Meeting the rising energy demand and limiting its environmental impact are the two intertwined issues faced in the 21st century. Governments in different countries have been engaged in developing regulations and related policies to encourage environment friendly renewable energy generation along with conservation strategies and technological innovations. It is important to develop sustainable energy policies and provide relevant and suitable policy recommendations for end-users. This study presents a review on sustainable energy policy for promotion of renewable energy by introducing the development history of energy policy in five countries, i.e., the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and China. A survey of the articles aimed at promoting the development of sustainable energy policies and their modelling is carried out. It is observed that energy-efficiency standard is one of the most popular strategy for building energy saving, which is dynamic and renewed based on the current available technologies. Feed-in-tariff has been widely applied to encourage the application of renewable energy, which is demonstrated successfully in different countries. Building energy performance certification schemes should be enhanced in terms of reliable database system and information transparency to pave the way for future net-zero energy building and smart cities.

With the globally increasing electricity demand, its related uncertainties are on the rise as well. Therefore, a deeper insight of load forecasting techniques for projecting future electricity demands becomes imperative for business entities and policy makers. The electricity demand is governed by a set of different variables or “electricity demand determinants”. These demand determinants depend on forecasting horizons (long term, medium term, and short term), the load aggregation level, climate, and socio-economic activities. In this paper, a review of different electricity demand forecasting methodologies is provided in the context of a group of low and middle income countries. The article presents a comprehensive literature review by tabulating the different demand determinants used in different countries and forecasting the trends and techniques used in these countries. A comparative review of these forecasting methodologies over different time horizons reveals that the time series modeling approach has been extensively used while forecasting for long and medium terms. For short term forecasts, artificial intelligence-based techniques remain prevalent in the literature. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the demand determinants in these countries indicates a frequent use of determinants like the population, GDP, weather, and load data over different time horizons. Following the analysis, potential research gaps are identified, and recommendations are provided, accordingly.

This study presents a novel integrative review of 329 review articles on sustainable buildings from 2015 to 2025, combining quantitative bibliometrics with qualitative insights to map the field’s evolution and pinpoint critical future pathways. Seven core research themes were identified in this study: (1) material and advanced construction technologies, (2) energy efficiency and renewable energy systems, (3) digitalization and smart technologies, (4) policy, standards, and certification, (5) sustainable design and optimization, (6) stakeholder and socio-economic factors, (7) other (cross-cutting) topics. Key findings reveal a surge in publications post-2020, driven by global net-zero commitments, with China, Australia, and Hong Kong leading research output. Innovations in low-carbon materials (e.g., hemp concrete, geopolymers), artificial intelligent (AI)-driven energy optimization, and digital tools (e.g., building information modeling (BIM), internet of things (IoT)) dominate recent advancements. However, challenges persist, including policy fragmentation, scalability barriers for sustainable materials, and socio-economic disparities in green building adoption. The study proposes a unique future research framework emphasizing nanotechnology-enhanced materials, interpretable AI models, harmonized global standards, and inclusive stakeholder engagement. This review provides actionable recommendations to bridge gaps between technological innovation, policy frameworks, and practical implementation in sustainable construction.

Generation system interruptions in net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs) may result in missing the net-zero targets by a great margin. Consequently, it is significant to incorporate a realistic reliability model for renewable energy systems (RESs) that considers aging and long-term weather conditions. This study proposed a robust design optimization method that deals with the selection of RES to achieve NZEB. Different case studies were evaluated: 1. Deterministic approach; 2. Markov chain-based reliability without the aging effect; 3. Markov chain-based reliability with the aging effect. The results showed that the optimal sizes of RES, considering the aging effect, were much larger than the other two cases based on the annual energy balance. Moreover, the consideration of the aging effect on the reliability assessment of the generation system for NZEB opens a pathway for a more robust and economic design of RES.

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.