Critically reviewing the 50 sociotechnical risks of building sector decarbonization: Conceptualizing risk as a proximity spiral

• Risks are inherent in decarbonizing the building sector, and thus novel approaches must balance precautionary considerations with urgency and scalability. • Risks are present at every phase of building construction, operation, and decommissioning, but existing research is focused on the construction and operations phase overlooking design and decommissioning. • In the existing literature, sociotechnical risks are most discussed in terms of poor technical performance, financial losses, challenges of shifting entire infrastructures, and occupational health and safety. • Stakeholders’ varying proximity to different stages of the building process shapes their risk perceptions, and recognizing these differences can help prioritize interventions and policies for vulnerable groups and support more environmentally just outcomes. Deep decarbonization of the building sector requires a widespread shift in the processes, materials, energy sources, and technologies used for homes, hospitals, factories, and other structures and infrastructure by 2050. While the goal of deep decarbonization and the broader energy transition is to minimize the potential for catastrophic climate change effects brought on by carbon emissions, the transition to new technologies and processes can introduce new, unanticipated risks. This paper critically reviews the risks associated with the decarbonization of buildings. By categorizing fifty identified risks into six themes, this study highlights the dominance of a technical–economic perspective in discussions of risk in building decarbonization and shows that the literature focuses on immediate construction and operational risks, overlooking important environmental and social risks associated with design and deconstruction of buildings. The paper concludes by proposing a conceptual sociotechnical model to account for spatially and temporally diffuse risks across the building life-cycle and stakeholder population.