Climate change adaptation in facilities management: a systematic literature review

Purpose As climate change increasingly impacts the built environment, facilities managers are faced with the need to adapt building operations, maintenance and infrastructure to mitigate climate-related risks and enhance resilience. This study explores climate change adaptation in facilities management through a systematic review of peer-reviewed empirical research, providing global evidence and identifying gaps in the existing literature. Design/methodology/approach The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) criteria were used to guide this systematic review of literature published from 2014 to 2023. Three relevant databases (Scopus, Science Direct and Google Scholar) were searched, based on this review’s search terms. The study employed thematic content analysis to examine the results from the 20 selected articles. Findings The results demonstrate the adverse effects of climate change on the built environment. Impacts such as increased property damage risk, reduced safety and poor air quality, among others, were identified. The study found that stakeholders in the built environment lacked climate change awareness. The adaptation strategies and barriers identified were largely generic and did not specifically focus on FM. Generally, the review revealed that literature on this subject in terms of the FM industry is scanty, dispersed and narrowly focused. This creates a knowledge gap for future research to help enhance climate change adaptation in the FM sector. Practical implications The lack of empirical evidence and theoretical development hinders the FM sector’s ability to respond effectively to climate-related challenges. This gap highlights the need for further studies on climate change adaptation in facilities management. Originality/value The study highlights the need for further research on climate change and facilities management based on the current state of literature on this subject.