Systematic Review of Green Building Trends in South Korea from 2001 to 2023 Using Research Topic Words
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3. Theoretical Background
Due to differences in cultural, political, social, and economic characteristics among countries and climatic conditions, there is no consensus on the definition of green buildings. Climatological factors, such as outdoor temperature and air humidity, have a significant impact on a building’s energy consumption [4,5,6], complicating the definition of a unified green building [7,8,9]. However, resource conservation and environmental protection, creating a comfortable and healthy living environment, along with promoting harmony among people, buildings, and the natural environment are the three globally recognized elements of green buildings. In addition, maximizing resource efficiency, providing comfortable and healthy living spaces, and minimizing the impact of buildings on the surrounding environment have been recognized [10].
The definition of green buildings proposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency has gained widespread recognition in the international community. This definition emphasizes that, from site selection, design, and construction to operation, maintenance, and even the renovation of a green building, priority should be given to the conservation of resources and environmental responsibility [10]. This comprehensive and holistic definition reflects a profound understanding of the sustainability of green buildings.
Germany places a significant level of emphasis on heating owing to its unique geographical position. This has led to a reduction in energy consumption while ensuring indoor warmth and good air quality as core objectives in the country’s development of green buildings [11]. In 2013, Germany enacted the Energy Saving Act, which stipulates that from 2019 onwards, all newly constructed public buildings must achieve near-zero energy consumption standards [12].
The British definition of green buildings focuses on sustainability, environmental friendliness, and energy efficiency. This includes using efficient energy systems, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, applying renewable energy, and efficient management of water resources, as well as working to improve indoor environmental quality [13].
South Korea’s definition of green buildings encompasses the entire life cycle, from construction and occupancy to eventual demolition, with a strong emphasis on minimizing environmental damage throughout this process [14]. This definition reflects South Korea’s commitment to creating a comfortable living environment, conserving resources and protecting the natural environment with the aim of achieving broad sustainable development goals. Furthermore, South Korea emphasizes the application of innovative technologies such as the development of environmentally friendly materials, which are key components of its green building strategy [15].
5. In-Depth Analysis of Green Building Trends by Period
We reviewed the development process of Korean green building research along a timeline. To gain a comprehensive understanding, the eight aforementioned research fields are summarized. A similar classification method was adopted in our previous study on green buildings in China [16]. The classification is divided into five sub-dimensions: technical, economic, popularization, the development of green buildings, systemic, and legal. On this basis, each sub-dimension can be sub-divided into several key elements according to the research content. The five sub-dimensions and their specific elements are shown in Figure 2.
As shown in Figure 3, before 2006, South Korea’s research in the field of green buildings focused on the systemic, technical, popularization, and development sub-dimensions of green buildings. Research in this area has gradually increased since 2005. Between 2006 and 2010, research developed in four of the five sub-dimensions (except for the legal sub-dimension) and showed a balanced trend. After 2010, research was conducted on all five sub-dimensions. Between 2011 and 2015, research on the systemic sub-dimension increased significantly, whereas research on the other sub-dimensions did not change much compared with that in the previous period. From 2016 to 2020, except for the decrease in research on the popularization and development of green buildings, research on the other sub-dimensions remained stable. After 2020, research on each sub-dimension declined compared with that in the previous period, which may be due to the short duration of this period. Overall, until 2015, South Korea’s research on green buildings continued to increase. However, after 2015, the research showed a downward trend. This may be related to the maturity of concepts and technologies, such as artificial intelligence and smart cities. Simply, the research and construction of green buildings have been integrated into broad fields, such as artificial intelligence applications and smart city construction. In addition, research on the systemic sub-dimensions has been increasing since 2001, showing the continued enthusiasm of Korean academics in this field; however, it has decreased since 2015. A specific analysis of this part is discussed in Section 5.4.
