Is sustainability a lot of hot air?

Construction project meetings around the world are resounding with phrases about ‘sustainability' and ‘green criteria' as pressure rises on developers to deliver more and more environmentally-friendly buildings.

The reasons are many and varied — from regulatory and inflationary factors including new frameworks to meet socially responsible environmental and ethical commitments to the growth of corporate social responsibility policies and rising energy costs.

Several things have become clear though from our experience advising such developments around the world: it is the combination of regulatory imperatives and occupier-led demand that is driving and will continue to drive sustainability criteria forward.

And greater understanding of the tangible benefits that can be achieved by implementing sustainable measures, within a viable budget, will lead to less resistance to do so. These include economic benefits from the significant reductions in energy demand in more efficient buildings for example, or lower utility costs for water consumption.

As the evidence of the benefits of good practice across the industry spreads, others will follow suit.

Greater consistency

Experience shows that when a major occupier class such as a government imposes a sustainability standard as part of their criteria for selecting new premises, the industry responds so as to avoid a two-tier property market.

This also drives demand for greater consistency and clarity in the application of sustainability criteria

The GCC has launched a region-specific sustainability rating system. With extreme summer temperatures reaching 48-degree centigrade and humidity levels at near 100 per cent, the pressure on electricity for day-to-day necessities such as airconditioning is exceptional.

Allied to this, the scarcity of fresh water, high evaporation rates, infrequent rainfall averaging less than 100mm a year leads to desalination on a vast scale. The environmental impact of these climate factors is unique to the region and a sustainability rating system must reflect this in order to be credible.

Compliance status

‘Estidama' is the bespoke sustainability initiative of the emirate of Abu Dhabi. In addition to addressing local environmental and cultural differences, Estidama differs from other well-established systems such as Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and Bream (British Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) by seeking to become part of the local building code.

Estidama requires architects and planners to work up a holistic sustainability programme as part of the project's conceptual design phase.

This integrated approach ensures that buildings are designed as one entity rather than a collection of stand-alone systems.

The Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council has given the Estidama Pearl Rating System increasing mandatory compliance status. Since April 2010 the UPC has required all government projects which receive capital funding through Abu Dhabi government to achieve a minimum of two "pearls".

The writer is the director of planning and environment - Mena at the law firm of Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP.