Database: A primer

The IISD database serves as a tool for estimating the financial performance of infrastructure assets by accounting for systemic costs and benefits often omitted in conventional assessments. It contains 2,057 entries across five categories: environmental externalities (1,059), social externalities (291), governance externalities (4), direct costs (192), and climate risks (511). The database covers infrastructure types including transport, energy, water management, materials management, building, mining, and nature-based infrastructures, and is used to support the SAVi simulation service and SAVi Academy training.

• The database consists of 2,057 total entries, with the largest share being environmental externalities (1,059), followed by climate risks (511), social externalities (291), direct costs (192), and governance externalities (4).
• The database is structured into five sheets based on impact type: environmental, social, and governance externalities (which assign monetary values to typically unaccounted impacts), direct costs (for implementing or maintaining technologies that reduce externalities), and climate risks (focusing on physical impacts, often expressed as percent changes in performance, durability, or efficiency).
• The database covers seven specific infrastructure types: transport, energy, water management, materials management, building, mining, and nature-based infrastructures, and tracks impacts across construction, operation and maintenance, and decommissioning phases.

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} }