The Pearl Rating System is the green building rating system developed by the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council as part of their sustainable development initiative, Estidama. The system can be applied to communities, buildings and villas, with different requirements for each.
The pearl rating system is divided into Buildings, villa, and community. Each with the scale of 1 to 5 pearl.
Similar to LEED, the Pearl Rating System has various levels of certification. ranging from one to five pearls. For all new development projects within the emirate of Abu Dhabi, a minimum certification of one pearl is required (two pearls for government buildings). This certification requirement was mandated by the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi and went into effect Autumn 2010.
There are three stages of certification associated with the Pearl Rating System. The first stage is the Pearl Design Rating, success of which is tied to the building permit. The second stage is the Pearl Construction Rating, success of which is tied to the certificate of completion. The third, and yet to be developed stage, is the Pearl Operations Rating.
Training seminars of various lengths and technical depths are available for all of the Pearl Rating Systems. Training seminars are currently being delivered by the WSP Group and Oger International on behalf of the Urban Planning Council, Abu Dhabi.
Individuals interested in working on Pearl Rated projects should become Pearl Qualified Professionals (PQPs); at least one PQP is required per project planned for development within the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The PQP test was developed by Prometric and is administered at the CERT center in Abu Dhabi and the AMIDEAST testing center in Dubai.
Based on review by Abu Dhabi’s Urban Planning Council (UPC), up to five pearls can be awarded. One pearl is mandatory for all developments and is based on the building code. As per Information Bulletins No. 1 dated 6 December 2010 all Abu Dhabi government projects are required to achieve two pearls. Two pearls include all the mandatory requirements as well as additional optional credits.
To date the only projects to achieve three pearls include the Abu Dhabi Midfield Terminable Building and ten unspecified Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) schools.