Abu Dhabi, UAE: According to an official communiqué issued by the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council (QCC), the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC) will transfer ownership of Estidama Villa Products Database (EVPD) to QCC. The transition, the communiqué said, has been decided by the Abu Dhabi government to utilise QCC capabilities to enhance product quality, and to build upon the successful implementation of the Estidama Pearl Rating System. It further said that the announcements were made as part of QCC’s participation in the recently concluded tenth edition of the World Future Energy Summit (WFES).

Estidama, the communiqué said, represents the vision to create a sustainable Abu Dhabi, with one of its key components being the Pearl Rating System (PRS) – a sustainability rating system designed to assess the sustainability performance of buildings, communities and villas throughout the project’s lifecycle.

The Estidama Villa Product Database (EVPD), the communiqué revealed, was launched in 2011 with the aim of creating a database of products deemed compliant with the Pearl Villa Rating System (PVRS) requirements. The EVPD has helped share marketplace information, covering over 2,000 technically compliant products from approximately 125 suppliers, added the communiqué.

The communiqué highlighted that the transfer of the EVPD is aligned with both QCC’s conformity goal to ensure products meet the highest level of safety, quality and sustainability requirements and the UPC’s Estidama mandate to transform Abu Dhabi into a model of sustainable urbanisation.

Salem bin Khalid Al Qassimi, Director of Conformity Scheme Services at QCC, said: “In line with our responsibility to advance quality infrastructure in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, we are working closely with relevant public and private stakeholders to improve the quality of products circulated in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and to minimize the impact of products on human health and the natural environment. We partnered with UPC to enable the implementation of Estidama guidelines. To achieve this goal, we engage our stakeholders from the early stages of the scheme development to ensure that manufacturers and suppliers of building materials are well aware of the quality standards and can prepare for the upcoming requirements. This process consistently ensures that the materials and technologies used in the construction industry are environmental friendly and use resources efficiently according to the globally accepted norms and standards.”

He further said that QCC has introduced “Abu Dhabi Environmental Performance Trustmark, which certifies that products bearing the Trustmark meet all relevant statutory requirements as well as the mandatory quality, environmental performance and safety standards”.

Yasmeen Al Rashedi, Senior Manager – Estidama Department, Urban Development & Estidama Sector at UPC, also commented on the development, saying:“The EVPD has been instrumental to the successful implementation of the Estidama Pearl Rating Systems by providing assurance of product compliance and serving as platform for suppliers to showcase their technically compliant products. The UPC looks forward to our ongoing collaboration with QCC as we work together with a common goal of creating a more sustainable built environment.”