Due to large energy consumption and carbon emissions (ECCE) in the building sector, there is huge potential for carbon emission reduction, and this will strongly influence peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality in the future. To get a better sense of the current research situation and future trends and to provide a valuable reference and guidance for subsequent research, this study presents a summary of carbon peak and carbon neutrality (CPCN) in buildings using a bibliometric approach. Three areas are addressed in the review through the analysis of 364 articles published from 1990–2021: (1) Which countries, institutions, and individuals have conducted extensive and in-depth research on CPCN in buildings, and what is the status quo of their collaboration and contributions? (2) What subjects and topics have aroused wide interest and enthusiasm among scholars, and what are their time trajectories? (3) What journals and authors have grabbed the attention of many scholars, and what are the research directions related to them? Moreover, we propose future research directions. Filling these gaps will enrich the research body of CPCN and overcome current limitations by developing more methods and exploring other practical applications.

The building sector is responsible for approximately 40% of global energy consumption and carbon emissions, making it a key area of focus in addressing the urgent global challenge of climate change and in achieving the 1.5-degree target. This study concentrated on building decarbonization, using bibliometric and network visualization analyses based on a dataset of 2494 publications retrieved from the Web of Science up to 25 June 2023. Findings revealed a rapid growth in publications, with China being the largest contributor (approximately 31%). Notably, the journals of Cleaner Production and Applied Energy emerged as the most influential journal in this field. Although leadership teams and authors have gained prominence, cross-national collaboration and communication among them remain limited. Furthermore, an analysis of keywords and co-citations revealed that the main research themes and hotspots encompass “energy”, “life cycle assessment”, “storage”, and related “models” and decarbonization “strategies”. As the field progresses, a clear trend toward multidisciplinary integration and diversified research directions and content was observed. Researchers can further concentrate their efforts on countries with historically limited research but substantial emissions, and enhance international collaboration and interdisciplinary integration. Overall, this study offers valuable insights for researchers and facilitates future investigations in the field of building decarbonization.