SKMC mosque, SKMC dialysis but the Mafraq hospital volved. What I am seeing here is that, with all due respect, the expatri-
wasn’t, they wanted to be an Estidama pilot project but at that time ate consume a fraction of energy of the locals, the locals their biggest
Estidama was not setup, it was pretty much a cut and paste from the properties that they consume multiple the energy and the resources
Australian Green Star system for office buildings, at that time. What I of the expatriates. The local number is quarter to expatriates, but yet
found when I got here that LEED is pretty much associated with Dubai they consume probably a similar amount. What needs to happen is, I
and maybe about 4 years ago, the UPC started pushing the Estidama think in order for it to be successful and Abu Dhabi being the cultural
and we were very much involved with the assisting them with devel- center of the UAE and to lead by example the people need to be in-
oping their calculators, so a few engineers from here went there to volved and I think that is where the short coming is. So you can lay
assist them and also I was there on a few occasions. But since then out any plan and the steps with regards with 2030 vision any steps are
I have never had face to face interaction with them, it’s mainly with possible, but it requires commitment from people for someone to lead
engineers. So there have been a couple of Green Star buildings in New by example, I think that’s really it. When we look at Abu Dhabi it is not
Zealand that I have worked on and I mentioned Mafraq hospital which much, yes there are expatriates there, but it is locally driven, so if you
won interestingly the best sustainable design hospital award for 2010 change the people it will work.
from entirely the Middle region. But the client simply wanted a build-
ing that was cohesive of sustainable design initiatives. Ismail: are you and your team certified?
Ismail: what type of meetings did you participate in? Who was in- Carlo: yes, I am a Green Star and my team is PQPs and LEED APs and
volved? And what was their occurrence? Jason is certified from QSAS.
Carlo: obviously because I manage a team of engineers, my position is Ismail: do you think this process of getting certified is good? How does
mainly management. I recollect that the process with UPC was an in- it help?
teractive one; in the beginning we met with them on a few occasions Carlos: I originated from South Africa, then I moved to New Zealand
where they tried to set things up and get involved, but overall with when I started my engineering career after graduating 17 years ago,
SKMC dialysis we never met that many times so I can only recollect in nobody was really interested in anything sustainable, it was not heard
total maybe between five and ten times that we met with UPC. of, it was not taught at universities and it simply was not there. In 2002
I think that at the time the respective Estidama guidelines were not I immigrated to New Zealand and maybe after 2 to 3 years in 2005 I
in well shape and there was a lot of confusion. Now because they first heard of Green Star. So in education it is something that is very
have been around for a bit longer; for a few years things have become new, but prior to that Green Star has started 5 years before that in
more efficient. And I did sense that there was a lot of frustration, so did Australia. The key with New Zealand, they sort of observed it for a little
while, it was always a bit behind the bigger brother. So in 2005 was the to target and achieve we also plan like this, things we are chasing and
first time I heard about it there and even at that time not many knew things we can give away.
about it. Then I came to the Middle East in 2008, at that time LEED Ismail: what did you have to change in order to incorporate the man-
was running here, it was simply someone selling them a badge to do datory certification system requirements?
something, at that time the UPC started to put much thought into it.
So simply looking at those dates in 2008/09 when UPC started, 2005 in Carlo: you would not necessarily have to change something; it is in-
New Zealand, in 2002 nobody knew about it in South Africa, 2000 they cluded from the start. We didn’t really have to change anything 90%
were doing something in Australia and maybe 15 years before that it of what we do is the same anyway, so this 10% possibly comes down
was in America. The concept of providing a credited professional is to the selection of specific equipment items that may not be com-
delivered from a new one, but I have come to believe that people who monly available, selection of items that relates to specific energy re-
are now accredited, are more than those who are not. So it’s definitely quirements and sometimes, if I recollect correctly, some of the require-
a way of the future and it is something that we endorse. ments are not even possible as indicated by Estidama. Other than that
I think it is pretty much the same there is no significant difference.
Ismail: what are the fees associated for a consultant to do a sustain-
able design? Ismail: is the Estidama process easy and clear? Do you struggle to do
any Estidama related work?
Carlo: it is something very difficult to be determined; if you look at the
capital cost associated with providing an accredited building range Carlo: originally we struggled, but now I think we developed the
from 3% to 7%. When we did the Mafraq hospital I recall that the BOQ process and you look at Estidama documents that we now submit to
indicated an allowance of 7% simply to provide an Estidama accred- achieve Estidama, what you will observe is that they tend to polished,
ited building that fell away, that same allowance was there for sus- maybe they tend to be over the top, but with regards to documents
tainable design initiatives. If you were to try and determine what or submitted by other consultants to UPC, I think we are hitting that cat-
how much additional work it would require a consultant to provide egory and even to the point that UPC commented saying the same.
a building that was accredited in some way, I think that would be dif- So the process is now pretty well understood by us, as a result of being
ficult to determine. I think if consultants were to impose fees then it involved with the UPC through the development of Estidama. So we
would have a negative effect on the market, it is simply something have had an advantage over other companies who have not been as
that consultants should provide but not as a service but as something involved with them. So originally yes it was difficult, but now I don’t
that is part of the package offered. Because as I mentioned before 90% think it is that much of a problem.
of UAE will be sustainable anyway, we provide the photovoltaic cells, Ismail: so what are the difficulties you face when dealing with Esti-
the grey water recovery system…etc. all the simple things it’s there dama?
anyway we were running energy recovery units, we are looking to find Carlo: when I was involved, there were always those key people that
wasted energy to recover that energy. So that is done regardless so it we were meeting and I was always under the impression that UPC
doesn’t really require additional fee. Unless there are certain processes would not be able to cope with all the projects coming through the
or certain parts of the scope or contract that would be associated with office to certify them. And it was clear that, at that time, they would
you in giving post contract, and obviously is part of your service. But not have the resources to push what they were preaching. Since then
during the design phase it should not be part of anything, the only they have grown so I think maybe that was the real obstacle, anything
part that would require would be the time spent meeting with UPC else in terms of performance a project technically we can resolve that,
for example, so there would be an allowance for that, but simple sit- it is not a problem. When it comes to Abu Dhabi municipalities, I think
ting at desk designing, there is no way you can determine what that they require a lot of help in terms of being more consistent. I think this
actually costs. is what they do lack; you go to a the municipality today they tell you
Ismail: the integration of the certification system in the planning one thing and it wouldn’t be written down and you come back to-
process of a project, how is it done and what is different compared to morrow and the same person will tell you something else, and I think
building without a certification system? in there lies the solution, in that they need processes that are docu-
Carlo: the logical process would be to identify the credits that you mented, which are clearly not documented now. So simply looking
intend targeting. Certain credits are mandatory, other credits are nice at those 2 comments Estidama and UPC and you look at their website
to have and others may cost you a little bit more money to achieve things are well documented, it is clear. If you look at any of the munici-
and obviously it’s exponentially expensive as you proceed to achieve palities it is exactly the opposite, so between the two its clear which
higher ratings. So the process through which we go is; first we iden- one tends to struggle. In the beginning they were not that good in
tify the credit opportunities, provide two or three options to reconcile terms of documentation with the UPC; they never had a clear plan
with the respective request for proposal and in consultation with the and it seems the municipalities still don’t have a good plan. I think that
client we agree that those are the credits that we intend targeting. As this is really where the difficulty is, they have no systems or standards
a result of that is there maybe some CAPEX/OPEX resizing that we go in place. One thing is that if you go to Al Ain civil defense what you will
through to prove the specifics of certain credits or maybe if the client find that, and you have an appointment and you come to their door
is challenging the more expensive option then we will do some sort of step to the appointment and they are sending you away and there a
feasibility analysis and once there is approval with the client, we inte- lot of frustration that goes along with that and that’s maybe where
grate that into the design. The UPC will have certain requirements with things could go a lot better, simply being consistent.
regards to asking to meet with him, jump through certain hoops and Ismail: do you think certification systems should be mandatory or vol-
if that is the case then we follow that process after that there is noth- untary?
ing much too different to the design process. As you know the normal Carlo: sure it can not be mandatory because certain clients cannot
design process is in a much similar way we agree with the brief for the afford it, certain projects cannot afford it. I think certain parts of it need
client and we design through the respective design phases would be to be mandatory, when it comes to resource consumption it needs to
pretty much the same in any certification system. be managed, but to have a certification system imposed on you, I can’t
Logically, once you have established your credit target and the client see it makes any sense because if you look at the products, the cost
has agreed to certain credits based on certain studies then it does not of materials, where you get materials from, if they are normally associ-
end there. These certain credits which will pass multiple departments ated with anything sustainable they tend to carry a cost premium and
throughout the design phases especially the initial design phases, the projects tend to avoid those elements or materials. To have something
later design phases the credits are already understood to be included imposed not yet, but to have parts of it mandatory it makes sense, so
in the respective documents. There are normally meetings that hap- I think a mix of both.
pen weekly or bi-monthly to check out what is actually implemented Ismail: what would you do differently in order to achieve a better sus-
and how is this going and to whether it is actually possible, because tainable design?
many times we find that it is not possible for example; they want dis-
trict cooling associated with a particular site but the same time they Carlo: first of all, sustainable design is along piece of string; logically
want LEED for neighborhood, now the right way in regards with in- the end must meet the brief so if the design needs to be sustainable
frastructure below the roads and the walkways is already pretty jam it would need to be targeting a brief. What I find is that clients want it,
packed and now the client is saying give me district cooling and at but they do not know why they want it. The sustainable design that
the same time he is saying I want LEED certification and for him to needs to be produced needs to be associated with the proper brief
get district cooling we have to put more pipes in the ground and if and the client would need to know what it means. We need to edu-
we did that we will remove the trees from all the walkways, so there cate the clients and I think we need to do what we need to do as op-
are clear contradictions, the client wants both, but he can only have posed to doing everything, so yes many things can be sustainable, but
one. So logically we could not have known that up front because we you simply need to design to a target.
did not plan the services underneath the roads or the size of the pipes. Ismail: who do you think is responsible for educating the client?
So the weekly coordination meetings or bi-monthly meetings tend to Carlo: UPC is doing an excellent job; making statement and try to
pick these items very quickly and as a result there were certain credits chase the dream. In the industry as a whole, the mind set needs to
that are sacrificial and other credits which we are pushing really hard change. The responsibility of consultant is to provide professional
advice to the client and it is not one the expectation that the client Ismail: in your opinion what’s the reasons behind not moving faster
knows all the answers, he simply wants a building or a green building, towards more sustainable buildings and communities?
they want something like the market again, or whatever the objectives Carlo: it always comes back to the same thing and the answer is the
maybe, but many times they want something for the sake of wanting simplest explanation is the truth, if the explanation is elaborate then
something not knowing why they want it. Clearly it is the consultant’s probably it is fabricated, because it has to be fabricated to be elabo-
responsibility to educate the client with regards to the appropriate rate. I think the reason is people; it is education. Once people catch
certification system, with regards to the credits they should achieve up with that mentality, for example; children should be taught that
to maximize the economic benefit to the client and to the attendant it is important not to leave the tabs running or the lights on or not
who occupies the space and also to educate the client with regards to to litter outside. So it starts pretty much there, right from the bottom
the longevity of the choices. For example; if the client wants a certain and up to the top. If we want to go faster, because between now and
type of air conditioning systems, but he would not understand that 2030 is one generation, if you educate the next generation and you
this systems only lasts for ten years and very often you have to replace change their mind set, at that point you tend to move faster because
it, as a result I would do something else. Certain systems, certain mate- you have duplicated yourself. So you are doing a very noble thing by
rials have longer impact than others. It is those under the skin aspects seeking this degree, but in order for your position to be compounded
that the consultant would have to provide professional advice on, the you need to duplicate yourself. I think education is the key, if you want
client would not necessarily know all these things. to move faster, you teach people right from the start and logically if
Ismail: when do you revise the benchmark? there are intelligent people and there are lots of intelligent people
Carlo: when what was real in the past no longer applies to the pres- around they would question and you would provide answers and it
ent, for example; natural resources with the exception of wind and sun stands up to their questioning, then its right. It is simply educating
are limited, there are fixed quantities, so if you used half of what you people; providing more courses in the universities because when I was
have then logically your bases cannot be the same anymore. Simply in the university this was not available, and nobody was interested, it
benchmarks need to be revised when the indicators change as soon simply was not there and I do know if it was there, it would have been
as the conditions change, they change, For example you have a build- something that I had taken.
ing that has been certified ten years ago and it had 3 pearl rating, a 3 Ismail: what are the advantages and disadvantages of certification
pearl rated building this year may not be equivalent to that building systems?
even if they were identical in appearance. Logically benchmarks them- Carlo: it is a structured approach to doing something right; it allows
selves are dynamic there is nothing static about them, so they need people of similar minds to work in the same direction. The disadvan-
to be revised as soon as the regulation that makes them real changes. tages would be the resource challenge or the energy challenge, so
Ismail: and what reactions do these changes cause? things will cost more, there will be more disease for example. But at the
Carlo: you will simply have to move along with it, but the client of the same time there are lots of contradiction; Estidama good thing, UPC
past may not be happy that his building is not as good as the one that good thing, look outside the window you see the biggest trucks in the
will be designed tomorrow. Consultants as well as contractors and as world running up and down the road, emitting all kinds of gases as a
well as clients need to all bind to the process that sustainability is new result of incomplete combustion, you see black smoke everywhere. So
and to build a sustainable future you have to progress, simply based the contradiction is very visible; on one end you do the right thing at
on that I think it is clear that the commitment from either parties is the other end they do not care. The disadvantage is if you never had
needed, they need to be committed to the process its not something a certification system the future may not be a good place, we would
that can be separated out. be resources short.
Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s goals to other certification sys- Ismail: all the certification systems are now going in the same way;
tems? is this the right way or is there another way of achieving the goal of
sustainable communities that is different than pursuing or upgrading
Carlo: the first one that would come to my mind is real; if you look at these certification systems?
Abu Dhabi and you look at Dubai, Dubai is very much a city built with
many fantastic landmarks, but at the same time it appears a little bit Carlo: if you answer this question completely you need to know what
disjointed pieces quite don’t match and it does not appear to be built the future is like, you will need to know where the short comings are in
with a master plan in mind. Abu Dhabi is very different in that regard, the future. But the certification systems tend to try to determine that
as we all know they have observed Dubai for many years and as a re- anyway, it is better to have any plan than no plan, as there no such
sult they worked out what works and what does not and does appear thing as a perfect. I am definitely fine with this way, if you never had
to be the small term approach. As a result they put the UPC in place police you would have chaos, if you would have never wrote anything
and it has developed visions as a result from learning of Dubai. People down, in regards with the municipalities, you won’t have any order.
who tend to see furthest; are those who stand on shoulders of giants The check list is simply a method of keeping your targeted objectives
and Dubai is the giant and Abu Dhabi sees it a bit further as a result in view and keeping common sense in one place, because common
of learning from Dubai’s experience. As a result of that education, they sense tends to be all over the place. All common sense items are re-
have established the 2030 vision and its real, providing that they can corded in the respective checklist and logically the checklist tackles or
make it work and to make it work they need to educate people to targets the big items that relate 99% of it. Is there a better way of doing
change the way people think, I was in the desert the other day and it? I don’t believe there is.
was actually very disappointed and what I noticed in the desert was Ismail: how do you define sustainability?
plastic bottles thrown all over the place and that is a result of people Carlo: not using more than you can replace. You can’t take anything
not respecting the local resource, it is a beautiful place why would away if I can’t replace it, so if there are all the resources and I am us-
you even think of littering it and spoiling it? People tend to have that ing it all than I am taking the wrong approach, because I can’t replace
disrespect for the environment and I think that needs to change. So it. If I need more resources to develop something; plastic for medical
yes, Estidama’s goals are real but, they need to change the way people research and that is their way of doing it, then it is important for me to
think and act. use this to do that rather than providing fuel for a combustion engine
Ismail: is Estidama pushing the market too far or not pushing it far and there is a better alternative, then maybe I should not be using it
enough? for that purpose. Resources are fixed and should be for the appropri-
Carlo: the western countries tend to be ahead; maybe not ahead, they ate purposes, where there are alternative approaches that are equally
are just different. Where does Estidama come from? I am assuming viable then logically it would come out as a cost premium they should
comes from the Australian Green Star because if you look at the cal- be promoted. Sustainability also relates to not damaging what is al-
culators the are very similar originally, but they have changed things ready there, because it is very easy to damage for long periods and to
and modified and it makes a lot of sense because the Australians they do that pretty quickly.
water resource constrain, the UAE is definitely similar, as opposed to Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
LEED which has less water resource constrains. They have the right Carlo: interest and awareness; people need to be aware that they are
idea, but at the same time they put something into place which is part of the system people tend to act like they would exist forever,
further ahead of where the people are locally for example; Green Star while they are simply part of the process, the process of life; you come
is ahead of people in Australia or LEED in America or BREEAM in Eng- and you go. What you need to do for those that come off to you or
land. So is Estidama pushing too fast? The distance between where even for those that exist with you, you need to go to them to always
the people are and where they are is greater. So they are very much leave the place in a better state than when you joined in. I think that
out there, so I can’t imagine they need to push faster here, they would they need to realize that they are part of the process, there needs to
need to manage the culture and the people to get them up to speed. be awareness that resources are limited and damage is long lasting. I
They are setting a very tough target but the real objective is to get the think they need to be interested, they need to participate because if
people to where they are. In my opinion, they shouldn’t be pushing you are not participating then you are not involved, you are simply an
more, but they shouldn’t be pushing less either. I think they are a lead- observer and there are too many observers around. Logically if I was
ing example of vision and where they want to be, I think that is true. not participating, I wouldn’t care about throwing a bottle in the desert,
but if I was participating in some community program then I would needs to be a connection between the bodies that push this and the
have never thought of discarding a bottle in the desert. industries that produce that, and maybe there should be incentives
Ismail: in your opinion what is needed to make a paradigm shift to given to people who produce things that are affiliated with being sus-
convert the built environment into a sustainable one? tainable; it could be tax breaks, it could be advantages given to respec-
tive companies and some governments do that.
Carlo: technologically I can’t give them anything because technically
there is no good solution, if there is anything that doesn’t cost money People that work in the UPC should be dreamers, they should aspire
it does not exist; the damage is being done by the people. The para- to making things better to being out there, to challenge those around
digm shift can only come from within, it comes to involving schools, you, to challenge governments, to challenge the way people think.
to involving universities, you need to educate people and a paradigm But to do that you need to be very committed, very determined be-
shift does not help does not happen over night, it will happen over cause you could change the mind set and the inertia of thousands
generations. If it becomes mandatory that sustainability classes be of years, which is a considerable effort. And things will change once
taught at primary school, at high school even if it is just a simple thing, results become obvious; somehow they need to make the results and
there has to be some sort of communication with kids and through- performance of what they are doing evident and in that way people
out university. Within 25 years this place will not be the same, the will buy into what they are selling. Simply being a building in the cor-
world won’t be the same. And there is no doubt that this will change ner having a guideline, having a fantastic vision, and not making their
everything; you simply started grass routes all the way through pri- achievements and successes obvious does not help them. They need
mary, secondary educational school. to be out there showing people that it really works and people will fol-
low, they need to be right in the middle, so they are on the right track.
Ismail: for the higher education like architecture and engineering and
all related project education, does it need to change? Ismail: is the adoption of certification system approach is affecting the
built environment and the design consultancies in a positive way to-
Carlo: absolutely, it needs to change because it needs to be more wards more sustainability in energy, water and materials?
real. Universities are often disconnected from the real world. There are
people who mainly hide away in campuses, because they are theoreti- Carlo: yes.
cally gifted and they are really good at educating others, but when it I have a few points, I will read quickly:
comes to connecting themselves to the real world, there is no real  Cost, cheaper products, the market needs to come more
practical connection. What makes absolute sense is that the practical competitive in terms of sustainability, products
connection be made from the real world to the university, so we need
consultants, architects, engineers, and people with talent in the field  Currency fluctuations; if I am buying something that applies
who are promoting sustainability to go to schools to go to universities to everything
and teach. It is as simple as that. We need to give back as opposed to  Incentives
taking and I think that would be part of it.  Submissions with Estidama, contradictions
Ismail: what is still missing in certification systems? And what do you  Marketing, packaging, market produce products that have
expect in future development of certification systems? less environmental impact or promote the purchase of such
Carlo: you can write the perfect sustainability system, but if you can’t products.
implement it you are pretty much lost and you do not know if you  Retaining talent, so companies should retain talent and
have the perfect sustainability system if you have not implemented foster and promote people who think this way, companies
it. It simply needs to be supported; it is not the matter of one item should build effective partnerships with other companies
being missing or a step being missing in the process. The certifica- that are like minded because logically if STANTECH is pro
tion systems themselves need to be supported by somebody; client, sustainable design or pro certification systems and they
consultant or the contractor it can even be the industry or community stand alone they voice as one and they should have partner-
and that’s the only way it works. Simply saying that one item is miss- ships with other companies who are similar and collectively
ing or the process is not effective or maybe I should meet with the their voice is exponentially louder.
UPC more often, yes these are still valid, but if you do not have sup-
port then you are lost anyway. If people recognize that certification  Educate schools and next generation, 2030 vision and obvi-
systems are important and imperative to our future, which they are, ously everything that gets done in this with regards of sus-
then by implementing a certification system even if it is not perfect tainable design which needs to economically and socially
and people are committed to it the same then they will logically work sustainable, if I can afford it today maybe I can’t afford to
out the problem. Certification systems need to be applicable to the replace it tomorrow, then it makes no sense.
local environment, if they are not like LEED is not applicable to Dubai  Things need to be cheaper, need to be in more common
and the UAE, then it is not working at all. Ensure that the respective placed and needs to become better understood and social-
certification system is as best appropriate to your local environment. ly people will accept it. Again it comes back to people and
The theme is common, if you look throughout our discussion, there is education and obviously because we are in a very interest-
one theme that exists here; technically you can resolve everything, but ing part of the region we need to be culturally respectful;
if nobody is interested then you are lost anyway. Along with develop- you can not simply impose the wrong things and vice versa.
ing interests people have to understand what you are doing. As soon  The UPC seems to have all the pieces, it’s only the matter of
as people become interested, industries and trends change things managing those pieces and I guess changing the size of the
become more common as a result of becoming more common they picture to match what is really happening, the municipali-
become more commonly understood, they become cheaper, they ties do not really care, the mindset needs to change and it
become more accessible. Certification systems will only really gain at- is changing otherwise you would not have had the UPC in
traction, once people become more interested and once technologies place, that is an indication that something positive is hap-
are more common placed and easy to implement, then like a snowball pening.
it will run away. I think that certification systems cannot simply or bod-  Disease as a result of the poor environment.
ies pushing them cannot simply stand the coefficient performance of
2.2, they need to understand that technologically 2.2 is not possible in  It is clear that Abu Dhabi is the city of the future and in 20
the perspective of being indicated as it has to be achieved. So there years time I will check to see what is happening.
Charles Blaschke IV
Position: Project Manager, iTech - General Manager, taka solutions
Biography: Charles is from Kansas City, Missouri, USA. He graduated with a
Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering with honors from Missouri
University of Science & Technology in Rolla, Missouri, he is a LEED AP and cur-
rently General Manager of taka solutions, a UAE based energy Services Com-
pany which specializes in Energy Performance Contracting (EPC).
Prior to taka solutions Charles worked in the automotive, mining, process &
industrial, construction and technology consulting industries. His time in the
MENA region has been focused on MEP system design, sustainable design and
technology integration with design and construction using Building Informa-
tion Modeling (BIM) technologies.
Ismail: so first thing, explain to me what you do. the office working on design changes. All of that is extra work that is
Charles: I am a project manager for ITECH; which is a technology con- not necessary you can go out fishing while installing something be-
sultant specializing in BIM technology. I focus mainly on the engineer- cause it has been coordinated beforehand efficiently with a computer
ing and MEP disciplines because I am a Mechanical Engineer with an using BIM, you saved a lot of energy, money and carbon. That’s how
MEP design background. My experience comes from designing large I see it that you can accurately plan your procurement for materials
projects in the Middle East. At iTech we work with anybody related to which is huge for sustainability.
any type of building; consultants, contractors, owners, project manag- Ismail: what are the advantages if BIM in each stage of the project?
ers and suppliers to help them integrate and use technology, whether Charles: BIM, in the very early stages of consulting, I think it’s a visual
it’s BIM or otherwise, to help them deliver their projects better and tool for architects that they can use to know what they are actually
more efficiently. With that comes a lot of change management within designing and they are using that to drive their design from pure aes-
the structure of the company and the way the projects are delivered thetic architectural point. It can then be used as a communication tool
using the technology. It is not as simple ASHRAE is your software use because then they can communicate that to the client earlier then the
it; for the managers and engineers it’s all going to change, this is how clients know what they are getting. This reduces the risk of change in
we do it. So that is what I have been doing for about 2 years now. the future. They then have this digital object they can use to commu-
I am also involved with Emirates Green Building council now locally, nicate their design intent and their architectural desire, but it’s there
through that I am helping them with their overall goal which is to re- and can be used for other things. In the early stages building siting
duce the energy intensity of the built environment in the UAE,. The and orientation; they can look at the relative energy save based on the
carbon output and energy consumption of the buildings is very bad, siting which is at this point is an architectural mess. Then you start to
one of the worst in the world. So through that I am involved in edu- get rough energy consumption, the cost, solar radiation, the shading
cation in advance which could be of one the many examples of the and solar analysis these things that can really drive high level decisions
congress coming up, attending technical workshops they hold about that can affect the overall sustainability and impact the building. And
every month and round tables. As well as working with them to pro- given that in the early stages to the engineers to understand what
duce a green guide for existing buildings in the UAE; basically it’s a kind of equipment system will best fit this building based on the build-
guide to be used by existing buildings’ owners, operators and designing’s type. Right now the whole process of design is wrong, and the
ers tailored for this local market for them to take their existing building way we go about it is wrong. Even within same companies we have
stock and make it better. The guide is very simple, straight to the point architectural, structural, and engineering teams who just take a certain
and focuses on the very direct beneficial things. In conjunction with fixed input from the other group and design around it, while it should
that we are working to provide a finance mechanism to the building be and integrated design effort where everybody understands how
owners to finance energy upgrades in their buildings. Personally, I also and what they need to do to make a better building. You take that on
do some energy modeling and energy auditing on the side through to the contractor, that’s when they start getting into the real coordina-
EGBC and on my own via takasolutions.com. tion aspects. You have these coordination abilities using BIM because
Ismail: what is the best thing you like about BIM? And how is BIM incor- of the 3D aspect which really helps for delays on site, accurate draw-
porating and helping sustainable design? ings, fabrication and then procurement. They can know precisely what
Charles: BIM can be this amazing tool that can drive everything as they need and when they need it and based on their planning teams
provides the information needed for every aspect of design, construc- and procurement teams, they can do this stuff accurately and plan
tion or operation. So we see this societal shift in the way we operate the resources needed for that as well. Traditionally and now they face
based on technology and information. I always like to use the example the problems when they get to the site then they can’t fix it and then
of Facebook, LinkedIn and twitter. These companies have completely this causes delay, which is money, but also a lot of time and material
changed what we think of social interaction both professionally and is wasted. Then there’s the owner, who in my eyes, as we go on is the
personally. I see BIM as that advancement in to help the built envi- one who benefits the most. If they can define what they want of BIM
ronment and I don’t like to use the term built environment but build- and why they want it, they can get this super information rich accurate
ings, assets. It can be that collaboration to facilitate this information, to visual asset that represents what they have in reality. It is like a key to
make buildings better.BIM relates to sustainability in that it provides their building where they can walk in, they get a DVD with their BIM
the information to the right people earlier in the process to make the model that if they define it correctly and the designer, consultant, con-
decisions that are needed to affect the building in a positive way. This tractors, subcontractors and commissioning agencies everyone along
information is needed to make it better from a sustainability point of the line, did what they were supposed to do as defined by the own-
view, whether it is energy, construction or materials or even not just ers through their BIM specification, the FM now has this invaluable
quantitative, but to make the design better for this fully coordinated piece of information that can be used to run and operate the building
building for them to facilitate that. Then you are saving all the time, throughout its life. This is where the true value lies. Having accurate
resources and changes on site. Which if you trace all that back it is information is key and integrating all of these aspects is very power-
material, cost of energy and embedded carbon and all of this. So on a ful, it’s a lot of work and that’s BIM; it helps in design, construction but
big scale it is hard to quantify that from a sustainability measure, but also operation and the owners see that. PMs as well can use this tool,
it does. If you had a building that would take 2 years to build because because their job is to make sure what these consultants are doing is
you had to wait on site because something had to be changed and right so they can use this tool to verify in a very fine detail what the
cut then re-fabricated then delivered onto the site and 10 people had team is doing is right. We have seen PMs take the design drawings and
to come and drive to work every day, and you get 5 more people in build them in BIM and find all of the problems.
Right now, in the industry whoever understands BIM has the biggest consultants, they usually don’t know how to do coordination; they
stick to use to beat the other people on the project. If I am a contrac- know how to draw straight lines and put it in equipment and then
tor and the best with BIM while the consultant and owner aren’t, I can make a schedule. They don’t know how to look at 3D and coordinate
use that to get the consultant in trouble. If I am the consultant and the because they always say it’s the contractor’s responsibility. These guys
contractor tries to come back on my design I can say “you know look, are trying to do stuff they don’t know how to do and wasting their en-
here it is” or you can take that to the PM and say “here is the quantities ergy and time and they are getting the value of engineering calcula-
from our model” or if you are the owner you can say “No, Mr. contractor tions capabilities. I think that is more preferable in this region because
you should build it like this, I know it shouldn’t be that much, because the projects are way too big, whereas if you have a more reasonable
I did a model come here I can show you”. To see some of this coming size project you can manage that, you can still do it. That also helps
out of the U.S with the forward thinking firms. There are examples of the engineers and the project managers all the way up the line to see
projects where what they predicted in BIM in the early stages of the the value and the benefit, so if you are an engineer you see “ooh I can
project is very close to the final construction. Now you can tell the get on this model get all my air flows, click on the duct, all the pressure
contractors to do the same as you put together and say here is our loss and this information that’s huge, that’s great for me” so that helps
job, you are doing this which is wrong, we can show you visually. It them say yes, Revit is a tool that can helps us make my job easier, in-
promotes and allows much more transparent pricing, scheduling and crease our quality, and make better projects The opposite is true when
project bidding earlier in the project. So whoever is using the tools the we have a huge projects with constant delays and problems, then BIM
best now, has the real upper hand. It is bad to plot against each other is the reason, it gets blamed a lot for problems that are not necessarily
and use it as a weapon, but because the whole system is wrong, right due to the technology.
now that is just how it is. Because this is how they are used to doing it; Ismail: are there any governments standards incorporated within BIM?
pushing responsibilities and blame on the other party. Is there an easy way of doing this?
Ismail: what are the disadvantages of BIM? Charles: locally, no. There has been talks and work done with the gov-
Charles: disadvantages of BIM; there isn’t strong regulation surround- ernment of Abu Dhabi to start making BIM a submission standard, to
ing BIM and it is very new to most people. A lot of education is needed. basically have the capabilities in-house to take BIM from consultants,
You have inexperienced people that are required to use BIM and this contractors bring it into their custom software and checked based
means they are changing the entire way the business is ran, that is on their building codes. They have not required it on a government
scary to people. If I am a company trying to survive and I have a cer- level for any project. There are quasi government institutions that are
tain way of doing my work that I am comfortable with , , and now I somewhat enforcing BIM on other projects, but it’s not code. We aren’t
have to change the entire process, I would get scared. I know these there yet, we have gone a long way as there are software packages
people that are hired and trained to do this, this is the time it takes do that private companies have made to try to do that and the Abu Dhabi
it and I am just trying to do a project to get paid to keep my business government with their ICC adoption in their codes and they want to
flowing and someone says “nope can’t do it like that, you have to use be able to do that and they thought about it. This brings in this infor-
this BIM stuff ”, and I don’t know a clue about it and they say “you need mation should in a model should be built in a way that their system
new computers, you need new software and probably training, your accepts it, it can read it and they could check the U values of the walls
people probably won’t know how to do it and you are going to fail” and it goes and checks minimum U value 0.3 you are 0.4 reject, they
it’s really daunting. I can see it from their perspective and then when could see the ADAA accessibility, they could check the overall energy
they say “ok, how do we do it? What are the rules? What are the guide- consumption. I don’t think there is anybody in the world that can
lines?” You come and say “well there aren’t really any” and then they say actually do that. There are some companies now that are starting look-
“who do we go to?” They reply “well no one has really done that before.” ing in BIM model health checks and BIM quality and starting to rate
You sit there saying “what do you expect me to do on this 2 million BIM models saying this is high quality model, or this is a poor quality
square foot hospital if you are telling me I have to do this?” and I don’t model. This is a good step to standardize the industry because it does
know there are groups out there like; building Smart and GSA, and need to be standardized you can open one from another and at least
private companies like iTech. Some of these government agencies in tell that that is the future and that would be amazing. First you have to
the US, UK and Australia are starting to lay the infrastructure to a cer- be able to run energy models in the BIM. We have done a little work
tain criteria, but is not in a unified way to define what is needed. There with it but it’s a monumental task and that’s the thing, who is going to
are people who have used BIM like us to do projects and have gained invest in that? A private company can invest the time and resources to
knowledge and experience, they can go out and show people how. make that while a government probably is not going to do that, on a
They think it’s the best way but it isn’t the best way and how do you government scale it is a lot of money. I don’t know if there is enough
define the matrix to a company on how to do that. . People come in money in the industry to do it, unless there is a real demand. So I think
and say “surely have done this before in the past” we say “no, because it’s one of those things whoever has the vision to do it and does it first
no one has ever asked.” So people get sold on this magic package it, others will then start to follow.
and capabilities of BIM, thinking they can do 3D, 4D, 5D loads, energy Ismail: you were involved in projects that had to be certified; LEED and
analysis and FM. In the end of the day nobody has really done most of Estidama, right? Any other certifications?
those things successfully, especially for big projects. Maybe on small
projects back in the West, but no one has done it for big projects like Charles: Yes, both, and both didn’t go forward. Both were done with
we see here in the MENA region. It can fail miserably, that is its biggest BIM, one was a hospital that was just being designed just as Estidama
disadvantage. I really can’t speak for other software, but there is Revit was being rolled out and then the project just stopped. So we haven’t
which has lots of advantages like; transferring from CAD to Revit and got to use BIM for green building certification, but there are always
cost wise compared to other software it is not that bad. But the hard- good tools you could really use to help drive that the design and cer-
ware cannot keep up with demands of the software; there are big limi- tification process.
tations still, which are amplified when applied to large projects. This is Ismail: was the certification system integrated in the project process
most true with MEP. With an MEP project you can have a company go from the beginning?
out and buy new computers with 16 GB 3 GHz quad core, great graph- Charles: I have never seen it be a priority from the beginning, it has
ics card and dual monitors, awesome setup and you brand new server always been they need to get certified to pass permitting. So we need
with a dedicated BIM server direct connect. But when you start look- to put a team together that does it, not we are starting a project we
ing at huge projects in linking architectural models, structural models, are going to make it 2 or 3 pearl, this is how we do it. Those goals have
facades and all the interior models, just to get your MEP started you never driven design.
are looking at a GB or two of models transferring across networks by
multiple people at a time. This does not work well in many cases. I Ismail: do you think the outcome would have been different?
don’t care what IT infrastructure you have, you just can’t handle it right Charles: yes, if you had a team that understood and cared to do it, def-
now, and this means it will be slow. So now the advantage of BIM is initely. A team that knows how to use the tools available to do that, I
lost because you will spend so much time just waiting, and there is think it would be completely different. It always comes at the backend
only so much you can do with splitting model files before it becomes “yes it needs to be LEED, where are we? What can we do to get a few
inefficient. So, yes BIM is great, but it is still limited. The real value of more points to get LEED certified or Estidama?” it’s never been that’s
MEP is to use it to get engineering data to have it act as a central- an Estidama project let’s make it a good project. I think everyone is so
ized database of project information. The problem is you can’t do that caught up in just doing their job and they don’t have enough knowl-
unless you have a really good architectural, structural, interior, facade edge, control, time and resources to do the bare minimum that they
models. You then need really well setup MEP model, really good, stan- don’t want to step out of their comfort zone and do something that
dardized content that is accurate, and model management processes. they don’t have a clue about and add complexity to a job they already
The lack of experience, education and formal training and a real under- don’t feel confident doing. MEP is more than architecture but I feel
standing of how it’s used in the big picture, how others really use it. It that the MEP professionals are not confident or experienced enough
will take time, but it’s possible, it is not rocket science, it can be done. in the basics and what they need to do is to add something else to
For people it has to be the norm. Whenever the MEP people can really it that they don’t have any clue or care about, as an add on. Which
start using it as an engineering tool we will see its true value. With is sad because those are the people that could and should be driv-
ing and helping this. This is not a problem at one company, one type Estidama is a good start for the UAE and UPC is quality as far as busi-
of project, one department, it is everywhere. I have been in multiple ness in a presentation and thought process and the whole existence,
consultant offices and it’s always the same, even now, I am not going it is high quality. But like with any rating system, especially in a devel-
to name any names but these guys don’t know what LEED is or even oping country, it’s just going to take time to develop into something
Estidama. that is really good. It goes back to enforcement and making sure that
Ismail: when designing a project with Estidama, is there anything ma- quality thing that does work for the region that people can adopt and
jor that needs to be changed in order to incorporate Estidama require- some can accelerate with. They have to be there to support it and take
ments? it seriously. They need to enforce it they need to make sure that what
people are doing is right and being done correctly.
Charles: Sustainable designed buildings should be nothing above and
beyond business as usual.. The consultants are so inexperienced and Ismail: do you think Estidama is pushing the market too far or not
frankly don’t care about sustainability that they would have to take the pushing it far enough?
time to investigate and see what they need to do to comply and then Charles: I think they can make a little tougher. Why can’t the consul-
to change what they have already done They will not take the time or tants design, build and operate building to ASHRAE 90.1 minimums?
energy to do that. Because they don’t do it from the beginning, they It has been out for years, it’s pretty standard and I think that if you do
do their design and then say “oh, it needs to be this so it means go that with the weather data of this region, it’s somewhere around 140
back and change this” and I think that’s the problem, they don’t have kWh per square meter for your typical office building. This is not really
the knowledge to understand that it’s not complicated doing it right that ambitious but it’s not that bad of a place to start. Why can’t they
from the beginning. Doing right from the beginning is nothing above expect that out of everybody, out of all the buildings? Why do build-
and beyond; it’s standard stuff. I don’t know how the government and ings need to be better or worse? They should be able to do better.
the rating system can get people to recognize and make this change Ismail: so what’s in your opinion, the reason behind not moving faster
on their own. In the end they do have the power if they wanted to towards more sustainable buildings?
bring out their big sticks and say you must do it or you are not get-
ting approved. But then they will have the whole industry up in arms Charles: in the UAE specifically its manufacturing standards; they don’t
saying you don’t approve my building, you are causing delays and you manufacture many products around here, so lot of these materials
are costing us more for a project. It’s not an easy position from the have to be sourced from outside that drives cost up. Couple that with
governments stand point, but code and enforcement will be the only the lack of education of people to know where the source of material
way for it to work here until energy prices are high and the owners feel and then the experience of doing these type of things. Energy is so
it in their pockets. cheap here and clients are inexperienced they don’t know what they
are gaining, they see design drawings and say “yes, looks like it works”
Ismail: do you think certification systems should be mandatory, volun- little do they know the system is twice as big as it should be so that
tary or a mix of both? the consultant would cover themselves and the contractor can make
Charles: if I am an owner or consultant, I can design, build and operate more money. If you had a PM or a client that understood and was
the crappiest building in the world and what’s the harm? I pay more educated he will see that and get rid of it then it would be more ef-
in utility rates; I pay less at front and if the demand is there and people ficient. When you get into the operation of the building and it is cheap
pay for my building even though it is crap, and I make money, why because the energy is cheap, there is no reason to do any different.
should it matter? But looking on a bigger scale from the governments’ Ismail: how do you define sustainability?
perspective, to enforce it you can control and ensure the supply of
energy on a country wide level, and have a vision of what you want Charles: Operating in a state or condition that you can continue to do
to create for the people. If you know what the building should be so without relying on anything else. Whether that is buildings, food,
using you can plan and deliver accordingly. The more I see the bigger transport, you don’t rely on another input to survive, it is something
picture from a government level and their need to create a healthy you can do for a long period of time.
building stock; I understand why there is enforcement. The govern- Ismail: what does take to plan and build a sustainable community?
ment is the sole supplier energy and electricity so they have a vested Charles: Any small or medium group of people trying to coexist need
interest in having an efficient building stock. So should it be manda- to have collaboration and real understanding of what the needs are of
tory? I think there should be a minimum code that ensures health and those people of that area based on the geography and location. Sus-
safety, fresh air indoor quality, fire safety on the facades as seen here, tainability; it is one of the few problems we have now that we know
structural integrity and water drainage. But outside of that should they how to fix, we are here today with these energy, climate and social
enforce it? Only if they have an unbiased, legitimate reason that will problem because for the last 100 years we have developed without
make the country a stronger, more enjoyable place for the citizens. thinking about sustainability. Our ancestors lived for thousands of
Ismail: what would you differently in order to achieve better sustain- years the right way. All we have to do is look back and see how we
able designs? What do you think would be the right steps to take? did it before. We have to strike that medium, that balance and break
Charles: Education and awareness. In the sense that if all those in- people’s mindsets and do the research and invest in and really under-
volved understood why these rules were being adopted, and how it stand how we can design buildings, build and operate buildings. We
benefits them. Do you think the consultants , contractors, PMs, FMs in need to make these products like lights; we are just so used to having
the region would come to seminars to learn about these topics if they lights that are inefficient because they are cheap to build and power.
are free? If UPC,ADM, DM, DEWA, taka solutions said come learn about Find the next product that can provide the same thing without using
this stuff, I don’t think it will be effective to truly educate the market, energy, resources and materials.
yet education is what’s needed the most. I think so many people just Ismail: what are the connections needed between industries, suppliers,
don’t understand exactly what it is and why it is being done. I remem- consultants, regulations to make the certification system work better
ber the first time I read the book for LEED and I thought this is com- in the market to achieve more sustainable buildings?
mon sense why not do it? It was nothing over the top or something Charles: here the lack of materials and supplies needed to accom-
that seemed unreasonable. So many people come and go through plish the goals creates a barrier. Sometimes the consultants want to
a job “this how you do it, do it like this, do it like that” they really just do the best they can, but the contractors cannot accomplish this. I
go and do it they don’t understand the implication of what they are don’t know how that could be solved. The consultant and I run a great
doing. How are others are doing it, how it can be done better, how energy model, reflect this in the design and analyze the best options,
it should be done to get a good outcome? I think that’s a big part of but if the contractor can’t get the materials, or doesn’t not know how
it is education. I don’t like the idea of enforcement, but it is a proven or why to build it in a cost effective way, it is all lost. It is another
means to get results hurdle that needs to be crossed from financial stand point, and from
Ismail: what are the advantages and disadvantages of certification construction progress stand point.
systems? Ismail: Does architecture, engineering and all project related educa-
Charles: if there is no proper verification, I think people get certification need to be change in order to prepare students on how to deal
tion just to say they have them. There is a lot of this coming out now with newer requirements?
because of LEED and these other ratings systems. You can design a Charles: yes, I think it starts there to really understand from a theoreti-
LEED building, that doesn’t mean it’s a good building. Just because cal and fundamental background.
you tick off the boxes and you pay the fee doesn’t guarantee perfor-
mance. LEED is starting to address these problems where you can de- I think everyone is so used to in their expectations to a certain way
sign with best intentions in the world just like any design; design can how things are operated; this is where we should get out because that
be great or completely different in this direction. People think that it’s is how it’s been done for whatever reason cheap energy and products
a good building because of that and you take that to market and in whatever. But if you step back and you look at it the question of fun-
some places if you show that it is a LEED building, people are going damental shelter and what it should provide and I understand how
to pay more for it, and you get it and realize it’s no different than any that affects the environment. You can see from a very high level that
other, that could be a disadvantage. it doesn’t have to be like this, it doesn’t have to be a full glass building
you are going to have something that is nice and provides that kind
of atmosphere that doesn’t have an impact. That starts with education of guys in the basement that puts them together and tries to do it.
in the schools but if you completely change the way that you think of Ismail: is there anything you wish to add?
what it is you are providing, and don’t think of the old ways of doing
it. Get out of the industry if you haven’t been taught that. You just do Charles: I think in the world, we are getting to a point in history where
business as usual, come in this is how we do it, that’s it and then you this population growth and this type of development is taking its toll
look back and history and say “yes that’s how they have been doing and we are starting to realize we can’t do this forever. Our buildings
this” this is how it just turned out. need to be better, and they can be better. It is relatively easy and there
are a lotof ways and mechanisms to take the existing buildings and
Ismail: what is still missing in the certification systems and what are make them better easily. At the same time we need to ensure that
you expecting in the future developments of it? the new building are being done correctly, that is where the rating
Charles: an ongoing verification either through the rating system or systems and codes help. The rating systems are tied to government
the government to insure that these buildings and developments are codes and the technology like the BIM and energy modeling; all these
operating as they should be and meeting the goals of the country tools that we should be able to use. The construction sector is so slow
wide planning. If they are going to enforce these things; codes and to adopt new things, there is not that much money in the industry
sustainability for the greater good of the environment and the coun- compared to other industries like finance and gas. These industries
try, they need to make sure the system and infrastructure is in place have a lot more money to spend on research and design for their
and that it is done right and is maintained over time. I think it would projects they have budgets to do really useful things that drive to the
progress, the owners and people are going to understand and the util- top of the market and provide efficiencies. While design sometimes is
ity rates are going to be high enough that the cost of running the used is just to squeeze people with design fees and contractors get
building will be affecting them if they don’t do something about it. squeezed, they are not using the right tools so your impact is not ac-
The utility companies here are exploring in the introduction of rate curately predicted so there are unrealistic budgets and schedules.
structures and demand response. This is part of their strategy to re- So I think in the next 10 years we are going to see a 30% reduction
duce the demand of the country energy usage by 30% by 2020. They of actual building energy consumption around the world on average.
are having a hard time keeping up with the growing demand of en- This is very possible to do right now with existing knowledge, technol-
ergy of the country and the people do not understand that. Most ogy and financing.. I just saw a presentation, of basically the Godfa-
owners understand that by the middle of the summer that DEWA is ther of energy management, from ASHRAE who worked the code in
dying to supply their electricity because it is in the middle of the day the technical committee. He thinks that 30% reduction is possible in
the middle of summer they start to realize DEWA needs help here so the USA, I think in the UAE 50% is possible. In the UAE let say70% of
putting a strategy on the demand side of the building to curb their the country’s energy goes to buildings and you say 40% of the energy
use during these peak hours. DR is being tested in Abu Dhabi, but no spent on buildings can be cut, 28% of the country’s energy needs are
official plan to implement it. reduced. Now that’s pretty powerful and if I am DEWA or Dubai Su-
Ismail: what are the added values of certification systems and how preme Council of Energy I want to learn how I can make that happen.
credible are they? That means that the 7% renewable I want to have in 25 years is more
Charles: I think one added value of certification system is it’s an ability than double taken care of without any investment, literally you don’t
to educate. If I had not been told to get LEED certified I would have have any CAPEX. Now if you can find mechanisms that you can release
never known any of the principles in there. I would have known that the private industry on to get to drive that 28%. Then you can get
this is a building we get from architects, this is the system design, this there in no time, I think it is coming. It will be cool to see how this all
is how we design it and these are the rules of UAE, now go design. I plays out in 20 years from now, my vision personally is; going into an
wouldn’t have understood the building as a living thing. So I think that existing building ,analyze it, we come in with a performance contrac-
brings a lot of added value people are forced to learn from that we can tor and will fix it, hand it over, it will be optimized. There you go you
apply and analyze the buildings, whether it’s working, living or design are happy, you make more money, your assets work more, you have
and build. So I think that adds a lot value, it has for me. I always tell peo- better systems and you continue to do that on a 2 to 3 year chunks
ple, who say “I want to be LEED certified” read the book, understand in phases. Because as technology progresses and this becomes more
and then apply it a project and then you really see if you should be main stream it’s going to drive the knowledge and technology even
using this system, because ASHRAE 90.1 says that’s the minimum. And more to every 2 to3 years you can implement new measures to create
you go look at your building and you are using something worse you these buildings that are more efficient, and in the end what you have
ask yourself why? But until you have that knowledge, you don’t know. is another building that does not rely on any input, so it’s sustainable
Credibility; I think they are good enough, they are done with the right and long term, it can survive on its own. You use this technology to
intentions, sometimes I wonder if I would ask the UPC have they over make its own manageable micro grid then it becomes its own power
grown their core responsibility to become this political movement generation that they can sell back for other uses on public scale and it
and money grabbing organization, and if that’s the case what does has its independence and is ran so optimized. That’s how I see it, that’s
that say about their plan and goal from the beginning? I think they what I would like to do and I hope it happens. You have to have AC
have the right intentions but I also think these people bring in experts here, so why can’t they use condensate water, grass and create green
and they use credible codes that have been verified, tested and used sustainable spaces. It could be cool.
around the world to work, it is something good. It’s not just a couple Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Chris Wan
Position: Manager, City Design, Masdar City
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Biography: Chris Wan is the Manager of City Design at Masdar City, a major
sustainable urban development in Abu Dhabi. Graduating from the University
of Bath, Chris is a registered architect in the UK and in Hong Kong. He has
worked for Richard Rogers Partnership in London and for Rocco Design Ltd
in Hong Kong. Later he moved into building development working for So-
rouh Real Estate in Abu Dhabi before finally joining Masdar City in 2008. Chris
has talked widely on the subject of sustainable architecture including lectures
at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the Paris-Sorbonne University Abu
Dhabi, the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia and the Masdar
Institute.
Ismail: when you start with a project what defines your design sustain- combined ideas gave birth to the vision of Masdar City.
ability level? What defines the aim of the project, the level which you We were designing a green city. While we had never designed such
try to achieve? a green city of this magnitude, it generated a lot of discussion and
Chris: the nature of sustainable development is that everything is debate. We talk about the original intent of One Planet Living which is
connected to everything else. It’s difficult to isolate it. In fact isolation more of a conceptual direction rather than finite requirements. It was
is probably one of the biggest challenges we have in dealing with not necessarily proven because we have all these ‘zeros’ to contend
sustainable development. It is not simply bringing a group of people with so what we really think is that One Planet Living is promoting
together, sitting them in the same building and saying let’s design a the way to move towards ‘zero’. One Planet Living does not say you
sustainable city. Everyone has a little bit of the story and I suppose that have to be zero, because when we think about it, you don’t have to
when I joined Masdar, I was one of those who had a little bit of the be zero, you have to be one planet, one planet is not zero. Zero is no
story. I have been working as an architect since the late 80’s and I have planet, right?!
been in the market for 25 years now. I have had my share in designing So we understood that the vision requires further development.
buildings, running jobs and working with contractors on projects from Meanwhile, our first project was built, being the Masdar Institute de-
demolition of existing buildings all the way to hand over to the client, signed by Foster + Partners. We had a certain level of success from
before joining the world of development. When I worked in the UK I an environmental sustainability point of view, but it did not represent
worked for architects including David Chipperfield and Richard Rogers our views on economic sustainability. This was partly because of all
before moving to Hong Kong. After working for Rocco Design I spent of the experimental features in the building, combined with a con-
3 years working on the client side building Hong Kong Disneyland be- struction industry that was still on the learning curve of sustainability
fore coming to Abu Dhabi. and building in the middle of a real estate boom. All of these things
There are two elements here that I would like to raise; the first element came together combined to distort our ideas of an economically a
is that during my Richard Rogers days I was part of a team that looked sustainable city. The higher cost was not a true reflection of the cost
into energy efficient buildings. We took part in a series of competi- of environmental sustainability, but nevertheless, we still built our first
tions and submitted energy efficient designs, this was around 1991. building at Masdar City. Technically we had some good results. Energy
We experimented with different buildings forms such as airplane wing and water savings were half or more. Embodied carbon was reduced
sections to create differences in air pressure to encourage air move- by over 30% for key materials. Construction waste diversion from land-
ment through the building. We even designed a building around an fill was over 90%.
air turbine employing stack effect to drive the turbine blades. Well, And then we sat back. We said alright, we have some knowledge but
they were competitions and there were all these exciting ideas to pro- how do we commercialize it? We looked at what worked and what
mote discussion and debate. didn’t work? We threw away all the things that didn’t work, and kept
The second element for me was building Hong Kong Disneyland all the things that did work. In terms of the sustainability we were par-
which conceptually is partly relevant to what I am doing today. Hong tially fulfilling some of the criteria of One Planet Living. Meanwhile,
Kong Disneyland was built on a piece of land reclaimed from the sea. there was a still team working on energy, a team working on water
So it meant that we started on a flat piece of land without infrastruc- and a team working on waste. Each of us was working out the goals,
ture. In a way Masdar started with similar constraints. The theme park indicators and benchmarks but we were still working in pockets.
functioned as a small city with parking on the periphery, its own in- Shortly after, the economic downturn hit the region. Demand was re-
frastructure and a railway connection. Meanwhile, inside the theme duced and this caused us to re-examine the overall schedule. This was
park is 100 percent pedestrianized. You have all of your attractions, actually helpful for us because it afforded us the chance to sit back
you have your office buildings, you have your retail and it’s all pedes- and reflect on where we were what we actually have achieved to date.
trianized except for some electrically powered vehicles serving as ad- We took each all of elements, put them in one big pot and then tried
ditional attractions and serving people with special needs. Transfer to work out what this all meant to us from a commercial sustainability
such an idea to Masdar City with the infrastructure, transportation and point of view. Our parent company and shareholders reinforced the
pedestrian friendly streets you can see there is a kind of parallel. So vision of Masdar City being about energy efficiency, water efficiency
those two prior experiences have actually helped me to contribute to and green technologies, but overarching all this was the fact that we
Masdar city and to participate in this forward thinking project. wanted to make this real. And the way to make it real was to work
So I come with my little pocket off architecture and I see a lot of oth- out how to make it commercially viable. If we cannot make a com-
er pockets of expertise including engineering, energy, water, waste, mercial case, they could never become real beyond the boundaries
development management, project management and construction of the city. So from that point of view we started working it out from
management. From the early days we started on a journey to define virtually from ground up. We were not ‘zeros’ but we were going to be
what a sustainable city meant to us. Two approaches were pursued. a percentage reduction of this and percentage reduction of that. A lot
One was proposed by the Masterplanners appointed by Masdar City: of studies and research took place involving many consultants. For ex-
Fosters + Partners, and the other was from Masdar City’s in-house ample, we started at, say, 30 percent reduction in some environmental
team. Foster + Partners proposed a green city which went tested the aspect. Was that a good number or not? We did some modeling and
limits of sustainable development with concepts including zero emis- then we tried 40 percent. So these sets of figures, we may call the KPI’s,
sion, carbon neutrality and zero waste. In parallel, the Masdar City’s were like how to be as green as possible without breaking your back.
in-house team applied the principle ideas of One Planet Living. These Or another way to put it was how to be as green as possible and still
be commercially viable? And still be competitive in the market? It was and cost. So what I am trying to say is when you push a designer to be
a balancing act. efficient in his design, one of the side effects is that the cost per square
In the case of energy this balancing act started off with a target 50 meter will go up. The net to gross efficiency is what is missing in the
percent reduction from business as usual. That was compared to Abu equation. A typical office in Abu Dhabi has 70 to 75 percent net to
Dhabi averages, which was defined by UPC through a study carried gross efficiency. Siemens office building is 82 percent efficient so we
out by ARUP. We found out that we could beat the target quiet easily, only have 18 percent of un-leasable space while a typical office build-
and when compared to ASHRAE 90.1 we were around the 40 percent ings has 25 percent of un-leasable space. So when you reduce that
reduction range. When we talked to other architects and consultants, back of house area and reduce the corridors, you not only save money
we communicated how our buildings’ energy reduction were rang- but you are also improving sustainable attributes of the building. This
ing between 35 to 45 percent. We also found out that other architects is because you are building less, using less material which also results
were generally hitting the 25 to 35 percent range. Why the difference? in less embodied carbon. Therefore, higher efficiency means you can
This made us think. What were we doing to give us such reductions? be more sustainable and actually save money at the same time. Then
Then, what we realized was that because of our concentration to do if the owner does not reduce the budget I guess we can put our saved
certain things as well as possible, we were instilling in ourselves a natu- money into high performance glass, insulation or better performing
ral thinking process. We were actually carrying out an integrated de- mechanical equipment. This is the art of being more sustainable with-
sign process without realizing we were doing it. It is helpful to have the out increasing the budget; it is managing how the money is used. And
urban planning, architectural, energy, water, waste, infrastructure and this is one of the role that architects should perform.
transportation expertise all sitting along the same corridor in our of- The first discussions we had regarding the design of the Siemens Mid-
fices. Integration happens intuitively and as a matter of convenience. dle East Headquarters project was “are we doing a diamond building,
An architect discussing design issues with an energy engineer 3 times square building, rectangle building or what? And why? What is the
a day is not business as usual practice in most offices. So in my mind wall to floor area ratio? What is the volume to floor area ratio? And
this kind of relationship we have set up is the basis of an integrated how do we get light inside one big atrium, or should it be 4 atriums,
design group and that is one key aspect of sustainable development or 9 atriums, and what does this do to the floor space? What is the pre-
where I believe can make a difference. I think we have the advantage ferred floor plate widths for Siemens? What is the size of the windows?
of understanding how to put a team together. So what I am trying to All these questions and much more before started talking about the
say is that we are an integrated client providing briefs that are com- look and feel of the building.
mercially viable while maximizing the environmental aspects of the There’s an optimal balance in all these things coming together. In Sie-
design within that commercial framework. So back to your question of mens HQ we studied these issues carefully. For the floor plate we went
what defines our design sustainability levels, I have gone quite a long over 100 permutations with the cost consultant in the room. It was not
way to answer you, but this is where it comes from, and it has been an difficult. It was about getting the right people in the room and asking
iterative process. the right questions. Once you know what the questions to ask then
A real estate developer may come along and declares “I am a green you already half way there.
developer”. Ok, it is a great start. And then they says “so I will develop The Siemens HQ started life as a financial model that satisfied eco-
a green building”. That is great too. He goes off and he finds himself nomic constraints from both Siemens and Masdar City and it ended
an architect, and he says “give me a green building”. The architect asks the design process targeting LEED Platinum. It means that that the
“how green?” The developer says “what do you mean how green? I building is commercially and environmentally sustainable. So the trick
am a green developer, I need a green building and I will give you one is how to have commercially viable green buildings because that is
month to come back and show me what you have got”. That’s mistake where the future is. And that’s what we are here at Masdar City trying
number one: zero involvement from the developer. One month later to find out, it’s an ongoing process and there is still a lot of work to be
the designer comes back with three options: option A, option B and done.
option C costing 100 million, 80 million and 60 million respectively.
The 100 million scheme is all singing all dancing with every green Ismail: Do you think Masdar city achieved its predefined goals in sus-
technology you can think of applied to the building. The 80 million tainability, social, economic and urban design?
scheme; most of the technologies are removed and the 60 million Chris: I think it’s on the way of achieving it, and here I am referring to
version is a normal building painted green. Then the developer com- the original goals. Our vision includes setting the world’s benchmark
ments “wow, I love these wind turbines on option A…. Oh I love this. for sustainable development. What is a world’s benchmark? Well, first
It looks great. It looks like a real green building, I think I will take op- and foremost a world’s benchmark means it is something that has to
tion A, but by the way I only have 60 million for this project so option be built and not just an idea on paper. Unless we build it, it cannot
A is approved with a budget of 60 million. Thank you very much”. So be a benchmark. We are aware that there has been quite a few green
there is no interaction, no process. The first thing that happens is value city proposals which have been shelved for indefinitely, and we also
engineering, and what happens at value engineering? It becomes a understand from talking to some of the participants in these projects,
normal building again. that a lot of them were shelved because of financial issues especially
So, we have set some processes to prevent this from happening. When with the onset of the economic downturn. This indicates to us that the
you set a brief we don’t try to change it afterwards unless there are barrier in turning a paper project into the built form in most situations
some material change of requirements. When you have a budget you is very much a commercial barrier.
don’t try to value engineer it afterwards but stick to it throughout the There’s plenty of willingness to build great developments, nobody ob-
design process. You have to fix these parameters as far as practical jects to green development, no one objects to sustainable cities. Every
from the beginning. If you don’t fix the budget then it will tend to architect and engineer you talk to will tell you that they champion
move around because you are trying to optimize your budget. In you green development. Every developer will tell you he is a green devel-
do fix budget then you can concentrate on optimizing the technical oper, and every tenant will tell you that they have their CSR’s green
parts. There is a fundamental difference in trying to shave 5 percent of policies in place. So the majority of people as far as I know are pro
the cost while attempting to maintain the performance compared to green. Have you ever met anyone who looked you in the face and said
trying to improve the energy saving by 5% while attempting to main- “no, I am not sustainable and I don’t believe in sustainability”? Even
tain the cost. I believe that the processes can arise from the questions if you ask a 4x4 SUV driver “do you support green policies and green
that one asks: is Masdar City different? …and if so how is it different? ways of living?” he will say “yes”. But in case of the SUV driver they also
To me the difference is a human thing rather than a technical thing. It believe in something called free choice, and they probably also be-
is about working together in a certain way that gets us to our goals. lieve that on the whole they are not having a material impact on any
Sustainability is a complex subject. I talk about it a lot and I so far I significant scale. This is the issue when everyone thinks that they don’t
have found out that one of the better ways to explain it is through have an impact then collectively it becomes an impact. Generally we
stories. For example, it may not be easy to explain to someone that the have a very high percentage of the world population saying green is
higher cost per square meter of a building does not necessarily mean good, but the results are telling us the exact opposite. If you look at
a less economically sustainable building. They will compare one of new buildings all around the world built in the last twelve months,
our buildings to someone else’s building and say ”your building costs look at how green they really are. Whatever metrics you like to use for
6,000 AED per square meter, my friend’s building costs 5,000 AED per energy or water or embodied carbon, you will find that only a very
square meter, yours costs 20% more, how come? Is it because of the small percentage are actually have some kind of meaningful reduction
sustainable features of the building that is creating a 20% premium?” in these metrics while most of them do not. This is a complete oppo-
And I would say “you know what, you can add 1 km of needless cor- site of what people think we should be doing. What people think and
ridors, cheap corridors, then, you work out the area and the associated what people do are actually quite different. Is it due to a lack of aware-
cost. You would find that your cost per square meter will go down but ness? Maybe that was true not so long ago, but today you cannot say
your overall cost will go up due to the additional corridors. On the that anymore because there is so much media enforced awareness
other hand our building has a higher cost per square meter because going on. In fact in some ways the problem is the word “sustainability”
it’s designed to be efficient and I don’t have all this needless corridors itself. Nowadays the word is so over-used that it has reached a point
lying around. This dead space is construction and carbon footprint where people use it without really understanding what it means.
Therefore, one of the conclusions is that sustainable practice boils to get people away from the mindset that helping the environment
down to economic viability. You can say “yes, I do support the green is a voluntary thing. Just as structural stability, life safety and health
idea, but you know what we just can’t afford it this year”. That is what requirements are mandatory, making a certification rating system also
we need to overcome. We need to know how to make it affordable. mandatory is a great start. Once this happens, there will be no such
At first we started off with green without fully understanding the af- thing as ‘premium for sustainability’ because it is the new standard, it
fordability, but I think we have already moved on to understanding is the regulation, and we have to do it. It will no longer be an added
what is green and affordable. The buildings currently on our drawing cost. It is just a regular cost of doing business. If you leaned against
boards and under construction are demonstrating this understanding a wall high up in a business as usual tower you don’t expect to fall
of commercial viability. So I would say we are on our way to achieving through the wall and land on the street. This is because this is a mini-
it. The more interesting question is what comes next once Masdar city mum structural requirement that prevents this from happening. But
has achieved its initial goals? I am already thinking about what’s next. why is this business as usual? Hundreds of years ago, the business as
Ismail: how could Masdar be used as a model, so that the general pub- usual building was much weaker and such accidents probably have
lic or that the developers could learn from it? occurred. The buildings were less safe. That was business as usual then,
but through progress the bar set by business as usual gradually moved
Chris: I don’t think anyone would expect a Masdar City ”Mark II” built up. The same principle should apply to environmental requirements.
in northern China to look like the Masdar City of Abu Dhabi. Even if it What I am saying is that the environmental aspect of a building should
was designed by the same group of people, they will still look quite also be embedded into business as usual practice, as part of the regu-
different. latory requirement. If you do not do this then it will end up being a
If we are achieving 50 percent energy reduction here, then should we niche market activity.
use the same target in Russia? We talk about knowledge transfer. We Ismail: when using a certification system in a project; do you prefer one
talk about how the rest of the world can benefit from the knowledge or another?
and experience we are gaining here. So, let’s say we finished building
the first several phases of Masdar City. In order for the rest of the world Chris: No. First of all, I think a certification system should be one that is
to benefit from our knowledge and experience to make their cities adapted to your region because environment is regional. There have
better, what do you think is the best way of doing that? I can just pass been problems implementing LEED certification here because of
on a set of the plans and specifications of the city and say just build it where the system originated from. Moving one step further BREEAM
accordingly and you will have a sustainable city. Well that’s one way. adapted their system for this region to make it more relevant. This is
They will come back later and say “you know what; we copied as much why Estidama Pearl Building Rating System in Abu Dhabi is successful
as we can from your drawings but we are just not achieving that kind because it is designed specifically for Abu Dhabi. Relative to LEED it
of environmental levels that you are achieving”. So we can work it out carries a bigger weighting on water than on energy. This makes sense
in a different way, they can say “why don’t you bring the team over and because you are adapting yourself to a local region. You may ask why
join us and we will do a second Masdar city.” This way we will end up the Siemens MEHQ is pursuing both Estidama PBRS and LEED. It is
with a city that looks completely different compared to this Masdar purely because Siemens has a global policy that they want all their
city, but achieve highly respected targets. So what’s the difference? staff to be working in LEED certified buildings as it is an internation-
The difference is that in the first scenario we shared an end product, ally recognized standard. Meanwhile Estidama PBRS is relatively new
while in the second scenario we are effectively sharing the process. I and so Siemens do not have experience with this system. But once we
am often asked “what is transferable from Masdar city?” and my answer have more Estidama PBRS rated buildings people will understand it
is “the design is not transferable; this design only fits here. But what better and the time for recognition of Estidama PBRS will come.
you can transfer are the means, methods and processes that we went Ismail: in the meetings that you conduct within the team, who was in-
through”. Actually you can create 20 questions to ask how to build volved in those meetings and what was their occurrence? Is everyone
Masdar city and ask the same 20 questions for a project in the UK, and present?
you will get a completely different sets of answers. This really leads the Chris: the short answer is yes. We had many meetings with us as the
way to a sustainable design. So it is about what questions that one building owners participating in meetings, with architects, structural
asks. The answer is, I believe, that it is definitely transferable but not in engineers, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, cost consultant
the way people normally think. It cannot be replicated as a design, but and other specialists depending on the subject matter. We always
the thinking behind it, the approach and the methodology can be. have key people present in the key early meetings. We go through
Ismail: do you think that certification systems should be mandatory or a lot of brainstorming sessions, with a lot of questioning and a lot of
should be voluntary or should be a mix of both? re-starts. It was all good and positive. But I think it is slightly naïve to
Chris: I want to look at it in another way: once upon a time there was think that you just get a group of dedicated professionals, put them in
no such thing as building regulations and they would build buildings a room and expect some magic to happen. When you read about in-
from their experience. And that was fine, but as structures became tegrated design in text books, it tells you to get everyone in the room,
more complex, every now and again a building would collapse behave a brief, brainstorm, synergize and hopefully you come up with
cause you were pushing materials to their limits. They were also prob- some conclusion. I think, from my experience, it does not happen like
ably trying new things as you were going along. When enough build- that. In reality there is still a need to have a lead, someone, a thought
ings collapsed and enough people were hurt, some people along the leader. A thought leader is important because this person, or this body,
way decided agree on some standards so that when someone lived in or this entity has to have an overall understanding of the driving fac-
a building they could be sure it would not collapse. So they created tors of sustainable design. Very often he is the architect, but that is not
minimum structural standards. At the same time some of the build- a necessity. This is partly because architects tend to have the closest
ings burned and more people were hurt. What do you do then? You training that suits this role. He is a kind of facilitator, he reconciles the
start using fire resistant materials and figured out ways to escape from differences between the different discipline. It is not practical for ev-
the buildings in case of fire. These ideas continued to be developed eryone to start talking all over each other, there has to be some kind
based on experience. When a new type of fire incident occurred, you of structure and strategy to it. The downside of that is that the thought
modified and improved the fire regulations to prevent such incidents leader tends to drive the design in a certain direction, and everyone
from happening again and so on. else tends to tag along a bit. This is not the original intent of integrated
design but in reality that is what I see happening. Usually it doesn’t im-
Now you have a damage of a different kind, damage to the environ- pact the project too much but it really depends on who the leader is.
ment. The environmental certification systems are here to address this
situation. These are generally voluntary systems which is a reflection This relates to another issue: the reason why sustainable design strug-
on how important we see the impact we have on the environment. gles so hard to get off the ground. You could say that in our education
A voluntary system means that it’s purely voluntary choice to save the system we are missing a certain discipline or training. You have the en-
environment or not. There is a perception that it does not matter be- gineers and specialists who usually see just one aspect of the building
cause it is voluntary and therefore it cannot be that important. Mean- and expect somebody else to coordinate it all together. Then you have
while fire is important and structure stability is important, but the the architect who is trained to have a partial understanding of the dif-
environment is not. That is the message when a certification system ferent engineering and specialist aspects of the building and is tasked
is purely voluntary. Abu Dhabi has taken a further step because they to coordinate all these various disciplines. But often the reality is differ-
recently made the certification process a mandatory requirement. The ent because he is also wrapped up in the world of aesthetics. However,
message here is that the environment is important. It is as important he remains the closest thing to trying to pull all these strings together.
as the structural stability and fire life safety, because protecting the It is an incredibly difficult job just to pull the building together to make
environment is also protecting the occupants but in a broader con- it work let alone trying to synergize and make it more sustainable than
text. The question goes back to what value you place on the environ- a regular building. It is very difficult indeed. The understanding of the
ment yourself. In my mind, voluntary systems place a limited value on drivers of how to bring a building together to make it sustainable and
the environment. In response, Abu Dhabi has taken the step to make within a commercial framework, I think, is a skill set that is not taught
the system mandatory, which is the first step to rank the environment sufficiently. Maybe one of the reasons that it is not taught is that there
ranks with all the other building health and safety issues. You need are not enough people around to teach such a subject – a kind of
chicken and egg situation. visement, working with some of our design consultants and partly
Ismail: what would you change in the current methodology and edu- from what we thought we could achieve in a commercially viable
cation for engineers, architects and anyone who is related to the build- framework. When we designed a building we shared these bench-
ing industry? marks with fellow designers, telling them what we thought we could
achieve. And only when the buildings were designed we could start
Chris: the change you are talking about is setting up what we call inte- testing if they were achievable or not. What we have found, within the
grated design. We kind of understand what it means, but often it is not cost constraint, was that we were able to achieve most our bench-
taught effectively. For most people educated in design it is something marks and in some areas beat them by a wide margin. So the idea was
that happens inside their own heads because they read about the that once we got the results from the next building we would revisit
subject, have an understanding about sustainable architecture, then our benchmarks and adjust them upwards accordingly. The challenge
create a building incorporating all these ideas and then call it inte- was trying to work out if our methods really worked, or was it a stroke
grated design. That is not integrated design. That is still one person de- of luck, or were our benchmarks too low. However, the feedback from
signing. But when they start talking to other people, trouble may start the market was that our benchmarks were pretty high in the first
as people may have conflicting views. Differences of opinions arises place. Maybe what was said to be high was not so high after all, partly
that may not be easy to resolve and sometimes the easiest way is to due to the way we were working. It was becoming business as usual
return to their own room, shut the doors again and do their own thing. for us. Like I explained earlier our approach to design and the way we
What I do sometimes is use this simple word “why?” Once I was in a get our hands dirty, pull up our sleeves and involve ourselves all helps.
discussion with a student, and I asked “what is sustainable design for This is how we set our benchmarks and of course it is live and ongoing.
buildings?” he said “Oh, a sustainable building is one where you save We do not shoot for the stars from day one, but we are now looking at
energy and save water.” I said “is that all?” he said “No, there are other a second set of goals. For both energy and water we are pushing the
things as well: reduce carbon and create better living standards” I said bar upwards with our experience.
“well, ok. What about things that are listed in the rating system?” he Ismail: how do you define sustainability?
said “Yes yes, that’s one part of sustainability” I said “What are the key
issues for you in sustainability?” he said “Save energy, save water”. That Chris: Rather than trying to define it, my day to day work already cov-
is actually a good answer because that is what really matters. Sustain- ers all the things that we normally associate with sustainability. It cov-
ability can be seen in two parts; there are those things that if you are a ers the environment, the economic and social. What project does not
believer in climate change you must do to save the planet, and there look at these three things?! Even in our site accommodation which has
are those things that make life more enjoyable to live which are the so- air conditioning, which may not be that energy efficient but it still has
cial and community aspects. But the latter are really not about saving a controlled environment and so it is environmental. We still have to
the planet; it is about life style, a healthy life style. So let’s concentrate pay for it so it is economic. Inside this site accommodation I am more
on one of the important ones first being we need to save energy. The comfortable sitting in here than sitting out there, so it is socially more
next question is “why?” he said “Why what?” I said “Why does a building acceptable. Therefore by one interpretation I can call this a sustainable
need to save energy?” He was slightly stunned and said “Because… space because it improves the environment, is low cost and creates
that’s what we need to do to create sustainable buildings”. Then I said an environment where we can work in relative comfort. And that is
“Why do you need a sustainable building? Why do you need to save what sustainability means for me, but in terms of the bigger picture
energy, there is so much energy around us”. He said “it’s good for the of mitigating the impact of changes in the climate, this does not help.
environment”. “Why is it good for the environment? Is it really good Sustainability does not help us in the fight against climate change.
for the environment?” …So I am just doing this repetitive why to start That is my view of it. What will help mitigate climate change is ad-
peeling the layers away one by one. dressing directly those causes of climate change. Unfortunately we do
not know all the causes of climate change. We talk about emission of
You see… suddenly we are saying that we are doing something for greenhouse gases and we know a fair amount about co2 and meth-
the environment whereas what we are really meant was that we are ane but there are many other greenhouse gases that we know much
doing something for mankind. The environment is fine, the earth is less about. We must address these issues by learning more about
fine, but it is mankind that is in trouble. We reduce energy for some- them so that we can find ways to avert some of the damages that are
thing else; we are not reducing energy use to save the environment currently ongoing. This will be very critical for our next generations
but we are reducing energy to save mankind. The environment will be to sustain their way of life. When viewed from this angle, energy and
here for a long time to come, even after all mankind is gone. water are the critical issues because those are the 2 elements have
I like to quote a story that was given to me by William McDonough. a greatest impact on the emission of greenhouse gases. Yes we are
I was very fortunate to share some time with him. He compared the learning to switch of a light when not in use and yes we also switch off
planet to you driving a car towards the edge of a cliff. You keep driving our car engine when idling. However, this is not tackling the root issue.
and eventually you will fall off the edge of the cliff which is the end of For example, separating waste for recycling is a sustainable action, but
the environment, well, actually the end of mankind not the environ- in reality what we should be doing is actually trying to avoid having
ment. So let us get our facts right. You say you want to reduce energy, this amount of waste in the first place. Our left hand is telling us to
what happens when you reduce energy? You slow down the car, but recycle waste while our right hand is telling us to consume to help the
you have a problem. The car is still going in the same direction and economy. These two things are completely at odds with each other.
eventually you will still drive over the cliff. The only difference is that it Rather than talk about waste reduction, we should look at the route
will take longer. So why do you want to save energy? You are going to issue and talk about how to fix human appetite for consumption. So
go over the cliff anyway, even after saving the energy. How is saving the whole issue is very complex with everything having an impact on
energy that going to help you? Even though you are reducing energy everything else and all related to sustainability, that is for sure. And
use you are still not saving mankind. You are just prolonging the agony because everything is related to sustainability, the word sustainability
that is going to happen sooner or later. loses its grip on the issues we think we are dealing with. It is a kind of
Yes, reducing energy consumption in buildings is not going to save elusive term.
mankind. But what it does do is to buy more time to sort out the prob- So, I am very careful when it comes to a definition, because there are
lem. When you look at it this way, suddenly this student started to many definitions out there and you can say they are all correct. The
think about buildings in a different way. Building off grid and employ- more general the definition the more correct it becomes, until it be-
ing renewable energy for example will take on a different perspective. comes so general that it loses any useful meaning. I like to be more
If you take this to a conclusion you find that the only way you can stop focused on some very key issues and specific problems and on how to
falling off the cliff, is to stop the car and when you stop it you are ef- deal them. So what are we going to do? We go back to “why?”
fectively at net zero emissions. And for a building to contribute to the Oh, I still have not offered you a definition of sustainability. In reality,
environment you need to do a three point turn and start driving in I have not seen a definition that is really satisfactory, and this is partly
the opposite direction, maybe then you are talking about regenerative because the word has somehow lost its meaning due to its over-use.
architecture. Think about the word carefully, it is related to the expression “to sus-
Ismail: How do you rate Estidama’s goals to what Masdar has tain.” Everything that we do, to try to sustain ourselves, is in a way part
achieved? Is Estidama pushing the market too far or not pushing far of sustainability. After all, we do not do things deliberately to harm
enough? What defines the benchmark? How do you set it? And when ourselves, do we? Or maybe we do, but unknowingly...
do you revise it? When do you start going higher? Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Chris: the first set of benchmarks we had were partly created on ad-
Daniel Frawley
Position: Regional Design Technology Manager
Country of Origin: Australia
Biography: Daniel Frawley holds a Diploma in Civil Engineering from RMIT
University, Australia. He was managing BIM capabilities across Stantecs’ prac-
tice, and has over 17 years of experience in Engineering, Spacial and Building
Information Modeling fields having worked in Australia, UK and UAE. He is a
qualified Autodesk Revit professional (Training and Implementation) and uses
this experience to educate others in structured educational programs.
Ismail: What is BIM and how is it incorporating or helping sustainable says “my responsibility is the structural integrity of that building” that’s
design? what he concentrates on and all architects is looking he thinks he’s
Daniel: I mean BIM (Building Information Modeling or Management), looking at every single aspect, but generally architects aren’t looking
is essential as is looking at the information or the meta-data that is at cost and that’s an argument, unless he is the project director or they
surrounding a building both at an elemental level of the building ele- are away from the design. Once you start to segment up a project
ments and also the spaces that it encloses. So from an environmental like that, that’s the way we work at the moment, everyone looks at his
sustainability point of view, you can actually have an object which is particular scope, so when you start talking about introducing a soft-
a void in space which can have properties, parameters of heating and ware; that could possibly manage every building element for every
cooling, you can have relationships between spaces as well as the discipline then it becomes as a bit sort of like we’ve gone from sort
embodied energy in the properties of the building and those type of of putting our toe in the water to jumping into the ocean and it can
things. In terms of helping sustainable design, I think it can do a lot, be a bit overwhelming, that’s why there is a lot of papers that are very
to make these decisions a little bit earlier. It can help you make better negative on BIM saying the software is not ready or the process. From
informed decisions earlier, the possibility is there to work in an opti- my perspective, the software is definitely ready and it’s been proven,
mal perfect world scenario, but there are so many constraints put on there’s so many project that have been out in the world. What’s not
a project that take away from that sort of optimal work flow, with its ready is an old industry, professions and their relationships and there’s
client demands, fees or lack of client demands. Whether they’re trying no guarding body to say architects must talk to structural engineers
to meet certification systems as opposed to them wanting to do it be- like this, this is a new process. There’s the buildingsmart organizations,
cause it makes a good business case or they just want to do it because if you heard of it, buildingsmart alliance, you should look them up be-
they want to be responsible to the environment on top of things. In cause they sort of the guiding body for what is BIM. They used to be
terms of BIM, the software can do it, but what’s happening is that we’re called the International Alliance for Interoperability. They make sure
using the software to about 5% of its potential. that all different software, any BIM software can talk to each other;
structure analysis software can talk to Archicad, Revit, MEP’s, echotect,
We are probably using BIM software ahead of a lot of other firms in the IES all those ones can talk together.
region, because we have got multidisciplinary in house, so we have
the MEP department sitting next to the architectural department, so In terms of how do I explain BIM simply to somebody, like when I try
we can talk about a lot of those things. And I know they understand to explain what I do you, they always say you should be able to explain
the systems that working with and that type of thing. As an exam- your profession at a party like really quickly. I always said I create virtual
ple, let’s say for mechanical engineers when rough sizing mechanical buildings, virtual architecture and to that we create the building ele-
equipment, we can export from our Revit model or we can export the ments, but then we attach information at those building elements and
GBXML model, which is the internal spaces, we can export that to try that can be the materials they made of the color, 3D style…etc., but
and trace them directly to put it into Trane trace (6:17) so they can then 4D for time and then 5D cost, 6D its thermal installation proper-
quickly be generating the rough sizing from Trane trace. We’ve also ties, its embodied energy its actually exponential the amount of infor-
got using a GBXML model exported from REVIT, which is still BIM just mation we can put on there. Then it comes back to, are we managing
not BIM modeling, but its using the BIM data we can be importing the design or are we managing its efficiency? Or when its build how its
that into IES so that we can be creating heating and cooling loads build? essentially in the data base; it’s a true data base where we have
and looking at those sort of things and working out the spaces and each building element only exists once in the data base, we don’t have
have the buildings sort of fabric affects the optimization of the design duplicate information so there’s no redundancy, so in an ideal world,
I suppose. we should be able to create a perfect replica of the optimized building
before it’s built. The building side of it is another thing because the
Even at the earlier stages, we would be looking at Ecotect and these contractor wants to possibly use that same building to create shop
types of softwares. But when we talk about BIM models maybe we us- drawings, schedule coordination, testing different methods and sce-
ing different BIM models, maybe we can use sketchup, maybe we can nario, so then it becomes back to a professional practice, is that the ar-
use studio max or maybe just Revit we can make and create a rough chitect’s responsibility to give that model to the contractor? Or is it the
mass. Its not always a design model, it is being used for everything, contractor’s responsibility to build a new model? If he builds a new
maybe we can have a different model of the same building, but you model he might not put as much hidden information in as the archi-
need to manage that as well and make sure that they don’t get out of tect puts in. Then it becomes it comes down to what is the owner or
synchronization. Even in terms of that it really is about how you adapt the client want or do they know, do they care and if it’s the architect’s
your work flow to the software, so you know the software are there we responsibility, maybe he should inform them more. There’s big discon-
don’t have every software, but we have a few and we need to try and nects happening in the industry at the moment and the places where
match the best software to our process for the project and that’s a bit its working well, places like Singapore where the government stepped
of a juggling act I suppose and then you got to make sure that every- in and said “we will accept BIM models as deliverables for planning
body is trained out, you’ve got the skills in the house and that you are purposes and for sign off ”. Scandinavia and places like this, they’ve got
not over capitalizing; we are not training everybody up and then we a lot of design built, so you get the contractors they have their own
don’t have a client that’s paying for it, so there’s a lot of things like that. joint venture or in-house design and the government is supporting
I think what can happen over the time is that, it happens in the indus- them. So it’s a bit of a shake up for the industry I think and some firms
try now, you see your part of the project and you think that that’s all that understand, to others it’s pretty scary, they don’t know what to
what the project is, like a structural engineer looks at the building and anticipate or how to change it and what to do. I think it has gone from
600 people to a part of a public corporation which is 15,000 people; ent sort of government departments making BIM mandatory for one
we’re just becoming a design part of a bigger firm. Stantec doesn’t do of the 2022 world cup stuff.
construction, but some of the other firms; Aecom, URS they are the Ismail: were you involved in any projects that had to be certified?
biggest contractors in the world and they have their own in-house
design teams, so for them they are looking efficiencies where they can Daniel: yes, we’ve got a few ones here with Estidama; Mafraq dialy-
decide. Data models, we don’t have ten different data models, we have sis and other few ones here that have gone through and they have
one data model starts off in planning as like a rough mass and we get been using IES for that, because IES has got the PRM tool; Performance
more accurate until it becomes a shop drawing till it becomes an as Rating Method tool I think for LEED, they are talking about one for
built model till it becomes a facility’s management model. Estidama.
The problem we’ve got is that there’s no architects that want to take Ismail: what was your involvement in these projects?
responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the model, that’s a big Daniel: practice technology BIM manager, lots of confirming the mod-
problem. Once you start off with that, you got to start with the end els are correct and the actual end exports; preparing exports for the
in mind, you cant get half way through and then say “actually we’re IES. I wasn’t really involved in the IES modeling, just helping the guys
going to use this model for quantity surveying the problem is we are out with this stuff.
generating models for the purpose of creating 2D CAD files. That will Ismail: what types of meetings did you participate in? What was their
change eventually, it will change somehow, there’s a lot of demand occurrence and who was involved?
at the moment; clients are asking for the design to be done in BIM.
What’s probably not happening is them saying how to do it in BIM and Daniel: we probably don’t have as good a coordination meetings
what the deliverable should be, but the UK government is addressing should, they are still sort of a bit old school in that sense; you got
that; the inputs and outputs you want to get and data drops at certain layout plans and they working like that rather than looking at the 3d
points and that type of things. The other big thing is helping sustain- models. Even in terms of the Estidama stuff it’s with the PQP (Jason)
able design, I mean really its just the design we are talking about, be- and I wasn’t really involved in those sorts of meetings, other than the
cause what I’m saying is BIM models, virtual models can be used right technical side of it. I was not involved in many meetings; a little bit with
up to the FM stage, imagine you got BMS, put a management system MEP or the mechanical guys.
that’s built into the building, you should be able to have a virtual BMS Ismail: what did you have to do differently in order to incorporate the
and an actual BMS and to be optimizing the actual BMS based on the mandatory requirements of Estidama?
optimal, that’s not happening. What you are having is people spend- Daniel: not really that much, other than getting to understand the IES
ing all their money on a design they think is optimal, they can never model and when could we use it, how we could use it and how much
test it, but the whole time they have a baseline model sitting there, by work is involved in it. There was a fair bit more work involved in gener-
the time it gets to that stage no one cares, because they’re going to ating the models from that and inputting a lot of the data, mechanical
sell the building and they’re just paying the bills. I think that’s where sizes and stuff like that. Once you had it and you are doing the runs,
the demand will come from is building owners at some point are go- the runs can take a lot of time to actually run the models.
ing to start saying we want to have a properly working FM BIM model,
and once you get to that point its like the very start to produce that, Ismail: do you think certification systems should be mandatory or vol-
that’s what will happen. untary?
Ismail: what are the benefits of using BIM? Is it better for the overall Daniel: I would generally say voluntary, otherwise it’s a line in the sand
integration of all of the disciplines? that has to be obligatory; it can’t be all inclusive there’s no system in
the world that can be completely all inclusive and taking in account
Daniel: I think it’s hard at the moment to really evaluate something everything otherwise it will be fairly vague and non descriptive. I was
like BIM, its really early stages. The software is there and I think the dif- reading that in the UK this week, they have come out with design
ferent professions, the industries are still a little bit in the stage of lost guidelines for schools and they tried to spell out this is the design
about how to use the software, even if people come out and say its guidelines for any government schools and obviously straight away
BIM, we’re doing these projects with BIM and everything else, at the all those architects are reviewing it and things like the rule out; say if
end you still have to say nothing is settled yet. Of course it does work, you’ve got a design that goes around a curve, that doesn’t meet the
even what you are asking here; is CAD going to vanish? What is the design guideline, so we can’t build schools that are actually on a curve
disadvantage of BIM? I think it’s going to be a slow process before BIM anymore. So I mean you can put in rules, but unless they are adaptable
systems are fully in place. It’s the industry changing, its education, as and can be interpreted then sometimes they can be just too restric-
an example of trying to find stuff that are capable of working on big tive.
project in BIM, it is a big knowledge jump to the old good architect or
good engineer, but also to be good at the software, is a big jump for I don’t think there’s anyway to regulate that, there are already regula-
firms and for staff. I know with the universities trying teaching them tions now. It’s a little bit of a bad area to be talking about this topic
software and trying to integrate BIM, but the software is moving so and I think that’s where Estidama falls down, because you’ve got subsi-
quickly, how do you teach different software? Is it the right software? dized water and electricity and that’s a completely unsustainable part
Is it going to change in a few years? So a lot of them have been a little of this environment here. In terms of how buildings are designed, it’s
bit reluctant to look at all the systems or software, so it is still industries built on the fact that water and electricity are so cheap. If you had
training on the job rather than using the software to do drafting, so the real true cost of water and electricity, then there wouldn’t need to
you end up getting students out of thinking its a software for draft- regulate because every building owner would be saying “I need solar
ing. In terms of CAD, I don’t think it’ll vanish completely for a while, powers on the roof and I need grey water recycling systems” it has
and I think CAD will probably never sort of vanish in that sense, there’s to be put in at any cost because the cost of the water so expensive.
always going to be a few industries that will use it like landscape archi- So when they talk about the operational cost of building and its inef-
tects and these guys, they probably don’t need to be doing full blown ficiency of course, because everything is subsidized and so cheap. I
data models from day one. think in my perspective, Estidama is a bit of a waste, because its put-
ting the owners and the architects to create an optimal design that
Ismail: how are government standards being incorporated? has very little energy wastage but its not feasible. It is still ridiculous,
Daniel: there are a lot of different things, in Singapore they have got there are no incentives, its too ridiculous to check the wasted water, for
some good regulations, the United Kingdom is going to have man- example we might have the most energy efficient building here and
datory BIM for all government projects, so you have to be using BIM then out on the road they are putting grass and water it during the
models and up to a level where it can be interchangeable with other middle of the day, it just completely evaporates and its grass, we really
consultants, that its for all government jobs for UK from 2006. Austra- do not use this here, but you know it still meets the criteria it could be
lian government is doing the same thing, they’ve got working groups a platinum rated building. Things like that really make me angry, that’s
that are doing that and they are putting in standards and sort of work- what distorts the market. I think definitely Estidama and these types of
ing papers to help universities, different disciplines understand what’s things are good and definitely they should be voluntary.
going to happen and same thing we are talking about mandatory for Ismail: what would you do different in order to achieve a better sus-
government projects. The US has got something that is like for the US tainable design?
army core of engineers, so for the army projects it is made mandatory.
So they have got some of their own standards that can be a little bit Daniel: I have been studying a bit lately some building BMS systems;
obsolete straight away, because if you get too specific on the software, and I think that’s the ideal way. At the moment there’s no feedback
like in the US in the army they talked about Bentley and then they of understanding how efficient buildings are, you know you’ve got
even changed and made a little bit more about Revit. That’ where the the software on the design side, but we’re not looking at the real cost
work started with the governments to talk about how to run specifi- and the real operational efficiencies of a building as it works. That’s a
cations and that type of things, the software is interoperable or the shame because we have got these BMS systems that are put in place
people can use whatever software they want, and still produce the and they are not really not fed back to the architect to optimize the
right output. I was just hearing the other day actually, that BIM is start- next design. So it’s a little bit like we just keep designing without stop-
ing at Qatar at the moment and that Qatar is considering from differ- ping to look and say “ok that design that I did 10 years ago, let’s test
it, lets have a peer review, lets critique how its actually working and
if its cost efficient for the owner”. Obviously the owner’s going to do sustainability to that level, but I think that’s why these certifications;
that, but then as I said if they are getting subsidized power and water, Estidama and these ones can be a little bit sort of tricky to implement.
then they don’t care about the results. So where is the feedback loop? It’s a good Idea, its good guidelines, but they need to let it a little bit
It just stops, I think that’s a shame until we address that sort of thing, open ended.
sustainability is going to be materials, location on site and even things Ismail: in your opinion what is needed to make a paradigm shift to
like passive designed and stuff like that. It’s all good and well, but high convert the built environment into a sustainable one?
performance buildings, we should be out and test how high is the
performance level, we have got the software to design we should be Daniel: it’s got to be market force, that’s going to come from govern-
doing the same testing at the other end. I think that will start to get a mental level. Even in Australia we are introducing things like a carbon
lot of new businesses pop up out of it, like BIM is a new sort of busi- tax, there are industries that are meeting large amounts of wastage
ness, you get to sign for FM businesses that it will pop up and start of carbon, bad energy usage, the brown coal and this type of thing,
doing that sort of thing. that we charge a tax and they probably pass that on to consumers
and then consumerscan will probably choose not to use that prod-
Ismail: how do you set a benchmark and what defines the benchmark? uct, electrical products. I am usually going to be one for privatization,
And when do you revise it? And what reaction does it cause? but I think in terms of energy and water, not. I think in terms of the
Daniel: it’s a tricky one; it needs to be constantly adapted to whatever prosperous of the market it works well, that’s what people understand,
it is; new technology or something else. You can’t make a benchmark, that’s the culture, are we going to move away from capitalism? I think
put in place then it’s too cost prohibitive. Definitely in terms of en- capitalism is here to stay. China is introducing capitalism as well in the
ergy and water it is distorted by the fact that there is subsidizes on markets, so yeah I think it needs to be hit people in the pocket for what
both, which is unfortunate, I mean if there was a true cost then I think they use. I am not sure what sort of incentives you can give people
it would make a big difference. I think it should be reasonably open to save, that’s probably the tricky one. I think one thing they do here
ended but not too restrictive; as a certain amount of water per liter, is that they have different costs for different levels saying a thousand
per person, per foot print or whatever and same for electricity as well, liters is this amount of Fils and another thousand is a different amount
depending on the building type. I think what they have got at the mo- that type of things. So I think bending the prices is a good thing like
ment is reasonably good, certain amount of daylight and things like that, but it also leaves it open, what we got in Australia is like an energy
this coming through and it still gives people an off scope to design market and the same in the US; actually people are trading, buying
something that they want or use existing systems. It is a fair bit of work, and selling energy. So that can be bit of a problem, always someone is
I’m probably more of a leave it open to the market and see what hap- going to take advantage of it.
pens rather than trying to be too restrictive, because it then becomes Ismail: how does the certification system affect BIM? Is BIM changing
bureaucracy just for bureaucracy’s sake. I think bureaucracies like this, because the demands are changing?
they should be in place for health, safety and for disability access code
those should be the sort of benchmarks, but in terms of environmen- Daniel: the only reason why people are designing efficiently here is
tal sustainability, it’s got to be the market deciding at the end. If we are because of Estidama, because they have to. If they had the choice,
talking about benchmarks and what are certification systems, what they probably wont do it, they say there’s an extra cost, even if you
we should be saying and comparing the design model heating and could prove it is a less cost overall. I think the system is set up here
cooling and as built, then architects can come and say we are within for quick turnover buildings, you know develop and build, I don’t care
10% of what we said we would build. I mean there’s no architect that how it operates as long as I can sell it for a particular price, which is a
can say that at the moment, no body can go out and say “we built a shame. As I said places like Scandinavia and stuff, where you might
building that’s within 10% of the cost and operational cost to what we have a developer that actually goes on and operates the building as
design it at” they will just go “yeah looks cool” or “its busy, all spaces are well, so that they can get something out of that, but there comes a bit
rented out” is it cost efficient? We say the numbers coming out, but of a business mix and what they do.
you can’t prove it and I think that’s a problem. Ismail: does the architecture, engineering or any project related educa-
Ismail: what’s in your opinion is the reason behind not moving faster tion need to change in order to prepare students on dealing with the
towards more sustainable buildings? newly founded sustainability requirements?
Daniel: it is definitely cost; I think it is the cost and the client. They have Daniel: I think the industry it is much segmented, everyone is looking
got no imparity to change the system because you know it’s a known at how to make a dollar out of the other person’s mistake, that’s the
quantity for them too, knowing concrete costs this much. There might way the industry is operating at the moment. Nobody wants any liabil-
be a more efficient product, but they are also relying on things like ity on themselves, so I think definitely multi disciplinary firms are going
the fear of the unknown and that type of things, I think that’s why the to become more and more because of the efficiencies in the software
industry is so slow to adapt. and you are going to see more design built. I mean definitely universi-
ties are starting to address it as field to go for post graduate stuff in
Ismail: how do you define sustainability? BIM, and a lot of the students are learning software depending on the
Daniel: My idea of sustainability, it’s almost like a snapshot within that industry, even the American university in Dubai here, we have Revit
spectrum of time in that environment. So we can’t say sustainability groups down there and we talk to students and they trying to get dif-
forever, because the world changes and everything is in a constant ferent disciplines working together even on cross projects, so you’ve
state of change from a Buddhist perspective. On a certain level every- got interior design with architecture, architecture with structural so
thing is changing and everything has to change to maintain that sort they start to talk and to think about the processes and software, they
of flux in the world. So sustainability for me is a time frame, you are are all using Revit down there.
looking at what’s the time frame of it? If we are talking about buildings Ismail: what do you think the true or the added value to certification
what’s the insurance guarantee period of a building? Is it 25 years? systems is?
So it means it is sustainable for 25 years, after that it can break down,
it can decompose, it should be, because its only been built to meet Daniel: it’s probably good in terms of getting people to think about
that criteria or we say a longer period or whatever. Within that period this and an initial set of guidelines maybe it just needs to be an initial
of sustainability, we should be looking at symbiotic relationships and set of guidelines to help direct industries, to help them focus on. Do
like you said about 3 liters of water per person per day. That’s mak- they need to be there forever? I am not sure. In terms of the added val-
ing the assumption that the person in the building contributing back ue of certification systems, until you get the operational certification,
to the three liters of water per person, if they are taking it out, then that’s the one that matters, you can say it was designed to platinum
they should be putting it back in, its got to besome sort of symbiotic. or whatever, but that’s only good for the architects’ marketing, and the
Whereas if they just evaporating, even evaporation is not a bad thing, client. It is still a guess, whether it’s going to be operationally efficient,
it is wasteful, but if its drinking water it’s different, that’s the sort of they think it should be because it’s been designed to be, but they can’t
thing I am talking about. Sustainability it’s a bit of a tough call I think, prove it. They will be able to say in terms of measuring in metrics of
even waste, I think wastage of embodied energy and that type of the project, and even the contractors got some metrics, he quotes a
things, for a little gain back is a bad thing. It’s a hard concept, but I am particular price and he knows at the end of it in the sign off he built it
sort of thinking about symbiotic relationships. for this price and the rest of it is profit, he’s got metrics to measure all
that. The owner has got metrics; how much he’s paying the contractor
Ismail: how do you measure sustainability? to build it, how much he paid for the design, but at the end of it the
Daniel: I think from society or community, that topic is completely efficiency of it is a big question mark, the first electricity bill comes in
hard to define. From a technical point of view, as I said it needs to and it’s rather higher or lower than the estimate, but what can you do
be symbiotic; I think embodied energy is a good starting point for about it? you get your FM guys to go downstairs, turn off all the base-
whether its square concrete, you work out how much energy went in ment lights, that’s the way they sort of manage it rather than going
to produce that particular product and how much future energy will back to the architect and saying can you help optimize it because you
it support thousand cubic meters of concrete. Ok maybe that’s bad, had the original design.
but if it’s put into a community center, it’s going to support something Ismail: What would you change in the certification system?
else, so it’s a little bit hard to define. I think in terms of how to measure
Daniel: Maybe that is going back to the education system; students
preparing them and maybe sponsoring from that point of view, get- they are both actually really bad bio systems, they are really bad, but
ting it implanted at that level and how to fix the process. You are right, if you put them together they become like symbiotic with the plants
when you think about it from that point of view; I think I’ve been work- and the fish together. So that’s what I am creating, I think in this re-
ing for good consultancies for a long time, that you sort of forget that gion it’s a big thing because you can desalinate as much water as you
a lot of people that are working very old school. There are other things want, I don’t know if you know that, but most of the desalinated water
in the west that was gradual climbing to growth of understanding it comes from the plants here, so like 70% of the desalinated water in this
and put in place, but then I’ve seen it over here as well, even big firms region. And the stupid thing, the energy that they are using to gener-
are still prepared to wait for it rather than jump straight in. Then there ate is gas and they don’t even get it from Qatar, you think they would
are some contractors, specific contractor, probably one of the biggest, be buying gas from Qatar because its the closest and everything, but
and with their public works, department head and they do public they get it from all different places because of the price, because you
works in airports, big firm. And talking to him and explaining the con- know they locked themselves in different contracts, different prices.
cept of BIM like multidisciplinary and everything else, he’s like “yeah Same thing like Saudi; is like the net exporter of oil energy, so they
we have to do it”. I think some people understand, I think it depends actually have to import like fuel. Its just all these crazy things I think in
on where the business is, like your saying if you’re a small firm and you this region, getting themselves into a corner where they are wasting
only got a few people and you are running on not much profit, you so much energy, and wasting energy to produce water and they are
don’t really have the capability to put a lot of risk on your firm and to wasting the water and they are not getting anything back from that.
change everybody to a new technology. Whereas if you’re a bigger So I think that’s crazy and subsidizing everything, which only makes it
firm and you’ve got you know a bit more backing, we’ve got other quicker. I was reading the paper today actually they were talking about
offices, different support networks, then you can make that change. aquifers like putting bores and they said at the right the bores are go-
So maybe that’s where the small firms might find it very hard, but it ing in, I mean whose using bores like agriculture, so at the right they
definitely at the universities it’s the best place to put into place. are putting bores in and all the water will be gone out of the aquifers
It needs to be quiet systematic and I think that’s what’s not happening, in 20 years. 20 years? We’re going to have no ground water. What does
there’s no guiding principle. I always think about structural engineer- that mean? There’s no rain, so they need to address it really quickly and
ing, if you study structural engineering anywhere in the world, you’d it’s not happening. Things like Estidama are great, but you got to get to
pretty much be learning the same curriculum, because there are cer- the real cause of it, things like grey water systems, compulsory every
tain laws of mathematics and physics that govern the way we learn, single building and just do it. Compulsory by the government, by the
but then when you get in sustainability it’s such a grey area of what building code, has to be, hot water systems; they need to be solar hot
you know what is sustainable, its just too grey I think at the moment. water systems. In Australia, in the desert, everything is solar hot water
Then sometimes you get other things that are like they are very well because you are in the middle of no where. They just got to do it, they
meaning, but the may not help development, like going out and say- got to do it really quickly, grey water systems definitely, landscaping;
ing let’s invest a heap of money in wind power, maybe that’s a good if you put grass at the front, that doesn’t pass, things like that. I think
thing, maybe it’s a bad thing, maybe we should have a mix of things, that’s where they should have gone all the way, instead of copy LEED
maybe we should have one thing, I don’t know. or whatever and adapt it. In Dubai they say they want to make it com-
pulsory, rooftop gardens, that’s good sort of logic, thinking about it,
When they were building a nuclear reactor in here, just outside of Abu that’s the sort of thing they should have done instead of everybody
Dhabi, that’s sustainability in a sense, it’s not renewable energy, but it’s has to have rooftop garden, everybody has to have grey water system
the most efficient non renewable energy, but it costs a lot of money to and you get charged on the grey water coming out of your building. I
build it and maintain it, and then get rid of the fuel. Over here the logic know they have charges for sewage here, but its nothing, it’s too low.
is, how much is it going to cost, once its up and running and generat- It is an argument in Australia as well, at the moment, I used to work for
ing, obviously the cost to build it. URS and we are environmental consultants as well, and a lot of that
I am doing a project, its like, its by 1x1x1 meter, they carry liquids in water treatment and couple of my colleagues their job is designing
these things, like these big drums, I bought one of these drums, and water treatment systems; really super efficient ones, it sounds bad, but
the idea is that you cut off the top and you turn the top upside down, even like black water, like proper sewage waste if you aerate it enough
so you’ve got like a 500 liter tank in the bottom and like 300 liter tank it comes clean again, get all the microbes out of it and its clean and its
in the top, then the idea is that you fill up the bottom with water and cheap and you got water you can nearly drink. That’s like a big thing
put fish in here and then the fish waste, you actually put a pump and in Australia, is like you could drink it, but can we make people drink
pump it up to the top to a bed of vegetables like pebbles (1:02:40) so it, and a lot of the local councils are trying to work it out, it’s a slow
the fish waste goes up to the top, and the pebbles with the air and the process I have to say, but we’ve got no water and your wasting water
water and the plants, they create like a bacteria and so goes ammonia, when your flushing your sewage down you have to keep reusing it.
the nitrogen cycle; ammonia nitrates into nice bacteria, and then the Ismail: is there anything you like to add?
plants will filter that bacteria, and the ammonia and when the water
drains out it creates fresh water for the fish, so it’s a close loop cycle. It’s Daniel: my logic is that we’ve got this amazing high technology soft-
called “aqua-ponics” because it’s got aqua culture which is like grown ware that gives us all of this and we’re using 5% percent of it and we
fish, and hydro-ponics and those two like pretty well established indus- are using it for just to have a look. When I think of design, that’s what
tries, but aqua culture is pretty bad for water use, because essentially I think about, design is just like 20% of the process, I think architects
you pump a lot of chemicals and you get a lot of fish waste, fish pro- have the idea that design is a 100% and the building is just something
ducing waste then you’ve got to like get rid of a lot of water and you that happens afterwards, whereas it should be the other way. The per-
cant really clean it because its full of ammonia and full of chemicals, its formance of the building should be the thing that they should want
actually really water intensive, aqua culture and same with hydropon- to know about it, but I think there’s a little bit of a disconnection there.
ics, because you are just pumping chemicals in the plants need. So Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Dharvish Moinuddin
Position: Mechanical Engineer, LEED-AP, PQP, Stantec
Country of Origin: India
Interview with: Dharvish Moinuddin Ismail: what type of meetings did you participate in? What was their
Country of origin: occurrence?
Position: Mechanical Engineer, LEED-AP, PQP, Stantec Dharvish: there were coordination meetings with architects and
other disciplines. We had a meeting with the client. The internal coor-
Biography: dination meeting it included; architects, electric engineer, mechanical
Ismail: what defines your design sustainability level? engineer and of course the project manager. So we sat and coordi-
Dharvish: we have designed 3 to 4 buildings complying with Esti- nated doing all these things. We had meeting with Estidama, where
dama. Mostly the client is the one, who defines the sustainable level to we were given classes on how to do the document, how to present it.
achieve, but we always have a general practice of implementing cer- The one pearl training we had with Estidama. Then we had meeting
tain techniques as a normal thing, for example; energy recovery from with project manager to say if there are certain cases where we have
air we take it as a normal practice and we use high efficient equip- to change the equipments’ capacity. Then we had meetings with cli-
ments, we use better lighting we also use solar panels. But other than ents, and the project manager as well. The Estidama training was once.
that this is a minimal requirement we always do. But even if there is The coordination meetings during design were more frequent, each 2
no body existing, like no Estidama nor LEED existed, we still put to weeks we had one. It is not a regular meeting, when we have an item
the client the options, for example; the type of cooling system, what to discuss then we raise a flag and we catch up, just three of us. But
does he want? It is the client’s call, because it is related to money and the meeting with Estidama, the project management was once in a
the budgets, so it’s his call whether to implement it or not. What we month or something. The first meeting with Estidama, was a training
do is propose them with pros and cons with the payback period and initially and the occurrence of the next was 2 month.
calculations, so that it is very clear and definite, it helps him make a Ismail: when using a certification system in a project, do you prefer
decision better, but eventually he should be aware that this payback one over another? And why?
period is like 2 years. This is what we normally do, even if there is no Dharvish: You should have a certification program at least to set the
LEED or Estidama, there are certain practices we adopt without asking minimum standards, because this provides guidance for us initially as
the client, because we feel it is a mandatory thing as it’s very basic. you know about the baseline building if you actually have one, it is
We do that, it’s a normal thing and anything added we feel it can be already set. But it is not applicable to everything, like there are pros
done but will probably be of higher cost, for example there are cer- and cons for that one. So I would say if it’s a local certification program,
tain regions for Saudi we don’t propose such thing because it is a dry for example; LEED talks more about rain and harvesting to a region
climate, but there are places where we find the humidity is very high where there is no rain, it cannot be applied to this region. So I would
we propose to the client, it’s not a mandatory thing and we say that use an additional local certification program which understands the
if you want we can collect the condensed water using it for build- region very well, also locally manufactured materials usage, but in this
ing use in anything, even toilet flushing. We have to invest at separate region there is hardly any manufacturing. Certainly that kind of stan-
money for separate times, separate pumping systems separate riser, dard wouldn’t help us, but a local certification system will help us to
which will increase the floor area of architecture, but you can reduce see at least how a building can be minimum efficient. Because that
the water consumption which will help you, as the money investor, to should be made as mandatory because coming generations should
get it back in another 4 years time. After the 4th year it’s a profit making, have some kind of awareness, should be a part of normal practice. All
so all those things we don’t implement it, but we will propose to the this is guidance for me, the certification and we know where to start
client. So these are the 2 stages we always do for designing a building; where to stop and what level to achieve. It should be clearer, I know
first implement the basic requirements, second propose to the client. this is just the initial introduction stage, but it still requires more refine-
Ismail: were you involved in any projects that had to be certified? ment, but I will say it will always help us. The experts should think of
Dharvish: yes, but not LEED, but Estidama yes, there are 3 projects; all these things they can do from a different angle, but generally for
SKMC mosque, SKMC dialysis and SKMC these three were designed certification process I would definitely say it always guides us. So, there
here. is a need for the certification system, there needs to be a set minimum
standard, and it should be a local one because the international ones
Ismail: what was your involvement in those projects? do not fit the local climate (where the projects are). As for Estidama, it
Dharvish: I am a mechanical engineer, here. So I was mainly into the is a good start that needs refinement.
mechanical stuff, to be very specific HVAC; like the air quality, meeting Ismail: is the Estidama process easy and clear? Did you struggle during
ventilation minimum requirements, and water consumption reduc- any Estidama work?
tion, the one more added thing was the energy modeling. We had
2 to 3 people as sustainability group to do the energy modeling; one Dharvish: I really appreciate those guys because it was not the same
from mechanical which is me, one from electrical which is Sangita and as LEED, there are many things which they made which are very use-
one was Arshid. We 3 we used IES software to do the energy modeling, ful, but of course we did struggle at many parts in Estidama submis-
because one of the minimum requirements was that the proposed sion. One of the things was the building envelope, we had a minimum
building should be energy efficient then the baseline building. So in energy performance and cool building strategies. So the minimum
order to do that there are two things; one is the prescriptive method building performance should show how many percentages we had
and the other is the performance method. So opted for the perfor- in reduction, but there are other things, for example from a baseline
mance method which easier but we used software called IES to do building if you just change the orientation what is the improvement
that. you are getting?, so this was not available in the energy model soft-
ware we had, they wanted it in steps. Which is actually is not required Dharvish: yes. It’s a safety factor, because that is actually a research
for anything, the whole software already gives an output it says that subject. Because the last week I was in discussion regarding this, be-
your building is that much efficient than the baseline building, this is cause somebody is making a research on “why should we oversize?” I
what they required. But they are asking mainly to see “hey, why should mean can the oversize factor be less, so that we don’t waste a lot of en-
I change the orientation if I am not gaining more energy?” stuff like ergy. Do we oversize? Yes we do, because of the uncertainty for many
that but this was not in software system, and manually we cannot do things. We know that this particular region and I am not comparing
it. With that kind of thing we struggled. to India or something but compared to USA countries and Europe,
I think there is a reason, there might be one, which is the authority the construction is not up to that mark, they don’t have well trained
would like to know what the incremental energy we are getting is. or qualified professionals in the contractor’s site to do the installation
For example; changing the orientation or a U value it’s not gaining probably. All kinds of technical knowledge is not there in the proper
importance as a drastic change in the performance, but financially it system, because they say this would work, and this is how it should
will have a big effect. So I mentioned the payback period is very high, work, but they don’t know about installation. So these things put us at
so why should they invest so much money initially just to get a mini- very uncertainty with climate condition here, the humidity fluctuates
mum fraction, rather than that, you can put the same money on some from 9 to possibly 99%, so the worst case is you will be oversizing. You
other system and make it more efficient. I mean it’s there, it’s a good know about the peak load and block load, we always go for block load
thought. But the software is not helping us to do it and manually we we don’t go for the peak load even if we estimate for peak load we
cannot do it. We struggled to do that. size it for block load, but still we have factor of just 10% to incorporate
for this one, just a 10 percent. That is the max. 10% is sensible if for
Ismail: what is the process you had to go through to learn about Esti- example; for a latent it is 5% just like that.
dama’s submission?
Ismail: could tell me about the uncertainty factors you talked about?
Dharvish: when Estidama was launched we didn’t know about it.
There were workshops and training from Estidama, that’s how we Dharvish: leakage is one, the improper construction, the material
came to know about it. Then we studied and had inquiries and went availability; like we should set a range then it provides us, flexibility; for
and asked them. There were workshops back and forth. example you are not certain about the load, so it has the flexibility to
take some load sometime, these kinds of things.
Ismail: what are the fees associated with certification?
Ismail: what would you do differently in order to achieve a better, sus-
Dharvish: I would say 15% more in design and for construction, in- tainable design?
cluding material cost it would be probably 40% more than a usual
building, because they are asking for very high quality air chillers. Dharvish: I didn’t implement it, but there is now something called
PV cells for hot climate places, because this region we have a high
Ismail: what did you have to change in order to incorporate the man- amount of heat available. I mean not just because of the light thing,
datory certification system? we can even generate some power because of the heat. These are very
Dharvish: this experience we had in SKMC, basically because Esti- expensive those things. If in case we can get it in a nice way, nice ap-
dama was not there initially when we started designing. So the energy pearance way, some kind of shiny wall used as a façade. But it should
efficiency ratio of the chillers and the COP, Coefficient of Performance, generate on its own, because in this region out of 12 months we get
we changed it to a better one. 8 months of good heat and light. So that would be one design that I
Ismail: what do they ask for the COP? would definitely think of. I think also the process, I know it’s an internal
issue, should be handier I presume. Like implementing sustainability,
Dharvish: around maybe 3.8 maybe but initially we had 3.2, we had Estidama should have a website, we should be easily guided; like if
to change these equipments. Cost was high. Then the fresh air quality, someone wants to implement a storm water system or a grey water
the minimum requirement was above ASHRAE but they were saying system they should have a link supporting an article with calculations.
increase ventilation requirement one requirement from Estidama, in Because of the research factor, people don’t go and dig up for moni-
this region more fresh air means you have to treat it down to a particu- tors, because in this region sometimes it’s fast, not in a right way, it’s
lar temperature, the major load in air conditioning is the fresh air load. just fast. If somebody can direct them that could help. So I would say
So that changed for us and obviously the chill water loading increase Estidama should have more easily available documents, links and cal-
in chiller sizes, increase in everything just to meet that requirement. culations to all systems available it should be part of the people adapt
Ismail: does it contradict with energy efficiency? to see what they want. If I want to use something better then there
Dharvish: No, actually they are looking for people’s comfort condition, should be some guidance. That’s one thing I would say.
the fresher air the more they will feel better. Ismail: how do you set the benchmark? What defines it?
Ismail: do you think the certification system should be mandatory, vol- Dharvish: I don’t want Estidama to put a figure that is just not achiev-
untary or a mix of both? able. Is there a technology that is available or is there something we
Dharvish: I would say it should be a mix of both because there should can develop from the existing technology, or is there a cost associ-
be a minimum side like 1 pearl to be done for all buildings, which ated with that? If those kinds of details they have then they can set a
pushes you to use better material, better glass with a better U value, benchmark.
the use of good fabric, the U value of the wall, the outdoor air monitor- Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s current goals compared with
ing; the co2 monitoring system all these kinds of stuff is better being other certification systems?
mandatory. For example; the smoking ventilation requirement all of Dharvish: I have come across only LEED, but from my point of view
these things as a prerequisite are as mandatory. If you make it as a one Estidama is really good. It is higher; it is not as what I thought. I think
pearl and put it as a must to all the buildings that will be always be bet- there are a lot of statements that initially you don’t feel appropriate,
ter. LEED says if it is LEED it’s LEED, otherwise you can do anything. You but it is making some sense at some point of time. I feel there is some
can use all the cheap material which I would say the authority should kind of research time. I really found that there are initially things that
have a control of. don’t make sense, no offence, but preservation of natural habitants?!!
Ismail: the integration of the certification system in the planning pro- When I look out here it’s just desert. Have you seen this part about
cess, how is it done? What are the differences? protection of wild life; because I don’t see the tigers around. But when
Dharvish: from my mechanical point of view, yes it should be done I go into other details there are many items which convinced me;
in the planning process itself because all the estimation of the equip- many things have been taken into consideration. Some of them LEED
ments happens in the initial state of the planning itself. So if we know doesn’t have. I was impressed when I saw it.
that we are submitting for Estidama, then we should consider the ad- Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s goals to ultimate sustainability
ditional loads, we should consider using higher quality equipments, goal? Do you think it’s going well?
we should have the specifications updated, we should look at the Dharvish: so far yes. As I told you before there should be some refine-
lighting levels, the flux densities and the lux values we should put ment, but they are certainly getting close.
them to base. Regulation requirements should be looked upon, be-
cause implementing data is completely new for us, so if we know ini- Ismail: do you think Estidama is pushing the market too far or not
tially in the planning process then it would be helpful. The outcome pushing it far enough?
would be certainly better; if it comes later it will basically change the Dharvish: I would say they are reasonable. It is not like a LEED, it sets
design. For example; initially if we know that this is an Estidama build- up standards which is very nice.
ing then we would go to take into account the shade, which increases Ismail: in your opinion, what are the reasons behind not moving faster
the size of the atrium, then architecturally and structurally we have to towards more sustainability?
coordinate it. Then the chillers will get upsized, and then installations
will be updated, stuff like that. Dharvish: it is lack of knowledge, old schools thinking, it’s not impor-
tant on the other hand technology is going very high when we are ca-
Ismail: do mechanical engineers over size mechanical equipment? pable of so many things, so many electronics, like monitoring things,
And why? controlling things. So we can make good use of it to do a sustainable
design. The other thing there is a lot of scarcity we are going to see they put it, it should be easy.
in the near future). So this is really pushing us more towards sustain- Ismail: what are the interlocking connections needed between indus-
ability, but why is it not moving? I think because the client should be tries, consultancies, and regulations for a certification system to work
educated, and it’s the consultant’s job also, he should be able to pres- and develop well in the market?
ent it to the client in a nice way what the effect of sustainability. For
example; somebody on a business partner view, why should I pay for Dharvish: sustainability can be implemented like a regular thing part
an energy reduction when I get nothing in return?, there is no incen- of the subject, it’s not saying what are you specialized in? Your answer
tive or anything. But if he is really thinking of human comfort condition would be sustainability. It can be part of the normal education system;
and he can market it that way, saying it’s a so and so design building. it can be educated not only to children, but even housewives. Like you
But the client should be educated first, and it’s our responsibility also save fuel, it can be natural gas or anything. There are ways of conserv-
to educate the client, because we don’t expect him to be a technically ing it also. Somebody should make it reach all of these people; you can
advanced guy, he is the guy who has money. So it’s us that should use the media, advertisements…etc. for such a thing. Sustainability
educate them in a proper way, working through that barrier. Nowa- is not solely to engineers and architects in building design thinking
days, sustainability is a fashion term, saying the building is sustainable about it. It can be like a normal thing.
is a market ruling. If you see something that is LEED certified it sells out Let me give another example, we just walked through the main hall,
like hot cakes, but how do they know about these things, and what is right? You can notice people switching off the light, it’s to save en-
the importance of sustainability, how significant is that? Those kinds ergy, but in order to do that he raised the curtains, and there is ok, not
of things should be known. Because somebody knows if you don’t great but okay glass. It’s getting in light and heat also, so the load on
conserve water, your next generation will not see water. They should the AC is pumped up to 20% just to save 10% on light load. So they
know stuff like that. So it is knowledge and money, they should look don’t understand, what I think in this region you could pull down all
into the payback not the initial investment only. They so it’s so expen- curtains, put regular light and you can run the AC on very low electric-
sive, what is the return I am going to get out of sustainability? ity. That would save energy more than anything. In a certain regions
Ismail: what are the advantages and disadvantages of certification like India, it gets very hot and in the summer its 27-30 degrees, it’s not
systems? that hot but it’s bright, so you can pull up the curtain as there is not
much transmission gain, there’s light only but no heat gain. It can be
Dharvish: advantages it’s a very good guidance for everyone, it im- done there.
proves your knowledge, enhance your technical skills in doing that
as you research and it sets up a minimum standard of energy perfor- Ismail: do the engineering and the architecture education need to
mance for each building. Disadvantages; I don’t know. change in order to prepare students for the newly founded certifica-
tion systems?
Ismail: how could you evaluate and measure the contribution of certi-
fication systems to the built environment? Dharvish: like I said before, it should be changed, they talk more about
design direction, but sustainability should also be part, should be in-
Dharvish: I would say there should always be a certification system tegrated in the normal education. Physics student should know about
for sure. I know I am repeating it a lot, but there always should be a that since they study light, I mean anything that is related. And you
minimum set, a minimum line should be drawn, then strongly imple- don’t need to get to low level, it is high level education. But there are
ment it to set a minimum energy performance. Because that makes many things that can go; they should get the basics of sustainability
people aware of sustainability and energy conservation. So the certifi- integrated into everything. So for them it’s already open that window,
cation system will make people think and also think in a positive way. his brain is already open he should know. It’s not like sustainability is
Implement things that work for a better environment. That is my eval- a matter only an engineer should worry about or the architect or the
uation towards the C.S. the measure of implementation of C.S. contri- designer. It should be part of the normal education, the why and the
bution is very high towards sustainability, because it doesn’t only set a how, just the minimum things. I think it should be already there in the
minimum standards, it is also made locally and it’s a big contribution schools.
the way I see it.
Ismail: what do you think is still missing in certification systems? And
Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community? what do you expect in the future of it?
Dharvish: the first thing is the knowledge of it; people to make sus- Dharvish: I am not saying it’s a final book they have published, but
tainable community will need mostly cooperation. People should un- I can’t say specifically what they missed, but I can say there are a lot
derstand the concept of sustainability, why they are doing it? I mean of things you can add and suggest, giving them the chance to think.
they are not doing it for the sake of the government; they are doing As I told you they should have easy accessible guidance, applications,
it for their children’s future and their own future. This is going in such calculations and materials. It may not be only into the book range, it
a direction; that if I save a cup of water, will I get it? No that’s a dif- might be outside the book also. They can give other options; like this
ferent question, but if you save it somebody will get it. What is your can be done or this can be done. They should have an active forum,
approach, first thing; this should be there in everyone’s mind, the for people to communicate with them, to ask them about the cost
stakeholders; the consumer, the occupant, the housekeeping guy, the issue, because even if it’s highly expensive, the payback period in this
maintenance guy, the consultant, the client, the project manager and region will be short because it is very hot. They should have a research
everyone should be aware and knowledgeable. They should know entity or something that can analysis on something, saying it could
what sustainability is, and why they are doing it. That’s the first thing be done providing so and so, and give some information on the cost
and then comes the cooperation. If they know why they are doing it approximately because that will help us, not only us, but anyone to go
and how they will benefit from it in the future, then it is very easy. Then to them and see that, it shouldn’t have to be figures, but saying for ex-
technology and money comes later, because if the consumer is plan- ample; 2 dollars means affordable, 3 dollars high, 4 dollars very high, 5
ning to buy a villa in a community that is not built yet, and he knows dollars super high, 1 dollar is cheap. Some information on the financial
about Estidama via the community then of course he will invest in it. things and the some calculations, guidance will be helpful.
To do that also, you cannot force anyone but there are many kinds of
ways we can reach the people. I feel it should reach from the bottom Ismail: are certification systems credible?
level to the top level. Everyone should know what they are doing and Dharvish: yes they are credible.
why they are doing it and what sustainability is. That is the drive, once Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Dina El Karimy & Ansam Ahmed

