Towards an Integrated Socio-Ecological Approach in Green Building Transitions: A Systematic Literature Review
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- Obj. 1: To identify theoretical frameworks and models adopted in GBT research;
- Obj. 2: To examine research methods employed in the GBT studies;
- Obj. 3: To identify major areas or topics in GBT research;
- Obj. 4: To recognize the emerging trends in GBT research.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Data Collection
- 🡒
- Sample: Peer-reviewed journal articles published in English with digital availability before April 2025;
- 🡒
- Phenomenon of Interest: Transition related to green building, encompassing technology, policy, economy, etc.;
- 🡒
- Design: Published literature of any research design;
- 🡒
- Evaluation: Theoretical frameworks, research aims and methodologies, research focus and findings, and research limitations;
- 🡒
- Research Type: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods peer-reviewed journal articles.
2.2. Data Analyses
2.2.1. Qualitative Content Analysis
2.2.2. Bibliometric Analysis (Quantitative Method)
- Institution and country analysis: Explore the contributions and collaboration relationships among different institutions and countries to show the geographical distribution;
- Keyword analysis: Examine the distribution and frequency of occurrence of keywords to reflect the disciplinary structure and focus. This includes keywords co-occurring analysis, cluster analysis, and timeline visualization;
- Research process analysis: Identify the keywords with the strongest citation burst to reflect the historical development of research hotspots and highlight current research focuses. This can inspire scholars to conduct follow-up studies.
3. Results
3.1. Trend of Publications
3.2. Publications by Research Method
3.3. Theoretical Frameworks Adopted in GBT Literature
3.3.1. Multi-Level Perspective
3.3.2. Strategic Niche Management
3.3.3. Innovation Systems
3.3.4. Evolutionary Game Theory
3.3.5. Dissipative Structure
3.3.6. Ecological Foot-Print Model
3.3.7. Agent-Based Model
3.4. Main Contents of GBT Research
3.5. Contributing Regions and Cross-Country Collaborations
3.6. Research Hotspots (Keywords)
3.7. Frontiers of Research
4. Discussion
4.1. A Perspective–Focus Framework
4.1.1. Socio-Technical Perspective
4.1.2. Socio-Institutional Perspective
4.1.3. Socio-Ecological Perspective
4.2. Critique for Existing Theoretical Frameworks in GBT
4.3. Knowledge Map
4.4. Dilemma and Future Research
4.5. Practical Implications
5. Conclusions
- (1)
- Transition frameworks such as MLP, strategic niche management, and innovation systems have been widely applied in GBT research. Moreover, other models emerging from interdisciplinary concepts, including evolutionary game theory, agent-based model, and dissipative structure, have also been employed to investigate GBT issues. Among these theoretical frameworks and models, evolutionary game theory and the MLP have been the most commonly adopted.
- (2)
- In terms of methodology, the majority of GBT articles have employed a qualitative approach, with a focus on descriptive research. Scholars in this field have tended to utilize case studies and qualitative research as primary procedures, while quantitative research has often been conducted through modeling methods.
- (3)
- The graphical distribution of GBT research reveals that China and England have significantly contributed to the field, producing the majority of published articles. However, academic collaboration and communication between different regions remain limited, and most studies have been conducted in developed countries. In the analysis of keywords, terms such as “barriers”, “energy“, and “evolutionary game” have been identified as crucial, frequently appearing in GBT research. To help locate the various themes and topics within GBT studies, a perspective–aim framework has been proposed. This framework identifies GBT research topics from three perspectives: social–technical, institutional, and ecological. It also addresses two research aims, ranging from practical applications to in-depth understanding.
- (4)
- The keyword co-occurrence cluster timeline, in conjunction with research process analysis, illustrates a trend in GBT studies from technical, specific issues to a more systematic exploration of dynamics.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
GBT | Green Building Transitions |
AEC | Architecture, Engineering, and Construction |
MLP | Multi-Level Perspective |
Appendix A
Transitions Practice | Understanding Transition | ||
---|---|---|---|
Socio-technical | Technology and technique | E: Narrative qualitative research (2) [9,53], case study (1) [112] D: Narrative qualitative research (3) [10,113,114], case study (1) [48], modeling (1) [7] C: Survey (1) [8], modeling (1) [52] | C: Modeling (1) [36] M: EGM (1) [36] |
Innovation path and knowledge generation | D: Case study (2) [29,30] C: Survey (1) [76] M: Innovation systems (2) [29,30] | E: Case study (1) [55] D: Case study (1) [28], modeling (1) [54] C: Case study (1) [51] M: Strategic niche management (1) [28] | |
Socio-institutional | Politics and governance | E: Narrative qualitative research (2) [3,56] D: Narrative qualitative research (6) [20,21,26,107,109,110], case study (6) [22,57,58,63,69,115,116], modeling (1) [117] C: Narrative qualitative research (1) [64], modeling (4) [2,23,41,60], survey (3) [61,62,118] M: MLP (2) [22,26] | C: Modeling (1) [59] |
Agency of actor groups | D: Narrative qualitative research (1) [119], case study (2) [13,120], survey (2) [12,19] C: Modeling (1) [42] M: Agent-based model (1) [42] | E: Case study (1) [66] D: Narrative qualitative research (2) [27,121], case study (2) [24,65], modeling [3,74] C: Modeling (12) [14,31,32,33,34,35,37,38,39,43,68,77] M: MLP (3) [24,27,65], agent-based model (1) [43], EGM (9) [14,31,32,33,34,35,37,38,39] | |
Transition geography | D: Case study (2) [11,25] C: Modeling (1) [78] M: MLP (2) [11,25] | E: Case study (1) [67] D: Narrative qualitative research (2) [113,122] | |
Socio-ecological | - | C: Modeling (1) [41] M: Ecological footprint model (1) [41] | D: Modeling (1) [40] M: Dissipative structure (1) [40] |
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Methods | Approach | |
---|---|---|
Eligibility criteria | Scopus | (TITLE-ABS-KEY (“green building”) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY (“green architecture”) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY (“green construction”)) AND (TITLE-ABS-KEY (“transition”) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY (“transformation”) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY (“shift”)) |
WOS | TS = (“green building” OR “green architecture” OR “green construction”) AND TS = (transition OR transformation OR shift) | |
Information sources | Scopus and Web of Science | |
Search strategy | Peer-reviewed journal articles published in English with digital availability before April 2025. | |
Selection process | Two reviewers manually screened the outcomes of the publications retrieved, including title, keyword, abstract, and full text. Each reviewer worked independently before combining their findings. | |
Data collection process | Data from the publications were collected by manually reviewing the publications for the research theoretical frameworks, aims, methodologies, focus, findings, and limitations. | |
Data items | A table was created listing all outcomes for which data were sought in terms of GBT research. | |
Study risk of bias assessment | Two reviewers manually screened the outcomes of the publications retrieved, including title, keyword, abstract, and full text. Each reviewer worked independently before combining their findings. This process was used to eliminate bias. | |
Effect measures | The effect measures were produced using percentage values | |
Synthesis methods | The tabulation of the study featured theoretical frameworks and research focus of GBT publications. The networking and timeline figures presented research themes, hotspots, and trends in the field. | |
Certainty assessment | The assessment certainty was measured through the modularity Q value and the mean silhouette score of cluster analysis, as well as comparisons with previous studies |
Structural Dimensions | Criteria of Analysis |
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Publication details |
|
Theoretical frameworks |
|
Research aims and methodologies |
|
Thematic data |
|
No. | Inclusion Criteria | Exclusion Criteria |
---|---|---|
1 | Journal articles | Non-journal articles |
2 | Articles available in full/Articles with full text | Articles with only the abstract |
3 | Articles in English | Articles in languages other than English |
4 | Article with a relevant subject of green building transition (e.g., Environmental Sciences and Construction Building Technology) | Article with an irrelevant subject within Subject area/categories (e.g., chemistry, toxicology and pharmacology) |
5 | Non-duplicate records | Duplicate records |
6 | All published articles (2011–2024) | - |
7 | The title, keywords and abstract of the article related to green building projects or green construction | The title, keywords and abstract of the article not related to green building projects or green construction |
8 | The title, keywords and abstract of the article based on the transition lens (long-term and underlying changes) | The title, keywords and abstract of the article not based on the transition lens (long-term and underlying changes) |
9 | The full article related to green building projects or green construction | The full article not related to green building projects or green construction |
10 | The full article discusses the transition lens (long-term and underlying changes) | The full article does not discuss based on transition lens (long-term and underlying changes) |
Models | Articles | Research Methods | Focuses | Contents |
---|---|---|---|---|
MLP | O’Neill and Affolderbach [11] | Case study | Specific practice | Adopt MLP to explain capitalist logistics of place-based GBT practices. |