5.1. Technical Sub-Dimension
Specific elements within the technology sub-dimension are divided into three categories: energy utilization, building materials, and digitalization. As the challenge of global warming becomes increasingly severe, South Korea is developing rapidly in the field of green buildings. As shown in Table 2 and Figure 4, an increasing number of studies have been conducted on green building technologies since 2001. Before 2010, these studies mainly focused on the use of renewable energy sources, such as geothermal, wind, and solar energy, for cooling and heating and the development of environmentally friendly building materials. Since 2005, research has continued to intensify, with a particular focus on developing new recyclable materials with good thermal and sound insulation properties. Furthermore, the possibility of converting industrial and agricultural waste into environmentally friendly building materials has been explored. Since 2011, with the maturity of technologies, such as BIM, the integration of these new technologies into the entire construction process of green buildings has become a new trend in the field of green building research. In summary, prior to 2010, South Korea’s research on green building technology primarily focused on the development of ecofriendly building materials. However, after 2010, the research direction gradually shifted towards a dual emphasis on the development of eco-friendly building materials and the digitization and intelligentization of green building design, construction, and management. This shift signifies that alongside pursuing material eco-friendliness, there is also an exploration of ways to enhance building efficiency and sustainability through advanced technological means.
5.2. Economic Sub-Dimension
The specific elements in the economic sub-dimension are divided into three categories: life cycle cost, market demand, and certification system. As shown in Figure 5 and Table 3, South Korea’s research on green building economies began in 2006. Until 2016, research focused mainly on life cycle costs and market demand. In terms of life cycle costs, research mainly focuses on the heating and cooling systems of residential buildings and cost–benefit analysis throughout the life cycle. In terms of market demand, the focus is primarily on the perspectives of decision makers, such as the government and developers. The market demand and acceptance of green buildings from the standpoint of these upper-level decision makers is discussed, while giving low consideration to the viewpoint of the average consumer; hence, a deep analysis of consumer needs and preferences is lacking. From 2016 to 2020, there has been a significant shift in research focusing on the economic impacts associated with green building certification systems. Specifically, this research explored how these certification systems affect the cost and final sale price of residential construction. The variation in the specific impact of certification systems on construction costs suggests a new research direction: assessing the specific impact of green building certification on the economic aspects of the construction industry. After 2020, relevant data became relatively scarce, a situation that may be partly attributed to the study period being shortened by two years in this phase compared to that of the previous two periods.
Based on the overall research trends, South Korea’s studies on the economic aspects of green buildings have not sparked significant interest. Research in this field has maintained its mediocre status. Notably, ordinary consumer needs and opinions on green buildings have rarely become the focus of research, reflecting a lack of understanding of consumer needs and preferences, which may affect the depth and breadth of green building economic research.
5.3. Popularization and Development of Green Buildings Sub-Dimension
The specific elements in the popularization and development of green building sub-dimensions are also divided into three categories: green building application, education and awareness, and stakeholder analysis. As shown in Figure 6 and Table 4, research on the popularization and development of green buildings began primarily after 2005. Before 2005, the focus was on understanding the concept and necessity of green buildings. From 2006 to 2015, this study was expanded into three elements. At the green building application level, the focus is primarily on the green development trends of civil buildings, such as office facilities, educational facilities, residences, and cultural facilities. In particular, combined with social phenomena, such as the aging of Korean society and the increase in one-person households, we discuss the development of green buildings for older adults and green building design, construction, and management for special groups, such as one-person households. At the educational and awareness level, efforts in the education and information systems regarding green buildings are severely lacking. Thus, a comprehensive linkage system must be established. This system should include professional education for relevant practitioners as well as public social education aimed at ordinary citizens, such as administrators and students. Stakeholder analysis explores the views of green building practitioners and audiences, especially designers and users, on the green building certification system. Furthermore, it points out that different voices need to be considered in the design and construction of green buildings. After 2016, the number of relevant studies decreased significantly. This trend may be related to the maturity of concepts, such as smart cities after 2016; the popularity and development of green buildings have been widely integrated into the field of smart city construction research. The reason for the emergence of green building application research in school construction after 2020 is probably owing to the Korean government requiring all newly built, renovated, or expanded public school buildings with an area of more than 3000 square meters having to comply with the green building certification standards starting from 2023.
