ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 261

Depending on overall score of collected points, BREEAM Rating System can certify the building
under one of five levels;
• Pass
• Good
• Very Good
• Excellent
• Outstanding
• OR Star rating from 1 to 5 stars
BREEAM Certification process depends on appointing an assessor. The assessor should be trained
under a United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) to become accredited competent person
who will be able to interpret the requirements of the system and communicate them to project team as well as collating the evidence required to be submitted with the assessment report
(BREEAM 2012).
The main objective of the qualified independent assessor is to promote the discussion between
the project team, appointing the assessor earlier will insure smooth, uncomplicated process. Furthermore, assigning BREEAM Accredited Professional (AP) who is an architect, engineer or a person with design skills and responsibilities combined with a high level of capability in the BREEAM
assessment process, will add sustainability and environmental design skill to project team, further to a benefit of (AP) knowledge in BREEAM assessment process and requirements to proceed
with the certification professionally and easily (BREEAM 2012).The certification process stages are;
Registration, Appointing the Assessor, Assessment Report Submission and Releasing the Certification.
ESTIDAMA - Pearl Rating System (PRS)
The Pearl Rating System which could be defined as Estidama Tool, developed by Urban Planning
Council (UPC) of Abu Dhabi and launched in April 2010.Pearl is a combination of most international systems in use (LEED and BREEAM) but more importantly a combination that locally suited
system with local priorities. Pearl system is a “hybrid between BREEAM and LEED”(Elgendy 2010).
Pearl (version 1.0) is the one in use, a second version (version 2.0) of PRS has been developed and
it is available for stakeholders reviewing only.PRS started with three types of development codes;
Pearl for Villas (PVRS),Pearl for Buildings (PBRS), and Pearl for Community (PCRS). Pearl for Operation and Maintenance is in process for releasing as an existing building code and specifications.
The (PBRS) can be applied to all building types and functions including: Hotels, Hospitals, Industrial buildings, Laboratories and warehouses.
PRS consists of six categories; Site Selection & Natural System, Water, Energy, Materials, Indoor
Environmental Quality, Integrated Design Process(Fig.2). The PRS designed to cover all building
stages; Design, Construction and Operation to assure sustainability through the building life cycle. It defines stages as a transition of responsibility from a design team to construction team and
operation / management team (PRS 2010). Pearl Design Stage Rating starts from pre design and
valid only until construction is completed, and all specifications and supporting documents of
the operations and the used materials required to be kept and submitted upon the request of
final ‘Pearl certificate’.
Pearl Construction Rating Stage approves the achievement of design stage requirements submitted upon construction completion; it requires the same design stage requirements that identify

An overview of building sustainability rating systems in the Middle East

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