Zhang and He [24] | Case study | Actor: Relationship and coordinate | How actor roles and their power relation influence GBT. | |
Jiang and Payne [12] | Survey | Policy and government governance | Regime complexity, drivers, and barriers of China’s green housing transition from the developers’ perspective. | |
Friedman and Rosen [25] | Case study | Policy and government governance | Interurban coalition enables urban actors to facilitate GBT. | |
O’Neill and Gibbs [22] | Case study | Policy and government governance | Analysis of the failure of the zero carbon homes agenda in the UK. | |
Gibbs and O’Neill [26] | Narrative qualitative research | Policy and government governance | The recent development of national UK policy on green building. | |
O’Neill and Gibbs [27] | Narrative qualitative research | Actor: Green entrepreneurs | The role of green entrepreneurs in socio-technical transitions of the green building sector. | |
Strategic Niche Management | Ornetzeder and Sinozic [28] | Case study | Sector coupling | How protection in such a niche, in combination with organizational path dependency, supports the integration of renewable energy in residential buildings. |
Innovation Systems | Jain et al. [29] | Case study | Policy and government governance | Assessing governance of sectoral innovation and niche formation of green buildings and other low-energy buildings. |
Siva et al. [30] | Case study | Policy and government governance | Benefits and limitations of Singapore’s sectoral innovation system in spurring an energy transition in the building sector. | |
Evolutionary Game Theory | Li, Zheng and Zeng [14] | Modeling | Actor: Relationship and coordinate | How green finance impacts the behaviors of bank and financial institutions, developers, and consumers to drive GBT. |
Yin et al. [31] | Modeling | Policy and government governance | Assessing the governance mechanism of the green transformation of the building material industry among building material enterprises, government, building developers and building consumers. | |
Lu et al. [32] | Modeling | Policy and government governance | Evaluate the impact of incentive policies in China on developers during the transition to green building. | |
Zhang et al. [33] | Modeling | Actor: Relationship and coordinate | Explores the strategic interactions among government, enterprises, and consumers within the green building supply chain. | |
Yang et al. [34] | Modeling | Actor: Relationship and coordinate | The dynamic interaction process between the enterprise, government, and consumer during the green transformation of construction enterprises. | |
Mei et al. [35] | Modeling | Actor: Relationship and coordinate | The interactions of small- and medium-sized building material enterprises, banks, and third-party intermediaries within the intellectual property pledge financing framework. | |
Wang et al. [36] | Modeling | Technology and technique | Dynamic strategic evolution between the government and manufacturers to develop intelligent technology that promotes prefabricated building. | |
Si et al. [37] | Modeling | Actor: Relationship and coordinate | The strategic interactions among the government, shopping center investors, and tenants in green building design and the global energy-saving renovation market. | |
Zhao et al. [38] | Modeling | Actor: Relationship and coordinate | How different carbon tax policies influence the engagement of government, suppliers, and developers in the low-carbon development of green buildings. | |
Wang and Zhu [39] | Modeling | Actor: Relationship and coordinate | How strategies of government and developers in promoting green buildings change and affect consumer acceptance. | |
Dissipative structure | Xue et al. [40] | Modeling | Specific practice | Examines whether China’s green building industry can transform from a disordered state to an ordered state by continuously exchanging material, energy, and information with the external environment. |
Ecological footprint model | Li [41] | Modeling | Specific practice | The impact of green financing on the green transformation of urban housing projects of small and medium-sized enterprises in Guangdong Province. |
Agent-Based Model | Khansari and Hewitt [42] | Modeling | Actor: Occupants | Builds an agent-based model for the simulation of occupants’ choices and behaviors in GBT. |
Meng et al. [43] | Modeling | Actor: Customers | How customer behavior related to green building products can be transitioned to manufacturers. |
No. | Keyword | Frequency | Centrality |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Barriers | 16 | 0.63 |
2 | Energy efficiency | 11 | 0.29 |
3 | Evolutionary game | 9 | 0.11 |
4 | Policy | 9 | 0.12 |
5 | Socio-technical transition | 8 | 0.1 |
6 | Technology | 8 | 0.13 |
7 | Multi-level perspective | 7 | 0.06 |
8 | Energy | 7 | 0.08 |
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Hong, J.; Chan, I.; Ma, P. Towards an Integrated Socio-Ecological Approach in Green Building Transitions: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability 2025, 17, 5491. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17125491
Hong J, Chan I, Ma P. Towards an Integrated Socio-Ecological Approach in Green Building Transitions: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability. 2025; 17(12):5491. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17125491
Chicago/Turabian StyleHong, Jingqing, Isabelle Chan, and Pei Ma. 2025. "Towards an Integrated Socio-Ecological Approach in Green Building Transitions: A Systematic Literature Review" Sustainability 17, no. 12: 5491. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17125491
APA StyleHong, J., Chan, I., & Ma, P. (2025). Towards an Integrated Socio-Ecological Approach in Green Building Transitions: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability, 17(12), 5491. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17125491