Sustainability Rating System for Infrastructure Projects in UAE

In spite of huge investments and the vital role infrastructure plays in the economy of UAE, the country has not yetdeveloped an assessment scheme to measure the sustainability of infrastructure projects/development. The aim of this studywas to develop a sustainability rating system for infrastructure projects in UAE using weighted indicator scoring. Theidentification of the list of 66 indicators was done by content analysis. The sources of content analysis were from governmentguidelines, research literature and sustainability rating system for infrastructure projects namely BCA Greenmark forInfrastructure (Singapore), ISCA (Australia) and Envision (USA). These indicators were shortlisted based on their relevance inthe UAE. A mixture of qualitative and quantitative research methods is utilized to find the weightage to be applied to theindicators and to find suggestive measures to improve infrastructure sustainability in this region. Interviews and surveys wereconducted with a good mix of experts from the industry. The data collected from the interviews were collated to providesuggestive measures for improving infrastructure sustainability. The collected survey data were analyzed using statisticalanalysis techniques to find the indicator weighing. The indicators were shortlisted by 75% to minimize the effort andinvestment into the process. The weighing of the deleted indicators was distributed among the critical clusters identified byPareto analysis. Finally a simple Microsoft Excel tool was developed as the rating tool by using the calculated weighing for theindicators.