Bibliometric Analysis for Healthy School Buildings

People spend most of their time indoors, so designing healthy buildings significantly impacts human health. The "sick building syndrome," identified in the 1970s and mentioned in a 1984 World Health Organization (WHO) report, highlights the negative effects buildings can have on health. Given that children are a large portion of the users, ensuring health and comfort in school buildings is crucial for efficiency and public health. This study aims to provide comprehensive information and in-depth analysis on "healthy school buildings." Using the VOSviewer program, a bibliometric analysis was conducted on articles published between 1987 and 2024 in the Web of Science database. The analysis included author keyword analysis, word distribution by years, country citation analysis, and country citation tie distribution by years to convey the subject's conceptual framework, boundaries, topicality, and regional trends. The study systematically summarizes the literature, highlighting the topic's boundaries, trends, and gaps. The results indicate that the most cited countries are the United States, China, and Australia, with built environment, thermal comfort and health as the most frequently used keywords. The distribution of author keywords and countries' citation ties over the years shows that the topic is current and research has increased since COVID-19. This study outlines the scope and boundaries of healthy school buildings, emphasizes its importance, helps researchers generate new ideas and encourages studies addressing research gaps.