Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Dwelling Refurbishment: A Bibliometric and Systematic Review

Growing recognition of climate-related challenges and increasingly ambitious sustainability goals have raised the urgency of improving the energy performance of existing buildings. At the same time, emerging technologies, including advanced materials, artificial intelligence (AI), Building Information Modeling (BIM), Digital Twins (DTs), and Internet of Things (IoT)-based systems, are transforming refurbishment practices. However, research on emerging technologies in dwelling refurbishment remains fragmented, limiting a comprehensive understanding of current developments and future research directions. To address this gap, this study employs a combined bibliometric and systematic literature review to analyze the evolution of research on emerging technologies in dwelling refurbishment. Through quantitative knowledge mapping and qualitative thematic synthesis, the study identifies major research trends, collaboration patterns, and technological developments in dwelling refurbishment. The findings reveal growing research interest in new envelope materials, smart building technologies, advanced urban-scale refurbishment modeling, and participatory approaches within human-centered cyber-physical systems. Despite significant progress, persistent challenges include high implementation costs, scalability limitations, data interoperability issues, policy constraints, climate-related uncertainties, and socio-behavioral barriers. The results of this study offer a strategic research agenda for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to support technology-driven, sustainable, energy-efficient, and resilient dwelling refurbishment.