Green retrofitting application in developing economies: State of the art and future research directions

Abstract

Energy consumption and Greenhouse Gases (GHG) by existing buildings must be reduced since they contribute to undeniable adverse impacts on our mother planet. To date, research and development have made significant progress in green retrofitting, but its knowledge in developing economies is minuscule. This study aims to address this gap by reviewing its status quo and proposing future research directions in this domain. A total of 224 relevant articles were identified through the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach. A follow-up analysis was then conducted based on scientometric and content analyses. Publication trends, influential countries, and keywords in the domain were analyzed through scientometric analysis. It was discovered that Italy, the USA, and the UK were ranked as the first three places with a higher frequency of publications whereas China, Malaysia, and Egypt appeared in the top rank in a developing context. “Energy” is the most studied green retrofitting topic in both economies. Five areas, namely (1) performance evaluation, (2) performance optimization, (3) adoption, (4) policies and incentives, and (5) stakeholder engagement were identified as the major research interests and future directions for developing economies. The study finally introduced a framework by combining the review results with the nexus of future directions, which is expected to guide appropriate measures to promote green retrofitting in developing economies.