ABSTRACT:

The rapid growth of urbanization, climate change, and constraints on energy resources have underscored, more than ever, the necessity of developing buildings with optimized energy consumption, environmental resilience, and the integration of smart technologies. Despite remarkable progress in artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and Building Information Modeling, significant challenges remain in the practical integration of these technologies, the evaluation of their actual performance, and their social acceptance.This study was conducted with the aim of performing a bibliometric analysis of global research trends in sustainable, smart, and low carbon emission buildings over the period 2020–2025, in order to identify growth patterns, research fronts, and scientific linkages among authors and research institutions. The need for this research lies in the fact that identifying scientific streams and existing gaps enables more effective direction for future investigations and supportive policymaking.Data were extracted from the Lens.org database and analyzed using VOSviewer software (version 1.6.20) to conduct keyword co-occurrence, citation, and bibliographic coupling analyses. The findings revealed that, following continuous growth up to 2022, the field of sustainable and smart buildings has entered a phase of thematic reconfiguration, in which innovative digital technologies, intelligent energy management, enhancement of quality of life, and mitigation of environmental impacts have become central areas of focus. Network analysis indicated the presence of clusters encompassing energy management and smart systems, performance optimization and simulation, integration of renewable energy, climate-responsive design, artificial intelligence applications, smart cities, and life-cycle assessment. Furthermore, gaps were observed in the full integration of technologies, economic evaluation, and social acceptance. The results suggest that the future of this field will be grounded in the convergence of technology, policy, and the social sciences, and that by developing dynamic assessment frameworks, the path toward achieving self-sufficient, resilient, and climate adaptive buildings can be accelerated, ultimately contributing to a sustainable environment.
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Introduction
The building sector, as a pivotal component of the built environment, constitutes not merely a collection of physical structures but a complex socio-technical system that mediates the interaction between human activity and the natural environment. This sector plays a decisive role in meeting diverse functional, operational, and comfort needs while simultaneously exerting significant influence on global energy consumption patterns, natural resource utilization, urban environmental quality, and the trajectory of socio-economic development (Soltani, 2016; Mahdinejad & Asadpour, 2019; Asadpour et al., 2024a, 2024b; Shirdel et al., 2025a, 2025b). In contemporary urban contexts, rapid urbanization, unprecedented population growth, and evolving lifestyle patterns have collectively intensified the demand for heterogeneous building typologies and functional spaces. These pressures manifest as heightened demands on infrastructure systems, substantial increases in energy use, accelerated rates of resource extraction, and expanded pollutant emissions across local, regional, and global scales.

The environmental consequences of these trends are profound. Increased emissions accelerate climate change dynamics, resource depletion undermines planetary boundaries, and habitat disruption contributes to biodiversity loss and ecosystem fragmentation (Beladi & Yunusa‑Kaltungo, 2025; Asadpour & Habibi, 2015). Empirical evidence increasingly demonstrates that conventional planning and construction paradigms—rooted in linear resource flows and static performance assumptions—are insufficient to address these interlinked challenges (Asadpour et al., 2016).

Against this backdrop, the integration of smart technologies emerges as a transformative strategy. Automated energy management systems enable dynamic optimization of energy flows, environmental sensors facilitate real-time monitoring of air quality and thermal comfort, and advanced analytics derived from consumption data inform predictive maintenance, behavioral feedback, and demand-response mechanisms (González‑Briones et al., 2018). The convergence of these tools not only offers measurable pathways for reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also advances occupant well-being through enhanced comfort, health, and user autonomy.
This technological potential aligns closely with the operational and design imperatives of sustainable and net-zero energy buildings, architectural typologies that reconcile human comfort with environmental stewardship. Such buildings embody an integrative approach—balancing energy efficiency, renewable energy uptake, resource circularity, and social responsibility—thus contributing directly to the broader objectives of sustainable urban development (Dwaikat & Ali, 2016).
Materials and methods
This study conducts a scientometric analysis of global research on sustainable buildings, emphasizing the integration of smart technologies for energy management, quality of life improvement, and environmental impact reduction. Recognizing net‑zero and energy‑positive buildings as pivotal in addressing climate change, it maps scientific developments from 1950 to 2025. A total of 1,570 English‑language publications (2020–2025) in the field of architecture—comprising research articles, reviews, and conference papers—were retrieved from the Lens.org database. Themes included smart design, energy optimization, intelligent management systems, indoor environmental quality, and carbon reduction. Manual data cleaning ensured accuracy and consistency. Using VOSviewer (v.1.6.20), the study generated knowledge maps, identified collaboration networks, and analyzed keyword co‑occurrences and co‑citation patterns. Results reveal key emerging topics, core technologies, and geographic and institutional linkages shaping the field, offering insights to advance scientific cooperation and practical strategies for sustainable, technology‑integrated building design.
Results and discussion
The scientometric analysis of publications between 2020 and 2026 reveals a clear growth–decline pattern. Scientific production began moderately in 2020, increased substantially in 2021, and peaked in 2022 with over 420 documents. The subsequent drop in 2023 to about 270 outputs was followed by a slight recovery in 2024, while 2025–2026 show reduced figures—likely due to incomplete database indexing. Throughout this period, journal articles remained dominant, conference papers held a notable secondary share, and preprints contributed modestly during peak years. Source analysis shows Sustainability, Energies, and Buildings as the top three journals, jointly capturing the highest visibility and output share. Other outlets displayed more specialized and dispersed publication patterns. Authorship network mapping identified 75 prolific researchers within a highly interconnected cluster, reflecting intensive collaboration and thematic alignment. Citation and bibliographic coupling mapping revealed major clusters around smart energy management, building performance optimization, renewable integration, and climate‑responsive design, with bridging themes in AI applications, life‑cycle assessment, and urban smart policy. High‑impact articles act as central hubs, linking technical, environmental, and policy domains. The dense connectivity and interdisciplinary integration observed suggest that smart, sustainable building research has reached a state of scientific maturity, with strong collaborative frameworks. Identified clusters and network structures highlight targeted pathways for innovation, bridge knowledge gaps, and support policy and practical strategies for advancing energy efficiency, environmental performance, and quality of life in the built environment.
Conclusion
The field of sustainable and smart buildings has rapidly advanced alongside AI, IoT, and renewable energy, forming a new paradigm in architecture and urbanism. Bibliometric findings show global expansion in scope and conceptual overlap, with research centered on smart energy management, quality of life, and environmental impact reduction. Key gaps remain in large‑scale integration of BIM, IoT, and AI, economic policies, user acceptance, resilience to climate extremes, and comprehensive performance evaluation. Future research priorities include AI‑driven energy optimization, green finance models, user–building interaction studies, resilient self‑sufficient design, continuous performance monitoring, cross‑cultural best‑practice transfer, and circular‑economy material lifecycle strategies.