Diffusion of energy efficiency technologies in European residential buildings: A bibliometric analysis

Review article, 2019

Many studies have investigated different aspects in the decarbonisation of the European housing stock. However, a comprehensive quantitative analysis of the literature on the diffusion of energy efficiency technologies is still missing. We conducted a bibliometric analysis to better understand the knowledge base in the field energy efficiency technology diffusion in the European residential building stock. After the scanning and screening process, we identified 954 scientific articles pertinent to this topic. Through a co-citation network analysis, we generated a visual knowledge structure of the field and by the further investigation of the bibliography we were able to synthesize the state-of-the-art and answer to our initial research questions. Results of the co-citation network show a scattered and fragmented field in many domains. The descriptive analysis highlights this fragmentation, especially on a cross-country level among EU country members. Findings from this study contribute to map the scientific knowledge base in relation to technology diffusion in European residential building projects, identify relevant topic areas, visualize the links between the topics, as well as to recognize research gaps and opportunities. The methodology utilized in this paper proved to be viable approach to map and characterize the knowledge base within a field and can, therefore, be replicated in upcoming studies with analogous ambitions.