Insight from Review Articles of Life Cycle Assessment for Buildings

The building sector holds a significant position in the global energy consumption share, and its environmental impact continues to intensify, making the construction industry a key player in sustainable development. The application of life cycle assessment on buildings (LCA-B) is widely employed to...

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Main Authors: Yang Zhang, Yuehong Lu, Zhijia Huang, Demin Chen, Bo Cheng, Dong Wang, Chengyu Lu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Applied Sciences
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/14/7751
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author Yang Zhang
Yuehong Lu
Zhijia Huang
Demin Chen
Bo Cheng
Dong Wang
Chengyu Lu
author_facet Yang Zhang
Yuehong Lu
Zhijia Huang
Demin Chen
Bo Cheng
Dong Wang
Chengyu Lu
author_sort Yang Zhang
collection DOAJ
description The building sector holds a significant position in the global energy consumption share, and its environmental impact continues to intensify, making the construction industry a key player in sustainable development. The application of life cycle assessment on buildings (LCA-B) is widely employed to evaluate building energy and environment performance, and thus is of great significance for ensuring the sustainability of the project. This work aims to provide a systematic overview of LCA-B development based on reviewed literature. A three-stage mixed research method is adopted in this study: Firstly, an overall analysis framework is constructed, and 327 papers related to building life cycle assessment published between 2009 and 2025 are screened out by using the bibliometric method; Then, through scientometrics analysis, the journal regions, sources, scholars, and keyword evolution are revealed and analyzed using VOSviewer tool, and the hotspots in the field of LCA-B (e.g., integration of building information modeling (BIM) in LCA-B, multi-dimensional framework of environment–society–culture) are preliminarily explored based on the selected highly cited papers. The research finds that: (1) the performance of low energy buildings is better than that of net zero energy buildings from the perspective of LCA; (2) software compatibility and data exchange are the main obstacles in the integration of BIM-LCA; (3) a multi-dimensional LCA framework covering the social or cultural aspects is expected for a comprehensive assessment of building performance. This study provides a systematic analysis and elaboration of review articles related to LCA-B and thereby provides researchers with in-depth insight into this field.
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spelling doaj-art-2cccedcbf8f348d092ffed373270d7062025-08-20T03:58:26ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-07-011514775110.3390/app15147751Insight from Review Articles of Life Cycle Assessment for BuildingsYang Zhang0Yuehong Lu1Zhijia Huang2Demin Chen3Bo Cheng4Dong Wang5Chengyu Lu6School of Metallurgical Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan 243002, ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan 243002, ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan 243002, ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan 243002, ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan 243002, ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan 243002, ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan 243002, ChinaThe building sector holds a significant position in the global energy consumption share, and its environmental impact continues to intensify, making the construction industry a key player in sustainable development. The application of life cycle assessment on buildings (LCA-B) is widely employed to evaluate building energy and environment performance, and thus is of great significance for ensuring the sustainability of the project. This work aims to provide a systematic overview of LCA-B development based on reviewed literature. A three-stage mixed research method is adopted in this study: Firstly, an overall analysis framework is constructed, and 327 papers related to building life cycle assessment published between 2009 and 2025 are screened out by using the bibliometric method; Then, through scientometrics analysis, the journal regions, sources, scholars, and keyword evolution are revealed and analyzed using VOSviewer tool, and the hotspots in the field of LCA-B (e.g., integration of building information modeling (BIM) in LCA-B, multi-dimensional framework of environment–society–culture) are preliminarily explored based on the selected highly cited papers. The research finds that: (1) the performance of low energy buildings is better than that of net zero energy buildings from the perspective of LCA; (2) software compatibility and data exchange are the main obstacles in the integration of BIM-LCA; (3) a multi-dimensional LCA framework covering the social or cultural aspects is expected for a comprehensive assessment of building performance. This study provides a systematic analysis and elaboration of review articles related to LCA-B and thereby provides researchers with in-depth insight into this field.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/14/7751life cycle assessmentbibliometric analysissustainabilityliterature reviewVOSviewer toolbuilding information modeling
spellingShingle Yang Zhang
Yuehong Lu
Zhijia Huang
Demin Chen
Bo Cheng
Dong Wang
Chengyu Lu
Insight from Review Articles of Life Cycle Assessment for Buildings
Applied Sciences
life cycle assessment
bibliometric analysis
sustainability
literature review
VOSviewer tool
building information modeling
title Insight from Review Articles of Life Cycle Assessment for Buildings
title_full Insight from Review Articles of Life Cycle Assessment for Buildings
title_fullStr Insight from Review Articles of Life Cycle Assessment for Buildings
title_full_unstemmed Insight from Review Articles of Life Cycle Assessment for Buildings
title_short Insight from Review Articles of Life Cycle Assessment for Buildings
title_sort insight from review articles of life cycle assessment for buildings
topic life cycle assessment
bibliometric analysis
sustainability
literature review
VOSviewer tool
building information modeling
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/14/7751
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AT deminchen insightfromreviewarticlesoflifecycleassessmentforbuildings
AT bocheng insightfromreviewarticlesoflifecycleassessmentforbuildings
AT dongwang insightfromreviewarticlesoflifecycleassessmentforbuildings
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