Conceptual design of a climate database to mitigate the climate change implications on buildings

Purpose Sustainable facilities management faces challenges in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Decision-making in building design, maintenance, and disaster management requires climate data, but existing sources are limited and complex for non-climate experts. This study develops a climate database for facility managers, enabling quick and informed decision-making. Addressing the gap in data accessibility enhances climate-responsive strategies in the built environment. Aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13: Climate Action, it supports sustainability, resilience and effective climate change mitigation. Design/methodology/approach Eight expert interviews were conducted to collect user requirements, with thematic analysis for qualitative data analysis. Design science approach was followed to develop the prototyped database named “FMClimate”. Climate data were collected using secondary data collection. Findings Effective decision-making for facilities management using available climate data sources remains complex due to their less user-friendliness, licensing agreements and payment obligations. Industry professionals need a climate database with freely available recent climate data, visualization tools for informed and quick decision-making rather than detailed analysis. This study developed a prototyped climate database using MySQL, Node.js and React App. In validation, experts suggested developing an interface with interactive web tools for accurate decision-making and providing recommendations based on climate data predictions. Originality/value Sectoral climate databases have been developed for industries such as agriculture, disaster management and building construction. This study aims to develop a climate database for facilities management, facilitating informed decision-making and keeping all data in one place.