Hot Topics and Trends in Zero-Energy Building Research—A Bibliometrical Analysis Based on CiteSpace

Abstract

With the development of a low-carbon economy, zero-energy structures will become prevalent and take center stage in the construction industry. This paper uses the CiteSpace software to create knowledge maps of authors, institutions and keywords, and then examined and commented on research publications regarding zero-energy buildings in order to understand the research state and development trends of zero-energy buildings. The findings demonstrate that: (1) Since its inception in 2000, research on zero-energy buildings has advanced significantly; (2) A subject analysis approach is used to identify development trends and research emphasis, and the four research areas with the most papers published are energy fuels, construction building technology, civil engineering and green sustainable science technology; (3) China, the United States and Italy are the countries with the most activity in zero-energy building research; (4) Out of the eight most prominent keywords for the study subjects, the design of zero-energy buildings, the estimation of the carbon emissions of zero-energy buildings, the technical challenges of zero-energy buildings and the follow-up energy-saving measures of zero-energy buildings are the four fundamental topics covered in the most cited papers; (5) There are three obstacles to the development of zero-carbon buildings: unclear standards, immature technology and insufficient development momentum. The following three problems should receive more attention in the future: how to develop a widely accepted zero-carbon building standard; how to coordinate national support to achieve technological breakthroughs; and the establishment of an effective incentive mechanism at the international and national levels to promote the development of zero-carbon buildings.

Prospective Research Trend Analysis on Zero-Energy Building (ZEB): An Artificial Intelligence Approach

“…Many studies previously conducted employed scientometrics to identify the domain of scientific knowledge using quantitative analysis methodologies, such as coauthorship, cocitation, keyword co-occurrence, and cluster analysis, facilitating the exploration of hidden implications and the identification of innovative research areas [35][36][37][38]. However,…”

“…Many studies previously conducted employed scientometrics to identify the domain of scientific knowledge using quantitative analysis methodologies, such as coauthorship, cocitation, keyword co-occurrence, and cluster analysis, facilitating the exploration of hidden implications and the identification of innovative research areas [35][36][37][38]. However, to identify more practical research fields and content related to ZEB, this study employs an AI-based clustering analysis after conducting NLP on the unstructured ZEB-related R&D grant data, specifically the titles and abstracts.…”

“…Recent studies have also used bibliometric or scientometric methods to analyze the trend of research on ZEB by collecting and analyzing scientific articles [30][31][32][33][34][35]. Through bibliometric analysis, Wang et al [30] and Agbodjan et al [31] identified influential organizations, leading experts, major research directions, collaboration networks, thematic trends, and challenges of nearly ZEB and ZEB, respectively.…”

“…Similarly, Omrany et al [34] used bibliometric analysis techniques to provide a comprehensive overview of three decades of research developments in NZEB, identifying influential researchers, sources, countries, and the main thematic research focus areas and hot topics in the field. Furthermore, Wei et al [35] created knowledge maps of authors, institutions, and keywords in ZEB research using CiteSpace software(5.8.R3 SE 64-bit). The study found that research on ZEB has significantly advanced since 2000, with most papers published in the areas of energy fuels, construction building technology, civil engineering, and green sustainable science technology.…”

Engineering and Design for Sustainable Construction: A Bibliometric Analysis of Current Status and Future Trends

“…Starting with publishing on topics like risk evaluation of power grid projects, his for sustainable engineering, sustainability assessment of zero-energy buildings, digital twin technologies, performance analysis, etc. [79][80][81][82][83][84]. Chen Y. has published six papers since 2021 and has received 60 citations.…”