LCA and energy efficiency in buildings: mapping more than twenty years of research
It provides a guideline for scholars in building sustainability research, though it is incremental as it reviews existing literature rather than proposing new methods or data.
This paper tackled the lack of a comprehensive overview of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) research in buildings by mapping over twenty years of literature using social network analysis and text mining on 8024 abstracts, identifying seven key thematic groups and tracking trends.
Research on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is being conducted in various sectors, from analyzing building materials and components to comprehensive evaluations of entire structures. However, reviews of the existing literature have been unable to provide a comprehensive overview of research in this field, leaving scholars without a definitive guideline for future investigations. This paper aims to fill this gap, mapping more than twenty years of research. Using an innovative methodology that combines social network analysis and text mining, the paper examined 8024 scientific abstracts. The authors identified seven key thematic groups, building and sustainability clusters (BSCs). To assess their significance in the broader discourse on building and sustainability, the semantic brand score (SBS) indicator was applied. Additionally, building and sustainability trends were tracked, focusing on the LCA concept. The major research topics mainly relate to building materials and energy efficiency. In addition to presenting an innovative approach to reviewing extensive literature domains, the article also provides insights into emerging and underdeveloped themes, outlining crucial future research directions.