ABSTRACT
Owing to the adverse impact of the architecture, engineering and construction industry on the human and natural environment, the adoption of green building (GB) has been on the rise globally. The significant rise in the number of global research output on GB is a pointer to its proliferation. In this paper, a novel scientometric analysis of GB research in Africa is presented. This study aims to analyze and visualize GB research output in Africa from the millennium development goals (MDGs) era up to the present sustainable development goals (SDGs) era. A quantitative method (science mapping) was employed to analyze the 156 bibliometric records gathered from the Scopus database. An analysis of the dataset reveals that significant contributions to GB research in Africa originate from Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Ghana, Morocco, Kenya, Mauritius, Ethiopia and Cameroon. This research provides stakeholders in the built environment with the requisite knowledge and understanding of the trend and state of GB research in Africa, which will help in guiding policymaking, research directions and intervention areas in every sector of the economy.
REFERENCES
Aghimien,
D. O.,
Aigbavboa,
C. O.,
Oke,
A. E.,
Thwala,
W. D.
2019
).
Mapping out research focus for robotics and automation research in construction-related studies
.
Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology
,
18
(
5
),
1063
–
1079
.
AlSanad,
S.
2015
).
Awareness, drivers, actions, and barriers of sustainable construction in Kuwait
.
Procedia Engineering
,
118
,
969
–
983
.
Anoop,
C. K.,
Noor,
N.,
James,
M.,
Paul,
P. N.,
Harikrishnan,
R.
2018
).
Technological and green solutions for rural house construction
.
International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)
,
5
(
4
),
2291
–
2293
.
Azis,
A. A. A.,
Memon,
A. H.,
Rahman,
I. A.,
Nagapan,
S.,
Latif
,
Qadir
Bux Alias Imran
2012
).
Challenges faced by construction industry in accomplishing sustainability goals
.
IEEE Symposium on Business, Engineering and Industrial Applications
,
628
–
633
.
Carvalho,
J. P.,
Bragança,
L.,
Mateus,
R.
2019
).
Optimising building sustainability assessment using BIM
.
Automation in Construction
,
102
,
170
–
182
.
Chen,
C.
2017
).
Science mapping: a systematic review of the literature
.
Journal of Data and Information Science
,
2
(
2
),
1
–
40
.
Chen,
C.,
Dubin,
R.,
Schultz,
T.
2015
).
Science mapping
. In
Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology
,
Third Edition (pp.
4171
–
4184
).
IGI Global
.
Darko,
A.,
Chan,
A. P.,
Adabre,
M. A.,
Edwards,
D. J.,
Hosseini,
M. R.,
Ameyaw,
E. E.
2020
).
Artificial intelligence in the AEC industry: Scientometric analysis and visualization of research activities
.
Automation in Construction
,
112
,
103081
.
Darko,
A.,
Chan,
A. P.,
Huo,
X.,
Owusu-Manu,
D. G.
2019
).
A scientometric analysis and visualization of global green building research
.
Building and Environment
,
149
,
501
–
511
.
Du Plessis,
C.
2012
).
Towards a regenerative paradigm for the built environment
.
Building Research & Information
,
40
(
1
),
7
–
22
.
Hastings,
R.,
Wall,
M.
2007
).
Sustainable solar housing: Volume 1—strategies and solutions
.
UK
:
Earthscan
.
Henderson,
H.
2012
).
Becoming a green building professional: A guide to careers in sustainable architecture, design, engineering, development, and operations
.
Hoboken, NJ
:
John Wiley & Sons
.
Holden,
E.,
Linnerud,
K.,
Banister,
D.
2017
).
The imperatives of sustainable development
.
Sustainable Development
,
25
,
213
–
226
.
Hwang,
B.,
Tan,
J. S.
2012
).
Green building project management: Obstacles and solutions for sustainable development
.
Sustainable Development
,
20
(
5
),
335
–
349
.
Hwang,
B.,
Zhu,
L.,
Ming,
J. T. T.
2016
).
Factors affecting productivity in green building construction projects: The case of Singapore
.
Journal of Management in Engineering
,
33
(
3
),
1
–
12
.
Hwang,
B.,
Zhu,
L.,
Wang,
Y.,
Cheong,
X.
2017
).
Green building construction projects in Singapore: Cost premiums and cost performance
.
Project Management Journal
,
48
(
4
),
67
–
79
.
Kibert,
C. J.
2004
).
Green buildings: An overview of progress
.
Journal of Land use & Environmental Law
,
19
(
2
),
491
–
502
.
Kibert,
C. J.
2013
).
Sustainable construction: Green building design and delivery
.
New Jersey
:
John Wiley and Sons
.
Kibert,
C. J.
2016
).
Sustainable construction: Green building design and delivery (4th ed ed.)
.
New Jersey
:
John Wiley and Sons Inc
.
Kubba,
S.
2012
).
Handbook of green building design and construction: LEED, BREEAM, and green globes
.
USA
:
Butterworth-Heinemann
.
Lam,
P. T. I.,
Chan,
E. H. W.,
Poon,
C. S.,
Chau,
C. K.,
Chun,
K. P.
2010
).
Factors affecting the implementation of green specifications in construction
.