5.4. Systemic Sub-Dimension
The specific elements in the systemic sub-dimension are also divided into three categories: evaluation systems, energy-saving systems, and management systems. As shown in Figure 7 and Table 5, there were relatively few studies on the systemic sub-dimension between 2001 and 2005. Simultaneously, green buildings had just begun to receive attention in Korea; thus, there were few studies. Given that research is focused on management systems, a general focus is on developing a classification system for green building materials with the aim of helping designers and builders select appropriate materials according to needs in green building projects. Since 2006, relevant research has been conducted on three main areas. In particular, research on evaluation systems has increased rapidly since 2010. This may be due to the problems and deficiencies in the certification process that have been encountered in practice over the past ten years. These processes prompt the academic community to conduct research and promote the development of green buildings. This study mainly focuses on improving the certification system and evaluation standards. These include enhancing the standards for new energy and renewable energy facilities, refining the re-certification mechanism of green building certification systems, setting specialized evaluation standards for specific types of buildings (e.g., hospitals and schools), developing unique green building standards for specific groups (e.g., older adults and one-person households), establishing independent evaluation standards for the green retrofitting of existing buildings, creating assessment systems based on the building life cycle, developing comprehensive CO2 assessment procedures, strengthening the assessment standards for indoor air quality and sound environments, and exploring the future direction of assessment systems, such as low-carbon community evaluations.
In the research on energy-saving systems, 2010 was an important watershed. Prior to this, research focused on heating and cooling systems and the systematic design of green buildings. After 2010, the research focus shifted to using BIM to minimize energy losses and develop comprehensive CO2 monitoring systems, among other methods, to support the development of green buildings.
In terms of management systems, research before 2010 mainly continued previous research on green building material classification systems, whereas after 2010, the research focus shifted to demonstrating and emphasizing the importance of implementing green building management. This included systematic building life cycle management, which can not only save energy but also provide a comfortable indoor environment.
Overall, the research on evaluation systems has been dominant. After 2010, the number of studies in this area increased significantly; although it declined slightly after 2015, it remained high. This reflects the strong interest of the Korean academic community in improving the green building evaluation system, which is crucial for promoting the development of green buildings.
5.5. Legal Sub-Dimension
In the breakdown of the legal sub-dimension, there is only one element, law and regulation amendments. Research on this dimension began after 2010 and has been mentioned only occasionally. The research mainly focuses on a discussion of the comprehensive revision of South Korea’s current green building-related laws and policies. For example, reform proposals for specific laws such as the “Green Growth Act” mainly involve the refinement of land use, transportation, and building legal systems; strengthening the role of local governments in oversight; enhancing the mandatory nature of regulations; improving incentive mechanisms; simplifying certification procedures; distinguishing between different certification systems; improving building energy efficiency; and promoting renewable energy. These recommendations are intended to ensure the sustainability of green building development. The significant decrease in relevant research after 2016 can probably also be explained by the increasing maturity of concepts such as smart cities after 2016, and research on legal sub-dimensions has been widely integrated into the research field promoted by smart city construction. South Korea has integrated several relevant regulations and introduced a comprehensive green building law in 2013. By March 2022, the country further implemented the “Carbon Neutral Green Growth Basic Law”. If the terms of this law need to be changed, updating and improving the G-SEED can effectively serve a similar purpose.
6. Conclusions and Recommendations
The development of green buildings is affected by factors such as the historical period, political environment, social trends, economic conditions, cultural characteristics, and climatic conditions. The objective of this study was to summarize and forecast the green building development trajectory in South Korea by examining the evolving trends within this field.
This study examined the trends in green building research during different periods. Overall, since 2000, South Korea’s research on green buildings has mainly focused on improving and developing an evaluation index system and exploring energy-saving technologies and economic aspects. Specifically, in terms of the improvement and development of the evaluation index system, the multifaceted improvement of the evaluation system is comprehensively discussed and is believed to be of vital significance for the promotion and progress of green buildings.
