Critical analysis of green building research trend in construction journals

•Green building is becoming more important to the construction industry.•Developed countries have made more contributions to green building research.•Four main research interests in green building have been identified.•Future green building research opportunities have been highlighted.

In recent years, green building (GB) has become the flagship of sustainable development, leading to a number of published works on the topic. This paper examines GB research trend in construction management (CM) through analyzing selected GB research papers published in 10 selected CM journals from 1990 to 2015 (as of end of August). The analysis is conducted in terms of the number of annual GB research publications, contributions made by various countries, institutions and authors, and research topics covered. The analysis reveals an increasing GB research interest in recent times, implying that the importance attached to GB by the construction industry is accelerating. The findings also indicate that during the studied period, researchers from developed economies such as the US, Hong Kong, the UK, Singapore, Italy, and Australia contributed most to promoting GB research. Developing countries such as China, Egypt, and Colombia also made good efforts to promote GB research. Research topics covered tend to focus on GB project delivery and developments, GB certifications, energy performance, and advanced technologies. Research gaps are discussed with directions for future research proposed. This study may serve as a valuable platform for both industry practitioners and researchers to appreciate GB research trends and developments.