• A structured review of 94 studies quantified NEBs in building retrofits. • Studies from 2013–2024 were selected using clear exclusion criteria. • NEBs were classified into social, health, environmental, and economic. • Thermal comfort was the most frequently quantified NEB in the review. • Methods used included simulations, monitoring, and questionnaire surveys. This paper presents a multi-dimensional structured evaluation (2013–2024) that maps quantified non-energy benefits (NEBs) across four domains: social, health, environmental, and economic. It also classifies the literature by retrofit measure (envelope, HVAC, lighting, renewable energy, and building automation) and building typology (residential, commercial, industrial, educational, mixed-use) to provide an integrated overview. A comprehensive literature search with explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria performed, and a descriptive (non-meta-analytic) synthesis of quantified NEBs presented. The findings show a strong emphasis on thermal comfort and indoor air quality in the reviewed papers. In contrast, productivity, specific health cost savings, and work performance remain underrepresented and often discussed only qualitatively. At the same time, many decision-makers continue to prioritize economic factors, energy consumption, and CO₂ emissions when planning retrofits; consequently, broader NEBs that could materially influence adoption frequently overlooked. Moreover, many existing studies rely on non-standardized or methodologically inconsistent approaches, which limits the comparability of findings across the literature. To address this, we encourage more integrative approaches, such as the KNOWnNEBs framework, to embed NEBs more comprehensively into retrofit decision-making.
Khorshidi et al. (Fri,) studied this question.