In terms of technological research, especially the R&D of green building materials, slow development has been a problem. This is partly due to factors such as the field’s high technical difficulty, long R&D cycles, and uncertain rates of return. Combined, these factors reduce investors’ willingness to invest in such projects and increase researchers’ hesitation to participate. Therefore, this requires substantial policy and economic support from governments and investors, such as enterprises. Most importantly, it is crucial to avoid imposing rigid requirements on researchers to complete results within a specific timeframe. Moreover, tying these results to professional development matters, such as job title promotions, to stimulate researchers’ motivation for research should be avoided.
The research focus also includes the popularization and development of green buildings, which not only encourages the incorporation of green building concepts and practices into public facilities such as schools and hospitals but also, in line with South Korea’s national conditions, advances the use of green buildings in one-person households and an aging society. This approach makes it easier for disadvantaged and special groups to benefit from green buildings, resulting in more advanced humanistic care. However, the efficacy of green buildings in these settings is not always optimal. This suggests that promoting green buildings in specialized environments requires collaborative efforts from the government, society, and educational institutions, as well as engineers. This collaboration should include government policy support, financial assistance, public awareness, practical applications, and educational initiatives.
In economic terms, it is critical to consider consumer perspectives. As end users of green buildings, we must understand consumer expectations for the living environment, green building performance requirements, and purchasing power. To achieve these goals, governments must provide guidance, financial support, and investments in social capital. Furthermore, effective green building promotion requires the development of appropriate marketing strategies.
In legal terms, while the law should not be revised frequently, green building standards and specifications can be updated. This ensures that the development of green building is encouraged and legally protected. Furthermore, legal incentives such as tax breaks should be established to recognize companies and research institutions that perform exceptionally well.
Research on green buildings has emphasized the importance of management throughout the building’s life cycle. However, there is currently a lack of specific management methods or systematic research, indicating that there is still room for in-depth exploration in the field of building management systems. For example, a general understanding of its significance must first be established. Second, more detailed and stringent green building standards should be developed to ensure that buildings adhere to the environmental protection and sustainability principles in all phases of their design, construction, operation, and maintenance. Furthermore, high-tech tools such as intelligent building management systems are used to monitor and manage energy consumption in real time, and personalized management strategies can be developed based on users’ behavioral habits [123], ensuring that the building’s energy efficiency is maximized during use. Furthermore, it increases public understanding and awareness of green buildings as well as encourages participation in green building promotion and supervision.
In addition, existing buildings account for a large proportion of Korean buildings; therefore, it is necessary to increase research on the economic, technical, and policy support for green renovation of existing buildings and formulate systematic renovation Standard Operating Procedures. Moreover, with the development of emerging technologies such as BIM and the maturity of smart city concepts, the use of these technologies to build green buildings during smart city creation will become a future trend. Not only can sustainability be achieved, but the quality of working and living environments can also be improved. Therefore, it is necessary to accelerate the localization of technology, raise public awareness, reduce costs, and fully consider people’s needs.
This study also provides valuable reference values for other countries, particularly developing countries. This will help other countries to effectively understand the key elements of green buildings at different stages of development, avoid the challenges and mistakes encountered by forerunners in the exploration process, and reduce valuable time and capital costs.
However, the content of this study is highly relevant, focusing on keywords related to green, energy-saving, and environmentally friendly buildings; hence, many studies from different periods may be missing. Additionally, the paper publication time lag requires attention. Therefore, it will be necessary to improve these aspects in the future and conduct content reviews through an in-depth literature analysis.
In addition to an in-depth literature analysis within South Korea, an important direction is to conduct comparative research on green building development in countries such as China, Japan, and other neighboring nations, as well as in European and American countries where green buildings are most developed. These comparative studies should encompass policy aspects, such as building energy efficiency standards, environmental protection requirements, and green certification systems; market aspects, including market size, growth trends, and investment status, along with market driving forces and demand characteristics; and socio-cultural involvement levels and attitudes among governments, enterprises, and the public. Through this comparison, the key elements at different developmental stages can be identified to promote the comprehensive development of all aspects of green buildings.
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