IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v18y2025i10p2494-d1654157.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A System Thinking Approach to Circular-Based Strategies for Deep Energy Renovation: A Systematic Review

Author

Listed:
  • Shantanu Ashok Raut

    (Department of Architecture, University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy)

  • Lia Marchi

    (Department of Architecture, University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy)

  • Jacopo Gaspari

    (Department of Architecture, University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy)

Abstract

Over 85% of buildings in the European Union were constructed before 2001, contributing to energy inefficiencies, material waste, and increasing socio-economic disparities. While deep energy renovations (DER) are critical to EU climate goals, their implementation remains hindered by financial, regulatory, and social barriers. Integrating circular economy (CE) principles into DER offers a pathway to enhance resource efficiency and sustainability yet requires a systemic understanding of feedback dynamics. This study applies a systems-thinking approach to examine the interdependencies influencing CE-DER implementation. Five thematic clusters—technical enablers, economic and policy barriers, social sustainability factors, environmental considerations, and digitalization for climate resilience—are identified, informing the development of causal loop diagrams (CLDs). The CLDs reveal key reinforcing loops such as innovation investment, policy learning, stakeholder co-design, operational efficiency, and balancing loops, including certification bottlenecks, financial fragmentation, and digital resistance. The findings suggest that CE-DER success relies on activating reinforcing dynamics while addressing systemic constraints through coordinated financial incentives, ethical digitalization, and inclusive governance. By visualizing interdependencies across technical, social, and policy domains, the feedback-oriented framework developed provides actionable insights for advancing socially equitable, resource-efficient, and climate-resilient renovation strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Shantanu Ashok Raut & Lia Marchi & Jacopo Gaspari, 2025. "A System Thinking Approach to Circular-Based Strategies for Deep Energy Renovation: A Systematic Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-27, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:10:p:2494-:d:1654157
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/10/2494/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/10/2494/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sören Becker & James Angel & Matthias Naumann, 2020. "Energy democracy as the right to the city: Urban energy struggles in Berlin and London," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(6), pages 1093-1111, September.
    2. Raminta Pranckutė, 2021. "Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus: The Titans of Bibliographic Information in Today’s Academic World," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-59, March.
    3. Copiello, Sergio & Gabrielli, Laura & Bonifaci, Pietro, 2017. "Evaluation of energy retrofit in buildings under conditions of uncertainty: The prominence of the discount rate," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 104-117.
    4. Michael Storck & Simon Slabik & Annette Hafner & Ruben Herz, 2023. "Towards Assessing Embodied Emissions in Existing Buildings LCA—Comparison of Continuing Use, Energetic Refurbishment versus Demolition and New Construction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-19, September.
    5. Lia Marchi & Jacopo Gaspari, 2023. "Energy Conservation at Home: A Critical Review on the Role of End-User Behavior," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-22, November.
    6. Sara Capelo & Tiago Soares & Isabel Azevedo & Wellington Fonseca & Manuel A. Matos, 2023. "Design of an Energy Policy for the Decarbonisation of Residential and Service Buildings in Northern Portugal," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-19, February.
    7. Katerina Sojkova & Martin Volf & Antonin Lupisek & Roman Bolliger & Tomas Vachal, 2019. "Selection of Favourable Concept of Energy Retrofitting Solution for Social Housing in the Czech Republic Based on Economic Parameters, Greenhouse Gases, and Primary Energy Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-26, November.
    8. Seongwon Seo & Greg Foliente, 2021. "Carbon Footprint Reduction through Residential Building Stock Retrofit: A Metro Melbourne Suburb Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-28, October.
    9. Elżbieta Jadwiga Szymańska & Maria Kubacka & Joanna Woźniak & Jan Polaszczyk, 2022. "Analysis of Residential Buildings in Poland for Potential Energy Renovation toward Zero-Emission Construction," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-24, December.
    10. Anna Chiara Benedetti & Carlo Costantino & Riccardo Gulli & Giorgia Predari, 2022. "The Process of Digitalization of the Urban Environment for the Development of Sustainable and Circular Cities: A Case Study of Bologna, Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-26, October.
    11. Eliana Cangelli & Michele Conteduca & Elnaz Behnam Kia & Hassan Zaiter & Valerio Fonti, 2024. "Public Housing Stock between Recovery and Sustainability: The Case of Tor Bella Monaca in Rome," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-22, March.
    12. Camprubí, Lluís & Malmusi, Davide & Mehdipanah, Roshanak & Palència, Laia & Molnar, Agnes & Muntaner, Carles & Borrell, Carme, 2016. "Façade insulation retrofitting policy implementation process and its effects on health equity determinants: A realist review," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 304-314.
