Towards Zero Energy Buildings (ZEBs) in Rural Areas: Chimera or Reality? A Systematic Literature Review and Thematic Content Analysis

Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) and Zero Energy Buildings (ZEBs) are key strategies for decarbonizing the built environment, yet their application in rural contexts remains limited. This study presents a meta -analytical review of 276 peer-reviewed articles published between 1976 and 2025 addressing NZEB/ZEB approaches in rural buildings. A structured, multidimensional coding framework was applied to classify the studies by building type, application level, applied methodology, and research purpose. The results show a marked increase in publications after 2013, with energy-related topics remaining dominant. The meta -analysis identifies a clear implementation gap: simulation-based studies account for 48% of the literature, whereas real-world applications represent only 13%, as determined through systematic coding of application level. Moreover, only 31% of the reviewed studies report outcomes consistent with NZEB/ZEB performance criteria. An exploratory regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between study characteristics (type of building, application level, applied methodology, research purpose/results) and NZEB/ZEB alignment scores, revealing limited explanatory power under a linear formulation (R 2 =0.227), with application level emerging as the most influential predictor. In contrast, a comparative nonlinear regression analysis demonstrated substantially improved predictive performance, with a Gradient Boosting model achieving a cross-validated R 2 of approximately 0.96, indicating nonlinear and interaction effects among study characteristics. Overall, the findings highlight structural imbalances in current rural NZEB/ZEB research and underscore the need for greater empirical validation and integrative analytical approaches to strengthen the transfer from simulation-based research to real-world implementation.