A Systematic Literature Review of Internet of Things (IoT) Applications in Sustainable Construction Project Management
Abstract
The construction industry is under mounting pressure to enhance its sustainability performance. Increasing project complexity and risk require real-time data collection, monitoring, and assistance in decision making via the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT has emerged as a critical enabling technology to overcome these hurdles. This study provides a bibliometric and thematic overview of IoT applications in sustainable construction project management to identify research trends, key themes, and practical implications for project managers. We used a structured screening process to analyze peer-reviewed journal papers, conference articles, and book chapters listed in the Scopus database. We identified 77 publications published between 2019 and 2025. Using VOSviewer_1.6.20_exe, we analyzed publication trends, source influences, geographical dispersion, and keyword co-occurrence patterns. Since 2023, research output and citation impact have increased dramatically, with sustainability, project management, and IoT serving as the main conceptual foundations recorded. Real-time monitoring, wireless sensor networks, safety improvement, BIM and digital twin integration, and resource and energy optimization are the five main application domains recognized using thematic synthesis. This shows a marked transition from standalone sensing applications to integrated, intelligent, and predictive systems that enable data-driven decision making throughout the construction lifecycle. This review highlights the ongoing difficulties associated with data quality, sensor dependability, system interoperability, and energy limitations. IoT is progressing from a support technology to a core operational and managerial infrastructure for sustainable construction, with major consequences for project management and future research.
Fields of Study & Subjects
BIM and Construction Integration
Occupational Health and Safety Research
Construction Project Management and Performance
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Sustainability
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 2614–2614
- Publication date
- 7 March 2026
- Language
- EN