Dina El Karimy
Position: Architect, Burthill
Country of Origin: Egypt
Biography: Dina graduated in 2003 from Alexandria Faculty of engineering,
architecture department, started her career in Egypt, worked on residential
projects, moved to Abu Dhabi in 2008, resumed her career working on hos-
pitals and was in charge of getting Estidama approval for a residential com-
pound in Abu Dhabi
Ansam Ahmed
Position: Senior Architect, Burthill
Ismail: what defines your design sustainability level? dama because the project was one of the first ones with Estidama so
Ansam: we can say if the client states that he needs a certain level of they were kind enough to sit with us and discuss, and also as it was a
sustainability, also if there are environmental laws that also defines the special case because it was already designed before Estidama. So they
level of sustainability. sat with us, explained how we can minimize the changes as much
as possible. So the meetings were with; client, UPC and architecture.
Dina: with Estidama now it’s compulsory to go towards something Within the architectural design team we met on weekly basis, but with
sustainable. client 2 to 3 times in 3 months and also the same with UPC.
Ismail: were you involved in any projects that had to be certified Ismail: when using a certification system in a project do you prefer one
whether LEED, Estidama or any other certification system? over the other? And why?
Dina: I was in charge of getting the Estidama approval for the Bloom Ansam: well, in Abu Dhabi you don’t have a choice, you have to rate
Gardens project Estidama; it’s a Masterplan for a residential compound the building by the local rating system which is Estidama rating sys-
consisting of 300 villas, club house, retail and a school. It was a special tem. If the client would like to pursue further certification for the proj-
case because this project was designed previously before Estidama ect, then we can go for say for example the LEED. Here in Abu Dhabi
became compulsory, so what we had to do is try to manipulate the we have to go by the Estidama rating system.
design to make accredited by Estidama’s 1 pearl without having to
change a lot. Even though in the design phase we had in mind that the Ismail: here in Burthill Abu Dhabi, how many people are certified? And
project would be sustainable and energy efficient, like we did studies what kind of certification?
for the flora and fauna on the construction site and how it would be Ansam: I am a green associate, and PQP building and community. Not
affected by construction. By that time when we were designing there PVRS; which is for villas.
wasn’t a credit system that we should follow. So after that we needed Ismail: is the Estidama process easy and clear? Do you struggle with
to make some changes in the design. any Estidama related work?
Ansam: I worked on a LEED project workshop and I was responsible Dina: I am a living proof of how easy and clear it is because I am not
for like research and efficient fixtures for water reduction in a building. LEED certified and I am not Estidama certified, but still I was able to get
Dina: the bloom project I talked about, I was in charge of tweaking the the 1 pearl rating for all the buildings. I didn’t even need to attend the
design of the whole 10 types villas and clubhouse and two retails to workshop; they have like forms and calculators and everything, they
match Estidama requirements. And since we had already put in mind even have a book explaining how to do it, a guideline.
to be sustainable, for the project to be sustainable, we didn’t have to Ansam: it’s also very easy to use and to apply, you can find out how
change a lot. But still we had to change the AC systems, we had to to get the form, calculators and everything. They have done a good
change the size of the openings, the type of the block work and the job in providing the forms, but still to get the rating and the strategy,
thickness and things like that. We had to add more shaded areas for especially for the more than 1 pearl rating.
playgrounds.
Ismail: how did you learn about Estidama?
Ismail: what type of meetings did you participate in?
Ansam: for me, as I am involved in pursing all that’s new about regular
Ansam: we used to meet weekly with the whole team to discuss strat- regulations in Abu Dhabi, so I have to find out things and that’s when
egies to pursue for the LEED project, the civil engineer, the architect, I got to know Estidama from the UPC website.
the landscape engineer and MEP engineer.
Dina: it was 2 month prior to Estidama being compulsory. It was all
Ismail: but no one from the client’s side? over the news and everyone was talking about it within the architec-
Ansam: well, the team leader used to gather information from the cli- tural society, but did I ever actually read about the credits? It was only
ent and we discuss it during our meeting. after I was assigned the task of that project.
Dina: I participated in meetings with the client, UPC side and Esti- Ismail: what are the fees associated with rating a project?
Dina: I think it’s only about people working on the project knowing Ansam: when are more system technologies and materials available
from the beginning, what they need to do, how to get credits in the that can make it easier for us to raise the benchmark also regulations
disciplines they are in charge of. So I don’t think you need more peo- they raise the benchmark.
ple. Although, from the client side there are some fees I think that they Ismail: when they raise it, what reaction does it cause from everyone;
have provide, as they need to provide commissioning agent. developers, consultants and everyone involved?
Ansam: sometimes they have to do an environmental assessment; Ansam: well it depends if they raise the benchmark and we don’t have
they have to hire an environmental consultant to that assessment. So available products and materials to achieve this benchmark, then it
it’s mainly from the client’s side. will create a big problem, people will object to the whole system.
Ismail: what about in terms of construction fees?
Ansam: yes, of course. The materials are more expensive. Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s current goals compared to oth-
Ismail: what did you have to change in order to incorporate the man- er certification systems?
datory certification system? Ansam: I think Estidama’s goals are higher because we are in a dry area
Dina: we had to change the block work; we had to use a thicker sec- where water is very precious and also they depend on oil mostly so I
tion, also the type of roof tiles used. Sometimes we had to minimize think it’s higher than the LEED.
or maximize the opening sizes for sunlight to get inside. We changed Dina: I am not sure, but I get the feeling they didn’t do enough stud-
the type of lighting system fixtures; we changed the type of bulbs. ies before putting those benchmarks. Maybe this will be better in the
Increase shaded open spaces for kids playgrounds; at least 90% of the future, maybe from practicing the actual thing they will know what
area, that was a big change as we had to add a lot of shades. As I told the best benchmarks to achieve are, because I get the feeling that they
you before we had already made studies even before Estidama be- took what was there already in the LEED without putting into consid-
came mandatory. The building envelope is the one that changed the eration all the local factors.
most because of the change in materials.
Ansam: I think they localized some of the requirements.
Ismail: do you think the certification system should be mandatory or
voluntary? Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s goals to ultimate sustainable
goal?
Ansam: I think a mix of both is good because to implement sustain-
ability you must have some minimum mandatory requirements to Ansam: it can’t be measured I think. Sustainability is a balance be-
make the community more sustainable, if it’s not mandatory no one tween water reduction and energy efficiency, I don’t see there is an
will do it. ultimate sustainable goal that you can measure or compare to.
Dina: I also think it should be a mix of both, but they should have Dina: to have an ultimate sustainable goal, you can have it on several
done, especially for Estidama, that before making it mandatory, they projects like now, but for it to be a goal for Estidama I think everything
should have educated the society first because most of the contrac- needs to change like culture and technology and we shouldn’t use
tors and small businesses like residential villas and this kind of small petrol running cars these kinds of things. Imagine reaching something
construction businesses, they are new to this they have never heard like Masdar, these technologies need to be available, to do something
of it before and I think it was a challenge for them even to understand like that it needs a lot of money, who is the client who will be willing
what is a credit system, what is being sustainable. to pay all this? I don’t think it’s an Estidama thing, it’ more of culture,
technology and education. If the technology is available for everyone,
Ismail: the integration of the certification system in the planning pro- what would prevent them from being more sustainable?
cess, how is it done? What is the difference between it and business as
usual? Ismail: is Estidama pushing the market too far or is not pushing far
enough?
Dina: I think it needs more coordination than the regular business we
do. It also needs the involvement of a commissioning agent as he is Dina: for now, I think they are pushing too far; they should have
required to do workshops from the very beginning. So this is a new started maybe a little bit less. The benchmark they set is too high to
party that comes to the team that wasn’t there before. achieve especially for small businesses, but big developers I think can
handle this.
Dina: also that the client has to be ready to pay more for the sustain-
able products. Ansam: a lot of suppliers are now aware of the process, but when
it started they did not know anything about. Now the UPC/Estidama
Ismail: what are the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating a team has a list of all the providers that would help us achieve the rat-
certification system within the planning process from the start? ing system, this was issued 6 months ago before that there was noth-
Ansam: it would be easier because you are still in the planning phase ing and it is mainly for the villa project because that is the most com-
so it will be easy to incorporate different rating system’s credit required mon project.
in the design, but if it’s later than that it’s a problem because you will Dina: for example, when we added the shaded area in the project I
have to change lots of things. talked about earlier, the materials for the tent was supposed to have a
Dina: but I also think it restricts the design process from the very be- specific solar reflective index, this was very hard to get the information
ginning, because if you have oriented the design to a certain sustain- for, to learn what the SRI for this product is. None of the suppliers knew
ability process you cannot easily move it. You also have to make a lot what an SRI is. For the block work it is easy to find such information, but
of studies from the very beginning which is a good thing, also how to it’s these small items that are difficult.
use local materials. Ismail: what is in your opinion the reason behind not moving faster
Ansam: you have to involve a contractor or a contractor’s representa- towards more sustainable buildings?
tive from the beginning for the construction waste management, the Ansam: the market is not ready for the sustainable products. Regular
process of recycling the construction materials or the reuse of con- normal people need to be educated not only architects and engineers
struction materials. It’s all credits that you will need for your project to so that they would ask for a sustainable apartment and availability of
be certified. materials.
Ismail: what are the difficulties you face when dealing Estidama, UPC Dina: the materials need to be cheaper and the choice selection wider.
and ADM?
Ismail: what are the advantages and disadvantages of certification
Ansam: with all due respect to Estidama, ADM are reviewing some systems?
projects and giving 1 pearl rating system, they are reviewing some
projects that have to be less than 10 villas or 75,000 GFA in a build- Ansam: it distinguishes sustainable projects from others and it is also
ing, UPC reviews larger projects. For example; the bloom project was a guide for the consultant to know how to achieve a certain sustain-
already rated and achieved 1 pearl from the UPC but when it came to able level. Disadvantages; it is not flexible, if not incorporated from the
ADM they kept saying you have to bring us for each building alone, beginning of the design it causes problems.
each villa alone which is more paperwork, it’s administrative prob- Dina: I think it is very important to have a credit system now because
lems. We submitted the same thing for ADM as we did for UPC but it the culture here is to renew every couple of years; they want to buy
wouldn’t match the online system because they were large files and new things and throw out old things and this doesn’t help sustain-
they also insisted on having to follow the system but we couldn’t do ability that much. To create a disposable product means that it is not
that because the ones we submitted to UPC were large files and could sustainable, sustainability means that it stays longer, that is part of the
not be uploaded on the ADM system. We came to an agreement at definition. I think with the pace of our lives and the industries it is a
the end that we will submit a compact disk but that was not their best must to have credit systems now. The only disadvantage is that you
solution. might need to implement this system to something that is already
Ismail: how do you set a benchmark and what defines it? built.
Ansam: local best practices and regulations. Ismail: how could you evaluate and measure the contribution of the
certification systems to the built environment towards sustainability?
Ismail: when do you revise the benchmark?
Ansam: it is difficult, especially here we are just at the beginning there the sustainability issue even in the small things like how they can be
is not that much certified buildings to compare, you can’t say I tried sustainable in their small lives, in school for example if they are doing
this one and was more comfortable in the other because it is involves a model how to use materials that can be sustainable.
health . Ansam: some parts of it we studied like the orientation and how to
Ismail: what is your definition of sustainability? provide healthy spaces, but still education has to develop because
Ansam: I think it is architectural quality and engineering quality. there are now new technologies.
Dina: sustainability is how to have things that functions for a while be- Dina: they also have to understand that it is not a choice; it is some-
fore the need to throw them because if you throw, though they might thing that we have to do.
not have an impact on the environment, they are unsustainable. Ansam: especially water and energy efficiency, life cycle of the materi-
Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community? als.
Ansam: I think first you have to educate the society about sustain- Dina: being environmentally responsible in their lives.
ability, and then prepare the market with sustainable products and Ismail: what is the true and added value of a certification system?
technologies afterwards enforce sustainable regulations. Ansam: it differentiates between a certified and non certified build-
Dina: I agree with that, for example; for waste segregation when you ing, so the certified one is the better.
have different cans, not all people understand what the material of Dina: I think it’s going to be better health wise for users in a residential
the thing I am going to throw is or where should it go. At your house building; the paint is not as toxicant.
you should have three different bins, if people do not really get that
it doesn’t work. So it’s mainly education and also advertising sustain- Ismail: what is still missing in certification systems?
ability, they are not advertising it. They should advertise it through the Dina: I think they need to enforce enough of the usage of local materi-
radio or on T.V. or even simple things like putting the 3 bins for gar- als because if it is local it will be sustainable somehow.
bage in the street. Ansam: maybe it needs availability of other strategies that could add
Ismail: in your opinion what is needed to make a paradigm shift to to the sustainability of the buildings, but not mentioned in the certi-
convert the built environment into a sustainable one? fication system.
Dina: I think the answer is affordable technology. Ismail: how credible are certification systems?
Ansam: make the market ready then enforce laws. Ansam: I believe they are credible.
Ismail: what are the interlocking connections between industries, con- Dina: I do believe that the credits will reduce energy and water con-
sultancies, regulations needed for a certification system to work and sumption, but I am not sure if this would actually change the environ-
develop well in the market? ment. It is very good that they are trying to make the new buildings
Ansam: I think availability of sustainable products and technologies certified and sustainable, but what about the already built one?
and if there is a third party to certify this product and say these are Ansam: they are still going to have the operational phase certification.
sustainable technologies. And it is starting to be available, like the list The third phase is operational and maintenance for the existing build-
of providers I mentioned earlier for the villa project, they also started ings, for example; when you are doing renovations or during main-
stamping certain products and technology, especially for plumbing tenance you are going to change the water tabs then the new ones
fixtures, so at least you have a guideline, you know that if you get the you will choose will be sustainable products, when you repaint your
labeled product that it’s good. There is starting to be some kind of un- apartment’s walls you are going to choose non toxic paint.
derstanding, but the most important thing that the client understands Dina: what about the waste?
such things.
Ansam: the waste segregation you can solve it through two ways; ei-
Ismail: does the engineering, architectural and project related educa- ther having 3 garbage shoots and it separates them or having colored
tion need to change in order to prepare students for the newly founded bags for each kind of waste through one garbage shoot and then later
sustainability requirements and how? on they are separated according to the color.
Dina: of course it needs to be improved; you have to focus more on Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Erik Hokanson
Position: Principal, Stantec
Biography: Erik Hokanson, principle at Stantec, is a co principle in the office
of about a hundred people. His scope of work is multi-disciplinary, primarily ar-
chitecture, interiors and master planning. He is an American trained architect,
graduated with a B Arch from Kansas state university. He worked for about 17
years in the United States for a variety of different sized companies, and the last
company was a company that he co-owned, and it was about 15 people. He
moved to Dubai in 2008 and has been since working with Burthill and Stantec.
Ismail: what defines your design sustainability level? think Jason here is looking at one for a project we are doing in Riyadh
Erik: There are a couple of things that come into play; one would be right now for a neighborhood communities because there are a lot of
the client’s definition of what they want to achieve, another is gov- points that we won’t hit automatically because we are in a green field.
ernmental requirement such as in Abu Dhabi with Estidama and their But I prefer the certification systems that are catered to their particu-
requirement for government facilities to have a minimum of 2 pearl lar environment, so Estidama I would tend to lean more towards that,
requirement. Designers can play a role and kind of advising the client but just because I’m here and doing this kind of work, but LEED for
on the level of sustainability, but I think it really first needs to come example doesn’t apply very well here.
from the client and his or her desire to achieve a certain level. Ismail: Do you think the Estidama process is easy and clear? Or do you
Ismail: Where you involved in any project that had to be certified? struggle with any Estidama related work?
Erik: yes, I’ve been involved in many projects with LEED and or Esti- Erik: my view out of it is that its pretty straight forward, I don’t think
dama certification. In the US probably four or five projects I was in- that there’s anything that is overly arguable. As with any certification
volved in, one in particular was for the Carnegie Museum of Natural system, once you decide you are going for particular points some
History, it was called the Powdermill Nature Reserve. I think it achieved points, even though you may get one credit, you have to do a lot more
gold status from LEED, really could have achieved platinum. work to get that credit than other points where you just have to do
one thing. So that creates maybe a little bit more complexity, but over-
Ismail: what was your involvement? all I think it’s pretty straight forward.
Erik: my involvement was always more from a design perspective or Ismail: what is the process you go through to learn and submit Esti-
from a leadership perspective, but I was not the person doing the dama documents?
checklist, I was not the person researching each of the credits, but I
was the person that was maybe leading a design charrette or coming Erik: well, there’s a couple different ways; if you are working in Abu
up with ideas or maybe researching a particular material or you know Dhabi, you will become aware of Estidama through the urban plan
more kind of from the design perspective. I was not the technical per- council automatically because any project is required to have at least
son that was involved heavily in the submission documents. one pearl rating and government is required to have two pearl rating.
So just through the fact that once you start to approach ADM or others
Ismail: So what type of meetings did you participate in and what was to start your project, you would interface with UPC and understand
their occurrence? the requirement to go through, so it’s a government driven require-
Erik: well if I am using the example of LEED in this Powdermill nature ment.
reserve project, I was responsible for setting up and conducting a se- Ismail: what are the fees associated with rating a project?
ries of workshops that included all stakeholders between the client,
the contractor, the engineers, the architects….etc Basically we held Erik: I know that LEED when we were doing that in US on the con-
these meetings on site in an existing facility that’s on site and out in struction value they said it would generally add 3% to 7% to the con-
the middle of the country near Ligonier Pennsylvania. It was in an old struction value of the project, but I think it varies greatly on the size
classroom building and we would do these meetings probably once a of the project. So if we are looking at fees relative to the architect and
month or as warranted and just flush out ideas; what were the goals of engineer, if we are doing for example a villa its will still require one
the clients, how are we going to achieve those goals and it was a good person to go through and do all that documentation. Whereas if your
multi disciplinary approach. doing a large office building that’s 20 times the value of that, its still
probably going to be one or two people doing most of that work, so
Ismail: what disciplines were involved? the percentage fee value will go down tremendously probably on a
Erik: if I’m using this project in particular I think it applies to most proj- larger project. We actually need to track that better internally, I don’t
ects, but this powder mill nature reserve project we had representa- think we have data right now, although we could go back and see
tion from the museum, from the client, the contractor was involved in what data we are spending on for example. We have done now three
a pre construction service phase, so they were engaged in the process or four Estidama projects, we are doing now one in Qatar with QSAS,
early on, architects of course, interiors were being done by the archi- we could start to see a trend of how our time is being spent, but gen-
tects, MEP engineers, structure engineer, landscape architect and we erally speaking we have one individual that’s taking most of that with
also had specialty consultants like we were doing a living machine for support from each one of the disciplines. So if you are looking at the
sewage waste water treatment so that consultant was there. So that overall percentages of the project, it may end up being 2% of the fee,
was about it, they were a pretty well rounded group of people that that’s a wild guess. It’s not a lot, but it is enough that it makes a differ-
could participate on many different levels. ence. The thing I think that you have to understand, that our group in
Ismail: when you work with a certification for a project, do u prefer one general is tending to do those kinds of things anyway. So we’re doing
over another and why? energy modeling anyway, we’re being responsible towards the envi-
ronment anyway, we are looking at sustainable materials anyway, so
Erik: no I don’t prefer any; in fact I don’t really like it. I understand the these are things we would do regardless if it was or not a LEED project
need for a certification system because it helps the lowest common or an Estidama project or not. Where it makes a differences actually is
nominator understand what they need to do to achieve a sustainable the hardcore number and actually doing the spread sheets and filling
project, but I think if I was to choose I would prefer an Estidama type out the submission requirements, it’s the paperwork and UPC is fairly
system that is more catered to a particular environment. I know LEED demanding and I think we over achieve and I think that shows our
is trying to do that. I know LEED has some pilot programs, in fact I passion for doing this work and doing it right.
Ismail: what do you have to change in order incorporate the manda- change, ideas change. I think it might be more of continuing educa-
tory certifications system usage of Estidama? tion. As far as process, I think I said it before, probably more involve-
Erik: I think it is a little bit more regular in the process and we do have ment with engineers and getting the engineers involved in an early
a sustainability professional in the office that manages the process in- stage of the design and also maybe hiring, with all due respect with
stead of going through the motions and kind of leaving it up to the the engineers I work with, hire caliber of engineer that is used to a
individual to follow through with things, we have a more structured collaborative process, that you can have a dialogue with about sus-
arrangement to make sure we are achieving those credits. So I think tainability and they actually have input in a process. As I have worked
the main thing is just order or structure to the process is what we on teams, we worked on a project we didn’t win the project it was a
would change. proposal stage for a project for the Pittsburg conservancy project, and
it was a net zero energy project, but we had a very sophisticated team
Ismail: Do you think the certification system should be mandatory or that we built and the engineers that we were working with and the
voluntary? landscape architects, these guys were top notch, they were educated
Erik: you know I think that a certification system in itself is mandatory, on all of the newest and latest technologies, materials and systems,
just because you are filling out a checklist to achieve a certain level of the dialogue was so much more sophisticated than the dialogue I’m
certification. I keep going back to the committee on the environment used to having now. The things that we talk about now are things that
that’s the one in the US that’s more of a voluntary system, that I still we are used to doing; solar hot water or collecting rain water. There’s
think achieves or exceeds the goals. I think one thing about having nothing kind of pushing the envelope. We were talking about using
a voluntary system; that it requires a sophisticated client that under- different kinds of fuel systems from collecting grease from restaurants
stands the goals that they want to achieve and it also requires a part- in a community, just really opening the horizon. I think part of it just
nership with a consultant to achieve set goals. So I think a voluntary making sure, for me to achieve a better sustainable design we need
process can be stronger, but as with education or anything else you better educated people, probably, that’s another answer to that.
have to go with the lowest common nominator usually, to make sure To add on the earlier question of is the Estidama process easy and
that we are achieving those goals, which brings in a certification sys- clear, the one thing I understand that’s a little bit problematic with UPC
tem that allows you to quantify and verify that you are achieving those is that the people aren’t there for the construction process to provide
certain levels. My preference would be a voluntary system obviously, the appropriate guidance during construction and that’s a concern. So
because I think you could achieve a stronger result and you would fo- if you have these requirements you need to have staff and people to
cus on the things that are important to that particular project instead be able to administer that. And those concerns that they aren’t there
of chasing credits. in Estidama. So that’s a problem because this can slow down the oc-
Voluntary would only work with a sophisticated client that desires to cupancy permit process, you could lose some weight of what you’re
achieve a certain kind of project and a consultant that was partnered trying to enforce.
with them the right way, otherwise voluntary doesn’t work. Voluntary Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s current goals to other certifica-
would work if, I talked to you about this a little bit before, but in the US tion systems?
right now the dialogue is not about LEED as much as it is about net
zero and energy conservation, and it seems that its shifting to more Erik: I think it’s harder to achieve and I think it’s a higher sustainability
of a voluntary type of system, but the more sophisticated clients the goal than LEED. That being said, I think that it’s just its not overly dif-
utility end users, the educational facilities; universities, high level cor- ficult, but I think that there are more requirements in the Estidama
porate environments are looking for this because they realize there’s system, especially with the post construction and process. With LEED
a value in it. Not only because it is doing the right thing, but they are it’s not required and so there’s no way to kind of manage or monitor
saving money by doing it, so there’s payback and it’s voluntary but it whether you actually achieved it or not, it’s a voluntary system. Where-
requires a level of sophistication of the client level to understand what as Estidama requires that, so I think the wisdom of Estidama is in the
that means and why it’s beneficial. right place, I think it’s a better system for that reason.
Ismail: to integrate a certification system and sustainability measures Ismail: how do you set a benchmark? What defines it?
in the planning process, how is it done and what’s the difference be- Erik: I guess you have to balance in order to set a benchmark, you have
tween it and business as usual? to look at a lot of things beyond environmental sustainability, you have
Erik: to be honest with you from the design and planning process, I to look at cost and what can the market support, what can a developer
think it just requires a little bit more rigger, good architects, good de- and owner support as far as cost because if you required everyone to
signers, good master planners are thinking about these types of things, do a 5 pearl or platinum building, there may be some developers who
no matter what project they are doing and what level of sustainability wouldn’t be able to build buildings because of the cost. But if you are
they are trying to achieve. Building orientation, that is something that able to achieve something, it’s better than doing nothing. I think you
well represented architects and designers and mass planners have need to find that, its probably finding that kind of middle ground that
done from day one, that’s what you were taught to do and it’s the hurts a little bit, that requires effort and requires wisdom to make it
right thing to do. I think for us, as I said it before its probably a little bit happen, but its not so painful that it precludes development and al-
more rigger in the process to make sure we’re kind hitting all the right lowing projects to happen, so that’s probably my answer for that.
points and make sure that we’re hitting all of the different variables Ismail: when do you revise the benchmark?
for each discipline that we need to hit at the right time. I think that’s Erik: I think you revise the benchmark when the market is adjusted
where the certification system does help, as it gives you kind of a map and the materials, technology and the know-how are here, and then
or it gives you the check list that you need to hit these things in this you can raise the bar. Its just like fuel efficiency with automobiles, it
particular stage of a project, but I think intuitively strong engineers, ar- can be achieved, you look at formula 1 race cars and how they have
chitects have always done that. If you look at the top notch guys in the to keep slowing them down because they get too fast or how they
world that are doing this stuff ; the Richard Rogers, the Norman Fosters, have to change the engine. At some point the technology for lowest
the Renzo Piano. These guys go back and look over time and what common nominator catches up, once it all catches up and that’s the
they have achieved before Estidama or before LEED or before any of industry standard at that point, then u need to raise the bar again. So
these systems came about, they were doing these things anyway be- the time frame for that is hard to completely identify, but that would
cause they knew it was the right thing to do. For me it’s just about, its be my opinion on when you would raise it, it’s when the market has
probably just a little bit more rigger in the process. I don’t think there adjusted to that level then you need to raise it again or when it is com-
are many things that we would change, I think that’s a process that placent.
we go through anyway we would always charrette, we would always
do workshops and we might tend to include the more inclusive of Ismail: what reaction do you think it’s going to cause?
other disciplines. We should be doing that anyway, but sometimes the Erik: It probably would be a little different than the first, but it would
master planners, architects and landscape architects get ahead of the be similar that people would react. Once something becomes a stan-
engineers, but I think that Estidama and some of these CS processes dard or requirement and you push it further, it’s definitely going to
kind of force the engineers to be involved early on, which is good they have a reaction because its money, its cost, if it didn’t cost any more
should be doing that anyway. money you would be doing it anyway. I sense that there would be a re-
Ismail: what would you do different to achieve a better sustainable action for sure if you’re from the private community, probably from the
design? government community less, just because they have different goals
or developers they are just to make money whereas the government
Erik: in order to achieve a better sustainable design, I just think it entity needs to do things efficiently, but they conceptualize a little bit
comes down to being well prepared, probably making sure that you differently.
are educated on all the current thinking on materials that are available,
just being more engaged in the profession and making sure your up Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s goal to an ultimate sustainable
to speed with all the current materials and available materials…etc. goal?
and in systems that are available, because it is easy to get trapped in Erik: from all the systems that I am aware of and have read and are
things you have done before and things change obviously, systems somewhat familiar with, I think it’s an excellent system for achieving
an ultimate sustainable goal. I think it’s hitting all the right points, its credits instead of doing the right thing.
setting a certain standard, its quantifying and verifying that those stan- Ismail: how could you evaluate and measure the contribution of the
dards were met. I think that’s kind of the ultimate sustainable certifica- certification system towards sustainability?
tion system that you go through the process of design or you achieve
certain goals and then during construction your aware of it and man- Erik: I think it’s evident, use the US as an example, real estate brokers
age it and then afterwards you test it, verify that you achieved those are getting higher rent charges because they’ve designed buildings
goals. I think it’s like a science experiment; it’s the same deal of making that are LEED buildings, universities are attracting students because
sure that it works. That’s a pretty exemplary example of the process. they have a sustainable campus. I think its a difficult question to an-
swer, I don’t have factual data, but I am sure that factual data out there
Ismail: is Estidama pushing the market too far or not pushing far that supports the fact that certification systems for sustainability are
enough towards sustainability? contributing to a higher level of a sustainable standard in the built
Erik: there was nothing here previously, I support UPC for adopting environment. So I think projects like Masdar and KAUST of Saudi, these
Estidama and I think they have pushed pretty hard, I think it’s been kinds of projects are nice benchmarks to try and hit and achieve, I
a bitter pill to swallow for some. Again it comes down to resources think people take note of that. I think that there’s no doubt that certifi-
available with the UPC to help administer and educate the profes- cation system does contribute to a higher level of standard in the built
sion, the developers and contractors on what it is. I think they actually environment, and it has. Just look at the US now, the amount of LEED
did it the right amount, I think if anything it took them a long time to buildings, its huge.
adopt it and probably it was a little confusing at the beginning, as to Ismail: how do you measure sustainability?
whether you had to meet the requirements or not and really what
you’re supposed to be doing. We were part of that process obviously Erik: it comes down to, are you measuring it scientifically or your mea-
and you were part of that process. I have been involved, in the US I was suring it by human response? For me personally I want live in a healthy
involved with LEED, but that kind of unveiled over a period of time. I building environment, that makes me smile and want to do my work
think they did it the right way; the only thing I would say is maybe a or live or otherwise. So if I am in a building that is achieving those
little bit more time with education and maybe being a little bit more things and has been designed using appropriate materials that are
organized before unveiling it. kind of having their act together and manufactured the right way, then yes I would measure that, you’ll be
then unveiling it, instead of partially unveiling it and then u know put- able to measure that as a sustainable building.
ting new updates before they really said it was requirement, it was all Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
confusing at the beginning, but I think they pushed the right amount Erik: number one, it takes the community or the developer or have
I think it was good to set the bar in a high level and to require people you to make the decision that they want it to be a sustainable com-
to start achieving it, its that serious of a problem that it needs to be munity and at what level. Whether it’s prescribed by that particular
address. developer or owner or whether it’s a collaborative process, including
Ismail: what in your opinion is the reason behind not moving faster members of the community that have ideas about what they want to
towards more sustainable building? be sustainable. Often it’s prescribed, because it is a developer or owner
Erik: I think it’s always cost, everything comes down to money. I mean based system working with a consultant and a board prescribing onto
why are people building buildings in the middle of the desert? Be- the community what we think is the right thing for the community.
cause there’s money here, there’s no other reason, and it doesn’t make You could argue that’s maybe not the right approach, but its some-
any sense at all to be building in the desert, it’s insane. So the only thing. It’s a top down approach, whereas I have to imagine there’s
reason that’s happening is because there’s money; there’s oil money some amazing opportunities, in the US there’s a lot more community
here, otherwise you wouldn’t be building here. Now if you’re going meetings and a lot more community process and development and
to build here and you have to build here because of the oil, you need I think in that process you can probably achieve a more wholesome
to do it the right way. I think its also education and this is where I go kind of result, where the community is actually participating in the
back to the US and I told you before that I attended an AIA conven- process and bringing their own ideas into it may feel invested in it.
tion in June, and the dialogue was not about being sustainable, it was Ismail: in your opinion what is needed to make a paradigm shift to
about how sustainable and it was getting into energy, being aware of convert the built environment into a sustainable one?
how much energy the building is consuming, that was the dialogue. Erik: I keep going back to education, I think it’s really important; it’s
It wasn’t about if we’re going to do a sustainable project. It stands way our governments, our politicians, our municipalities and our authori-
beyond that, I think now if you did not do a sustainable building, you ties taking a leadership role and I guess requiring good stewardship of
would be questioned. I mean high school students are aware of sus- our built and natural environment. We are living on a planet, that has
tainability and when they go to college, they expect that the campus only so many resources and we’re eating them up in a very aggressive
is being a good steward to the environment, they expect that. So I way and when we are done with planet we will move on to another
think its education, especially in the Middle East its education; making planet and take their resources. So we need to start at a very high
people aware, making governments aware and school systems. I think governmental level, making people aware of and politically it’s a chal-
that can hinder sustainable development, if people aren’t educated on lenge, because there is the wild west mentality that certain people
it. And then cost of course it always comes down to money, so cost is don’t want government involved in their lives and what they do and
another reason. that’s the challenge. The small government mentality, but people have
Ismail: what are the advantages and disadvantages of certification to take individual responsibility over the environment and everyone
systems? can’t pretend that it’s not an issue.
Erik: the advantage that I would see is that it kind of sets a standard It’s a tough one, its education and it’s the way you sell it; showing
for how you’re achieving a particular level of sustainability. It compares that it has value, that it does save money on the long run. William Mc-
apples to apples, on project by project basis, so it’s an analytical means Donough puts it so beautifully when he always talks about it’s for our
to understand what level of sustainability you are able to achieve. I children and he’s right. If you take it to that level, you’ll hit the right
think from that perspective, that is the advantage and that is why it cords with every human being, you hope that he recognizes that it’s
makes a lot of sense to do it and as I said before, for the lowest com- important to do these things. I think it always starts with education
moner nominator, regardless of the talent level of the organization of and our leaders, architects, designers and engineers have a respon-
the consultant putting together the submittal certification system. You sibility and you know as an AIA member, I am charged with a certain
are required to hit these goals and you are required to hit these items, responsibility that my professional organization is asking us to do bet-
so it creates an apple to apple scenario. The disadvantage is clearly ter and it’s my responsibility to do that.
credit chasing, you know you’re chasing credits to meet a certain level Ismail: what are the interlocking connections between industries, con-
of sustainability. I understand the point of it, I think that there’s prob- sultants and regulations needed for the certification system to work
ably no perfect credit system, the only thing I could think of is that you and develop in the market?
are able to build an optional credit system where the consultant and
client together could work to cater their level of sustainability by the Erik: a lot of this comes down to materials and availability of materials
particular credits. For example on Mafraq, when we were looking at Es- in particular environments and you know it took a while, I keep going
tidama as a guideline; bike racks and showers, it really makes no sense, back to the US because that’s where most of my experience is, but it
no one is going to go on bike to work in the Middle East, its just not took a while for manufacturers to catch on. Once the manufacturers
going to happen. You may have two or three people that do, during did catch on they shifted the way, they made the materials or the avail-
the winter months, a handful few, but in the summer never, it’s never ability materials…etc. to make it easier for the consultants to specify
going to happen. So those are just things that don’t make a whole lot those materials and use those materials. The Middle East is still pretty
of sense. You know some of the rain water collection, some of those new at this and it’s very challenging to find materials that have the
kinds of things, yes they make sense, but the amount of times that it right post consumer recycle materials…etc. that meet the goals you
rains here, I mean you put all that investment in those systems, does need and you end up shipping those materials in from far away. That
it really make sense. You really should be achieving that through your being said, you have to ship any material and they use here more or
landscape systems. But I think the main disadvantage to me is chasing less, regardless of where you are shipping it from it is still more sustain-
able to use sustainable materials, but it’s more expensive. I think prob- opers…etc apples to apples relationship to how you are achieving a
ably the biggest thing is for, again because of a certification system it certain level of sustainability, it’s predictable.
in itself requires a response by industry to meet those goals, to help Ismail: what is still missing in the certification system and what do you
to meet those goals. When you think about Estidama and the type of expect in the future developments?
landscaping we do, there’s a whole post of indigenous plant material
that is required to achieve those goals. So Estidama itself has probably Erik: I think probably a good thing is that the certification systems re-
started to enhance the number of nurseries around the country that quire the consultant to do a lot of work on their own, but there maybe
probably didn’t exist before because now they have to have it and ways in the future that it’s a little more seamless about how calcula-
we need to use those indigenous plant materials, instead of shipping tions are done and maybe the certification system actually has pro-
them in from somewhere else so you know, industry will respond to grams within it that allow you to, its an easier system. As far as content,
requirement. I think that’s the biggest interlocking connection. as I said before I mean I’m not a big fan, I like the voluntary system,
just because I think it has potential to have a stronger outcome, it’s
Ismail: Do the engineering and architecture and any project related more specific to that particular circumstance. So as much as you can
education need to change in order to prepare students how to deal make the certification system flexible to a particular environment, but
with the newly founded sustainability requirements? it’s next to impossible to make a one size fit for all, I know that. How
Erik: definitely hundred percent. I don’t know what they are teaching do you do that? I don’t have all the right answers, but flexibility is the
in the University of Sharjah; unfortunately I haven’t participated a lot key obviously. I know that LEED has gotten so much better over the
in that system, but without a doubt. I think again most high educa- years, originally it was so difficult that it actually promoted, some-
tion facilities in the US are dealing with this, I taught in Carnegie Mel- times, building buildings out in the middle of no where that required
lon University and it was huge, the projects we did all of them were all kinds of road infrastructure everything get to it, which defeats the
sustainable, it wasn’t even a question and the only fault I had with whole purpose of smart communities and everything else. So I don’t
Carnegie Mellon, is the types of system we were looking at were used really have any specifics, maybe some future developments will be
by 0.0001 % of an owner or developer would ever use the systems its more online and program oriented, where achieving the credits is
that we were looking at. It did get the students thinking about being more of an input system instead of going off and doing the math by
creative in their solutions to doing things that were sustainable, but it yourself and then input it later. So there’s software there for you to do
was requirement. I ran a forth year integration studio and the projects your shadow and shade calculations, maybe there’s a way that that
were required to be sustainable projects. I think they did have a class can happen. So flexibility and more support on the certification sys-
were they had to do a certification process. But it should be a require- tem, technically online.
ment in all schools, without a doubt and at least students need to be I think most likely, consultancies are doing that on their own, but there
merely aware of it. Now when I was in school we didn’t have LEED, is a lot of cost and a lot of brain powers being spent on doing that
when I started college in 1987, but we did do solar calculations, wind individually. Whereas if you could develop something more holistically
calculations, understanding what environment building is and think- that allows the lowest common nominator to achieve sustainability
ing about building orientation. So we were being educated about easier, then its going to be more accepted. I don’t know if that’s pos-
sustainability without calling it sustainability. And I think most of the sible or not, I know that the guys, the I-tech guys were talking about
better programs do that, but we need to make sure that we’re doing a similar system for municipality approvals, where there’s some sort of
that, it’s not just about design. I think the other thing with education a computer system that helps the municipalities understanding the
is; I think it’s been proven now over and over again that sustainable approval process, so it does not get stuck on someone’s desk. Some
design does not hinder design excellence. There was a period, where system or some software that allows reviewing of that submittal, so
these building that were being designed sustainable or net zero maybe it’s on that end as well it’s at the UPC and they have a software
looked funny they didn’t look like other buildings, they looked odd, that helps them review faster and at our end it will help us get through
they looked like science experiments, I think now we are way past that the process easier so it’s not such a burden on us or the client.
and I think now there’s no reason why you cant have a stellar design
and still have it be the best sustainable building built. That to me was Ismail: how credible are certification systems?
important because I’m a very big believer in design as a contributor Erik: I think they are credible, I think the people writing the standards
to the built environment, but there’s no reason why that good design are fairly intelligent people and I think they have been invented by so
can’t also be a sustainable design. many professionals, by the time they see the light of day that they are
Ismail: what’s the true added value of certification systems? credible.
Erik: I think it sets a standard by which all consultancies or all devel- Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Iris Eckstein
Position: Landscape Architect, Obermeyer
Country of Origin: Germany
Biography: Iris is a trained Landscape Architect holding an Engineering Di-
ploma in Landscape Architecture from the University of Applied Sciences Os-
nabrueck, Germany in 1998. She is also a member of the Architectural Asso-
ciation Saxony Anhalt, Germany. She is specialized in Landscape design and
master planning with a variety of software knowledge including BIM. Her ex-
perience ranges from healthcare, mixed-use, leisure and commercial to infra-
structure and park design. Currently she is a Landscape Architect at Obermeyer
Middle East.
Ismail: were you involved in any projects that had to be certified? Iris: to check the local market, see what is here available and not to buy
Iris: no, we started with Al Ain hospital, in the beginning they said it must plants from Germany or natural stone from South Africa. The plant se-
be a LEED project because it was before Estidama being on board. lection is very important to have really the right plant for this country. I
would go through local greeneries and then fly to Malaysia and buy other
Ismail: what type of meetings did you participate in the project and what palm trees.
was their occurrence? Who was involved?
Ismail: do you think Estidama is pushing the market too far or is it not
Iris: regarding the hospital and Estidama there was only one meeting I at- pushing far enough?
tended; UPC first kick off meeting, approval meeting. Generally the meet-
ings involve the design director, I was involved as a landscape architect if Iris: from landscape point of view, for the circulation water they have
there is a presentation or they need the plan and I am doing it, but mostly these points that are really good and not too far from the market. I don’t
for this meeting the architect is involved, the project director and some of think the system is too difficult to follow and it makes complete sense too.
the leading architects. Other disciplines like mechanical were in another I think it is fine the way it is. The good thing is that they provided a plant
meeting. list; plants we should use or which are recommended, this is a very good
tool to help. The project in which I was doing site supervision we had a
Ismail: do you have any preference when it comes to certification systems? problem that the water demand for irrigation was so high. We had several
Iris: I like Estidama. I think it is important here in this country from my meetings discussing with the contractor, with the client representative,
landscape scope, because I have always thought they waste a lot of water with the irrigation designer and it was also a project not following Esti-
for using a lot of trees and all the softscape greenery a lot in big areas, they dama but they changed it now to Estidama rules.
irrigating during the day for instance. I think they have to look for other Ismail: what are the reasons behind not moving fast enough towards
plants which are used here normally in this country for this climate and more sustainable buildings?
also to change the irrigation schedule to the night. I also like it because
they have to see what is here available in the local market. We had proj- Iris: I think it is the influence of the client, the money and missing ecologi-
ect designed from a New York architect and in his specification is written cal awareness.
natural stone from South Africa or wherever, but we have natural stone Ismail: what are the advantages and disadvantages of certification sys-
here not in Abu Dhabi but other Arab countries around. tems?
Ismail: the integration of the certification system in the planning process, Iris: the ecological awareness is the advantage, if you have to follow then
how could you describe it? you would think about what plants, what materials to use, what you can
Iris: I like it if it is just in the beginning so we have this checklist and we make better for sun protection. Disadvantages; it’s not that easy to design
can do our designs while trying to keep this in mind, what is needed and them, you have to keep a lot of things in mind.
to do the design based on these criteria. Ismail: what is your own definition of sustainability?
Ismail: what could be the difference if it hasn’t been integrated from the Iris: long life products, not wasting energy and water, correct plant selec-
beginning? tion that’s how I see it as a landscape architect, no need to design water
Iris: if we do not do this then we have a problem, when it comes to the features with flowers everywhere, and to keep in mind that we are living
approval process; UPC is checking it and our design is against Estidama, here in a desert climate.
so I think we will have to redesign it or we are not going to get our ap- Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
proval or if the project needs to be 2 pearls and you are planning against Iris: if you follow Masdar city and what they are doing there, I think that
it without having this in mind and design like this then you have to rede- is sustainability. To have the option to walk everywhere, you do not need
sign it so it costs more in the end. to go to the groceries by car as you have transportation, or the climate is
Ismail: how did you learn about Estidama? better because they are using these shaded areas, not wasting water on
Iris: it was almost three years ago when we were working for Al Ain hos- using water features and plants. In the future if you want to build a new
pital and needed to do the UPC approval, this was the first time I was community you can narrow down the streets and make the blocks small-
involved in this process. er, but for the existing I think it can’t be done. These are small things you
can change around here like having a lane for bicycles or a lane for buses.
Ismail: would you like Estidama to do anything extra in terms of publica- Then people will start using public transportation because it is easier, you
tions or to make people aware? can reach from A to B faster. One thing also the petrol is too cheap here
Iris: I was attending one of these basic information lectures; it was only 2 so everybody is driving their own car, same with water and electricity; the
hours and after that some of my colleagues decided to go for a three days AC is running all day.
training. I would suggest to make it more public and to have more people Ismail: what do you think could be good in term of incentives?
involved and aware.
Iris: maybe trying to make it more expensive, if every single person has
Ismail: do you think certification systems should be mandatory or volun- to pay his bill maybe then they will start thinking about not wasting it.
tary?
Ismail: do you think the education should change for people like archi-
Iris: it should be mandatory for this region here because they have the tects and landscape architects and how?
money and they can do whatever they want, sustainability is not in their
minds. I think they should think more about environment, sustainability Iris: it should change. Maybe there should be training, each office should
as they cannot buy everything with money, they think they can buy water have at least one or two persons that are educated about Estidama on
and I haves to analyze this idea especially in the landscape part; to have regular basis, if there are changes. Each office should get an invitation
big water fountains and sometimes it is 50 degrees, for me this is waste from Estidama of from UPC; they have to train their staff. Maybe then it’s
of money, water and energy. That is why for here I would prefer if it was a good idea for the university to invite from time to time have workshops
mandatory. or seminars or only teaching the people, giving them presentations on a
real life project to explain what they are doing.
Ismail: what would you do differently to achieve a better sustainable de-
sign? Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Hemsa Ibrahim
Position: Green Building Certification and Daylight Modeling Professional,
iMCC
Country of Origin: Canada
Biography: An Architectural Engineer holding Master’s degree in Building En-
gineering specializing in Building Environment. As a LEED AP, Estidama PQP,
and a PMP professional, she currently works on managing LEED and Estidama
green building certification projects for a number of residential and commer-
cial projects in the gulf region; including but not limited to a Hotel, residential
tower, community center, staff accommodation, and an office high-rise build-
ing.
Ismail: what is your scope of work? mally representing the client, and the contractors, the main contractor;
Hemsa: My major work is on the rating systems certification of buildings, they would have a specialized person. Sometimes we ask for meetings
what we do is we concentrate on Estidama and LEED projects. So we are which are technical in nature (MEP work etc.) from the designers as well.
only consultancy for the sustainability part. We are not included in the In other meetings we check products and we are in contact with suppli-
design in terms of designing a building itself, but we are included in terms ers, so we ask the suppliers to come in to discuss some of their products
of a consultancy for green buildings and sustainability. What we do is, we or cut sheets or ask for some documentation that is missing.
take the project from the design phase all the way through the construc- Ismail: When dealing with any project, do you prefer one certification sys-
tion phase to occupancy. If we talk about Estidama there is an occupancy tem over another? And why?
permit which is at the end of the construction where you get a certificate Hemsa: Well, personally I would prefer dealing with LEED, that is because
stating your building is certified for occupancy. If we talk about LEED it’s it is more established and you have more resources. LEED rating system
a bit different, because once the building is occupied you can submit for has been out there for a while, and you have credit forms that are really
construction phase and then you will get your certification.We work hand clear and straight to the point. If you have any questions you can go back
in hand with consultancies, as well as suppliers and manufacturers; we to the CIRs which is a huge database for you to go through and kind of
have to get in contact with them for clarification and verification. relate your issue to other projects, and you have case studies. So it is easier
Ismail: Do they come to you? They ask for a specialist? to deal with these projects rather than going to a new rating system that
Hemsa: In terms of services, yes. The client is the one asking for the ser- is just beginning to be established now. But in all fairness to Estidama,
vices; unless the main consultant is acting as the client in this case we Estidama has improved since 2010, in terms of requirements and in terms
would be appointed by the consultant. So far this has not happened. of communication as well. It was hard at the beginning to get in touch
with anyone, and understand what their requirements are. What was hap-
Ismail: What are the current projects you are working on? pening at the beginning was that they only launched the system and said
Hemsa: We have projects that are going for LEED, and projects that are this is your reference guide and go by it which was not enough to do the
going for Estidama voluntarily because they have obtained the building submittals and submit just by the reference guide.
permit before Estidama was mandated. We have for LEED a hotel, and 8 Ismail: Are all employees here certified?
residential towers and a community center. All of this is in Khalifa city A.
it is called Al Forsan development. The rest, which are villas and Staff Ac- Hemsa: Yes, the team is all certified PQPs and LEED APs.
commodation, are the ones voluntarily going for Estidama. Because we Ismail: What are the fees associated with rating a project?What are the
were asked to do the Estidama rating after design and construction have construction fees?
started, we are going for 1 pearl. Hemsa: I can give you a general percentage, which is between 1-2% of
Ismail: What defines your design sustainability level? the overall project cost. If we are only considering the consultancy fees,
Hemsa: First of all, it’s the client’s requirements, what he has in mind, and if you are talking about a certified versus a non-certified project the extra
of course it’s not a one word thing. We have to get into meetings and cost is not going to be more than 5%. The design itself should not cost
discussions of what the client vision is and where they are headed, what more. Designers are more familiar with the concepts and strategies of
they have in mind in terms of sustainability and green buildings, and then green buildings; once you design it this way it’s not going to add much
of course the budget and type of project. This process act as a pre evalu- cost. But in the construction you can see the higher cost, which is the 5%.
ation of the achievable certification level: is it gold, above or below, one Ismail: The integration of the certification system in the planning process,
pearl or more. how is it done? And what are the differences?
Ismail: What’s your involvement in those projects? Hemsa: How it is supposed to be done: in the first meetings of the con-
Hemsa: For some of the projects I’m the LEED manager. One example is cept with the client you should start involving the specialists of sustain-
the hotel. On other projects I am a team member, I come in and out help- ability. These meetings will kind of coordinate and discuss the way where
ing with some of the credits. I am also a specialist in daylighting modeling, the project should go from the concept stage all the way through design
so I do that for the other projects as well. For Estidama I am doing the and details till construction. Your involvement is more or less in these
staff accommodation which is aiming 1 pearl, as well as the villas. So for workshops, where you direct the work. However, what’s happening right
those we have the appointed PQP. We are the middle person coordinat- now they still think of the sustainability factor as an add-on, it is not part
ing and suggesting between the design team and Estidama, what the of the process. So what is happening is that after the design is done (or
synergies are, what they can do, where the potential points we can go at least the first stage before the detailed design) they start involving the
for and so forth. Then, once this is more or less finalized we can go to consultancy. So this would kind of bring the project back to the design
Estidama (UPC), with these submittals, and we are the ones chasing after stage, because we have to sit down with them and find the synergies and
the certification. potential credits which adds modifications to the design they already did.
This is where the integration process comes in.
Ismail: Now, for the villas and staff accommodation, what types of meet-
ings did you have for those projects? Ismail: what are the pros and cons of the process?
Hemsa: Right now because the project is under construction, there is a Hemsa: Pros are Efficiency, management, saving in time and money for
weekly progress meeting. Normally in these meetings we have a section the client and for the consultancy as well. It is a whole package. Cons…
for the certification systems (either LEED or Estidama) and we discuss and I think it is just the fact that you have extra team members, and the fact
highlight the issues we have so far in this stage. Now this is the higher that you have more coordination and other aspects that you have to think
level of details that we discuss, but then we have other meetings that of, which is actually not new, but going back to the original way of design-
we normally schedule with either the design team or the contractors to ing.
always be on track and try to achieve the goals. Ismail: What’s the process you go through to learn about Estidama?
Ismail: Who is involved in those meetings? Hemsa: We heard about Estidama from the media, and it was interesting.
Hemsa: In those meetings we have the project managers, which are nor- This is our business and field, so we had to get on board. We started with
a few classes with Estidama and training introducing the rating system. able design?
From there we took the reference guide and exam and became PQPs. Hemsa: My dream is that the government invests more in awareness,
Ismail: Did you have to change anything in order to complete the manda- and how to get the word out to people, which include the clients, so if
tory credits? you don’t get the client aware of what they are doing there is no mean-
Hemsa: Since we do not do the design, we have to go through it to see ing, because everything is directed by the client. They are trying but I do
if it is fit for the certification, then we suggest the areas where they need not think it is good enough.I would start with the young generation at
to work on are. There are certain changes from before Estidama to after; schools, and families. They are already doing this, but it is still not well
these are for example the outdoor thermal comfort through shading all advertised.
the walkways, parking spaces, and playground and public open spaces. Ismail: What are in your opinion the reasons behind not moving faster to-
These were missed before and it was neglected. This is the major change. wards more sustainable buildings and communities?
The solar hot water is another one. Their requirement is to have at least Hemsa: Money and technology are available and within hand, so people
50% of the annual demand by solar hot water. The U values of the build- are not motivated enough to care about how this is affecting future gen-
ing envelope also changed, they have codes and standards now that are erations.
more stringent than before.
Ismail: Advantages and disadvantages of certification systems, what are
Ismail: Is dealing with Estidama clear? Are there any struggles? they?
Hemsa: They are not there yet, it’s a learning curve of course, and it’s a Hemsa: Disadvantages, which we experienced with one of the projects
new system. Since the last two years when they started it has been im- here, some items do not have a short payback period. When dealing with
proving. Even Estidama has more communication, where you can sched- people who want to see the money now it becomes hard to sell. For ex-
ule meetings easier for project discussions. ample PV has a very long payback. To get into the trouble to explain this
Ismail: What exactly is not clear? and try to convince the client to invest and that it will help him in the
Hemsa: The level of details they want in their submittals. In other systems future, it is not that easy. There are no incentives. If we are talking about
you have a credit form where it is clear what you have to either fill in boxes Estidama they ask you to come up with a system that provides at least
or upload whatever documents or drawings. In Estidama they have no 50% of the hot water demand by solar energy, this is an extra cost upfront
automated system or anything spelled out, so you still wonder if this is and has a long payback period. Clients still don’t see the point how this
enough or not. That’s why we still meet before the submission. From my will help them in the first few years. Advantages (for example in an office
experience with Estidama and other systems it is better to have a clearer building), if you really took care of the indoor air quality, you would have
system. It will save our time and also Estidama’s time. It will just direct you a good improvement in the health and productivity of your employees,
in the right way and we would know exactly what we need to do. Doing you’re giving your occupant the right environment to live and be com-
that would not restrict the team on the contrary it will guide them and fortable in, leading to more productivity and happiness. Health issues will
put them on the track. also be way less. This has been proven by many studies.
Ismail: Do you think certification systems should be mandatory or volun- Ismail: How could you measure the contribution of certification system to
tary? the built environment?
Hemsa: I think they should be a mix of both, definitely. This is because of Hemsa: Bills! At least here, because the indoor air quality is kind of subjec-
two things. First, people do not do things voluntary. In this region they tive, so bills would be the most measurable way.
don’t have the awareness so you have to kind of push them into one di- Ismail: How do you define sustainability?
rection, and this is where the mandatory part comes from, and then you Hemsa: Being self-sufficient, using and choosing wisely. Think twice be-
leave the option for them to go further. Results achieved now by Esti- fore using something or the way you use anything that you have right
dama, in such a short time it would not have been possible to achieve now and just think of what is going to happen with it later on, think long
if it were only a voluntary system. Second, the market would not have term.
been improving to the level that we are seeing. Professionals as well, they
wouldn’t have been involved as now, taking projects in this direction. If Ismail: What does it take to plan and built a sustainable community?
we had a more stringent system we would also see more rejections and Hemsa: Huge collaboration of government entities, people, communi-
a lot of projects that would just stop because of the level of the profes- ties, and of course professionals and the market. It is just as cooking some-
sionals. thing huge, so everyone needs to help.
Ismail: When do you revise a benchmark? And what reaction would that Ismail: In your opinion, what is needed to make a paradigm shift to con-
cause? vert the built environment into a sustainable one?
Hemsa: I think once we reach a level where all the new buildings are Hemsa: I think it’s a proven experience that regulations and codes are the
meeting at least one or two pearls (as required) then you go a step further. biggest driver of the movement.
Once the market has evolved to a good state, professionals are up to the Ismail: Does education need to change?
level of taking further steps, then you can change the benchmark. This is
already the case that is happening with other certification systems, once Hemsa: Yes, it needs to go back to the original way of design. Now we are
it’s easy to achieve you put more stringency. It would be resisted as usual, calling sustainability and these strategies as new, it is not. If you go back to
maybe a little less, because they are used to the system, but it would be how architecture and design was before, you would realize how it used to
normal to expect that. have more analysis of the environment and start from there. Regional ma-
terials for example is not something new, if you have stone you use stone,
Ismail: How do you rate Estidama’s sustainability goals comparedto other mud then mud. Shading was also common sense. The building envelope
certification systems?And to reaching sustainable developments? was more insulated, with more thermal mass. So, it is just going back to
Hemsa: It is reasonable. Within the same range if you compare the pre- the origin. Our education system now is kind of only focused on the tech-
requisites from LEED and the one pearl in Estidama, they are on the same nologies, and fastest way to do it. The change should be teaching the
level. Maybe Estidama has again a bit more on the outdoor thermal com- students a way of understanding and analyzing.What’s happening now
fort, but this is just because of the climate here. I think with Estidama you is they teach students theories that are unrelated to the practical world,
achieve the benchmark set. They are on the way, we are not there yet, but and how to use technology and software packages, to start quickly and
it’s just the start. finish quickly without understanding the impact of what you are doing.
Ismail: Is Estidama pushing too far or not far enough? Ismail: What’s still missing in certification systems?
Hemsa: Well, when they first started they pushed the market which was Hemsa: Noise is not covered in certification. One other thing is indoor
not ready for this at all, and they are still pushing it. Now we can see the air quality; it is a voluntary or optional credit. You can even achieve LEED
improvement, now you can see for example the suppliers are purchasing platinum without this credit, meaning a LEED platinum building could
and certifying their products (such as water fixtures) to get into the data- still have the smell of VOC, to me this is a missed point in achieving such
base. This is something that was not heard of before, so they are pushing a high rating.
the market, and they need to consistently keep on pushing the market. Ismail: How credible are CS?
The focus right now is on the prerequisites, another aspect is for example
the VOCs, which is not a prerequisite in Estidama, so we do not see that Hemsa: The verification you do after the building is already designed and
much improvement, but the suppliers have an idea and know they would constructed is the way to measure if it is credible or not. In most cases you
need to comply in the near future. won’t be able to pass the verification if it is different. Measurement would
give the credibility.
Ismail: What would you do differently in order to achieve a better sustain-
Ismail: Thank you very much for your contribution.
Ivar Krasinski
Position: Design Director, STR-EDGE
Biography: Ivar is involved in master planning, event design, and architecture.
His aim is continuous improvement of the design process through improved
analysis and new tools.
Ismail: could you explain what you do? still need that person as well.
Ivar: I am an architect and a planner. I design a process that makes Ismail: the integration of the certification system in the planning pro-
buildings more optimized, which means for environmental optimiza- cess of any project, how is it done and what is different? What are the
tion, economic optimization, functionality optimization any criteria pros and cons?
identified at the start of a given project. Ivar: it’s not really that different it is just adding another bar to the
Ismail: when you start a project, what defines your design sustainabil- Gantt chart, because you still have to maintain a regular project sched-
ity level? ule maybe you add some milestones in between and you are having
Ivar: Well, optimization pretty much does that. Once you have the cri- personal contact with the other teams, you coordinate and negotiate
teria for the project set by the client and user groups, you will make things as you would in any design process. But you can’t really assume
sure to design a level of sustainability into it that is aligned with the fi- more time or less time, it just runs in parallel, it’s another resource. The
nancial goals and other criteria in a way which is balanced. This means pros are a greater emphasis on cross disciplinary work, the cons would
the client has a major role to play in defining how much sustainability be additional staff and therefore fee, however this is a worthwhile ex-
balances his other needs. pense and will result in overall project savings much greater than the
added cost incurred during design.
Ismail: were you involved in any project that had to be certified? And
which type of certification was it? Ismail: how did you learn about Estidama? When was the first time you
ever you heard about it?
Ivar: Both the Mafraq hospital and AL Ain Sanaiya redevelopment
projects had to be Estidama certified. Ivar: Estidama had quite a few public lectures and conferences for
almost a year and a half before it was made a requirement for cer-
Ismail: what was your role in those projects? tain project types. So there were many opportunities to meet with the
Ivar: I was a design director. people behind it and to discuss with them how it’s going to look. So
Ismail: what type of meetings did you participate in? And who was in- even before the last draft of Estidama was made public, there was a
volved? And what was their occurrence? quite bit of information already available.
Ivar: The meetings were mostly with the client side project manag- Ismail: did you have to change anything in order to incorporate the
ers and also the government authorities. The meetings were weekly, requirements or Estidama?
but sustainability was not discussed in every single meeting, it was Ivar: On the hospital definitely since it was not originally designed to
only discussed whenever issues came up that related to it, so we, the be Estidama compliant and was inherited by us from another team.
consultants, had to push for sustainability agendas . The Government There was already a preexisting concept which had to be converted
and Client side set sustainability in general as a goal, but left the de- into an an Estidama project so we had to retrofit some ideas to save
tails of the implementation to us. On the internal side we have all the energy on to a preexisting design, which was approved by the client.
disciplines meeting on a weekly basis. We have management meet- It’s unfortunate because it means the project wasn’t really optimized,
ings for all disciplines with department directors, and then we would we just did the best with the original approved design. If you look at
have separate design meetings with all disciplines in order to resolve the master plan of Sanaiya Estidama was actually there from the start
design issues. as one of the original goals. This was a benefit because we were able
Ismail: when using a certification system in a project, do you prefer or to design in an integrated multidisciplinary fashion from the start and
another and why? all stakeholders were in on the process.
Ivar: I prefer Estidama because it has more weight given to the ac- Ismail: do you think that the Estidama process is easy and clear? Do
tual performance of the building it’s not a normative system, it actu- you struggle with any Estidama related work?
ally talks about empirical data and real energy models that can give Ivar: There has been some concern about which of the Abu Dhabi
you a more accurate prediction about what this project will do when authorities are really in charge of which part of Estidama certification,
it’s built. While other systems like for example QSAS; use a normative however this is in the process of being resolved.
energy modeling tool which is not a true energy model, but rather Ismail: do you think that certification systems should mandatory or
a rough guideline, and as a result design or optimization are down- voluntary?
played in importance, which is a shame because these are the two fac-
tors which can really improve building performance. Estidama actually Ivar: I would rather see mandatory certification systems as it would
gives potential for true optimization. put more pressure on the architects to actually do the right thing
and to actually check the results. Right now, there is a series of empty
Ismail: what are the fees associated with rating a project? claims about sustainable projects that have very empty concepts that
Ivar: You do need to have a dedicated person for submittal and that sound good but do not actually work. If we had a system like Estidama
would take 1 or 2% more fee of the overall gross fee, it is not a huge fee that actually checks these claims it would be very useful. So I would
but it is there. Of course the larger the project the smaller the percent- say a system like that should be mandatory. On the other hand if you
age is. If you are talking about a smaller project then this percentage have a system that doesn’t really compare things empirically I wouldn’t
will increase and might go up to 10%, because having one dedicated say it would be such a good idea to make that mandatory because it
person for Estidama will definitely be necessary to pursue the process isn’t really rewarding better behavior in terms of design. So I would say
correctly and it’s going to be reflected in cost. If you have a smaller if it is qualified yes, it should be mandatory, but there should be really
team you will still need one person, you have a larger team you will apples to apples comparison between projects in terms of energy use,
and normative ways of comparing energy use are just not going to The checklist is again one of those prescriptive systems, you pretty
allow sustainable design to reach its full potential. much just get some sort of a spread sheet where you have got op-
Ismail: do you think Estidama is pushing the market too far or is not tions about things, where you can integrate slots and those give you
pushing the market far enough? different points, that’s prescriptive that doesn’t really address how
these very specifics interact, and the only way to really check on these
Ivar: Estidama is more or less appropriate for its time. Its allows con- specific interactions is to have a true energy model mutually analyzing
sultants and clients to open their minds to the idea that sustainability all your inputs and then that’s the energy model side. The checklist is
doesn’t necessarily mean higher capex as long as various disciplines supposedly trying to address the embodied energy a bit, but they are
work together in an integrated fashion. It will take time for the market just giving a menu of items. Some things are certified some things are
to catch up with this notion, but as more young graduates join profes- not certified, embodied energy is not something properly accounted
sional ranks with this notion as the basis of their education eventually for, there are also loop holes in there.
the industry will change. Estidama is great because it’s one of the first
systems to push for this integrated design process model. In an ideal world you would have the performance and you have the
embodied energy and these two things would be the basis for every-
Ismail: so when do you revise the benchmark? What reactions do you thing and you would not need checklists, you will be actually deal-
think it’s going to cause, specifically here in the Emirates? ing with the real numbers because it gives you a building’s area this
Ivar: Once a large number of projects have been designed, built and is how much energy it uses per cycle and this is how much energy
certified everyone will understand the process and its potential. Then was used to build it and that’s it. You can’t deny these results you don’t
allsides benefit; the clients understand it better, the government au- do a checklist at this point that would just be pure math, that will be
thorities understand the process better and the consultants under- scientific.
stand it better. Then we can continue increasing the stringency of Ismail: what is, in your opinion, the reason behind not moving faster
criteria. towards more sustainable buildings and communities?
Ismail: how would you compare Estidama’s current goals compared to Ivar: well, lack of knowledge on the client’s side and consultants’ side.
other certification systems? We can’t really blame contractors because I’ve found the larger con-
Ivar: I would still say it’s superior because it brings greater rewards for struction firms to be quite knowlegable, and by the time a project
actual energy modeling and gives points for actually improving the reaches the construction phase most of the big decisions affecting
design as opposed simply granting points for material and product sustainability have already been made. Any system needs to first edu-
selection. It has points for materials of course, but the increased em- cate the clients, consultants and contractors, then there is a phase of
phasis on energy modeling is a very positive thing. those entities working within the system to make sustainability a fun-
Ismail: and how would you rate Estidama’s goals to general sustain- damental of their approach. Then it’s time to review the standards and
ability goals? make the stakes even more rigorous and scientific. This takes time and
no one is to blame, the rate with which these changes are applied
Ivar: I still think of all the systems with which I am familiar, it’s still can possibly be slightly increased through regulation, but overall the
superior. I am not saying it is the best we can possibly do in terms process of adapting to more sustainable design standards necessarily
of certification. In terms of sustainable design there are some issues has an incubation period.
to be resolved with the embodied energy side of the equation and
embodied energy is a very risky business as everyone has an opin- Ismail: how could you evaluate and measure the contribution of the
ion and everyone can argue, by picking and choosing criteria, that certification systems in the built environment?
their particular product has embodied energy advantages. It will be Ivar: sustainability is a broad term again are we talking about energy
interesting to set some international standards where we create some performance or about embodied energy or about just people get-
kind of a rating system for embodied energy. Many things would enter ting ratings and knocking off items off a checklist? Because you can
into the equation: raw materials, sourcing, shipping, location, and it definitely say that checklists are being knocked off. All cities are having
would be a very complex thing to do, but worthwhile. So in terms of many more certified projects being built, are we talking preliminary
the energy modeling Estidama is better, in terms of embodied energy system there are more buildings built following that system, that’s
I think all systems have to work quite a bit on the rationalization of great, is there necessarily been an improvement? Again it depends on
what embodied energy claims are being made. If you speak with any the system; you will need real empirical data. For me it will be wrong
consultant about that, they are like lawyers, they give you a case and to speculate. I would like to actually see the energy usage figures for a
can present it in five or six different ways and come up with different city per GFA for one year to the next, because we know the city there
numbers each time. So they are very clever, but it would be actually is expanding but it would be fair I think it take the overall GFA of and
nice to have all that cleverness resolve itself into a system which can then divide all that energies by GFA, and as the city continues to grow
create a baseline consenus for evaluating embodied energy claims by and expand you can see it there a slope in the curve? Is it taking off? Is
manufacturers and suppliers. it exactly the same? It is an interesting question to ask I don’t know if
Ismail: in general, what are the advantages and disadvantages of cer- anyone actually gathers those data but I would love to see it.
tification systems? Ismail: How do you define sustainability?
Ivar: if you are dealing with prescriptive systems versus performance Ivar: it is actual energy performance that is required to operate a
based systems, the prescriptive improve behavior only in a slight building and embodied energy going into the building. If you can
amount and then it will always stay at that level; it is going to achieve quantify both of these two, then that’s sustainability, if you can mini-
the desired minimum. But if you are talking about performance based mize and optimize the two for a given use or for a given budget, if
systems, two things happen; number one you can continue reward- you can make sure that these two numbers are minimum then that’s
ing people for their improvements in terms of their design, but on the sustainable. On the other hand if you do something that is the result of
other hand it also means that the consultants and clients need to be an inefficient process then add some technology to make it look sus-
more educated about what actually is happening to their buildings, tainable and you can easily get photos for the project in a magazine,
to their projects, to their master plans because they really need to un- while the energy performance of the design is ridiculous because the
derstand things at level which most consultants have not reached yet. fundamentals assumptions are unstudied or misguided, that’s not sus-
So my real comparison is between performance based systems, and tainable, that’s just P.R.
prescriptive ones. Any system out there if it pushes towards the per- Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
formance based its good, if it pushes on to prescriptive, in my opinion,
is going to be a short term, it is not going to work in the long term. Ivar: it requires number one: understanding of how people are go-
Are these prescriptive systems good in any way? Yes, if there were no ing to move around within this community, that’s the first thing, how
system what so ever there would be even less awareness about sus- much can you avoid using transportation, how much can you rely on
tainability needs, so these are a good first step. So once people get alternative modes of transport. The second level would be to allow
accustomed to the prescriptive systems maybe then we can move to proper walking using the system without getting into a car. And last
the more performance based and then with time you can keep in- of all you will still have cars, but optimizing their networks to an extent
creasing these stakes. The performance based approcah which actu- that the system doesn’t get congested so they don’t get stuck, so we
ally analyzes the building’s energy performance truly analyzes all of don’t have unnecessarily miles driven just to make a u-turn. So opti-
inputs and understands all of the average cost and actual operating mization of the transportation system is the number one core of de-
energy. If you have a system that’s normative it can take a building signing a proper sustainable community. And if you can do that then
shaped like a snake and compare it to a building shaped like a box everything else is more of icing on a cake. If you can design proper
based on the same GFA and orientation or something, it can give the neighborhoods that work, the project is culturally sensitive to its loca-
two buildings the same energy performance, even though in reality tion that makes sense then orientation and passive design tends to
we know they can’t perform in the same way. So a normative energy be worked into the individual streets and buildings. If you don’t have
model is not really empirical, it’s not performance based, a normative proper transportation to begin with then the rest of it won’t make any
energy modeling approach opens the door to getting away with bad difference, since the wasted energy resulting from an ill-conceived
unsustainable design while claiming the opposite. infrastructure cannot possibly be recovered by improvements in in-
dividual buildings. but in many systems you can have a highly certified building that has
Ismail: what are the interlocking connections needed between the poor energy performance. In their current form, certification systems
industries, consultancies and regulations for a certification system to don’t necessarily have much impact as proper design.
work and develop well in the market? Ismail: do you think improving certification systems is the right direc-
Ivar: it actually starts with the certification; if you are going to have tion?
a certification system that puts pressure on people to improve per- Ivar: it is the right direction, but they need to evolve over the years. It
formance then by default better products will be generated. Where if will take forever in a day for all the consultants, clients and contractors
the certification system puts pressure on people to get some sort of to catch up and it needs a push from someone; people who can re-
stamps on their products, then all that it means is people are going ally push for that are the government agencies that introduce these
to get the products stamped, and doesn’t necessary rely on embio- systems. It is not going to come from the market by itself. Systems do
died energy or energy performance. The certification system can be change something, because it is better than the worst possible sce-
designed in such a way that the industries and the consultancies need nario. Cetified bulding are still slightly improved and this is better than
to perform better in terms of embodied and operatiing energy. With nothing. And Estidama is even slightly better than that, but all systems
current certification systems not being too emprirical on these two need to go forward a long way before we get away from checklists
counts, there is little incentive for industry and designers to try harded that don’t make that much difference. As long as empirical analysis
in terms of these key criteria. So the certification system is the driver continues to increase in weight in any system, that system is moving
in the game. in a positive direction.
Ismail: does education need to change, the type of education, the Ismail: do you think building information modeling has any effect that
methodology of education for architecture and engineering? could be related to sustainability issues and how?
Ivar: definitely, now architecture is still in a fashion phase, we don’t Ivar: certainly, because now we can make our building models smart-
need to dispose of these methods entirely but we need to make sure er; where we actually have data logged in, systems being used and
there is a better understanding of how do buildings actually perform. when we have the energy model we can have better information, it
There are too many students graduating these days that do not under- allows for greater integration between disciplines. Right now we are
stand the basics of passive design, and do not understand the basics not at the stage where we can take BIM model directly into an energy
of what people did historically in any given region and that makes for model software, since there is a lot of manual work that has to be done
a very poor education for an architect, and the main thing they are to convert the data today, but I trust that eventually direct interoper-
doing is following fashion trends. So the science needs to be put back ability will come.
into architecture, the empirical study of how a building functions both I would say the best advantage of BIM right now is economically. While
structurally, economically and in terms of energy. If you can bring that you can’t run a BIM model into an energy model software directly, you
back to into your architectural education, you will have much better can keep track of added cost of every single minor adjustment made.
architects and then they can rise to any challenge certification systems So as the costs vary you can balance that side of the equation, the
provide in the future. economic side, the capex side. So you can simultaneously run your
Ismail: what’s still missing in the certification systems? energy model on one side, and run the financials on the other. That’s
Ivar: the big hole is really having a fair assessment of embodied en- already a lot more information than you were getting just 10 years ago.
ergy and an integrated view of energy performance, so as a designer Actually 10 years ago it wasn’t possible to do it, but now it’s relatively
I don’t have to run out there and compare claims from various suppli- easy. So BIM is a huge benefit, because in the end the financial reality,
ers. They all claim their product is the best and they poke holes out in the cost reality has to be balanced with environmental and energy use
their competitors’ products. I don’t really have an objective assessment desires and if you want to balance the two you need data, and now
of these claims and counterclaims, some system for doing that. You data is available.
would actually be analyzing the true supply chain of what is going into Ismail: is there anything else you wish to add?
each product and if you can do that objectively, everyone will benefit. Ivar: There should really be more emphasis on real data and more sci-
Ismail: do you expect anything else in the future developments of cer- ence. Science and architecture and engineering need to come back
tification systems? together. They have always been together until the last century sud-
Ivar: I would expect more performance based and less prescriptive denly we ended up again with architecture as fashion, we need to
,fewer checklists and more empirical data, more Math. stop that and we need to go back to the scientific and engineering
roots of the profession.
Ismail: how credible are certification systems?
Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Ivar: right now they are not that credible, now is better than nothing
Jason Kamihira
Position: Senior Architect, PQP, QSAS, Stantec
Biography: Jason Kamihira is a Senior Architect with an emphasis in sustain-
ability certification systems. He is currently working for Stantec, an A&E firm
with simultaneous projects in three different certification programs all in vari-
ous stages of completion. His primary responsibilities to each of these projects
include the education of the project team and client about the certification
program, ensure compliance, and the final submission to certifying authorities.
Prior to moving to the MENA region in 2008, Jason was a designer at Popu-
lous Architecture (Formerly HOK Sport) for 8 years working on numerous pro-
fessional & collegiate stadiums. He graduated from the University of Kansas,
School of Architecture, Design and Planning.
Ismail: what defines your design sustainability level? documentation expected for submission.
Jason: Several factors determine the level of sustainability we design Ismail: do you struggle to do any Estidama related work?
each project to; Jason: Yes, energy models are the worst, it’s the worst thing and it’s the
 The client’s sustainability aspirations (required score) only thing that causes us to struggle. For the most part, all the other
 The cost to the Client (budget) credits we can do or are doing as best practices already, but energy
modeling, not so much.
 The cost to the Design Team(DT) (adjustments to current means
& methods) Estidama’s energy model building envelope requirements are ex-
tremely detailed and time consuming. To have an energy modeling
 Does the solution have a proven track record (Firm’s reputation consultant build the model would cost around 10,000 USD per simula-
& Client’s satisfaction) tion and still require a lot of hours from our staff to insure the model
Ismail: you were obviously involved in projects that were certified, is correct.
what type of certification systems? Our firm has a good relationship with the creators of IES, one of the
Jason: Estidama, QSAS, and LEED leading energy modeling software, and even they have commented
Ismail: what was your involvement in these projects? that they do not build their models for clients to such a level of de-
tail as being asked for by Estidama. IES is currently helping us muscle
Jason: My responsibilities include initial review of CS’s and to estimate through a couple of difficult models.
project score. After which the DT confirms all the targeted credits and
their intent. If there is a question as to the intent, I will contact the CS Recently, Estidama has included a prescriptive path alternative to en-
for clarification. I also handle final documentation and submission of ergy modeling, which we will target on our next Pearl rated project.
CS requirements. Ismail: as a consultant, what is the percentage you increase the fees?
Ismail: what type of meetings did you participate in and what was Jason: 7% is conservative (meaning we really want the job) 10-12%
there occurrence? And who was involved? is more realistic. The majority of the increase is allocated for the third-
Jason: Types of meetings: party consultants needed for certification. ie.) Energy modeling, com-
missioning agent, acoustical, and lighting, etc.
 Coordination meetings with all of the engineering and design
disciplines (weekly) Ismail: what is the process you go through to learn and submit Esti-
dama documents?
 Client meetings to describe and explain what credits we are tar-
geting (3-6/project) Jason: The Estidama PBRS had just been released and was not yet
mandatory, when we were contracted to begin several governmen-
 CS meetings regarding any discrepancies or clarifications (2-3/ tal projects. The authority that contracted us required the projects
project) to be designed to the Draft PBRS with the intent that once the CS
All disciplines are involved; MEP, infrastructure, landscape, interiors, ar- became mandatory the projects would need, if any, only minor adjust-
chitecture and structural. ments for compliance. The UPC held several consultant seminars and
Ismail: when using a certification system for a project, do you prefer workshops which several of us would attend regularly. So we became
one over the other and why? more familiar with the process and got to know a few of the Pearl As-
sessors. Thru face to face exposure we were able to ask question, get
Jason: I prefer Estidama having witnessed its development over the advice and/or hear about what other consultants were doing on pilot
past few years and feel somewhat attached to it. It is comfortable to projects. We also learned a lot about submitting thru the process of
me and the DT because we know what is expected and what needs to submitting. That is, once we submitted to Estidama, we would receive
be done for compliance. the Pearl Assessor comments explaining the clarification or supple-
I like that up until the near future, Estidama has been only one book mental documentation required. On several occasions, meetings with
for buildings covering Schools, Residential, and Commercial. I really the Pearl Assessors were scheduled with either the client represen-
can’t stand having to find all of the reference materials, published at tative or relevant engineer for workshops that ultimately lead to the
different times and posted on ever changing websites. Some RFPs project approval to proceed.
require submissions be in compliance with older versions of CS’s so Ismail: what did you have to change in order to incorporate the man-
that makes things difficult. datory certification system of Estidama?
Ismail: do you know how many people here are certified? Jason: For the mandatory Estidama requirements, the two biggest
Jason: 6 PQPs with Estidama, 10-12 LEED-APs, and 1 QSAS-CGP out of changes we had to make with regards to design process, were for IDP-
about 100 professionals in the office. R3 the inclusion of a CxA much earlier on the project than standard
Ismail: is the Estidama process easy and clear? practice and RE-R1 the use of an energy model to judge energy im-
Jason: There is always a learning curve with any new system or set of provement. There were other adjustments but for the most part they
regulations. I can’t say that it has been easy, nor would I say that it has were minor.
been impossible. Something that I think would have helped speed up Ismail: so you think certification systems should be mandatory or vol-
DTs understanding of Estidama implementation would have been to untary?
provide case-studies or pilot project examples of each credit with the Jason: I think a mix of both. I like it being voluntary to the public and
mandatory for government projects. I also believe that there should  Noticeable environmental depreciation
be some kind of incentive program which in turn would generate  The reaction will always come with resistance; it is up to the CS to
more volunteers. evaluate the level change to match the market’s abilities.
Ismail: the integration of certification systems in the planning process, Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s current goals compared to oth-
how is it done? And what are the differences between integrating it er certification systems?
and not? And what are the pros and cons?
Jason: right now, I think they are good even though they seem a little
Jason: Usually a DT will have to get approval from a planning au- stricter than LEED and QSAS. It is going to be back and forth on each
thority before they begin communicating with a CS, so to maximize credit some things are more stringent, some things are less. My favor-
planning environmental benefits and prevent contradictions most ite is the QSAS regional priority credit, which basically means unless
planning authorities include several CS requirements in their approval there is a manufacturer on the other side of the border crossing of
process. Without this integration a DT could progress a design too far Saudi Arabia; you can only use Qatar companies. That to me is great; it
along so that certain environmental options are no longer available by is probably one of the more strict ones, whereas Estidama is a bit more
the time they begin to work with the CS. The pros of this integration lenient like LEED about where those products come from. Especially
is that at the planning level, correct passive design decisions can be knowing that in this region there are not manufacturers of everything.
made because they are the first pieces of the puzzle, meaning correct At one point you are thinking if that is the case what Qatar is actually
decisions can be made about the project and site without such hin- doing is trying to jump start an industrial revolution on their plot of
drances as program, aesthetics, and blind want. A sustainable build- land or you won’t get those credits. I think QSAS is just waiting for
ing performs better when it is built on sustainable planning, the best some industrious company to realize that if they make this certain
designed building can only do so well if built on poor planning. widget locally they could be spec’d for all Qatar projects.
I ‘m not sure why CSs haven’t inverted the scoring systems from being Ismail: how do you rate Estidama’s goal compared to the ultimate sus-
based on credits or points earned to one where all projects start out as tainability goal?
the highest rating level and thru poor decisions can only loose points.
Jason: At first I thought Estidama was ahead of itself because the in-
Ismail: what would you do differently in order to achieve better sus- frastructure for all their credit aspirations was not fully in place. Some
tainable design? examples include:
Jason: I would like to see the UPC change their approval process to  Support from the waste management centers, to help design
require anyone planning to build anything must attend a UPC work- teams plan accordingly
shop before hiring a consultant to produce a design. At this workshop
the UPC will be informed of the client/developer’s proposed project  Number of available commissioning agents to be brought on
and be able to advise them on the planning related sustainable is- board at the beginning of the design
sues and what they need to do for compliance. This would be project  Certain materials were not easily available and the local knowl-
specific planning guidelines or rules that the client/developer would edge was not there yet
then take to a DT to begin designing on a strong sustainable planning  Only 1 bus route in the city had a frequency rate to comply with
foundation. This could prevent a handful of missed planning credit op- the public transit requirement
portunities that the DT usually doesn’t have control over e.g. project
densities, distances to amenities, and solar orientations based on in-  RECs could not be purchased from the local power company
frastructure. All that said with many projects now entering the construction phase
Ismail: what are the difficulties you face when dealing with Estidama, the majority of these issues have been corrected, so I stand corrected
UPC and ADM? their current regulations are in line with their desired goal.
Jason: I guess the greatest difficulty is being the middle man between Ismail: Is Estidama pushing the market too far or is it not pushing far
the authorities and the client, with the implementation of a new CS. enough?
That is, as the consultant we are in the subservient position to both Jason: Well like I said earlier I thought they were pushing too far but
and both don’t always agree, and we are responsible for appeasing have since have changed my mind. Now that I have seen the amount
both, so as to not affect the schedule or budget. of change that can take place in a relatively short amount of time,
Ismail: but the contractor is not on board in the design phase? maybe benchmark should be higher? Maybe at least on a credit by
credit basis, anything that has been consistently achieved should be
Jason: No, but they could be, as with the case of design build proj- reviewed for relevance.
ects. I think once more consultants, contractors, and clients have been
through the CS process on more standard phased projects everyone Ismail: in your opinion what is the reason behind not moving faster
involved will be more comfortable and possibly see the benefit of hav- towards more sustainable buildings?
ing the contractor on board earlier. Jason: In my opinion it is mainly two reasons; one is because we are
Ismail: do you have any suggestions or comments about this turn- not pressured hard enough, it is still financially viable to just ignore it
over? Because you have lots of people going back and forth, changing and keep going. The second reason is more psychological, in that, I
jobs…etc. believe people have a hard time believing that we could actually run
out of resources. Yes, numerous trusted media sources warn society
Jason: It does make it difficult; I believe that it is why I have to go that it is inevitable, but until it really happens I believe we will continue
back to saying it should be the client’s responsibility because there is to tell ourselves that:
less chance of the client changing then a consultant or contractor. The
client is always going to be there, so they might as well be the one 1.) What I do couldn’t possible effect the situation (for better or
holding all the information. worse)
Ismail: how do you think benchmarks are being set and what defines 2.) There will always be some somewhere
it? 3.) I will not be around to see the day we run out of resources (and
Jason: I think there are several; some set by the people in the indus- neither will my children)
try like the architects that should know the business well enough to 4.) It is important so I am sure someone else will take care of it
benchmark by knowing what the best, and newest building technolo- 5.) Etc.
gies being used. Some are set by the client saying “I’ve been to this
building and I like it, make my building like that or better than that”. Ismail: what are the advantages and disadvantages of certification
Other benchmarks are set by the government and CSs based on re- systems?
search and statistics of say, current use rates, then set regulations that Jason: The advantage is that it is the only way to try and change the
incrementally reduce the allowable use rates. I guess another way way people think about building and using buildings. The disadvan-
benchmarks can be set is by supply and demand and/or the percep- tages are that initiating any CS comes with a gap / learning curve /
tion of supply and demand. cost that the industry has to accommodate, and at the end of the day
Ismail: when do you revise a benchmark of a certification system? And no system will be perfect.
what reactions do the changes cause? Ismail: how could you evaluate and measure the contribution of certi-
Jason: I think one could argue any number of reasons to revise a fication systems to the built environment?
benchmark of a CS. Jason: Measure - Cheaper operating bills. Evaluate - User & staff sur-
 The people demand it veys.
 Political motives Ismail: how do you define sustainability?
 Other CSs are gaining in popularity Jason: Sustainability is humanities attempt to simulate what nature
does automatically in a balanced ecosystem.
 Oil reserves dwindling or perceived dwindling
Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
 Improvements with current means and methods
Jason: client support. Jason: Incentives, because right now we still have energy and water
Ismail: in your opinion what is needed to make a paradigm shift to available at low costs. Under these circumstances CSs will always face
convert the built environment into a sustainable one? criticism because their goal rarely results in an immediate and visible
reward. Incentives can be that immediate and visible reward to help
Jason: The world will need to run out of fossil fuels and fresh water, rewire people to use resources more efficiently. Incentives can be
followed by a global population reduction. phased out when there are no more unsustainable options left.
Ismail: what are the interlocking connections between the industries, Ismail: what do you expect in the certification system future develop-
consultancies and the regulations that are needed for a certification ment?
system to work and develop well in the market?
Jason: I expect CSs to evolve into something like a spreadsheet where
Jason: Well I believe the pressure is on the CS to achieve their goal a client enters their project’s program requirements and formulas run-
of reducing negative environmental impacts while also avoiding crip- ning in the background then spit out thresholds tailor made to fit each
pling the industry. That is, if a CS is not careful and tries to go from zero project. Building codes, life safety, and CSs will be merged into one
to 100 too fast the current industry will not have a chance to adjust entity instead of stepping on one another’s toes. It is kind of ridiculous
their ways fast enough to stay competitive. I don’t think consultancies for one to be more stringent than the other if they both have to be ap-
have much of a part in the matter. I mean if a CS says your design has peased. If they are not the same then one is always obsolete.
to perform to this level then the consultant specs those requirements
and if the current industry doesn’t comply manufacturers will either Ismail: how credible are certification systems?
change or disappear. So CS’s may have to slowly phase out unsustain- Jason: They are only as credible as they pertain to each project. Any-
able products so as to prevent local economic collapse. one working on a project that does not fit a, “one size fits all” CS, will
Ismail: do you think there are any changes needed in the educational think that CS is not credible. So however that CS is setup, defines how
systems that educate engineers, architects and anyone who is related credible, or what kind of project will qualify it as credible. One size
to doing projects? doesn’t fit all, hopefully the CS fits most, and for the projects that don’t
fit should be considered special cases for CS Assessors direct review.
Jason: Definitely, I think it would be beneficial for schools to partner That is, any project or even credit that the CS requirements do not
with a local planning authority or CS and require an internship for at make sense should be reviewed by the CS authority to help the DT
least one semester, in which students could be part actual submission come up with a pertinent and/or equivalent alternative.
reviews to witness intent, various levels of compliance, and why.
I guess you could also say they are only as credible as the DT, Authority,
Ismail: what is the true added value of certification systems? Client, Contractor, and user treat them.
Jason: Awareness Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Ismail: what is still missing in certification systems?
Liam Farrell & Serkan Akyuz

