Research Trends in Eco-Friendly Construction Materials (2015–2025): A Bibliometric Review

Abstract

This study presents a bibliometric review of research on “eco-friendly construction materials” and “green building materials” published between 2015 and 2025. After a PRISMA screening process, 389 English-language journal articles and reviews identified via the Web of Science Core Collection were retrieved and analysed using VOSviewer [5]. The descriptive analysis indicates that the literature has increased significantly in recent years, with 86% of the corpus published since 2020 and 75% published in the last two years (2022–2023) (Table 1). China, the United States, India, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia are the top contributors to the literature (Table 1). Collaboration analysis of the 124 authors meeting the network threshold revealed only a few small, clearly defined research groups, most notably a group from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPU) focused on biochar- and sediment-based materials that can be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Keyword co-occurrence analysis (Figure 2) identified three interrelated clusters: an Alternative Materials and Mechanical–Durability Performance cluster (the largest, focused on compressive strength, geopolymer, fly ash, and microstructure), a Sustainability and Life-Cycle Assessment cluster, and a Circular Economy and Waste Valorization cluster (centred on the hub term “green building materials”). Temporal overlay analysis (Figure 3) shows that the research focus has shifted from the foundational themes of waste management and stabilization/solidification (2020–2021) toward valorisation of agricultural and industrial by-products, optimisation of mechanical properties, and the self-identification of “eco-friendly construction materials” as a distinct keyword in the most recent literature (2023–2025).