    13. Ilaria Abbà & Giulia Crespi & Giulia Vergerio & Cristina Becchio & Stefano Paolo Corgnati, 2024. "Key Performance Indicators for Decision Support in Building Retrofit Planning: An Italian Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-22, January.
    14. Toleikyte, Agne & Kranzl, Lukas & Müller, Andreas, 2018. "Cost curves of energy efficiency investments in buildings – Methodologies and a case study of Lithuania," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 148-157.
    15. Chiara Passoni & Elisabetta Palumbo & Rui Pinho & Alessandra Marini, 2022. "The LCT Challenge: Defining New Design Objectives to Increase the Sustainability of Building Retrofit Interventions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-34, July.
    16. Filippidou, Faidra & Nieboer, Nico & Visscher, Henk, 2017. "Are we moving fast enough? The energy renovation rate of the Dutch non-profit housing using the national energy labelling database," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 488-498.
    17. Cecilia Mazzoli & Rachele Corticelli & Lorna Dragonetti & Annarita Ferrante & Johannes Van Oorschot & Michiel Ritzen, 2022. "Assessing and Developing Circular Deep Renovation Interventions towards Decarbonisation: The Italian Pilot Case of “Corte Palazzo” in Argelato," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-33, October.
    18. repec:osf:socarx:bn42s_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Kristian Fabbri & Lia Marchi & Ernesto Antonini & Jacopo Gaspari, 2023. "Exploring the Role of Building Envelope in Reducing Energy Poverty Risk: A Case Study on Italian Social Housing," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-22, December.
    20. José Sánchez Ramos & MCarmen Guerrero Delgado & Servando Álvarez Domínguez & José Luis Molina Félix & Francisco José Sánchez de la Flor & José Antonio Tenorio Ríos, 2019. "Systematic Simplified Simulation Methodology for Deep Energy Retrofitting Towards Nze Targets Using Life Cycle Energy Assessment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-27, August.
    21. Pilar Mercader-Moyano & Manuel Ramos-Martín, 2020. "Comprehensive Sustainability Assessment of Regenerative Actions on the Thermal Envelope of Obsolete Buildings under Climate Change Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-40, July.
    22. Junwen Zhu & Weishu Liu, 2020. "A tale of two databases: the use of Web of Science and Scopus in academic papers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(1), pages 321-335, April.
    23. Ricardo Barbosa & Manuela Almeida & Raúl Briones-Llorente & Ricardo Mateus, 2022. "Environmental Performance of a Cost-Effective Energy Renovation at the Neighbourhood Scale—The Case for Social Housing in Braga, Portugal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-16, February.
    24. Baker, Emma & Moore, Trivess & Daniel, Lyrian & Caines, Rachel & Padilla, Hector & Lester, Laurence, 2023. "Sustainable social housing retrofit? Circular economy and tenant trade-offs," SocArXiv bn42s, Center for Open Science.
    25. Matthias Braubach & Arnaud Ferrand, 2013. "Energy efficiency, housing, equity and health," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(3), pages 331-332, June.
    26. Marco A. Bragadin & Luca Guardigli & Mattia Calistri & Annarita Ferrante, 2023. "Demolishing or Renovating? Life Cycle Analysis in the Design Process for Building Renovation: The ProGETonE Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-20, May.
    27. Ranjita Singh & Philip Walsh & Christina Mazza, 2019. "Sustainable Housing: Understanding the Barriers to Adopting Net Zero Energy Homes in Ontario, Canada," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-21, November.
    28. Rui Oliveira & Ricardo M.S.F. Almeida & António Figueiredo & Romeu Vicente, 2021. "A Case Study on a Stochastic-Based Optimisation Approach towards the Integration of Photovoltaic Panels in Multi-Residential Social Housing," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-16, November.
    29. Jacopo Gaspari & Ernesto Antonini & Lia Marchi & Vincenzo Vodola, 2021. "Energy Transition at Home: A Survey on the Data and Practices That Lead to a Change in Household Energy Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-24, May.
    30. Aitana Sáez-de-Guinoa & David Zambrana-Vasquez & Víctor Fernández & Carmen Bartolomé, 2022. "Circular Economy in the European Construction Sector: A Review of Strategies for Implementation in Building Renovation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-27, June.
    31. Wu, Raphael & Mavromatidis, Georgios & Orehounig, Kristina & Carmeliet, Jan, 2017. "Multiobjective optimisation of energy systems and building envelope retrofit in a residential community," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 634-649.
    32. Tharindu Prabatha & Kasun Hewage & Rehan Sadiq, 2023. "An Incentives Planning Framework for Residential Energy Retrofits: A Life Cycle Thinking-Based Analysis under Uncertainty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-29, March.
    33. Lia Marchi & Licia Felicioni & Francesca Sabatini & Lidia Errante, 2023. "Exploring Energy Literacy in Italian Social Housing: A Survey of Inhabitants Preparing the Ground for Climate Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, May.
    34. Hossein Omrany & Veronica Soebarto & Ehsan Sharifi & Ali Soltani, 2020. "Application of Life Cycle Energy Assessment in Residential Buildings: A Critical Review of Recent Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-30, January.