Liam Farrell
Position: Senior Associate Landscape Architect, Stantec
Country of Origin: New Zealand
Biography: Liam graduated with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture de-
gree, from Lincoln University, New Zealand, in 1999, and is a member of the
New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects. He has spent the last 8 years
working on projects throughout the Middle East. He has worked in many mar-
ket sectors within the Landscape Architecture field from the design and con-
tract administration aspects. His expertise includes design and preparation of
site plans from concept design through tender documents. Bringing a variety
of skills which range from site-planning, site design and layout, grading and
planting design to coordination of plans, details, specifications and cost esti-
mates. Liam creates tender document packages while providing solid project
management skills to clients. He has worked consistently on many projects as
part of a multi-disciplined team of architects and engineers bringing to the
table an open viewpoint, being able to bridge disciplines to find creative solu-
tions for developing projects.
Serkan Akyuz
Position: Landscape Architect, Stantec
Country of Origin: Turkey
Biography: Serkan graduated with a Landscape Architecture and Ur- there was no fee put in for Estidama and in the work plan there was
ban Design degree from Bilkent University in Turkey, member of the no time set aside to actually do some Estidama documentation or the
chamber of landscape architects, and is well trained in integrated de- research. So mainly in the design we were trying to make Estidama fit.
sign approaches. He is adept in preparing schematic designs construc- We did it the reverse way, instead of doing the design based on Esti-
tion details, research, analysis, conceptual planning, grading, planting dama we made it the other way around. It did work in the end because
plans and creating landscape drawings and renderings through free- we were following good practice anyway, as far as landscape. And it
hand sketching or using various software such AutoCAD, Photoshop was easy enough to tailor what we are doing to make the calculations
CS, 3D’s Max, Sketch Up and Landscaping Pro 3D. for water, for shade, for accessibility and all these stuff and we got the
Ismail: what defines your design sustainability level? necessary credits for it. But we did not do it as a good process, it should
be before you put the pen on a paper, before designing a concept,
Serkan: the client, if the client understands about sustainability, he has and understand for this project we need these credits, and for each
knowledge of it. What they are asking for we design according to it. credit these requirements or these design parameters and then you
Liam: the client and also now every project in Abu Dhabi has to com- start designing based on these. I think as an over all things for all disci-
ply with Estidama, so also the government policies, you have to do plines, it was not a very good process.
certain levels. Ismail: why would it not be implemented, regardless of the require-
Ismail: would you say enforcing that is positive or not? ments of the contract?
Liam: I think it is positive, because it costs clients money, so if it was Liam: I think Estidama is more work for everybody, for us designing a
not enforced then I do not think any of the clients would do it because document and Estidama is a portion of what they have to do, so it is
they are looking for the best product with best price. additional time and effort. I think for the projects we have done the
Ismail: what was your involvement in projects that had to be certified? PQP (Jason) is being involved as the Estidama coordinator, he does
a very good job really and he tells you what you need to do, but he
Serkan: I was preparing the necessary documents like sun shades does not have the backing of the PM or the authority through the PM
study. to put his foot down and say “I need this document now” people are
Liam: Al Mafraq hospital was our first project; we did it with Estidama just ignoring him and not looking at it. By the end of the project it is
requirements even before it was published. We were also helping Esti- like okay, everybody has to the work and they go back and do the
dama people with refining their documentations, measures that mea- studies…etc. I saw him being frustrated because he couldn’t get what
sure energy and water and stuff. Also, going to Estidama, putting the he needed in the proper phase of the project, because people were
design forward to make sure we submit documents that are going to too busy designing. It is always in the end, so if the process is going
be accepted. to work it needs to work from the beginning and it needs structure
Ismail: what types of meeting did you participate in and what was and the project manager has to be behind Jason, pushing people to
their occurrence? And who was involved? do whatever work is necessary in the appropriate time. Then you put
more effort in the beginning and it is easier at the end. Because I think
Serkan: we met 2 or 3 times with Estidama, mainly for landscape and everyone can do it and everyone has done it, every discipline and it
site issues. It involved the head architect, landscape architect and in- worked. It has not worked as properly and smoothly as it should have
frastructure, we discussed site placement and credits of Estidama had been.
to be followed and submission. For landscape I think we did pretty
good about it before we start at least we know we can not exceed Serkan: I think the design changes too if you do that.
some levels using water or species. Liam: because at the end of the project in Qatar, they are asking us to
Liam: we were trying to understand what Estidama really wanted us change some things to get it accredited, and we did not have them
to do to get the project approved. It is trying to be integrated, but because nobody said we will need. So it is this sort of thing, you go
it is not at all because a number of reasons; as part of the contract back and change the drawing and fixture and the spec or stuff that
could have been on a check list in the beginning of the project.
Ismail: is the Estidama process easy and clear? Ismail: what are the fees associated with certifying a project?
Serkan: it is clear; you can see what they are expecting from you at Liam: the work is a lot more actually, I do not have a number to put
least, but there are some points that do not make sense like the bike but I suggest at least 5% to 10% of the project of the hours we typi-
racks for example in the middle of nowhere. cally spend. As for cost, I think for landscape it might be cheaper be-
Liam: yes there are some things that are not always appropriate for cause you end up using less palm trees, much less vegetation, more
every project. hardscape which is cheaper than softscape, less constant water, less
irrigation material so all these make it potentially cheaper. So in the
Ismail: do you face any problems with submission of work? construction and operation phase for the landscape in Estidama it is
Liam: we basically submit to the PQP (Jason) and he does the rest. actually economically better. Although on the flip side if you are doing
Serkan: at first we were not very experienced with it, but now we are shade; you need to provide a certain percentage of shade for pedestri-
familiar with those. an and vehicles, it costs extra, so probably there is a balance between
the two.
Liam: but Estidama is much easier than QSAS, as you need to produce
drawings, studies and models plus input data into a calculator that is a Ismail: what did you have to change in order to incorporate the man-
lot of work because you need to get all the numbers generated from datory requirements of the certification system?
your study. The calculator is quite complex and it is difficult figuring Serkan: again we submitted it after the project was finished, we real-
out what they want in order to get the outcome that is going to work. ized we were using too much water, so we had to change the planting
I would say QSAS is less user friendly than Estidama for sure. rest with gravel for example it happened with Al Mafraq.
Serkan: but one advantage it is very detailed and you know whether Ismail: do you think certification systems should be mandatory or vol-
you are failing or not because of the calculators. untary?
Ismail: do you prefer a certain certification system and why? Serkan: maybe it should be related to the scale or something. Maybe
Serkan: I know it is a lot of work, but I prefer QSAS because it is de- it should be mandatory.
tailed and you are really seeing, you need these things to determine if Liam: I think government projects should be mandatory because
it really makes a difference or not. I mean the main focus is the same they are setting the benchmark for every other building in the country
with Estidama or LEED, but QSAS is more detailed. or development. In the UAE we have seven emirates and Abu Dhabi
Liam: in QSAS every credit has a calculator, but it means more work. has to follow Estidama, Dubai does not, so economically it is going to
For softscape they are saying you must have less than 50% lawn of potentially hurt Abu Dhabi more than Dubai because if you are devel-
your total area, so you need to do the calculations all through the de- oper and you have to spend a 100,000 extra in Abu Dhabi to make a
sign process; it’s like checking how you are designing. Its better then project, you will go make it in Dubai. Perhaps it needs to be a standard
figuring this out later and then you have to redesign, you need to do across the whole country, because it will start hurting economies of
it on various stages and get client approvals and all kinds of things. emirates. If it needs to be mandatory, so at least everyone is doing the
minimum good design work.
Serkan: it is a chain reaction; if you change something it will effect
infrastructure as well, infra will also affect somewhere else. Our aim is Ismail: the integration of the certification process, how is it done? What
actually doing it more sustainable from the beginning. are the differences? What are the pros and cons?
Ismail: is there something you struggled with while doing any Esti- Serkan: it is good, but needs to be done from the beginning, and
dama related work? it is not done like that because there is no PM put a bigger load on
Estidama in the beginning, for us it is a consultant issue. We have to
Liam: when we started with Al Mafraq hospital it was water features, explain it to the client first, if you tell them that this is the way it should
because basically you get more credits is you do not have water fea- be and they really want to issue it, he will approve.
tures, but the client wants them. It is a nice thing to have and with the
budget for a project like Mafraq hospital, there are a lot of contracts Liam: as long as you plan submission times and your design accord-
like that; where the client wants something and you want to design ingly, it is fine. You need a complete client compliance with that, that’s
something and Estidama is basically telling you not to, penalizing you a key issue. If you as a consultant can spend all this money from the
for designing water features for example. beginning, you need to make sure that this is what they want. If we
start from the beginning the design will be much better and more
Serkan: there was the project in Qatar the client was asking for lush efficient.
garden, green plantings everywhere, but we told him you have to con-
sider the water consumption. Ismail: what would you do differently in order to achieve a better sus-
tainable design?
Ismail: so what would happen if the client says I want 4 pearl building
and I want water features and you just go and tell him this is not going Liam: in landscape I think we need to do more product research, be-
to happen, you have to choose between both, then he chooses water cause there are a lot of things coming out now that are more sustain-
features? able and you need to put aside time to research irrigation systems
or different lighting techniques, different planting types or materials.
Liam: as the consultant that is what you need to do. If that is what Because you are going to have the same idea with any project and use
they want fine, but you have to make a case that if you want this you a thousand different materials to build it. So you have to know what
are not going to get certified, or you should not even go down the these sustainable materials are, to have to use them. The tricky part of
road for LEED or anything like that. Or you need to change your design the design process is to get to spend time on researching best materi-
and use landscape with indigenous plants and no water features and als and newest technologies.
then you will achieve the goal. But here is where the client education
comes up as they will say it is nice to have LEED certified building or Serkan: speaking of this region I think it is very limited too, there might
QSAS, but they do not understand what it means, especially with MEP be a fantastic very sustainable product, but it is in Australia and then
these things are expensive. Again this would not be the result if we you have to ship it here, so again you are in a conflict.
had started from the beginning of the project; it cannot come up half Liam: The system should have a list to give to consultants to encour-
way through, because then lots of the design changes. age them to use better sustainable products; I think Estidama has ap-
Serkan: usually we have to make sure the client understands that be- plied this. It will make it easier if you had a list with good things to
fore we design it and to include the client from the beginning not just use for example, with good albedo manuals. We were looking for this
consultant, to be aware of cost related issues as well. manual of QSAS, it was so difficult, because with the information you
had to pay for was not available, so to make all this information more
Liam: we dealt with a situation on Al Mafraq, they decided not to do available and free, I think consultants will be happy about it.
grey water recycling as they thought it was too expensive and we
were calculating a volume from the AC blow down and a the grey Serkan: Even the consultant does not know about it, it’s like the first
water volume and they got cut. Then we do calculations how much time they are reading it. So I think it is necessary for the consultant as
additional water you need. Estidama has a limit for 4 liters per square well it should be something rules for them.
meter for irrigation outside and that is not easily achieved. You have to Ismail: what difficulties do you face when dealing with UPC, ADM or
be quite careful on quantity of planting. Abu Dhabi municipality?
Ismail: how did you learn about Estidama? Liam: before some of the things with ADM were in direct conflict with
Serkan: Jason became a PQP and then he told us what has to be sub- Estidama, they were not working in sync. And there are certain rules
mitted, as far as I remember he gave us the documents and asked us with Estidama that was in direct objection with what ADM approved. I
to read that stuff. am trying to think of an example, maybe it was the water issue, I can’t
remember exactly. It is difficult for the consultant having two bodies
Liam: because he is not going to do the work for us, we need to do telling different things, but at the end of the day you need a building
the work and set parameters, and the same with everything; he is not permit to be built, so you have to follow the code.
doing the actual work, he is just tells everything we need to do, what
we have to achieve and let’s us figure it out. Ismail: when do you think the benchmark should be revised?
Liam: I do not think you can change it every year for example, it is local government process. Because if they are fighting each other then
too much change because also as a consultant you need to learn the it’s a lose-lose situation for everybody. They need to be on the same
rules or compliance of Estidama, if it is constantly changing things it page and to be pushing the same ideas.
makes it impossible for the consultant to do a good job and providing Ismail: how could you evaluate and measure the contribution of the
documents that will satisfy. Like we had to go back for retrofit a project certification systems to the built environment?
to Estidama, the Al Mafraq hospital we did it according to Estidama
rules although it was not formally placed at that time, it was like a test Liam: this entire thing means nothing if you are not able to monitor
project for Estidama. So met with them, had a lot of discussions…etc. the benchmark and be aware if it is too far or not.
and then we went through the process with ADM, a new rule came Ismail: how do you define sustainability?
from PRFD which meant we had to submit all landscape documents Liam: I think it is designing in a way that is better for the environment
to be approved be PRFD as part of the building permit. That was not that improves the environment as materials and people, because we
something in place when we were designing Al Mafraq and it was are building for people. But I think a lot of design in my perspective is
actually being built and ADM made us submit every landscape docu- to do with people or design more sustainability. It is not environmen-
ment including irrigation calculations, water use and shading to PRFD tal it is making good designs in good places.
to get them approved. So that sort of thing is frustrating because you
cannot design something and have it built and than have to submit Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
for approval. So it is the same thing with Estidama, if I change the rules Serkan: you need a dedicated government, if they really want it like
every two years maybe your project runs over three years period, so Abu Dhabi; I am not saying this is the greatest example, but I think it
you would constantly have to modify your designs, maybe it should should be the government pushing. If you really want to do it there
be every 10 years. And also Estidama has to evaluate the projects that should be rules and the government should really push on it, follow
are built with a rating, they have to evaluate these projects to see if it up.
they are good, performing or not and it will help them determine if the Liam: I agree. But I think aligned with that they should offer incentives
need to change their parameters and that takes time, maybe you need to do it. Whether it is mandatory or something else, I am not going to
to measure after 5 years of a project to see if it really works or not, is give you a gold star because you are designing a building and that
it sustainable or not. Projects here are so badly maintained, and if you is what’s happening. I got a 2 pearl rating, you can use it for better
suddenly have to enforce strict rules on water and energy, then you marketing or PR and that is it, but if there is 10% off on your water bill
will have people not knowing what to do, or who should do it. or electricity bill then there is a real measure of achieving. I remember
Serkan: I mean who guarantees they are not going to change the in one of the projects in Abu Dhabi we wanted to use solar power
planting we did 2 years ago and put something else, because this will and the government would not let us, they were not to allow power
change water consumption. I think somebody from the government generated on the site to be put back into the grid.
should monitor; like a separate division to watch those things. I think Ismail: what is needed to make a paradigm shift to convert the built
it should not be just submitting your documents and you are finished, environment to a sustainable one?
the communication should continue with designer, client and Esti-
dama say 5 years maybe. Liam: education.
Liam: the operation monitoring actually is more because the design is Serkan: I agree.
just a small part. From day one when the building is built, it falls back Ismail: what are the interlocking connections and the other industries,
on the operator to manage it, managing the water consumption for consultancies and regulations needed for the certification system to
example, and he just turns it up, then your whole design and every- work and develop well in the market?
thing the client has paid for is just blown out of the window. Liam: we talked about the product and also the government; the gov-
Serkan: this is the phase which determines if LEED or Estidama is suc- ernment being aligned with the CS process, they must have the same
cessful or not. You can submit and documents or design anything, but goals, measurements and objectives. If you do not have that, then it is
what is going to happen in 5 years? That is the important question. not going to work.
Liam: I think also Estidama could offer incentives to operate, so if they Ismail: does the engineering, architecture and all project related edu-
monitor for five years and see that the energy levels are as they should cation need to change in order to prepare students on how to deal with
be as designed, then they get incentives on energy; so the electricity the newly founded sustainability requirements and how?
drops or the water bill drops, as they have maintained the systems Serkan: we were taught to be reasonable and careful, take consider-
working well. ation of geographical climate, where are you designing, we were not
Ismail: if you think about sustainability as a goal, how would you rate educated for LEED criteria and Estidama criteria. But now I guess it is
Estidama’s goals to it? more common.
Serkan: I think it is too early to say, because again who is going to Liam: I think if you are doing your degree in the UAE, then yes you
guarantee it is going to work. If you are using local manpower, local should learn about Estidama, for sure. Wherever you are in the world
materials, local companies then economically it is good. you should study about their certification system, because once you
Liam: I think for landscape there are positive things. are a professional, you are going to be using it.
Ismail: do you think Estidama is pushing the market too far or not Ismail: what do you think is the true added value of certification sys-
pushing far enough? tems?
Serkan: as long as it is fair, it is enforced on all of the UAE not one emir- Liam: better design I guess, from a landscape perspective.
ate only, then you can push the market as far as you want, because Serkan: I think the design is more sensitive in terms of the environ-
they will all fit in regardless. The companies started giving some document, it might look better, but the affect might by not as good as the
ments with the products saying it is LEED approved or sustainable, sustainable designed one. And if you really use the local materials, it
before there was no such thing, so the whole of UAE will fit in. will have a good impact on the economy.
Liam: when you push products to be more sustainable, the products Ismail: what do you think is missing in the certification systems?
themselves will develop and technologies to deal with this thing. Raise Serkan: I think the follow up process is not really working like the way
the bar across all the emirates. For us the developers, industries, con- we talked about, the monitoring phase.
sultants this will also change the market for us. Ismail: how credible are certification systems?
Ismail: in your opinion what are the reasons behind not moving faster Liam: I think the credibility is going to be known once other buildings
towards more sustainable buildings and communities? are built and monitored and rated again after 5 years. I guess LEED is
Liam: cost and bureaucracy, here it is probably bureaucracy. The ADM credible with proven results, but I think North America has an easier
thing I was talking about before, not even encouraging Estidama in climate than here.
their current roles, so if you are going to push Estidama on consultant Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
and clients to do, needs to be aligned with building permits and the
Martina Konrad
Position: Sustainability Manager
Country of Origin: Germany
Biography: Martina was educated and trained at universities in Germany, It-
aly and Austria. She is a Diplom-Ingenieurin graduate in Architecture, and has
completed her Master of Building Science (MSc) Future Building Solutions at
the Donau University Krems. She is also a LEED AP and a PQP. She is a registered
architect with BayAK. She has also been an active member of the Emirates
Green Building Council and a member of the Technical Committee since 2006.
She was recently working as the Environmental Sustainability Compliance
Manager several construction projects situated within Masdar City. Besides
that she was also responsible for achieving their challenging environmental
and sustainability targets.
Ismail: what defines your level of sustainability in a project? During the construction stage the contractor is included in these
Martina: Masdar has 10 key performance indicators (KPIs) for sustain- meetings as well, the design consultant and the site supervision team
ability, which are used to measure the sustainability performance of (which was from the design consultant’s company, to ensure that
their projects. These KPIs are included in the contracts with the con- the contractor during the construction stage is really executing the
sultants and contractors, as part of the contract obligation and linked project according to the drawings and specifications).
to their payment. These 10 KPIs for example were used in the contract Ismail: you said the contractor was in the construction phase, so the
of the Siemens office building project. contractor was not on board before that during the design phase?
These project KPIs were somehow linked to the performance KPIs of Martina: Traditionally the contractor comes on board when the de-
the employees and business unit to support their achievement. sign is finished, but this depends on the contract. The Masdar head-
Ismail: are these ten the same from one planet living? quarters project for example is design and build; which means that
you have the contractor on board much earlier. The other projects
Martina: The Masdar KPIs were initially based on the one planet liv- were traditional: you first finish the design, then you go out for tender,
ing principles, but have developed during the past few years. The cur- after award of the contract you have the contractor on board. To keep
rent KPIs are similar, however the targets are probably better defined the continuity of the design team, you have the site supervision team
and more clear. Sometimes the target or threshold might have been which is add on to the designers, to ensure that the design informa-
adapted, according to the knowledge gained during the first projects. tion is transferred into construction stage and executed as planned.
For example there is a new KPI now (the project has to achieve Esti-
dama certification); at the start of the Masdar initiative Estidama did Ismail: do you think that the project achieved its predefined goals?
not even exist. So there was no KPI related to Estidama, but there were Martina: It is well on track to achieve the goals; lots of them have
targets for energy, water, carbon and waste reduction of the project (a already been met although the project has not finished yet. Some
lot of it is somehow addressed in Estidama). credit thresholds are very close to achieving them and some other
Ismail: when you say a new KPI was set because Estidama initiative credits which are related to the construction activities (I am talking
came, does it just say that you have to comply with Estidama or does it here about the Siemens project) are about implementing certain pro-
set a certain level of Estidama? cedures during the construction phase, which are closely monitored.
I’m undertaking officially recorded weekly inspections and monthly
Martina: It sets a certain level; the KPI requires a minimum of 3 Pearl audits to monitor the implementation process of the construction
Estidama, depending on the project. For example; the Masdar head- environmental management plan, the waste management plan, the
quarter project targets 4 Pearls, the Siemens headquarter targets 3 indoor air quality management plan. For example I’m inspecting and
Pearl Estidama. Plus every project has to achieve the 10 Masdar KPIs checking that all the duct work is covered and wrapped up like it
(Estidama is one of the ten KPIs). should be, no forbidden chemicals or materials used or stored on site,
Ismail: you were actually involved in a project that needs to be certi- etc. The commissioning process has not started yet, this is still to come.
fied, right? Ismail: what things could go wrong?
Martina: Yes, I was involved in several projects that aimed to be certi- Martina: Many of the construction credits are related to materials. The
fied (LEED or Estidama). The Siemens headquarter project is going for design documents contain specifications of materials or products,
both. which should be used for the construction of the building in order to
Ismail: what was your involvement in those projects? What was your comply with the sustainability requirements.
role in the project? It happens that unapproved materials arrive on site, despite an inten-
Martina: I was doing a bit of everything: Initially I was working for a sive review and approval procedure of the product information and
design consultancy, where we were designing to meet the LEED certi- brochures, before the actual purchase.
fication. I was also working as a sub-consultant for a contractor during Sometimes suppliers try to deliver materials with fake certifications,
the construction stage, and a project manager where I was supervis- e.g. fake FSC certificates.
ing consultants and contractors to achieve the sustainability goals; on
other projects I provided training for contractors and suppliers. I also In other instances the procurement team tries to purchase the busi-
worked on the client’s side for Masdar city. So I have seen all sides ness as usual product from their preferred supplier, due to reduced
basically. costs, commission, availability or reduced lead time.
Ismail: what was the type of meetings you participated in? Normally you don’t have only one contractor, but many subcontrac-
tors on the site, and this is when things are likely to go wrong. The
Martina: As a project manager I was chairing weekly meetings called construction process needs to be closely monitored and the installa-
environmental sustainability compliance meetings; where we were tion procedures as well.
following up specifically on the sustainability goals. We discussed the
status, issues, problems, risks...etc. and when I was working as a consul- Ismail: could it also happen that you have procured the correct materi-
tant I took part in those meetings. als but don’t have the work force who knows how to deal with it? Has
it happened before?
Ismail: so in those meetings, who was present?
Martina: Yes, it can also happen. It can happen that the workforce
Martina: it depends on the stage of the project. At the design stage it doesn’t understand the required procedures. For example: According
includes the client, project management, and the design consultants. to the indoor air quality plan, all the ducts and AC equipment should
be covered and wrapped. It happens that the wrapped ducts are cor- New procedures like waste segregation have to be implemented. So
rectly delivered to the construction site. They are stored in a special far the business as usual contractor threw everything into one waste
store room which is fully sealed, closed and protected from dust. How- skip. Now several skips (maybe of different sizes) are required to seg-
ever some workers, who don’t know about the requirements, see all regate the different waste streams. Suppliers are encouraged to take
these items delivered in boxes and start unwrapping them, so they back their packaging and reuse or recycle them. At Masdar they al-
can install them. Unfortunately they didn’t know that the ducts have ready required waste segregation and even have their own segrega-
to remain wrapped and sealed until the project is finished. tion/recycling area on site.
That’s why we provide daily inductions for all new workers about the The procurement procedures have to be reviewed: depending on the
sustainability & environmental requirements, as well as regular training specifications different materials might have to be purchased, which
for everyone on the construction site as a reminder. It is not easy to might lead to a change of the suppliers. The specifications for the
train workers, who often can’t read and write and speak several differ- façade and the windows, will ask for a better performance when it
ent languages. comes to air tightness and U-values, which you might not have had
I also undertake regular at least weekly inspections and monthly au- before on other projects. Insulation for example usually was not re-
dits to monitor the progress; otherwise you won’t achieve your targets. quired on many projects outside of Masdar city, or without LEED re-
quirements. You must buy timber which is certified, or certain paints
Ismail: certification systems, do you prefer one over another? And since and adhesives with lower VOC levels, which you might not purchase
you worked with the Masdar’s KPIs, if you had to choose between Esti- for other projects. The positive news is that all these products are avail-
dama and LEED and just setting your own KPIs? Which one would you able in the UAE; however they sometimes cost more than the business
choose and why? as usual, some might face a higher demand, or simply a longer lead
Martina: For projects in the UAE I would prefer Estidama, however all time.
systems have pros and cons. I would prefer it because it’s more suit- Ismail: do you think certification systems should be mandatory or vol-
able for the region. Certain credits in LEED might be easier to achieve, untary?
but others might be more difficult. Some LEED credits are not very
clear how to achieve them, because they refer to legislations in the Martina: If you make Estidama voluntary it will not work. Only a few
USA for example. LEED also has a very good online system. It is very companies would implement it here in the UAE. People don’t see sus-
easy to handle, accessible for everyone involved in the project, and tainability as a necessity yet and they don’t see the benefits of a sus-
this is one of the big advantages. While with Estidama you currently tainable project. If they don’t have a cost benefit, they won’t go for it.
use excel spreadsheets. Hence you work remotely from someone’s You definitely need to introduce mandatory standards, and start with
computer, unless you use Masdar’s xD Sustainability Manager (xDSM). minimum level of sustainability requirements to change the market.
On the other hand Estidama is very customer-friendly, their team re- This would also encourage some companies to aim for more credits
sponds very quickly to queries. You have the opportunity to meet with than the minimum mandatory threshold. So, I believe Estidama is a
them face to face. good step towards sustainability in construction.
Ismail: is the Estidama process clear; is it easy to use Estidama? However this depends on the country. In Germany, for example, there
are very high performing buildings due to the building codes, and
Martina: I think it’s not difficult. It is just different to typical construc- the high energy costs. The use of LEED would not improve the perfor-
tion and procurement processes, because you need to be more orga- mance of the building, as the average building would achieve Gold to
nized and manage it. You need have certain processes and procedures Platinum anyway. There LEED can be seen as a marketing tool. That’s
in place from the beginning of the project. There is lot of documenta- why the German rating system DGNB was introduced, to change the
tion required, which you normally wouldn’t gather. The difficulty is to market.
make everyone understand what is required. At the beginning it takes
a lot of time to train everyone, to ensure you have the paperwork in Ismail: the integration of the certification system in a planning process,
place. There are also different disciplines and departments involved, how is it done? And what is different? And what are the pros and cons?
who might not be site based. E.g. the procurement team in the head Martina: We knew the sustainability target from the project inception,
office and made sure that we meet the target. The design team designed ac-
Ismail: what are the fees associated with rating a project? cordingly, starting from the orientation of the masterplan, the orienta-
tion of the building, the façade elements including shading, the selec-
Martina: The Estidama rating is free of charge, while LEED is charg- tion of the MEP equipment that meet the energy saving requirements,
ing for the certification depending on the project size; however there include water saving sanitary ware and tabs, and the specification of
might be hidden costs. sustainable materials. If you are not implementing it right from the
e.g. additional fees for design consultant or specialist consultants, such beginning, you might probably end up with an iconic building design,
as a specialist PQP, an energy or day-lighting modeler. You might also which looks good, but doesn’t necessarily have the right orientation,
need an additional person on the project management team which appropriate window sizes, and shading elements.
will be looking after sustainability, and you will definitely need an addi- It is possible to address the requirements of the certification system
tional team for the contractor which is implementing the site require- at a later design stage. However the credit choice will be reduced and
ments. This might be in form of a subcontractor or sub consultant the project costs will increase, the duration of the design stage might
team which is helping the main contractor. On the Siemens project increase due to the abortive design work. Additional items for sustain-
we had about 4 to 5 additional people on the contractor’s team, which ability might have to be added, rather than being integrated from the
were purely looking after all the environmental, and sustainability re- beginning. E.g. the building might fail to achieve the targeted energy
quirements, and additional documentation. performance, and PV cells or solar hot water might have to be installed
You might pay a little extra now for additional consultants, but you on the roof to obtain some additional credits for renewable energy.
will save during the operation of the building due to less energy and Only a few items can easily be added at a later stage, e.g. by amend-
water consumption. When assessing the total costs, ether might even ing the material specification from timber to certified timber products.
be a saving, because you have smaller MEP equipment. We did some The cons are that some additional work was required during the design
cost studies where we were looking at and uplift from LEED Gold to stage, such as the energy model, day lighting model, as well as more
Platinum, or from Estidama 3 pearls to 4 pearls. I would find it very dif- documentation during the construction stage and for the submission
ficult to generalize how much more money it will cost to go for some for the LEED and Estidama certification. The design stage might take a
additional credits? It always depends on the targeted credits, it can de- bit longer, so that many things can be resolved with more detail and
pend on the project design, its location and other external constraints. upfront, and thus the problems during the construction stage can be
Ismail: what did you have to change in order to incorporate the man- reduced.
datory or extra requirements of Estidama? Ismail: could you explain to me what future build is?
Martina: If you compare it to business as usual in Abu Dhabi, it is quite Martina: The future built is a free online platform listing suppliers of
a bit of change. If you compare to Masdar requirements (which we had green building products.
to follow anyway), it is minimal.
At the start of the Masdar project, we understood that sustainable
e.g. On other projects in the UAE so far a construction environmental or “green” products are required to build a sustainable city. However
management plan was not required. However Masdar has undertaken there was not much information and no clear definitions available for
an intensive environmental impact assessment, and developed a con- sustainable products, which are supplied in the region. There was also
struction environmental management plan (CEMP). This is in place a lot of green washing around the world. So we developed a ques-
and applied on all Masdar projects since 2009/2010. It would cost tionnaire, which was used to captured and assess the sustainability
you money for an additional specialist consultant to develop these features of materials. And then we went out and met a whole lot of
documents. You need someone to manage the implementation of suppliers. I had daily 2 to 3 supplier meetings: we interviewed them,
the CEMP. E.g. I am doing monthly and quarterly audits, and weekly sent out the questionnaire, assessed the materials, and reviewed the
inspections. provided brochures and certificates. Then the products were evalu-
ated and a database of sustainable materials was established. This in- are some differences, for example the embodied carbon reduction
formation was shared with the designers and contractors involved in that is not included in Estidama. If you compare a building in Abu
the Masdar projects for guidance. So they knew when they design or Dhabi that is certified with 1 Pearl Estidama, compared to a building in
construct a building, those are the materials that would help them Masdar city, in Masdar you have to achieve 3 pearls plus the Sustain-
achieve the targets. We decided that this information should be made ability KPIs. So the Masdar requirements are definitely higher, that the
available and easily accessible for the public. The Future Build web minimum Estidama requirements.
portal was created to provide free access to people who are interested Ismail: is Estidama pushing the market too far or not pushing it far
in sustainable products. enough?
Ismail: how does the future build help reshape the built environment? Martina: I think for the moment they are pushing enough, we need
Martina: I experienced a huge effect on the suppliers. I’m just thinking to start slow. If you take too big steps, people cannot keep up with it.
of some of the first supplier meetings we conducted. We asked them: I think it is fine to enforce the mandatory requirement of one pearl.
Why is your product sustainable? What makes it different? Why should There is always the option to raise the bar, and to make 2 Pearls man-
we buy your product and not the product of your competitor? Hardly datory in a few years. Compared with international standards in devel-
anyone could explain it to us. Many company representatives didn’t oped countries, UAE is probably behind, compared with undeveloped
know what sustainability is. We had to provide basic training to many countries, UAE is probably ahead.
of them and explain terms like: waste reduction, recycling, renewable I think the difficulty is to make everyone used to the Estidama process.
material, VOC levels, “recycled content” of materials. Hardly anyone The other challenge is to change the culture, how consultants and
could tell what the recycled content of their product is. So there were how contractors work. It is not the actual achievement of the bench-
very basic sustainability features of their products, which they didn’t marks, this can be done. The targets are not such a big step I think, it is
know about, but they were trying to sell them to us as sustainable. the documentation process and some procedures that come with it.
And so we educated them about the terms and requirements, the
suppliers did their research and came back to us with responses. We Another problem is the lack of understanding of the new certification
really made them study their products, so that they were able to meet system; developers and investors make up excuses why they should
the requirements. Many suppliers, started to implement things like not be doing it.
take-back of their packaging, reusing the pallets. Some even changed Ismail: what is in your opinion the reason behind not moving faster
the ingredients of their products or manufacturing procedures. Tim- towards more sustainable buildings?
ber suppliers for example started to take up FSC certification. I think Martina: the costs, and the lack of education and awareness.
the whole review process started to change a lot for the manufactur-
ers and suppliers. I noticed a big change between the first people we Ismail: how do you define sustainability?
met in ca 2008; compared to the people you meet now. Martina: I define it according to the Brundtland report: “Sustainable
Ismail: did it make an effect that it’s open to the public? development is development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
Martina: I am sure it would have some kind of impact. Consultants own needs.”
that were involved in Masdar got a monthly update; they get a month-
ly emailed PDF file with all the materials that have qualified. External Sustainability does not only include ecological aspects, but also social
consultants did not have that, but they also did not need it because and economic aspects. The problem with ecological and social as-
there was no Estidama and hardly anyone going for LEED. With the pects is that it is very difficult to put a price to it, the economic value is
change now with Estidama happening it is an additional support very easy and clear to understand for everyone, so a lot people.
which can be used, you do not have to use it. You can go to the sup- Ismail: how do you measure sustainability?
pliers yourself, but you are doubling and tripling your work, it can save Martina: I don’t think you can measure sustainability, if there is no
you some time. You will still have to do your own research, because clear framework or benchmark. Unfortunately there is no clear interna-
you might not find all products required for your individual building tionally recognized benchmark for sustainability. Even if such a bench-
design, or you might want something in a different shape or color. It is mark was available it would mean different things, depending on the
a good support tool, and I find it very useful. When you look at other location. The question is, what do you want to measure? If you want
countries there are databases like this available, but the consultants to measure the performance of buildings, then you can use some of
have to subscribe to it and pay to actually see the information, for ex- the rating systems. However the available systems address different
ample Eco-Specifier in Australia. Those databases depend on product design aspects, and thus are not comparable with each other. The ac-
information available for specific regions. It doesn’t help to have this tual performance also depends on the user habits, and not only on the
amazing product, if it is only supplied in the USA. building (design) itself.
Ismail: which criteria seen in Masdar’s sustainable aspects could be I know how to measure products, I do life cycle assessments. Even
seen in Estidama? LCAs or EPDs only address certain aspects of the materials; they don’t
Martina: Masdar has KPIs for water, energy, and waste reduction tar- consider economic or social impacts. It is very difficult to link them. I
gets. These can all be directly linked to Estidama credits. E.g. the Esti- don’t think there is a uniform tool available anywhere where you can
dama water calculator and the energy model can be used to dem- assess sustainability.
onstrate compliance with the Masdar KPI and the related Estidama Ismail: what are the advantages and disadvantages of certification
credits. systems?
There is another KPI for carbon reduction; this is indirectly linked to Martina: The advantages: They are useful to benchmark and measure
some material credits and the renewable energy credit. Apart from the buildings. They make buildings comparable against a set baseline, e.g.
KPIs Masdar implemented a restricted materials list. This list restricts one against another Estidama certified building is better compared to
e.g. the use of materials with high VOC levels – some more Estidama the achieved credits. They can improve performance of buildings and
credits. Other Estidama credits relate to issues, which have been ad- thus the impact on the environment, and raise awareness for sustain-
dressed at a Masterplan level and in the design guidelines. The CEMP ability.
has already been mentioned before.
The disadvantages: Buildings can achieve certification without sig-
Ismail: Masdar sets one of the highest benchmarks available world- nificant reductions of their energy or water consumption. A building
wide, how do you achieve them? might perform less good, than you would have anticipated based on
Martina: A lot of research was required to establish goals and bench- the design. Poor quality of construction, incorrect execution, or wrong
marks to measure sustainability. It is impossible to say we have user habits can increase the actual consumption.
achieved X amount of reductions if you don’t know the baseline. The A ratings system can easily just become a marketing tool, without hav-
good thing is that there are a couple of studies now and there is Esti- ing any significant impact on the environment.
dama, so you know for some areas what the baseline is and how you
can measure the reduction. The correct implementation and construction is not really controlled
and checked by the certifying body. In Estidama it’s slightly different
It also involved education and awareness. Sustainability is also a cul- because they undertake construction stage audits on site, unlike LEED.
tural problem, e.g. it is about how the people are using the water. E.g.
the price of water in Germany is so much higher compared to here, The certification documentation is submitted mostly based on design
that’s why people do not waste it. Water saving is not just achieved by document, and some for the construction stage. However it does not
having a sustainable designed city or building, it is the whole culture matter what happens with the building after its completion. The ac-
and user habits that need to change. tual performance of the building is not monitored.
Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s goals to what Masdar aims to Ismail: are certification systems credible?
achieve? Martina: I’d say regulations would probably achieve more than volun-
Martina: The items which UPC is addressing in the Estidama rating tary rating system.
system are similar to what Masdar addresses in its KPIs. However there The rating systems certify the design, with support of some construc-
tion evidence. However no system is actually checking all design doc- communication platform where you can exchange ideas and share
uments, their proper execution, or the operation of the building and lessons learned could be helpful.
potential modifications after its opening. Ismail: what do you think is still missing in certification systems? What
What would be important is to monitor the outcome or actual per- do you expect to see in its future development?
formance & saving of the projects after their completion versus the Martina: I think what is missing are the intangible things. They are dif-
building design, as they can differ quite significantly. ficult to measure or to assess. These aspects are not always considered
A feedback loop for continuous improvement of building operations, by the engineers, who mostly use or develop the rating systems.
as well as user training might be helpful to ensure actual savings dur- Social aspects and needs, aesthetics, the look and feel, requirements
ing the operational phase. for people with special needs (elderly, disabled,…)
Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community? Do you feel comfortable in a building, area or square? Does it meet the
Martina: you will need a clear vision and a good Masterplan. You cultural and traditional needs?
must also use a holistic approach, at a community level and get all the Does the project address the demographic development of the popu-
disciplines involved at an early stage of design (infrastructure, archi- lation?
tecture, landscape, etc.). We cannot achieve a sustainable community
by adding of sustainable buildings next to each other, you also need Does it integrate all society groups or can it lead to social conflicts, hot
to involve the people. spots, crime…?
Ismail: what do you think is needed to make a paradigm shift to con- Also the economic aspects could be addressed better: Cost is an im-
vert the built environment into a sustainable one? portant factor in the construction industry, and client decision mak-
ing during design. Unfortunately most of those decisions are based
Martina: it is education and awareness. on construction costs and not on operational cost saving. Designs are
Ismail: what are the interlocking connections that are needed between mostly based on how to achieve the cheapest construction and not
the industries, consultancies, regulations to be able to have sustain- on achieving the cheapest next 25 years during operation. Costs for
able buildings and communities through certification systems? redundant work during design & construction, maintenance costs,
Martina: I think good communication; clear communication of the environmental end-of-life cost aspects like demolition, recycling and
targets and how you can achieve them is required. You can enhance disposal are missing.
this communication with training, and you can do it with meetings I see certification systems developing in a way that the credit require-
and involvement of specialist. Sometimes the link between design ments become more stringent, and the thresholds for points are
and execution is missing – the design ideas are not buildable, speci- raised higher.
fied materials are not available due to lack of research. A feedback loop Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
from the construction team back to the design teams is missing. A
Michel Abi Saab

