Bibliometric study on 20 years of the evaluation of eco-efficiency in managing public works, based on the life cycle management

Eco-efficiency has stood out as an important innovative practice, linked to sustainable development, already practiced in the private sector and with a deep need for application in the public sector. Based on this context, the objective of this study is to map, by means of a bibliometric methodology, the eco-efficiency assessment theme in public works based on the management of the life cycle in the scientific literature, between the years 1996 and October 2017. Research activities indexed by the SCOPUS database and analyzed with the support of VOS viewer software have been collected. We could observe that over the last 20 years of evolution, the subject was initially treated with greater concentration in the environmental sciences segment, however, it is understood that there was a transformation of the topic in scientific research and a greater relevance of the subject for the innovation of technologies, applied to sustainable organizations in an interdisciplinary perspective. We have concluded that there is an important amount of research focused on the development of eco-efficiency evaluation models in works, based on life cycle management, with a wide application in the private sector and perceived insufficient analytical standards that take into account the variables that are unique to the public sector, which can mitigate the possible negative impacts on the sustainability of the buildings.