    35. Fang, Mei Lan & Woolrych, Ryan & Sixsmith, Judith & Canham, Sarah & Battersby, Lupin & Sixsmith, Andrew, 2016. "Place-making with older persons: Establishing sense-of-place through participatory community mapping workshops," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 223-229.
    36. Gianluca Ruggieri & Francesca Andreolli & Paolo Zangheri, 2023. "A Policy Roadmap for the Energy Renovation of the Residential and Educational Building Stock in Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-20, January.
    37. Nikolaos Triantafyllopoulos, 2024. "Investigating Energy Renovation of Multi-Owner Buildings and Real Estate Market Issues in a Degraded Greek Urban Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-33, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dima Jamali & Georges Samara & Lokman I. Meho, 2024. "Determinants of research productivity and efficiency among the Arab world’s accredited business schools," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(4), pages 2511-2543, December.
    2. Paola Alzate & Juan F. Mejía-Giraldo & Isabella Jurado & Sara Hernandez & Alexandra Novozhenina, 2024. "Research perspectives on youth social entrepreneurship: strategies, economy, and innovation," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, December.
    3. Dong Liu & Yu Peng Zhu, 2023. "Evolution of Knowledge Structure in an Emerging Field Based on a Triple Helix Model: the Case of Smart Factory," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(4), pages 4583-4607, December.
    4. Judith Nyulas & Ștefan Dezsi & Adrian-Florin Niță & Zsolt Magyari-Sáska & Marie-Luise Frey & Alpár Horváth, 2025. "Twenty-Five Years of Scientific Production on Geoparks from the Perspective of Bibliometric Analysis Using PRISMA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-30, March.
    5. Dušan Nikolić & Dragan Ivanović & Lidija Ivanović, 2024. "An open-source tool for merging data from multiple citation databases," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(7), pages 4573-4595, July.
    6. Drago, Carlo & Fortuna, Fabio, 2023. "Investigating the Corporate Governance and Sustainability Relationship: A Bibliometric Analysis Using Keyword-Ensemble Community Detection," FEEM Working Papers 336985, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    7. Maia, Iná E.N. & Harringer, Daniel & Kranzl, Lukas, 2024. "Household budget restrictions as reason for staged retrofits: A case study in Spain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    8. Wilson, C. & Pettifor, H. & Chryssochoidis, G., 2018. "Quantitative modelling of why and how homeowners decide to renovate energy efficiently," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1333-1344.
    9. Jiawei Wu & Xunrong Ye & Huachun Cui, 2025. "Recycled Materials in Construction: Trends, Status, and Future of Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-38, March.
    10. Valentina Della Corte & Giovanna Del Gaudio & Fabiana Sepe & Simone Luongo, 2021. "Destination Resilience and Innovation for Advanced Sustainable Tourism Management: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-19, November.
    11. Johnson Ankrah & Ana Monteiro & Helena Madureira, 2023. "Geospatiality of sea level rise impacts and communities’ adaptation: a bibliometric analysis and systematic review," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 116(1), pages 1-31, March.
    12. Sabando-Vera, David & Montalván-Burbano, Néstor & Parrales-Guerrero, Katherine & Yonfá-Medranda, Marcela & Plaza-Úbeda, José Antonio, 2025. "Growing a greener future: A bibliometric analysis of green innovation in SMEs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    13. Song Xu & Huichen Gao, 2025. "Navigating Research Frontiers in China’s Rural Planning: A Bibliometric Analysis of Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-23, January.
    14. Sónia Rolland Sobral, 2021. "Teaching and Learning to Program: Umbrella Review of Introductory Programming in Higher Education," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(15), pages 1-23, July.
    15. Ammar AL-Ashmori & Shuib Bin Basri & P. D. D. Dominic & Luiz Fernando Capretz & Amgad Muneer & Abdullateef Oluwagbemiga Balogun & Abdul Rehman Gilal & Rao Faizan Ali, 2022. "Classifications of Sustainable Factors in Blockchain Adoption: A Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-30, April.
    16. Kılkış, Şiir, 2023. "Integrated urban scenarios of emissions, land use efficiency and benchmarking for climate neutrality and sustainability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    17. Zulkifli Mohd Ghazali & Wan Fairos Wan Yaacob & Wan Marhaini Wan Omar, 2023. "LGCM and PLS-SEM in Panel Survey Data: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis," Data, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-24, January.
    18. Katarzyna Łukaniszyn-Domaszewska & Katarzyna Mazur-Włodarczyk & Marian Łukaniszyn, 2025. "Unveiling the Interrelations Between Migration, Climate Change, and Energy Transitions in the Context of Socioeconomic Disparities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-42, March.
    19. Badr Moutik & John Summerscales & Jasper Graham-Jones & Richard Pemberton, 2023. "Life Cycle Assessment Research Trends and Implications: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-45, September.
    20. Petkov, Ivalin & Mavromatidis, Georgios & Knoeri, Christof & Allan, James & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2022. "MANGOret: An optimization framework for the long-term investment planning of building multi-energy system and envelope retrofits," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:10:p:2494-:d:1654157. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.