Position: Energy Efficiency, Senior Engineer, Masdar City
Country of Origin: Lebanon
Biography: Michel holds an MSc from Lebanese University Faculty of Engi-
neering, a CEM certificate from the Association of Energy Engineers and a LEED
AP Certificate from the US Green Building Council.
Michel is a Senior Energy Efficiency Engineer at Masdar and a core member of
Masdar Sustainability Advisory Services team. Prior to joining Masdar Consult-
ing, he has 7 years’ experience in building services engineering, sustainable
design and all forms of energy conservation on building and city scale with
Masdar City, WS Atkins and Erga Group, having worked on several types of en-
gagements including Energy efficiency consultancy, Mechanical Design, LEED
and Estidama counseling, Energy Modeling and Energy Auditing.
Ismail: what defines your design sustainability level for a certain proj- consultants, project managers, etc.;
ect you work on? Ismail: were any contractors involved?
Michel: In Masdar City we have our set of sustainability KPIs which are Michel: Not in the design phase. The contractor was involved after the
set at Masdar city, and these KPIs are for energy reduction (50% below design was finished.
Abu Dhabi business as usual), water reduction (30% below BAU), re-
duction in embodied carbon (30%). Ismail: Do you think the Siemens and MIST projects achieved the pre-
defined goals in sustainability, social and economic?
Ismail: were you involved in any project that had to be certified?
Michel: Masdar Institute and Siemens HQ buildings have achieved
Michel: yes, I have been involved in several projects seeking sustain- high goals in sustainability. Achieving these goals is a big accomplish-
ability certification. The first building was in Dubai, called the DIFC ment for the country and the region especially that this industry is
light house project. This building was a high rise office tower aiming fairly new over here. Nevertheless, like in any other project, these are
for LEED platinum. I was involved in the building’s mechanical design always lessons learned and things to be improved. This is why our
and the energy modeling. This project was put on hold due to the achievements will hopefully grow with every new project.
financial crisis. Then in Masdar city I worked on the Siemens HQ build-
ing which is aiming for LEED platinum and Estidama 3 pearls rating. Ismail: when using a certification system in a project, do you prefer one
I was involved in the building energy performance, making sure it over another? And why?
meets Masdar’s energy KPI. This building is currently at the last con- Michel: LEED has gained a lot of success globally and is also being
struction stage. The third building I’m currently involved in is the Mas- used in the gulf countries. The advantage for LEED over local certifica-
dar HQ building which is aiming for Estidama 4 pearls. My role in this tions such as Estidama is that is that it’s internationally used. However
project is also to make sure that the building’s energy performance Estidama is more suitable for this climate, because Estidama looks at
meets Masdar’s target. I’m also currently working on an existing build- the precise aspects of our climate and regional conditions; For exam-
ing, the UAE embassy in Washington DC, which is targeting LEED for ple it gives more importance to water Than LEED does, because water
existing building. is scarcer in this region.
Ismail: what was your involvement in each of these projects? Ismail: is the Estidama process easy to adhere to or did you struggle
Michel: on the first project, The lighthouse tower, I was doing the with it?
mechanical design from cooling load calculation to HVAC design up Michel: Estidama process is clear and not difficult to adhere to; this
to enhancing the building’s energy performance.. In the Siemens HQ process is very much similar to the LEED process which makes it easier
building and Masdar HQ building my role is to make sure that the because most of the consultants we work with are already familiar
building is complying with the Masdar KPI, and achieve the highest with the LEED process. However we find it sometimes difficult to in-
energy performance within the approved budget; As you might al- terpret some of the credits, but this is normal and it also happens with
ready know, we have developed the Masdar Energy Design Guidelines LEED and that’s why we refer to CIRs (Credit Interpretations Rulings)
(MEDG) which serves as a mandatory framework for designing energy and UPC’s assistance. Anyhow Estidama will be upgraded constantly
efficient buildings in Masdar City. So my role is to administrate and and we hope that these unclear issues will be revised in the newer
enforce MEDG to ensure that all buildings in Masdar city adhere to visions.
it . My role on the UAE embassy project is project management and Ismail: what is the process you go through to learn about Estidama
providing technical advisory. and about submission? How did you personally know about it?
Ismail: how would you rate Masdar’s KPIs to Estidama’s or LEED’s? Michel: Personally I knew about Estidama before it was officially an-
Michel: As mentioned earlier, Masdar KPIs are for energy, water and nounced because it’s directly related to our core business in Masdar.
materials. These three elements cover a good number of credits within All the information about Estidama is available on the website.
Estidama and LEED. So complying with Masdar’s KPI makes it easier Ismail: within these two projects, what are the fees associated with the
for buildings to get a higher rating level in both Estidama and LEED. rating, only the rating?
The biggest advantage in using MEDG for instance, is that it describes
in details the most cost effective way to achieve high energy perfor- Michel: The consultant’s fees will depend on the building and the rat-
mance by prescribing specific requirements for Building envelope, ing level. A higher rating for example requires a smarter design, com-
HVAC systems, Electrical systems, Hot water systems and building prehensive energy modeling and higher involvement between differ-
control systems. ent team members. All these factors will impact the fees.
Ismail: Back again to the projects you worked in, the Siemens building Ismail: what about fees associated to the construction phase?
for example. What type of meetings did you participate in? What was Michel: Also, the contractor’s fees will depend on the building and the
their occurrence? rating level. As you know many Estidama and LEED credits are related
Michel: I used to participate in weekly or biweekly meetings from the to the contractor, and fall under his responsibility. For example FSC
project kick off up to construction phase. I participated in every meet- certified wood has a different price than business as usual wood.
ing that involves the energy performance of the building. Ismail: what did you have to change in order to incorporate the man-
Ismail: so who was participating in the meetings? datory certification system of Estidama?
Michel: That depends on the type and the need of the meetings. But Michel: luckily, our Masdar KPIs made our process to comply with Es-
usually Masdar design team along with the representatives from the tidama much easier, because applying these KPIs alone will give us
approximately about 3 pearls rating. We already experienced this on
the Siemens HQ building where Masdar KPIs and Estidama process Ismail: how do you define sustainability?
were well aligned. Masdar KPIs helped us to tackle most of the credits Michel: Sustainability is the capacity to endure; it’s much more than
required by Estidama; the additional effort we had to go through was energy and water efficiency, or high recycled content, etc. Sustain-
mostly on the documentation process. ability has a much wider definition and applications. Sustainability
Ismail: so the minimum requirements of Estidama are standards for can be financial, political, applicable on a micro scale, country scale
you? or worldwide scale. This is why I personally prefer to call our buildings
Michel: Yes high performance buildings rather than sustainable buildings but the
reason I still use the term sustainable buildings is because it’s more
Ismail: do you think that certification systems should be mandatory acceptable by the industry.
or voluntary?
Michel: I think that setting a minimum level for buildings performance fication systems to the built environment?
is important. This could be achieved by using building codes or a min-
imum level of compliance with a certification system. On the other Michel: Certification will indeed improve the industry’s skills. Since Es-
hand I also support mandating higher performance levels for specific tidama started for example, there are more designers, contractors and
buildings such as government buildings because “leading by example” more building owners knowing and practicing sustainability. Measur-
is very important especially in the beginning of the Certification sys- ing the contribution of these certifications is not an easy task and re-
tems process. For example, Abu Dhabi government mandated all new quires a good number of years and studies.
government building to achieve a minimum of Estidama 2 pearls. I Ismail: what are the advantages and disadvantages of the certifica-
think this will help establishing good examples for other developers tion systems?
to follow. A similar strategy is also happening in government buildings Michel: Certification systems should improve the performance of
in USA. buildings and create healthier environment. Certification systems
Ismail: the integration of the certification system within the planning could also increase the value of buildings (higher rents, sales), etc…
process of the project, how is it done? What are the differences? Disadvantages: Increase in the price of design and construction ser-
Michel: The integration of the certification system in the design pro- vices due to these systems especially in the beginning of their imple-
cess is key for a successful project. a good design is when you start mentation. False accreditation, when certified buildings underperform
working on the KPIs and the certification process from early concept due to improper maintenance for example. Some of these buildings
stage, and the Siemens HQ building is a good example for a success- could actually perform worse than uncertified buildings.
ful integrated design; We knew from day one That Siemens wanted Ismail: how could you see Masdar contributing to the shaping of the
an internationally recognized certification, so we started looking at certification systems in the next few years?
LEED and then we realized that Masdar KPIs can help us achieving Michel: Masdar city includes a good mix of high performance build-
LEED platinum. Beside LEED the project has to be Compliant with ES- ings. The Siemens HQ building for example is aiming for a double cer-
TIDAMA so we designed the building from the beginning in order to tification as mentioned earlier. All these buildings are providing a great
achieve a minimum of 3 pearls and LEED platinum. amount of information and lessons learned and will create a valuable
Ismail: which criteria seen in Masdar KPIs can be seen in Estidama? data base for these certification systems to improve and adjust.
Michel: all Masdar KPIs Can be seen in Estidama. But achieving Masdar Ismail: in your opinion what does it take to plan and build a sustain-
KPIs will be reflected in a high level of points on the Estidama score able community?
sheet. Michel Sustainable development needs to look beyond the minimum
Ismail: Masdar sets one of the highest benchmarks available world- environmental requirements and exceed them, by expanding the
wide, how do you achieve them? scope of the brief to incorporate them and determining a set of goals
Michel: We achieved these targets by our close involvement in the and KPIs specific for the purpose. The technical team working on the
design and construction process from setting our projects brief to project should extend beyond traditional architecture and engineer-
setting determined KPIs, calculating the budget, assembling the right ing to include specialists in energy management, water management,
team and Setting up an integrated design process environment. waste management and supply chain. Setting up an integrated design
process environment is important throughout all project stages.
Ismail: you treat the water here, right?
Ismail: in your opinion, what is needed to make a paradigm shift to
Michel: We treat the sewerage water, but we buy our potable water convert a built environment to a sustainable one?
from the public network. However we minimize our reliance on po-
table water. Michel: There are a number of enablers needed for this shift such as
demonstrating success and leading by example and this is where the
Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s current role to what Masdar role of Masdar city comes; By creating awareness for encouraging
aims to achieve? behavior change; By providing incentives and financing schemes; By
Michel: Masdar City is a great place to show that pearl rated buildings removing energy subsidies from electricity and fossil fuel and by intro-
can be achieved cost effectively. Both Masdar and Estidama have a ducing building certifications and codes.
similar goal and that is promoting and implementing sustainability in Ismail: what are the interlocking connections needed between the
Abu Dhabi. industries, consultancies and regulations for a certification system to
Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s goals to ultimate sustainabil- work and develop well in the market?
ity? Michel: Training, experience, knowledge and feedback are essential
Michel: Estidama is raising the bar high, for example a 5 pearls rated for the certification system to succeed. The consultants and contrac-
building will be more difficult to achieve than LEED platinum rating tors need training by the regulations while the regulations need feed-
over here. Ultimate sustainability isn’t much accurate, and Estidama is back from the industries, consultants and contractors to improve and
a great tool to minimize buildings and community’s carbon footprint adjust the certification system.
which is very important for a sustainable world. Ismail: what’s the added value of a certification system?
Ismail: do you think Estidama is pushing the market too far or not Michel: As mentioned earlier, improving the building’s performance
pushing it far enough? and health benefits, increase the building’s value, increase awareness
Michel: I think that Estidama is pushing the market in the right way. and provides and international recognition.
For example Estidama minimum requirements could be achieved by Ismail: do you think certifications are credible?
following good design and construction practices which doesn’t nec-
essarily impact the market much, and could be achieved with no addi- Michel: It depends on the certification. A new building certification
tional cost. Anyway, any new process needs a certain time to become based on pure design figures for example could provide wrong infor-
business as usual and Estidama is reaching that level smoothly. mation when measurement and verification aren’t part of the process.
Ismail: what in your opinion is the reason behind not moving faster Ismail: what is still missing in the certification system? And what do
towards more sustainable buildings worldwide? you expect in the future development of it?
Michel: The financial crisis had a big impact in slowing the sustain- Michel: What is missing is the validation of the design numbers. Con-
able buildings market because fuel prices went down tremendously. tinuous measurement and verification is important to make sure the
Low electricity and fuel prices, energy Subsidies, lack of economic and sustainability goals are being achieved.
financial instruments and Lack of knowledge are all important chal- Ismail: anything you wish to add?
lenges confronting sustainable buildings worldwide. But currently we Michel: Estidama and other valuable initiatives are happening in Abu
are seeing that more governments around the world are prioritizing Dhabi and I trust that these will have a positive impact on the industry
energy conservation laws and regulations and the public and private on the short or longer term.
sectors are more and more seeing the benefits of sustainable build-
ings in improving health, reducing operation costs and increasing Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
building values.
Rasha Abdul-Khalek
Position:Architect (LEED AP BD+C), Atkins
Country of Origin: Lebanon
Biography: Rasha received a Bachelor of Architecture with honors from the
American University of Sharjah (AUS) in June 2006. She has 7 years of experi-
ence in the architecture field in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Throughout her
5 years of study in AUS and her professional experience in UAE, Rasha gained a
substantial amount of knowledge in architecture and its various processes and
stages. She worked in different architecture firms including Burt, Hill (Stantec)
and WS Atkins. Rasha is involved in all project stages from conceptual design to
construction detailing. She has also worked on several project types including
hospitality, healthcare, commercial, mixed-use, and residential developments.
Rasha’s interest in sustainability is evident in her academic as well as profes-
sional work. She was part of a green team in Burt, Hill (Stantec) and is involved
in LEED and Estidama. She acquired her LEED AP title in 2009 and recently
received the specialty BD+C.
Ismail: what type of projects did you recently work on? we don’t integrate all disciplines from the beginning, even if we don’t
Rasha: It was a project for National Investment Corporation (NIC) think of sustainability we have to do this, imagine if we are also adding
which is a developer, it was called Abu Dhabi Marina Development, the sustainability part, it will be a big advantage for the project.
next to the Marina Mall and it is going to be certified by Estidama. Ismail: how did you learn about Estidama? What is the process you go
Ismail: so what defines your design sustainability level? through to learn and submit Estidama documents?
Rasha: as an individual, I think sustainability and architecture are Rasha: from my previous office; they started going back and forth
closely related. I can’t design without having the sustainable ideas with those meetings in Estidama to know what is going on and to see
and strategies in mind, but the problem is when you are working for a how we can apply it. I learned it as a material when I started working
company and you have a time limit and a scope of work or the client on the project, so I learned it on my own I went through the whole
who needs specific requirements in a specific amount of time, you book learning about the credits. It was through their publications.
can’t. Unfortunately what defines our design sustainability level is the Ismail: what did you have to change in order to incorporate Estidama
client. into the project?
Ismail: were you involved in any projects that had to be certified and Rasha: we had to change a few things, for example; I did a lot of work
what type of certification? on landscaping which were really simple things that could have been
Rasha: yes, Estidama. I was helping in the design development and done from the beginning. For example, they have this credit about
also documenting the process for Estidama submission. creating public spaces between men’s only and then ladies only so we
had to just shift around some elements, some trees in the landscaping
Ismail: what type of meetings did you participate in? Who was in- to cater for that. So it was very easy to be done from the beginning
volved? What was their occurrence? and other things which were harder as void to solid ratio and these
Rasha: it was mostly meetings about coordination with different dis- things.
ciplines; architecture, structure and MEP all these were in-house meet- Ismail: is the Estidama process easy and clear for you?
ings, they took place once or twice a month.
Rasha: yes it was easy, even the documentation part wasn’t that dif-
Ismail: when using a certification system in a project, do you prefer one ficult.
over the other? Why?
Ismail: do you struggle with any Estidama related work?
Rasha: For me, you have to certify it where you build it or maybe in
terms of also if you want to do global marketing for the client, they Rasha: no, actually if there is something that is not clear there is always
might choose to go for LEED. But if you want to just go to certification a question and answer, you can ask anything and they will answer you.
where you build it you have to go with the authorities or actual city or Ismail: do you think the certification system should be mandatory or
country. In terms of what each certification asks for, I feel they are all voluntary?
very similar so doesn’t define really what defines is the location. Rasha: it should be mandatory and it could be a mix like with Esti-
Ismail: do you have PQP certified in Atkins? dama; 1 pearl is mandatory now and if you want to go for higher you
Rasha: yes we do, they are promoting this actually here. can. If you want to promote better living for people, better future for
your community, for your city, for your country you have to make it
Ismail: what are the fees associated with rating a project? mandatory.
Rasha: it shouldn’t cost much more because if you do it right through Ismail: what would you do differently in order to achieve a better sus-
an integrated process then it shouldn’t cost more, but it is costing tainable design?
more now because we are doing it at the very end and trying to
change what we have already done which you could have done very Rasha: generally, we can recycle more but as an architect you can
easily from the beginning. Actually it is very complicated; you can’t start the design with doing energy modeling or wind simulation or
quantify it because in the design process it shouldn’t cost more be- all of these things, you can start doing all these studies from day one
cause this is the way architects should actually design, but even with instead of doing them later, like how to position your building on site.
construction maybe it could cost less if you go through these credits In terms of a community, of course in terms of urban planning you
of recycling waste and all of these things. should provide the right services all around, you should provide the
right mix of services which I think is what they are doing now here in
Ismail: the integration of a certification system in the planning process, Abu Dhabi with the UPC.
how is it done? What are the differences? What are the pros and cons?
Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s currents goals to other certifica-
Rasha: it should be integrated in the whole process from day one; tion systems?
the integration must happen between all disciplines starting from de-
sign of architects to design of MEP equipment and how they relate Rasha: the good thing about Estidama is at least 1 pearl is manda-
to the architecture, design of the structural system all of these should tory now and the goals concerning Abu Dhabi plan 2030 they are go-
be integrated and they should be meeting together and putting sus- ing towards that, but of course it needs a lot of work and they are
tainability in their minds and the criteria and everything else from day just starting. With LEED I feel that it is a marketing system it has not
one, it cannot happen at the end. I feel there is no negative side to this become about sustainability anymore, it is just a name to put on the
because it is required even without sustainability and from our experi- project.
ence as architects we know how many problems occur at the end if Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s goals to ultimate sustainable
goal? sources now so our future generations can benefit from them. Quan-
Rasha: maybe it is but again it’s complicated because some projects tity of energy and water saved is important, but for me sustainability
could achieve it at the end if they try to go through all the credits, is more about the quality of living, it is about the people. Authentic
the minimum credits you need to achieve 1 pearl for example, it still sustainable buildings and cities provide better living conditions and
doesn’t mean it is sustainable because you didn’t start from the be- quality for people and well-being for our environment.
ginning you just added more effort and more cost and more labor to Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
achieve it, still it is not sustainable for me. Rasha: it takes a lot of time and effort, a lot of people to be involved
Ismail: do you think Estidama is pushing the market too far or not and a lot of organizations. It is not only one person or one company
pushing it far enough? that will do it; it takes the government as a first priority because with-
Rasha: it is not pushing far enough; I think we can achieve more. As I out certification systems or incentives from the government the other
said it still has a long way to achieve real authentic sustainability. For organizations like consultants and contractors will not do it. It takes a
example, the first step was establishing Estidama and making the 1 lot of parties and coordination between them all.
pearl mandatory this is a good first step, but then we should start to Ismail: in your opinion what is needed to make a paradigm shift to
create awareness for the clients first because the architects know what convert the built environment into a sustainable one?
is going on, we know how it is done and we know it should be done, Rasha: you should target not only the building sector but all other
but the clients need to know and they need to start providing incen- sectors as well, even the individual person living in his house has to
tives like; the building systems should be integrated with the munici- be sustainable, even the way you consume as an individual because
pal electricity and water systems that are already there, we don’t have in our daily life we throw a lot of things, we just buy and throw. So all
that here yet, in the states they have it, if you get these very expensive of these things need to be cut off and it has to be done on the scale
photovoltaic system you can make back the money by selling back of the whole community. It can come from the top; the government
the electricity to the city grid for example. Maybe if they start doing could even start working towards that each individual is sustainable
that it will start working. and not only the buildings.
Ismail: what is in your opinion the reason behind not moving faster Ismail: does the engineering, architecture and all project related edu-
towards more sustainable buildings? cation need to change to prepare students on how to deal with newly
Rasha: the client and the money. The money issue is not related to the founded sustainability requirements?
client but also to the architectural consultants; even they sometimes Rasha: in my case I learned about all of these things, in terms of AUS
do not care about sustainability. We as individuals we care, if I want to it doesn’t need to. If you are talking about a change in the program
design a building it has to be sustainable but for the architectural con- itself, then maybe yes. For example; we used to have a course, a small 1
sultant if the client didn’t ask for it why should we do it, why should we credit course, to teach AutoCAD because you will need it back at work,
even go through it. So it is the client, the money, the search for more now they are adding Revit. The same thing with sustainability, maybe
profit from both client and architectural consultant. they should add such a thing like in the program itself, but in terms
Ismail: what are the advantages and disadvantages of certification of sustainability we are learning it from our studios, from our profes-
systems? sors so we are always learning it. My final thesis in university was on
Rasha: advantages; going to more sustainable buildings, unfortunate- lightness and fold ability in architecture meaning how you create light
ly with the clients’ needs and greed for money it is not happening any buildings and one of my other projects was about housing for the el-
more, the project has to happen really fast and with the least upfront derly and I did waste treatment using composting toilets and I also did
budget possible. As I mentioned earlier, sustainable buildings don’t reed beds for all the grey water, imagine I was still in my 4th year not yet
have to cost more. But, it is costing more now because we are trying graduated. The professors give you the green light and all these ideas
to go for certification after the whole project is designed. In addition, to learn about sustainability and then you go do your own research.
there might be a higher upfront cost for sustainable projects, but that Ismail: what is still missing in the certification systems? What do you
cost is eliminated by savings in the long run. Clients want lower up- expect in the future development of certification systems?
front costs and so that could be a disadvantage for them. But with Rasha: adding the incentives and integrating the different credits
certification systems it could change because in itself it is an incentive with the incentives and with energy systems of the community or the
for the client to go for sustainable buildings. The disadvantages maybe transportation systems, it should all be integrated. Basically it needs
that it takes more time for documentation, as documentation is a lot more integration and incentives.
of work because they have their own system and you have to follow it.
Ismail: what is the true and added value of certification systems?
fication systems to the built environment? Rasha: although it is still not mandatory in some areas, the manda-
tory certification which is achieved is only 1 pearl which may be easy
Rasha: it has a good contribution, it’ giving people incentives to ac- to achieve, but still it opens the client’s mind, it does release some
tually act and do it. You have to monitor the building after it is con- awareness towards it. It still needs a lot of work, maybe the mandatory
structed; keep monitoring what is going on. I think in LEED there is a should be 2 pearls or maybe the 1 pearl should be more challenging in
point which is about getting statistics from people who are living in order to make buildings better and more sustainable. The added value
the building after 1 to 2 years, do they think that it’s better than any is also better living for the people inside and outside the building as
other building they lived in. These are in terms of quality, but in terms when you leave the building what services are there around you, the
of quantity if you have a photovoltaic system then you can of course way you get to your house, how much time it takes you to get to your
monitor because you can see how it did cut down the energy. house, all of these things are related.
Ismail: how do you define sustainability? Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Rasha: The basic definition of sustainability is protecting our finite re-
Reham Hussein & Lamees Himmo

