Database: A primer

This guide describes a database developed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) to support the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) methodology. The database provides monetary estimates for externalities and climate risks, as well as direct costs for infrastructure and technologies, to help estimate the financial performance of infrastructure assets when project-specific data is unavailable.

• The database contains 2,057 entries categorized into five types of impacts: 1,059 related to environmental externalities, 511 related to climate risks, 291 related to social externalities, 192 related to direct costs of infrastructure projects, and 4 related to governance externalities.
• The database is structured into five sheets based on impact type. Environmental, social, and governance externalities assign monetary values to typically unaccounted impacts; direct costs cover the implementation, operation, or maintenance of infrastructure to reduce externalities; and climate risks detail physical impacts, often as percent changes in performance, durability, or efficiency.
• The database covers several infrastructure types, including energy, transport, water management, materials management, building, mining, and nature-based infrastructures. It also tracks the project life phase affected: construction, operation and maintenance, or decommissioning.

APA

Schlageter, A. (2020). Database: A primer. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/savi-database-primer-brochure.pdf

Chicago

Schlageter, Abigail. Database: A primer. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2020. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/savi-database-primer-brochure.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Schlageter |first1=Abigail |title=Database: A primer |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2020 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/savi-database-primer-brochure.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{schlageter2020database, author = {Schlageter, Abigail}, title = {{Database: A primer}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2020}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/savi-database-primer-brochure.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }