Mihaela Popa^1,2, Valentina Emilia Balas^1,2,3 and Dana Rad^1,2, ¹Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiești, Romania, ²Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad, Romania, ³The Academy of Romanian Scientists, Romania

Amidst the growing concerns of global climate change, sectors worldwide face increased pressure to adopt sustainable practices and enhance carbon management strategies. Carbon offsetting, wherein organizations counterbalance their greenhouse gas emissions by investing in projects that reduce or eliminate emissions elsewhere, has emerged as a pivotal strategy, especially within the building industry due to its substantial carbon footprint reduction potential. This paper delves into the current state and emerging trends in carbon offsetting within the building sector through a bibliometric analysis of literature from the Web of Science Core Collection. Using VOSviewer, the analysis maps bibliographic data from 87 relevant articles, identifying four thematic clusters from 611 keywords with a minimum co-occurrence threshold of two. The findings reveal key thematic areas, including renewable energy integration, urban planning, and challenges in methodological frameworks, providing actionable insights for policy development and industry practices. The study emphasizes the critical need for robust methodologies in carbon offset projects to ensure genuine environmental benefits, addressing challenges like baseline manipulation. Finally, the research identifies opportunities for future exploration in socio-economic impacts and advanced modeling tools for carbon management in the built environment.

Carbon offsetting, building industry, bibliometric analysis, sustainability, rooftop photovoltaics, urban planning