Riham Hussein
Position: Senior Architect, Stantec
Biography: Reham Attended Ain shams University, Faculty of Engineering-Ar-
chitecture Department and graduated in 2003. She started her career in Dubai
in 2006, and since she has been working in Burthill+Stantec international.
Lamees Himmo
Position: Architect, Stantec
Country of Origin: Palestine/Iraq
Biography: Lamees Himmo, architect with 8 years of experience in providing
clients with professional services in architectural design, site analysis, and mas-
ter planning. She undertakes projects with a variety of sizes, and characters.
She has a proven track record of designing projects within the time constraints
and budgets of all ranges.
With her dedication to client needs and meticulous attention to detail, she cre-
ates individuality in each design and project reflecting the clients’ goals.
Ismail: what defines your design sustainability level? ers. It depends on your scope of work; if you are a leader you will be
Lamees: the sustainability level in any project depends on the client attending the management team meetings. If you are an architect,
and his requirements; some clients come wanting an Estidama 3 pearl then your scope of work is doing design only you will be attending the
project, for example. We try to be sustainable in terms of the build- workshops with all the people in charge from each discipline. So if it is
ing orientation, the openings, the materials used…etc. this on a de- a managerial side or working side.
sign level, but trying to be LEED certified or Estidama, this is more of Ismail: when using certification systems do you prefer one over an-
a requirement from the client usually. We do the best we can without other?
harming the client’s feasibility. Lamees: to me they are all the same, because they are all given and
Reham: we are trying to make the design serve the LEED process, but they are all sustainability related whether LEED, Estidama or QSAS or
in the feasibility side we are just trying to achieve the client’s require- any other type. If I was more involved, I would appreciate using what-
ments. We do whatever we can do in the design concept. ever type it is, that is more done for that region. For me I do not under-
Lamees: and it makes more sense to make building orientation here stand LEED and they applied it a lot in North America and then when
North South, less East West. Like if you are not going to put all the shad- we apply it here and it’s not applicable, so maybe Estidama should be
ing devices to protect your building then make most of the opened more used.
windows facing north. This is not because I am trying to be LEED certi- Ismail: were you involved in Estidama process? is the Estidama process
fied this just me trying to elevate the building’s performance. easy and clear?
Ismail: were you involved in any project that had to be certified? Lamees: no, not at all. Every person is given the list of tasks that, so
Lamees: yes, but not directly. The projects I worked on had to be LEED the PQP (Jason) was always involved in the sustainability part of the
or Estidama certified, but I didn’t do it myself I was not working in this project, so it’s either him alone or with support.
field. Reham: I cannot understand it, unless someone explained it to me.
Ismail: so what was your involvement in the project? Other than that I am not involved with this Estidama work at all. Jason
mentions the requirements and that we need to take care of this and
Lamees: the project pre design, concept design, schematic design that and we try hard to achieve it, but it’s not like I went through it and
mostly the design aspects of it. discovered it myself.
Reham: for me mainly façade engineering, technical drawings and Lamees: in the beginning he mentions how we can get points in Es-
details. tidama and he even said that beyond the building orientation, insula-
Ismail: what type of meetings did you participate in? Who was in- tion used, building façade section and all these things. He says that
volved? a lot of points come from MEP. Even if I was involved, I would not be
Reham: I was involved in meetings after the pre concept stage, be- involved as the other disciplines. Since that some of the projects are in
cause I was involved in the schematic design putting shades and try- rural areas the disadvantage would be as it is in a rural remote area so
ing to take it to the next level. all the transportation system credits you can get; if you’re next a bus or
train station, you lose these points.
Lamees: in the office we have this integration, where all disciplines
are involved to make decisions from the beginning and not just like Ismail: what is the process you go through to learn and submit Esti-
the architects do the design; pre concept and concept and then the dama documents?
engineers just take it from there. They try to involve all the disciplines. Lamees: there is the PQP who gives us at the beginning of each proj-
The meetings would have; structure, MEP, landscape, infrastructure. So ect the needed requirements and this is what we know and as far as it
they were trying to do that not in pre concept design, because that is concerns our work and that’s it.
usual a 3 day charrette when we have to send something to the client. Ismail: what did you have to change to incorporate those mandatory
I say more of the concept and schematic stage. And I think the meet- requirements the PQP explained to you?
ings were once a week.
Reham: materials; if we have a specification or regional suggested
Reham: you have the consultant or sub consultant as well as suppli-
suppliers, we have to consider it. It’s mainly the materials we are using Reham: because it also counts on publicity, most people listen to me-
and the suppliers. dia; this is a way to reach them, in an interesting way you can attract
Lamees: like in Sabaq, what is happening that they thought they can people to that. They need a marketing team responsible for reaching
certify the whole project and then they found out they can only do it out to people.
for neighborhoods and they are now checking it. We can start a proj- Ismail: did you ever hear about sustainability marketing campaign of
ect thinking we will be certified, but then we have so many of require- Estidama?
ments not checked then we have to reconsider. Reham: No
Ismail: do you think the certification system should be mandatory or Ismail: do you think Estidama is pushing the market too far or not
voluntary? pushing it far enough?
Reham: I think it should be voluntary. I honestly feel it’s turning into Reham: I think they are not pushing enough; it is not reaching anyone
a business issue especially in this region, it’s fake. Most of the credits so it is not pushing.
can be achieved by design only, it should be left for the person’s con-
science if the MEP engineer can do something better that will save Lamees: I think it is good that we have a minimum; 10 year ago people
energy, then he should do it whether there is a certification system did not have insulation. So this is a good step, it’s better than nothing.
or not. If I have an option to make the building’s performance better, Ismail: what is in your opinion the reason behind not moving faster
why do I have to put it under LEED, Estidama or anything why don’t we towards more sustainable buildings and communities?
just do it? If we want to do it as a branding thing, that the client wants Lamees: resources are still cheap and awareness is still very low. Com-
his building to be certified, then let it be voluntary, but not force all pared to Europe where they are very aware of it, we are so unaware of
people to pay extra to get branding. On the other hand he can go to it. With all the different climatic issues, they do not know yet the con-
a respectful firm and get a good design without paying more. Leave sequences of what they are doing. I know we are living in luxury now
it an option for the client; the one who cares about sustainability, and and I do not know if our children or grandchildren will have the same.
the one who is after the branding.
Ismail: what are the advantages and disadvantages of certification
Lamees: I totally agree. Clients come knowing nothing about sustain- systems?
ability, except that they want their building to be one. For example;
you have your project in the desert, transporting so many things to Lamees: I would say you have a grading system and it lets you know
the site, you could have been in the city but if he wants to pay less how sustainable your project is. It gives you the factors of how to make
for the land and still you are transporting all these materials, that is so it sustainable and then measures how you applied these factors. You
unsustainable and yet you want to be LEED certified. I imagine it re- can rate your project. The only disadvantage is that nowadays it is a
ally works better in Europe or the US much better than it works here, trend like in fashion.
because their weather conditions and population density and such, Reham: some people just use it to show off, that we have PVC for
helps them more to be sustainable. I agree that there should be a example and it needs to be feasible. If we were using the certifica-
minimum, if Estidama is doing so, then I am fine with it. tion system to enhance our regulations, people are going for higher
Ismail: the integration of the certification system in the planning pro- standards and I am also using it to enhance more regulations. But if
cess for a project, how is it done? What are the differences? What are you take the process as just a fill in the paper, routine process, then it
the pros and cons? becomes a disadvantage and needs to be enhanced.
Reham: we put into our consideration that this is an Estidama project Ismail: how do you define sustainability?
and all the requirements have to fit with the list we got from the PQP Lamees: environment sensitive or ecological sensitive, and you mea-
at the beginning of the process. Of course it has to be integrated from sure it by applying the CS.
the beginning otherwise we will lose money and resources. At least Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
now we have a PQP responsible for that, before we didn’t have one.
Reham: educated designers, architects, clients and people.
Ismail: what would you do differently in order to achieve a better sus-
tainable design? Ismail: in your opinion what is needed to make a paradigm shift to
convert the built environment into a sustainable one?
Lamees: we take some decisions at the beginning to serve the project
like climatic or accessibility. Lamees: more awareness, more campaigns, taking it gradually to-
wards being mandatory. I would say also spend more resources on
Ismail: what difficulties do you face when dealing with Estidama, UPC research, once I was reading about that they can use ethanol I guess
and ADM? from corn, so a paradigm shift requires discovering an alternative re-
Reham: I felt that UPC are really knowledgeable, they know what they source, that is not expensive to use.
are doing, not from the beginning because at first it felt like they were Ismail: what are the interlocking connections and other industries,
just setting rules, but now their personnel are even more experienced consultancies and regulations needed for a certification system to
in planning and sustainable projects, UPC was always clear. work and develop well in the market?
Ismail: how would you set a benchmark and what defines it? How do Lamees: industry wise, we are still not that advanced especially in this
you revise a benchmark? region, almost everything is imported. For example all buildings in
Lamees: I think we should take it step by step towards gradually re- Amman in Jordan, are made out of stone blocks because it is available
ducing the consumption of energy and water, you go gradually down. and they have so much of it and it’s cheaper than getting anything
And we should have workshops and seminars to raise awareness. else. Each country uses the available resources, in that sense we do not
Reham: you also need to provide alternative solutions. Like we can have that luxury of materials here.
apply grouping, because if you use something individually it is much Ismail: Do the engineering, architecture and all project related educa-
more consumption than a group using it, for example; public trans- tion need to change in order to prepare students on how to deal with
portation, if you provide good public transportation and promote the the newly founded sustainability requirements?
idea of it, for sure you will save a lot. Reham: I think we should start from schools to raise awareness, to
Lamees: in Iraq to reduce pollution they set a law that ever Sunday have a new generation that cares about sustainability and about the
even numbered cars are used and Mondays for example is for odd environment. Then if they decide to stop at high school or continue
numbered cars. What happened is that people started getting two through university at least they have the basic awareness. This genera-
cars; one odd numbered and one even, so they can use it each day tion will not change it, maybe the next.
of the week. This was supposed to raise awareness, but people did Ismail: what is the true added value of certification systems?
something totally the opposite, they did what they want. If you make
your building insulated and you do not need to have this huge glass Lamees: at the end of the day for the diminishing resources we will be
cube, you can still have enough light in your space without having the facing in 30 to 40 years, certification systems and being more sensitive
whole villa consisting of glass and you will save electricity because of to the resources and the way we do things, will eventually prepare us
the insulation and your façade system is more studied, you are going more for the future.
to pay less electricity. The problem here is that you do not pay for the Ismail: what do you think is still missing in the certification systems?
real price of electricity. Reham: for me it is still not user friendly. It does not interest me to
Reham: it is all related, if you have a nice efficient building, you will see if it is certified or not or what do they ask for. I am not enthusiastic
save on the electricity and water bills. If you also design compounds about the whole certification issue, maybe it’s our problem but I am
that are human scaled, then you will reduce car usage, if it is shaded almost sure the problem is with them, because we do not get it.
you will even reduce more. You have to provide the efficient way to Lamees: it does not attract my attention to have my building or proj-
live instead of putting regulations to eliminate their usage. ect for example to be certified. I am doing what I can do to make it sus-
Lamees: for example if the villa is not covered all in grass and green tainable; orientation and design…etc. but I do not need a certification.
then he thinks his landscape is ugly, why? You can use indigenous Reham: we want to do the right thing, whether it is certified or not.
plants and still make your landscape look good and still use elements
from your region and will still look good. It’s a mentality; if it’s not so Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
green, it is not a nice garden.
Waleed Hashem
Position: Project Manager-LEED AP, PQP, Obermeyer
Country of Origin: Palestine
Biography: Waleed holds a Bachelor degree in Architecture and a minor in
Urban Design from the American University in Sharjah. He is a LEED AP and a
PQP as well. He has 6 years of experience in Architecture, sustainable design
and project management. Currently he works at Obermeyer middle east as a
Project Manager.
Ismail: what defines your design sustainability level? dama documents?

