As far as luxury developments are concerned, they don’t come any better than the Dubai Pearl. Designed to be a self-sustaining community which incorporates state-of-the-art technology to bring ultimate comfort to its residents, Dubai Pearl is not with light pockets.

The super brand recently showcased itself at a glamorous Paris hotel in front of an audience that included the well known architects, wealthy businessmen and developers as well as potential investors.

Dubai Pearl is indicative of the developers heeding the call made by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE in 2007, for the new developments to abide by international eco friendly building standards. He felt that the incorporation of such standards in the Dubai Starategic Plan 2015 was the only way to guarantee that Dubai remained a green and healthy city.

According to the Chairman of Pearl Dubai LLC, Fahim, sustainability with a focus on people and communities is at the heart of the Dubai Pearl development.

Sadek Owainti, the Founder of Emirates Green Building Council, is a full fledged supporter of His Highness’ directive and is of the view that there is no shirking away from the concept of sustainability in the UAE.

The basic principle behind sustainable development is the preservation of resources for future generations, without sacrificing on the quality of life in the present.

And although this idea was slow to catch on in the UAE, it has since gained momentum and currently the UAE is substantially ahead of other Middle Eastern countries.

Any sustainable development is based on three fundamental pillars, community, the environment and the economy, all balanced to perfection. If this is not done, the chances of success are slim as is demonstrated by the short lived green ideal movement in the 1960s and 1970s, which did not take into account all the factors involved.

The bottom line for a successful sustainable development is the inclusion of the business element. This can be best done by ascertaining the best possible way of preserving a community through the creation of jobs while at the same time ensuring that all the stakeholders in the community are happy.

This emphasis on creating a congenial living environment is evident in Dubai Pearl, according to Fahim. A prime example of this is the fact that at Dubai Pearl, people won’t have to commute to fulfil their needs; rather a short walk will suffice.

Communities which are business oriented, self reliant and yet maintain high standards of luxury are bound to get excellent reviews, a fact which Fahim is fully aware of as he stresses the dual nature of Dubai Pearl both as a business hub and a sustainable development.

Although the zero-carbon development of Masdar City in Abu Dhabi is widely accepted as the premier sustainable development, Dubai Pearl is not far behind having achieved equilibrium comparable to the best around. This is highlighted by the fact that the Dubai Pearl building can utilise sunlight effectively to promote energy conservation.

The next big challenge for Dubai Pearl is to attain the gold level LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification in sustainability.