Journal of Environmental Management
,
91
(
3
),
654
–
661
.
Masic,
I.
2016
).
Scientometric analysis: A technical need for medical science researchers either as authors or as peer reviewers
.
Journal of research in pharmacy practice
,
5
(
1
),
1
–
6
.
Meho,
L.I.,
Rogers,
Y.
2008
).
Citation counting, citation ranking, and h-index of human computer interaction researchers: a comparison of Scopus and web of science
,
J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. Technol
.
59
(
11
)
1711
–
1726
.
Mehta,
S.,
Chakraborty,
A.
2017
).
Green buildings and its sustainability: A review
.
International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
,
4
(
7
),
162
–
167
.
Nykamp,
H.
2017
).
A transition to green buildings in Norway
.
Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions
,
24
,
83
–
93
.
Olawumi,
T. O.,
Chan,
D. W.
2018
).
A scientometric review of global research on sustainability and sustainable development
.
Journal of Cleaner Production
,
183
,
231
–
250
.
Presley,
A.,
Meade,
L.
2010
).
Benchmarking for sustainability: An application to the sustainable construction industry
.
Benchmarking: An International Journal
,
17
(
3
),
435
–
451
.
Robichaud,
L. B.,
Anantatmula,
V. S.
2010
).
Greening project management practices for sustainable construction
.
Journal of Management in Engineering
,
27
(
1
),
48
–
57
.
Saleh,
M. S.,
Alalouch,
C.
2015
).
Towards sustainable construction in Oman: Challenges & opportunities
.
Procedia Engineering
,
118
,
177
–
184
.
Sheweka,
S.,
Magdy,
A. N.
2011
).
The living walls as an approach for a healthy urban environment
.
Energy Procedia
,
6
,
592
–
599
.
Shukla,
A.,
Singh,
R.,
Shukla,
P.
2015
).
Achieving energy sustainability through green building approach
.
Energy sustainability through green energy
, (pp.
147
–
162
),
Springer
.
Singh,
R. R.,
Sharma,
S.
2014
).
Green buildings: Opportunities and challenges
. In
Fulekar,
M.H.,
Pathak
B.
Kale
R. K.
Environment and sustainable development
, (pp.
177
–
183
),
Springer
.
United Nations.
(
2015
).
Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
.
Retrieved 24 September 2019 from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld.
Wang,
G.,
Wu,
P.,
Wu,
X.,
Zhang,
H.,
Guo,
Q.,
Cai,
Y.
2020
).
Mapping global research on sustainability of megaproject management: A scientometric review
.
Journal of Cleaner Production
,
120831
.
Wilson,
I. E.,
Rezgui,
Y.
2013
).
Barriers to construction industry stakeholders’ engagement with sustainability: toward a shared knowledge experience
.
Technological and Economic Development of Economy
,
19
(
2
),
289
–
309
.
Wimala,
M.,
Akmalah,
E.,
Sururi,
M. R.
2016
).
Breaking through the barriers to green building movement in Indonesia: Insights from building occupants
.
Energy Procedia
,
100
,
469
–
474
.
Windapo,
A. O.
2014
).
Examination of green building drivers in the South African construction industry: Economics versus ecology
.
Sustainability
,
6
(
9
),
6088
–
6106
.
Wuni,
I. Y.,
Shen,
G. Q.,
Osei-Kyei,
R.
2019
).
Scientometric review of global research trends on green buildings in construction journals from 1992 to 2018
.
Energy and Buildings
,
190
,
69
–
85
.
Zabihi,
H.,
Habib,
F.
2012
).
Sustainability in building and construction: Revising definitions and concepts
.
International Journal of Emerging Sciences
,
2
(
4
),
570
.
Zhang,
D.,
Xu,
J.,
Zhang,
Y.,
Wang,
J.,
He,
S.,
Zhou,
X.
2020
).
Study on sustainable urbanization literature based on Web of Science, scopus, and China national knowledge infrastructure: A scientometric analysis in CiteSpace
.
Journal of Cleaner Production
,
121537
.
Zhao,
X.,
Ke,
Y.,
Zuo,
J.,
Xiong,
W.,
Wu,
P.
2020
).
Evaluation of sustainable transport research in 2000–2019
.
Journal of Cleaner Production
,
256
,
120404
.
Zhao,
X.,
Ke,
Y.,
Zuo,
J.,
Xiong,
W.,
Wu,
P.
2020
).
Evaluation of sustainable transport research in 2000–2019
.
Journal of Cleaner Production
,
256
,
120404
.
Zhao,
X.,
Zuo,
J.,
Wu,
G.,
Huang,
C.
2019
).
A bibliometric review of green building research 2000–2016
.
Architectural Science Review
,
62
(
1
),
74
–
88
.
Zheng,
C.,
Yuan,
J.,
Zhu,
L.,
Zhang,
Y.,
Shao,
Q.
2020
).
From digital to sustainable: A scientometric review of smart city literature between 1990 and 2019
.
Journal of Cleaner Production
,
120689
.
This content is only available as a PDF.
Author notes
1. cidb Centre of Excellence & Sustainable Human Settlement and Construction Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
2. SARChI in Sustainable Construction Management and Leadership in the Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, South Africa