Waleed: first of all we respond to the requirements of the client, so it Waleed: I first heard about it through media; internet. I went to a
is the client number one and it’s the budget that we have and it’s the course for a couple of days then studied and submitted for the exam,
type of project; it’s typology, what is it being used for because that very simple straight forward.
determines the flexibility you can play around with the design of that Ismail: what are the fees associated with rating a project?
building. So these three main factors I would say.
Waleed: I don’t believe there should be any additional fee for the in-
Ismail: were you involved in any project that had to be certified? ternal design process, because if you have a strong team they can in-
Waleed: yes, it’s the Tatweer Towers that was supposedly a LEED certi- tegrate it right from the beginning. For construction it is difficult to say,
fied project, and I was also involved in Arzana Medical Center with it depends on number of credits and all that, but probably I would say
HDPE that as well is a LEED certified hospital. And we were about to a minimum 15% to 20% more and this is a very rough figure, not even
do one of the projects here which is special security hospital, but we the best green building specialist can give you an absolute answer.
got an exemption because it is a hospital for prisoners, this goes back Ismail: what did you have to change to incorporate the mandatory re-
to the first point that it depends what is the project used for, and we quirements for submitting a project?
could not do it because of special security for example. I am LEED cer-
tified and Estidama certified but I haven’t been yet involved with an Waleed: there are certain things that clients are used to doing in a
Estidama project. certain way just because it is common practice and when it comes to
green measures you have to change them. It could be for an example,
Ismail: what was your role in these projects? using certain types of MEP, certain type of waste water management
Waleed: defining potential credits and preparing the reports that system you can prefer one over the other, but if they are the common
prove that these things exist in the design, regardless of what disci- practice it doesn’t mean that it is the most green, you can easily re-
pline it is. place it with something else.
Ismail: what type of meetings did you participate in? What was their Ismail: do you think the certification system should be mandatory or
occurrence? And what disciplines were involved in the meetings? voluntary?
Waleed: mainly they were meetings to define the credits, to coordi- Waleed: mandatory all through, everyone has to go through the mini-
nate them and to follow up on them. I would say they were bi-weekly mum required. The reason for that is so simple; to just try and live more
meetings. The disciplines involved were; MEP, architecture and land- sustainably and maintain the resources for generations. It is to achieve
scape. At the beginning the meetings were to define the credits and minimum level of sustainability rather than it being absent in a build-
then afterwards you move to another level which is coordination being. It should be within the rules and regulations, formally in the coun-
cause you already have, more or less, the defined credits, so we start try, modified to the local conditions, developed to suit different clients,
with one thing and then gets to the next level of coordination. The to suit the environment where the projects are being built and to just
project was the first in the office to be LEED certified and people were develop accordingly, but it has to be mandatory.
still being introduced to the system; how to do it, how to integrate it Ismail: the integration of certification system in the planning process,
within the design, so it was a challenge at the beginning. It started off how is it done? What are the difference between integrating it from the
like that and then you see more integration as time goes by. beginning or doing business as usual? And what are its pros and cons?
Ismail: when using a certification system in a project, do you prefer one Waleed: it is normally more work in terms of the paper work and the
over another and why? whole thing, registration process and the follow up with additional
Waleed: I do not prefer a certification system, I prefer to adhere by a ministry, but again I think it should not be a problem if it is setup right
collaboration of more than one certification which ever goes by to be from the beginning. If you incorporate the knowledge and the system
more stringent, because within one system you can find very lenient as part of your team that are designing and producing, they are aware
credits and you find very difficult ones. The lenient ones can mean then of what they have to do right in the beginning in terms of im-
nothing in terms of sustainability sometimes, they don’t even relate plementing systems, in terms of designing, in terms of preparing the
to it, while others are better. So I would see it more as a collaborated necessary reports for the municipality, so it becomes just one more
affect of different systems trying to bring it together to one project. As approval you need to take in addition to all the other approvals. The
for local certification systems, if the local requirements are developed only way it is going to be inefficient is if nobody is aware of anything
up to the required extent which is as well still in process. and things have to constantly change and nobody is forced to do it,
Ismail: in this office are you the only one certified? once people are forced to do it they know that they had better set it
right otherwise it is going to cost them more.
Waleed: for Estidama, yes.
Ismail: what is the role of the PQP?
Ismail: is the Estidama process easy and clear? Do you struggle to do
any Estidama related work? Waleed: he has to overlook the entire process from the beginning to
the end; from the design point of view of various disciplines as well
Waleed: no, not at the moment, but I do have enough knowledge and he is the one who follows up with all the municipalities and au-
to tell you that it is not complicated; it is just the system itself and the thorities to make sure that things are going on track and not only dur-
credits that have to be developed. ing design, his role has to continue through construction to make sure
Ismail: what is the process you go through to learn and submit Esti- that whatever has been designed is actually being built. Let’s say that
generally it has to be done that way, unless it’s overdone sometimes consultants doing it everywhere else in the world, so expertise is there
that it starts conflicting with the function or intention of the project, and can pass and the local consultants can even learn from these con-
only if it does that then it gets in a grey area where things would have sultants. It is not impossible, not at all. The developers will go crazy as
to be sorted out. I said, but because they are thinking revenue wise, if I think revenue
Ismail: what would you do differently in any project in order to achieve wise then the topic is irrelevant.
a better sustainable design? Ismail: what is it in your opinion the reason behind not moving faster
Waleed: depends on the project; I am sure I am going to change towards more sustainable buildings?
something in the design, the systems implemented, the landscaping Waleed: money and the fact that we are still not paying the real price
designed, in the infrastructure and in the sustainable infrastructure. of electricity, fossil fuel or energy when we start paying the real prices
For the process, I would make sure that everybody is aware of the that is when we will go a lot further.
green system that is being used for this project. Once you cultivate Ismail: what are the advantages and disadvantages of certification
that in the team you are going to get automatically better results, but systems?
do not leave it to only leaders or those key people to say what has
and has not. Basically it is education and awareness up to the required Waleed: the main advantage is that it creates a system that everyone
level; they know why things are done this way not that because if they needs to follow; the best way to get people on track is to create a
know it they can do it in a different way up to a further limit than strong system for them. Once you create that system and it is prop-
you even asked them to. Knowledge is always a chain if you spread it erly implemented then it starts off at a certain level then it develops
keeps going, but if you choose to stop it or limit it then don’t expect through this same system, it leads to a better result at the end. Having
good results. That is the difference between a team where you have the system in place will teach people something they will need to fol-
all the production people knowing design versus technicians that are low and will have to refer to at every project they do. It is a necessity
not aware why things are being designed that way, and you can see for achieving the sustainability that you go for. As for the disadvan-
the difference in the deliverables between this team and that team. tages, well you can’t find the ideal system that works 100% correct or
It is exactly the same when you add the green standard to the entire on the right track, but whatever disadvantages it has I think it can be
project because this can reflect on all the aspects of the project; every- improved as time goes by and the gaps can be filled and that is why
thing can be done in a green way or in a non-environmental friendly every guideline in the world is annually revised and edited and you
manner and everything counts whether it is for a certification system always have newer editions and that alone creates a very enhanced
or sustainability in general. vision as time goes by.
Ismail: what are the difficulties you face when dealing with Estidama, Ismail: how could you evaluate and measure the certification systems’
UPC or the municipality? contribution to the built environment towards sustainability?
Waleed: the time process and the non clarity of the deliverables they Waleed: you take each and every credit within that certification and
require versus what they do not. For one project they can go for cer- then you conduct a study that has to do with it and see the effect of
tain requirements, but for the second project they increase them for these credits on the environment, how much they help or not help
no clear reason, they are inconsistent. I think the system needs to and how much further can it be developed or reduced.
stronger; defines what is required and what is not and the time it takes Ismail: how do you define sustainability?
to issue the approval needs to be more systematic, more stringent so Waleed: to consume the least resources possible in any way of life
that it goes smoothly from the beginning up to the end including all whether it was in construction or even in daily consumption. The less
the phases in between of feedback with the consultants, I think the you consume the more sustainable you are, and the more you con-
process needs to go smoother. sume of green sources again the more sustainable you are. It is what
Ismail: what defines the CS benchmark? And when do you revise the you consume and how much.
benchmark? Ismail: what does it take to plan and build a sustainable community?
Waleed: I think to set a benchmark you should do extensive studies of Waleed: education, in every community you have certain measures
the local conditions before you come with certain figures, I mean why that are applicable towards a more green environment in all the as-
3? Why not 4 or 2? You have to look at the broad picture to see what pects ever. They always tell that whatever shapes the society as a first
the average consumption versus what reasonable rates or percentage thing is education, once you educate the people towards a certain
reduction can be achieved in each field. It is a lot more there than goal or vision then that’s when all the achievements will start to show
coming up with a decision over night, I do not think it is wise to do up and it applies similarly to green buildings and standards of sustain-
something like that. Although there are certain things that you can say ability. The more you educate the people the more you tend to build
are prohibited or not allowed, but in terms of numbers or benchmarks a sustainable community; both social and physical sustainability, and
I think it needs extensive research and extensive budgets have to be social is just as important as physical sustainability, each one reflects
spent to come up with this outcome. It involves different parties, dif- on the other.
ferent disciplines and different local conditions. You cannot even set a
benchmark for different parts of the world; one benchmark goes for Ismail: in your opinion what is needed to make a paradigm shift to
only one part of the world as it could easily differ from one place to convert the built environment into a sustainable one?
another. Waleed: I would say social sustainability; let’s say if you cannot change
I revise it when I see people more involved, more integrated in the how the building looks like then you change the ways of using the
green system. You always take people by steps; you cannot go to the building. You adapt to using it in the most sustainable manner pos-
most efficient at one time. sible. Just look at our culture 60 years ago, how did we use to live at
homes? We used to have all extended families living together in one
Ismail: and what reactions do changes cause? big home, whenever a son gets married they add an extension to that
Waleed: it is going to drive the developers crazy at the beginning, home, whenever they built a neighbor’s house they built it within ap-
but then they will learn to live with it. As for the consultants it is better proximate walking distance from it, we never depended on suburbs or
education for them, it is another dimension they have to think about cars or long distances. The higher density you create some times, you
and intellectually it promotes them. consume less in terms of energy, you do not have the urban sprawl
Ismail: how would you rate Estidama’s current goals to other certifica- for example. That is what I mean by social sustainability; if you can’t
tion systems? And to sustainability? change the built environment you change the way we consume them
or the way you socially behave.
Waleed: a lot better than others; they moved really forward with their
standards and their credits and all that, the progress is quite good. Ismail: what are the interlocking collections and other industries, con-
They still need a lot of progress, but it is higher than others especially sultancies, regulations needed for a certification system to work and
in this part of the world. develop well in the market?
They still need time to reach there. They need to go step by step, ev- Waleed: you need firm systems and regulations. If people do not fol-
erything is a process in life and this is part of the process. low a certain system and obtain a certain approval that is enforced on
every building, product or deliverable. If you start forcing that, these
Ismail: is Estidama pushing the market too far or is it not pushing far will tie everyone to follow that same system, otherwise all the goals of
enough? all these people are not going to be achieved and once people realize
Waleed: I think they should push it a bit more, looking at this system that they start following the system. It is instinctive that human beings
and how this part of the world can benefit from the existing renew- don’t like to follow a system, so you regulate them in the beginning
able resources and alternative methodologies and all that, its obvious and then it works.
that it can be done because we are lucky to be in this part of the world Ismail: does the engineering, architectural and all project related edu-
where the easiest example would be how much energy we can get cation need to change in order to prepare students on how to deal with
from the sun, solar energy. That is why I say we can push more easily, the newly founded sustainability requirements and how?
it is not difficult to achieve and surprisingly enough you find a lot of
Waleed: not change, I would say developed or enhanced to be able to
add this component of sustainability to be integrated within that en- way.

