Dubai, UAE, 2 May 2018: PCFC Trakhees today launched the Advanced Sustainability Assessment Index (ASASI) in a culmination of efforts to develop a system aligned to local conditions. The launch ceremony took place on the spacious Queen Elizabeth 2, which has settled down at its new home, Mina Rashid, in Dubai.

Speaking on the occasion, the government body’s Manager-Sustainability, Dr P R Jagannathan said ASASI is the result of wisdom gathered over the years and an analysis of gaps in existing Green Building rating systems in the region and elsewhere, which it seeks to address. “We drew on stakeholders and specialists to develop the manual,” Dr Jagannathan said. “The past 10 years [of the Green Building movement in the GCC region] have given us an idea of what is missing. Also, we have looked at the propensity of the market for local standards.”

Dr Jagannathan described ASASI as a region-specific, credit-based tool that aims to reduce building emission, if properly administered. It will reduce peak load and optimise water use and seek to achieve them through such measures as seasonal commissioning and continuous commissioning, among others.

ASASI, Dr Jagannathan said, is an open protocol, which he added, is not confined to any region or authority, and is not linked to any building permit process. It would assess buildings based on specific criteria, including Core, Energy, Water, Health and Environment Protection, Site and Land Use, Transport, Material, Operational Sustainability and Progressive Innovation, he said. The ‘Core’ criteria of the 600-plus-page manual will focus on an integrated design approach and the participation of specialists, he said. “For instance, we would look to involve FM teams in the early conceptual stage of a project,” he said. The ‘Progressive Innovation’ criteria, Dr Jagannathan said, will give weightage for innovation, which takes into consideration products that have been proven to be useful to improve building performance.

As with other rating systems, ASASI would require building performance industry professionals to attain a certification to be able to use it. Trakhees is working on the structure and modalities to certify professionals. Answering a question on the implications of the certifying process for professionals, Madiha Salem, Director-Research and Development, Department of Planning and Development, Trakhees, said the cost of getting ASASI-certified would be less than existing market rates. The fee structure, she added, is under evaluation.

Surendar Balakrishnan is the Editor of Climate Control Middle East magazine, and Co-Founder and Editorial Director of CPI Industry. He may be contacted at surendar@cpi-industry.com