Indoor thermal comfort and energy efficiency in Brazilian social housing: A bibliometric and systematic review

Social housing plays a fundamental role in meeting the housing needs of vulnerable populations by providing affordable and dignified homes. Additionally, the construction sector is recognized as one of the largest contributors of CO₂ emissions, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable practices, particularly in this context. Despite technological advancements, efforts to improve the energy efficiency and indoor environmental comfort of these housing remain limited in Brazil. This article aims to analyse and synthesize the literature on social housing in Brazil, focusing on indoor thermal comfort and energy efficiency, providing a comprehensive overview of research trends, identifying challenges, advancements, and opportunities for improvement. A systematic literature review of the literature was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The research using Scopus and Web of Science databases, resulted in 189 articles published between 2005 and 2024. After filtering and screening, 49 articles were selected for detailed analysis from a bibliometric and content perspectives. VOSviewer software was used to examine the co-occurrence of keywords and co-authorships. The analysis revealed an increasing interest in recent years, with 82% of the studies published in the last decade, and the studies are predominantly located in a few Brazilian regions (nearly 59% is concentrated in the Southeast regions), with a primary focus on thermal comfort and energy efficiency. Moreover, the most commonly used methodological approaches are computer simulation (33.06%) and case study (34.72%), while the least used approaches examine the economic feasibility of the proposed solutions (4.59%). Additionally, a predominance of studies on passive strategies accounts for 50.48% of the research, of which 24.79% focus solely on natural ventilation. Construction systems and materials are present in 29.79% of the studies, with a predominance of masonry construction systems (9.39%). There is also limited attention to industrialized construction systems (3.43%) or the use of alternative and non-standardized materials (4.25%). Active strategies and systems are addressed in 19.73% of the studies. This study contributes to understanding the current state of research on social housing in Brazil, highlighting gaps and suggesting pathways for the development of more efficient, comfortable, and sustainable housing.