tire system. The methodology of the education has to add the green Everything social comes from the social background of each culture,
standard components into it. you cannot force that, but you can raise awareness about that and you
Ismail: what is the true added value of certification systems? can put that as additional credits. The social aspect can be added but it
Waleed: it creates a system for the people and that by itself will put ev- can’t be mandatory, it can be a plus. Every culture has different expec-
erybody on the same track and they will have to follow a certain mini- tations especially when you live in a multicultural society. Local certi-
mum green standards in delivering construction and buildings and fications in terms of side contact is one thing and in terms of social is
even in different aspects in term of products, of systems, of designs. another thing because on the same location you find 80 nationalities
It will even encourage people to come up with sustainable method- living together, and everybody has their own way of living.
ologies, in terms of MEP systems or solar energy or the wind turbines, Ismail: what do you expect of certification systems in the future devel-
depending on the location of these buildings. It boosts the market’s opments?
pace to develop. Waleed: I would expect more technological systems to be introduced,
Ismail: what is still missing in certification systems? to get the techniques of modern systems, to conduct further research
Waleed: a lot, again with all the available resources we have here and in order to boost them and that could be of great help in the future
the high level of education of consultants, people and clients which to the up coming buildings, because if we start specifying what type
means that at least they are smart and capable enough to think about of technologies specific needs to be used the we can go into another
green initiatives. In the presence of all the resources we can still push category of using the international expertise and modern technology
and add more credits and even push the existing credits higher and in to achieve better reduction rate in the construction.
that sense a lot of things are missing. I believe lots of the optional cred- Ismail: how credible are certification systems?
its can be mandatory and add more to the optional. There are certain Waleed: it varies; some are more credible than the others. LEED is
things we need to take for granted that they will happen not as add- credible to an extent, Estidama is more credible to the site contact, to
ing to the credit to be certified now it has to be there no matter what. the climate’s local conditions and it has done very good progress, but
Then we take up to another level saying we will do this, this and that in terms of progress it still needs to go further but in terms of cred-
and it’s a more sophisticated system then this is the only way to get ibility being modified to the local context this gives it more credibility.
the certification system. In that sense I see a lot of things that are miss- Credibility comes from how applicable are the credits or not.
ing and do not take a lot to be implemented right away in the system.
Also I would say what is missing is the real support of the government Ismail: is there anything that you wish to add?
or from different parties apart from the direct ones that they have to Waleed: I would say that green standards, or when talking about
keep pushing for these things. I will give you a very simple example; if green and sustainable in general, should be part of our daily lifestyle
certain organizations come up with certain systems that are proven to in addition to all the systems we have been talking about. Because if
be green and reduce the consumption of energy, they need to have you learn from day one that you have to live in a certain way, consume
enough power to enforce that within each country which at the mo- in a certain way, not consume certain things you will find things go-
ment they don’t. If any international organization comes they can only ing a lot easier than trying to force things, we need to have self initia-
suggest the system, but they are powerless if people do not want to tive, self initial awareness of out the environment requires from us and
do it, unless the government comes and tell you that you have to do it then you will find things falling in place a lot smoother than you ever
to get your building approved. And this is also not very good in terms thought.
of power and what you can force to do and what you cannot force to Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
do. People need to have their own word and pressure that they can
put at any point of time saying this should be done this way or that
Anonymous
Ismail: how did Estidama start? works going on, but that is not under Estidama and there are other
Anonymous: UAE has one of the highest carbon foot per capita in things going which again are not Estidama but on the industrial side
the world, and there is strong political will to see this reduced. A sig- we got a port going on. And now we have got a couple of big projects
nificant portion of the carbon emissions is due to high levels of en- which are starting from scratch such as the new airport terminal. So
ergy consumption in buildings. Dubai took a very practical approach these things will slowly start to go through the Estidama process and
in 2007, by requiring all new developments to be certified under an that is going to be just a testing for the UPC as it will be for the design
internationally recognized “Green Building” system, which gave indus- and construction of a building because this is going to be a big learn-
try a level of flexibility to determine the most suitable system for the ing curve. My impression is I don’t think Estidama people have actually
market, and this is how LEED came very much to the forefront in the thought it through and how they are going to manage, implement,
UAE, and what promoted the Building Research Establishment to in- run and monitor the whole process.
corporate BREEAM into Gulf BREEAM, so that was the catalyst to make Ismail: the certification systems have their advantages and disadvan-
things move forward. tages, what are those?
Whereas Abu Dhabi turned around and said “we are going to devel- Anonymous: the advantages are few but basic that you can tailor it
op our own system” and released the first draft version of Estidama into your individual market, number two if you want to make it into a
in 2008. There are advantages and disadvantages developing your statutory requirement which Abu Dhabi did, then you can incorporate
own system, and as long as it is properly managed, reviewed and into your planning process which they have done. The disadvantage is
implemented then fine, if not then there will be potential difficulties. that you need a learning curve and you need the right expertise to ac-
Estidama came up with a system which was very similar to LEED (if tually make it happen. LEED wasn’t done in a day, what we see today is
fact much of it was cut & paste from LEED), then that went through a 10 to 12 years of development. BREEAM wasn’t done in a day what we
process of general consultation and was put out then to the market see today is after 16 years. So to do something right from the first time
to see what the market thinks about it, the market was; A: too busy to and make it a statutory process and implement it and the people who
looking at Dubai and B: Abu Dhabi came later with the development are doing it are copy pasting from LEED, you have a recipe for disaster.
stage, whereas Dubai has really pushed the boat out to develop from I think what they should have done is link up with LEED, BREEAM or
2003/2004, and as it was just peaking at 2008 that’s when Estidama Green star. Somebody who has the infrastructure, experience….etc
started to push out more for the market to look for. will say lets link up with you will take your learning, it’s our own sys-
Ismail: what difficulties did Estidama have as a startup? tem but it’s affiliated with yourselves this helps the BREEAM, LEED or
whoever to raise their profile on the back of Estidama and this allows
The difficulty is, not just Estidama but any system, not in writing the Estidama a foundation to sit on. You automatically find a whole choir
rules, that’s easy, you and I can put down a whole sustainability book of experts who already know the system and because apart from few
in a week saying they shall do x, y & z it is as easy as that because there changes and a few definition changes and criteria changes it’s pretty
are enough information out there, enough standards out there for us much the same system, same methodology, different areas of margin,
within a week we can make it the book is here, that’s what you got to different levels of criteria, those individual details, this one is manda-
do, and that’s is the easy part. The hard part is to check, monitor and tory and these three are extra. People know this is easy to transfer, cost
verify. Now if you are not setup to check, monitor and verify then how is cheaper, the market understands what is going on, the suppliers can
are you going to know if people do this? Number two, if you have provide all the information on materials because they would say “this
linked this in with your planning permissions and your local authority is the same thing that is happening in the USA or in UK or in Australia”
permissions…etc. then you need to put various processes in place, so you get cost effectiveness out of there, you get a whole load of
some resources in place such that things can run smoothly, and finally expertise, which can instantly transfer across and you have got some-
with these two things you need to have the right support behind it thing really solid and it’s your own, you are affiliated but it is your own.
and you need to have people who have actually been into the con-
struction/ consultancy/ project management/ anything related to the Ismail: what do you think is missing in Estidama?
construction industry to understand where the pinch points and the You need to give an incentive. In Europe we have a price of roughly
pitfalls are such that when you put the book together it tries as best as 20 to 25 cent per kilowatt hour of electricity, with that kind of money
it can to either dodge these, pass over them, links them or smooth the you make sure you turn your electricity off. Here people leave the air
path. If you don’t have these you are on a recipe for failure. So as I said conditioning running with window open, there is no incentive, why
Estidama had a difficult start. And they didn’t put these things in place. would anyone leave their windows open in a building with their air
It was about two and half years ago when all the applications from Es- conditioning on and run it to 18 degrees?! Instead of looking at the
tidama allegedly were getting stuck and there was a big back log that building, you need to educate the people and if people don’t feel a
was starting to happen again if you try to turn the world upside down pinch in their pockets they will not do it. Unless you got historically
too quick too soon and you don’t educate the market in terms of what minded people who will follow rules like the Scandinavians and the
you expect and what you want, there are going to be difficulties. So Germans, even if you gave them electricity free they will still close that
a whole lot of projects got stuck in the pipeline and I believe I recall window and they will still turn the light off because it is in their nature/
the Abu Dhabi municipality sending out an e-mail stating that “don’t culture. And this doesn’t happen overnight this is cultural thing based
bother with this and this, right now just get your applications through on the last couple hundred of years. That’s the essence culture of a
because everything was getting delayed”. nation. The point is that unless you give incentives or disincentives
you won’t get anywhere. If the government said tomorrow that “we
Now there has not been really much going through planning and ap- are going to charge you full cost for your electricity and water and we
proving since Estidama has actually come to be. One of the few proj- are going to pay you a subsidy for every person will give you – say 100
ects has been Siemens building, there has been a number of other Dirham per month”, I tell you over night your electricity and water con-
public sector works which because the planning had been done just sumption will be halved, guaranteed. It will be halved, why? Because
before the decree concerning Estidama so all these plans had gone now that subsidy is money for me to spend and that is money going
through and Abu Dhabi is quiet at the moment. So there is not much out and I am going to reduce that money and I am going to spend this
really coming through in terms of new work, there are infrastructure to go to a restaurant. It doesn’t matter that it is cheap, but if you got
to pay the full cost and you’re demanded to pay the full wack you will philosophy is we want it all and we want it now. It’s like weight loss, for
reduce that and put money in your pocket. That’s the natural instinct me I would get in a program for a year try to get off 20 kilos, here they
of anyone and everyone. want to go to a clinic get the whole 20 kilos removed, they want it all
So if you want to make incentives then you will say “ok you are giv- and they want it now. So if you try to lose 20 kilos over a year you are
ing bigger incentive to the Emirati and lesser incentives to expats like going to do it in a sensible systematic healthy way and a sustainable
us….etc” I am not saying it’s easy to manage but what I am saying is way, if you go to the clinic and get a liposuction for your 20 kilos you
unless people pay the full wack for what they are using they will not are going to have flabby skin, you may have health implications….etc
appreciate what they got. If people don’t care about it, if they have it’s not good for you and after 3 months you will probably put the 20
to pay for it they will look after it and this is normal in everything and kilos back on again. So the mentality in this part of the world is they
anything. A rich kid gets a bike for his birthday after 3 months he has want to catch up so they want it all and they want it now. If people
broken it it’s falling apart and he doesn’t care about it anymore, but a can’t deliver the “we want all and want it now” or having difficulty to
poor kid saved up for 3 years from his pocket money and bought a understand the “we want it all, we want it now”, what are you going
simpler bike and it will last him after 10 years, he looks after it. Why? to do?!
Because he knows how much this cost the other one doesn’t know And this stuff about going on to existing buildings, the things you
how much it costs. As simple as that this is basic human nature and have established make it work before you do anything else, to do ex-
basic finance, nothing complicated. Now you take that building over isting buildings just take a look around you when are you going to
there, you pay me lots of money and I am going refurbish and now start and when are you going to end and you can’t manage a few proj-
spend your money properly and I will make sure you feel you got value ects in the construction industry, you want to manage the established
for your money. Now the people who move into that building what base? Are you totally out of your mind?!
incentive have they got to continue with it? Zero, so let’s say after 6 Ismail: Do you think CS is teaching the consultants and clients, and im-
months when they misuse this and abuse that and don’t care about proving the sustainability aspects of Abu Dhabi?
this or that water running, so you took it from 100% you made these
improvements you got it to 50%, they abuse it and take it back to 80%, Yes it is. Here in Abu Dhabi because people have been building hap-
your savings is based on 60% saving, but now you got 30% and will hazardly there needs to be some regulations and guidance in terms
that 30% remain consistent or will you need to make continuous in- of what needs to be done. And with that regulation and guidance it’s
vestments to make sure that you maintain that 80%? making people stop and think “if I do like that I am not going to get
through” and this comes by historically water and electricity being
In my home at the moment, I’ve got low energy lighting everywhere; made available at a very low cost. People have not viewed building
would it cost me anymore to actually have normal light fittings? Not buildings for water and electricity, in fact if you just look around in Abu
much because the cost of electricity is so low, not that much but I do Dhabi you find that most buildings are only 20 to 30 years old and
that anyway we don’t have to, it’s a matter of principal. When we are then you knock them down and build something better. So if your
out we don’t leave any air conditioning on. Is it inconvenient for me? culture or your outlook is like we built something 15 stories high in
Not really because by the time we get home we turn the air condition- 1986 but now in 2012 the building is looking very tired we’ve got a
ing on within half an hour and everything is comfortable again. But if nice prime spot of land lets knock down and build a 40 story building,
I did whatever everybody else was doing would I be spending more because we are going to get much more money out of it, why not? If
money? The answer is no maybe 10% more, so is it going to make your logic is in that direction that is building will only going to last you
a big dent in my pocket? The answer is no, but you take a practical 25 years, why do you need to design to last for 50 or 100 or 200? Really
pragmatic view point and that’s what you do, so unless you educate this is the question. So there needs to be a strategic outlook in terms of
people and if educating them is not enough, hit them in the pockets. what is it that you want to do in the long term, if your outlook is short
Ismail: do you think Estidama is the right path for a sustainable built why would you need to plan long term?
environment in Abu Dhabi? Just the other day a friend of mine came from Germany and he went
Many of these things are new and because they are new they need to to the mall and he saw a tablet android based…..etc going for roughly
slowly develop as time goes by on new ideas, if you try to implement 100 dollars, Chinese made, and he bought it and he says if this lasts me
it from day one it’s not going to work because the market is not ready for a year I will be happy, so instead of spending 800 dollars for flashy
for it. And we are doing some of the LEED jobs at the moment where iPad you spend 100 dollars on something and say well looks fine, if it
if Sheikh Mohamed of Dubai had happened to in 2007 said we are go- lasts one year I will be happy. So it’s a life cycle scenario thing, what
ing to go down a green route, when we were still at the height of the are you paying for, what is your expectation? If your expectation that
building industry in Dubai, then everyone would say right we need to it is going to last for 25 years and then you are going to knock down
get into the logistics and get materials and equipments which com- and build something new then don’t worry about maintenance, don’t
plies with. So they open up the channels and supply routes for equip- worry if it falls apart. If a plaster is hanging off no problem we are go-
ments because there was a boom on and because there were require- ing to knock it off anyway but just do a quick patch up job, why would
ments so it’s partially a government instigated, which it has to be, you you use expensive materials if you are already going to make last for
have the supply routes opening and although the market crashed a short period of time? This is what it comes down to. So what is your
but because the supply routes were already open when we were do- outlook? Would you have the same mentality in Europe? The answer
ing projects here I would need the materials because those people is no because you are going to build a house in Europe, you say you
have already opened the supply routes it’s easy to do and you get the want it to last 50-80 years and it lasts much longer, that’s your outlook.
materials. Now if that hadn’t happen and Estidama was a standalone, There is a difference in approach and thinking, so why would you end
everyone would say why are they doing that? It wouldn’t have hap- up spending a fortune on your refurbishment when after 2 years you
pened it would have fallen over before it started and that’s because have to do it all again. You will need to use more materials, more re-
the market needs to make sure, to understand and to develop. And sources and more everything. So it comes back down to fundamen-
part of the problem with Estidama was they tried to do too much, too tals, when you are building a building what’s the expectations? What
soon, too quickly and without the right level of resources that it keeps is the cultural environment? How is the whole system working? What
struggling. So yes it can develop but the standards of Estidama are not are peoples’ expectations? All these things come into it, so to try to im-
much more than you would have in a typical building in general in Eu- pose a Euro-American standard into the Gulf where it is fundamentally
rope. And when you look at the standards of things and see what they different in terms of the outlook. Then your whole business models
have to do it’s not too different. So when you have an environment wrong, if your business model is wrong then how are you going to
where they need different types of developments like building codes make this work financially? Here people invest in a building and they
and things which are not fully established, the market is too small for are saying they want their money back in 3 to 5 years, in Europe in in-
them to have their own building codes, which is understandable. Es- vest in a building then you are looking at 15 to 20 years against 5 years,
tidama is a good base point to start getting people to think in a more it is a fundamental difference in thinking.
systematic way and not haphazard. It is the first step; it can develop
but is it the right way to develop? It is good as any I guess, it could be It is a learning curve and everyone has to go through a learning curve.
managed a bit more differently and effectively but would I say is give Unfortunately if you bring expats from outside who have no idea
it up? No, I think it’s generally a good idea. about the environment you are working in and you put them there
and tell them make it happen, they can only go with what they know,
Ismail: is Estidama pushing the market too far or is it not pushing far and they can’t make it fit “you” because they don’t know what “you” is.
enough? And this is what Estidama did, a few tweaks a few changes a few ma-
Anonymous: before it was pushing too far, but I guess people got neuvers…etc to make it go to where it is going now, fine it is slowly
used to it. If they start pushing again I think the market will start shut- coming to something which is workable, but to go onto the opera-
ting their heads and saying we don’t have any idea about what you tional side, this is good for me I will make lots of money because I will
people are doing. And with everything its cycles; you have to intro- be in demand, but how will it be done?
duce, you have to let people understand and you need it to be es- Ismail: do you think certification systems should be mandatory, volun-
tablished until everyone gets it, then you can notch it up a bit. If you tary or a mix of both?
try to make big step changes and in the gulf region as a whole, the
Anonymous: generally speaking you need to have a starting step, are cost prohibited and sometimes they are effort prohibited and it
and you have a starting step, like Dubai saying everything new must can’t be done so you are always using something different. The second
be LEED or not LEED but green in some shape or form, or do it here thing the population is not getting any smaller, early this week there
through Estidama. With UAE consistently amongst the top 2, Qatar be- was all this talk about the 7th billion person, if you go back to 1960 you
ing the second, ran off the most co2 generated percentage world- were talking about the 3 billionth person in the world so in less than
wide, you need to do something about it. In a low energy cost devel- a generation it was doubled, what are all these people going to eat,
oping market, there would need to be mandatory requirements. where are they going to live? Where are they going to get electricity
Ismail: when using a certification system do you prefer one over the from? What are they going to drink? How are they going to get to
other and why? work? What jobs are they going to do? What computers are they go-
ing to use?
Anonymous: not really, they are all pretty much the same. There is
nothing this one does not do or the other does it better, and there So we are happily free falling, base jumping off a cliff and the bot-
are lot of quirks. LEED within the last 2 years started to add regional tom is down there somewhere land we are going to have either a soft
priorities which help because the USA is so diversified you can go to landing or a hard landing, if you have a parachute it will be a nice and
the north and be very cold or down in the south and be very hot and easy landing and we are all happy or you may not have one and you
humid, the deserts and the mountains…etc so they have done that fall and make a 2 meter hole where you land. So where would we go?
whereas BREEAM international has different supplements for each I don’t really know, but I don’t see a parachute on our backs. And we
country which actually helps. are thinking is it viable to build a parachute on our way down, we don’t
really see the fact we are falling because this natural speed we are go-
Ismail: the integration of certification system in the planning process, ing at we are used to it and it just becomes the norm. But no one is
how is it done? And what is different than business as usual? really working on a parachute, so if actually someone started to design
Anonymous: if you think of sustainability not in terms of certification a parachute then we can say this is something we can actually make
process but more in terms of good proper practice, you are basically but no one knows what a parachute looks like and someone comes
saying you want to do these things and you just bring it up front to with needle and thread and this is your sustainability, saying we got
make sure you have all the bases covered before you start doing any needle and thread maybe we can use it to sew up a parachute, but
detail design. Like any concept if you don’t identify what your key we need to find a parachute first. I call myself environment friendly be-
goals are once you start doing the design you are going to come out cause I don’t have kids. Can the earth sustain this level of population?
stuck. So even in the pre-concept stage you say we are going to target The answer is I don’t see it, but maybe someone will come up with the
these type of things we want to be more efficient, we need to think idea that yes it can.
of how we are going to do the energy efficiency, how are we going Ismail: what is your solution to the climate problem?
to measure and monitor that, is it going to be through modeling or
through good practice…etc that automatically takes care of the plan- When people ask me “what is your solution for the world?” the ideal
ning. In different countries you’ve got planning regulations anyway solution is we stop having children. Think of it that way, we are boldly
where you need to abide by the minimum or otherwise you won’t get going to where no man has gone before, we are producing some
through; here they incorporated Estidama within their planning, so much side effects emissions; pollution, contamination, destruction
it’s something you can’t get away from. Even when I was in Germany that the world has not seen before in the last 50 to 100 years it is has
or UK you have to follow building regulations and if you don’t follow not happen in the whole history of the world. Do we know the full im-
them you don’t get a permit anyway. It was one of those things where pact of this? No, we are boldly going where no man has gone before.
you got to live with it in life anyway. So can it be good? Unlikely because the atmosphere fantastic as it is
cannot support all the rubbish you are throwing at, is it going to have
Ismail: what’s in your opinion the reason behind not moving faster to- an adverse effect? Depends on what you call adverse effect, what will
wards more sustainable buildings and communities? have an effect and if the effect is, so called global warming, so what
Anonymous: In Abu Dhabi, its new, its different, people need to get would be the impact of global warming? I tell people you got your
used to it and energy is cheap, water is cheap. The world, does the reservoirs on your rooftops, the first step on the way take your water
world care? Is it up high enough on the agenda? Are people hurt tank off your roof, where are you going to get water from? Well you
enough to want to make a difference? You can have all these tree hug- are going to walk out to the well and take it from there, which well
gers where on the other hand you have got the bankers robbing ev- and where? So it’s same principal, but only on the much larger scale,
erybody, politicians robbing everybody, people losing their jobs…etc now you have to wait for it to rain. So where are you going to get your
in this particular environment you want them to care about the trees, drinking water?
birds and the bees?! Not really what happens. The desert land will get hotter so what little they groove? Nothing.
Ismail: what is your definition of sustainability? The arable land which is the hottest will start turning into desert, other
Anonymous: I really don’t have a definition of sustainability, there areas which really didn’t foster arable land and growth might end up
are several things here but talking about sustainability we are talking becoming good for farming, who knows. So there will be changes,
about the good of the planet overall. So sustainability means yes you the changes will mean that the whole diversity changes which means
continue to develop but you do it in a way that you continue to de- those who have will turn into have and have not and there will be
velop to the future generations. Without having negative impact on more of have not than the haves. With no water, very little food or the
environment or other species….etc which I think is rubbish. Because whole disruption in the food cycle, it means everyone will start fight-
there is no such thing, you ‘will’ impact the environment, you will gen- ing each other for whatever resources they have.
erate gases and co2, you will cut down trees...etc and sometimes they Ismail: thank you very much for your contribution.
Image © 2012 Ismail Khater Image © 2012 Ismail Khater
Abu Dhabi Skyline
Dubai Skyline
Traditional Wind Tower - Al Bastakiya, Dubai, UAE
Certification Systems as a Tool for Sustainable Architecture and Urban Planning - Case Study: Estidama, Abu Dhabi Book 2 - Master Thesis - Ismail Khater - April 2013

