Bim-based sustainability analysis for building green retrofit: a systematic review

The building sector contributes significantly to global energy use and carbon emissions, and green retrofit of existing housing is critical for achieving long-term climate targets. Building Information Modelling (BIM) has emerged as a key digital tool for supporting retrofit design, assessment, and management, yet research on BIM-based sustainability analysis remains fragmented, with limited integration of lifecycle, economic and social dimensions. This paper presents a PRISMA-based systematic review of 358 peer-reviewed studies on BIM-enabled sustainability assessment for residential building retrofit, combining bibliometric mapping with in-depth content analysis of methods, tools and indicators. In contrast to previous reviews that typically address BIM, digital twins or life cycle assessment in isolation, this study synthesises these streams into a retrofit-centred perspective and highlights their convergence toward dynamic, data-driven workflows. The results reveal a shift from static simulation to emerging digital-twin and life-cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) approaches, but also persistent gaps in post-occupancy verification, cross-scale integration and representation of social and behavioural factors. Building on these findings, the paper outlines an integrated DT-LCSA framework that positions BIM as the backbone for linking real-time data, predictive analytics and environmental, economic and social indicators in a closed-loop retrofit workflow.