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Certification Systems as a Tool

for Sustainable Architecture

Certification Systems as a Tool

A Thesis Presented to:

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree:

Conventional building methods are continuing to stress the supply of avail-

Keywords: Certification systems, Sustainability, Estidama, Benchmarks, Mas-

4. APPLICATION: MASDAR CITY 51 6. CONCLUSION 101

III. List of Figures

IV. List of Tables

1.1 Problem and objective Figure 01: World

Sector End Use/Activity Gas

Residential Buildings 10.2%

Electricity & Heat 24.9% Commercial Buildings 6.3%

Unallocated Fuel Combustion 3.8%

Iron & Steel 4.0%

Combustion Chemicals 4.1%

Industry 14.7% Other Industry 7.0%

T&D Losses 2.2%

Fugitive Emissions 4.0% 6.4%

Industrial Processes4 .3%

Agricultural Energy Use 1.4%

Rice Cultivation 1.5%

1.2 Research questions and hypothesis

1. What are building and community certification systems?

2. What is Estidama and Abu Dhabi’s vision 2030?

3. How is Estidama implemented?

Figure 02: Research

BACKGROUND Methodology and

1.3.1 Research structure

Chapter three introduces the concept of Estidama in greater detail as it is

Chapter four presents a practical implementation of the preceding chapter,

1.3.2 Empirical data

1.3.2.1 Literature review

1.3.2.2 Interviews Comprehensiveness of

Participants’ selection plays an important role as the aim was to strategically

Research Restrictions 1.3.3 Research limitations

1.4 Background of the Emirates

Figure 03: Map of the

Water Supply and Demand

SOURCE END USE

Desalinated Water People

Energy Supply and Demand

By Demand Sector By Land Type

Other Community, Social

Apparel and Textiles

Wood and Products

and Personal Service

Public Administration and

Health and Social Work

Private Households with

Transport, Storage and

Explanation of the fundamentals needed to understand the concept

2.1 Imperative definitions

The most accepted and known definition of sustainable development is the

2.2 Benchmarking in the built

2.2.2 Benchmarking Procedure

2.2.3 Benchmarking Development

START SIMPLY GRADUATED APPROACH

Define the purpose of the benchmark- Benchmarking objectives could be expanded

E.g. energy or water metering, manual

Set initial targets and benchmarks,

Identify measures to improve in-use