Passive bioclimatic design strategies for Moroccan residential buildings: bibliometric mapping and gap analysis according to the RTCM climate zones

Passive bioclimatic design strategies can reduce the cooling requirements of buildings, but the scientific literature on this subject remains fragmented in the Moroccan context. This study presents a multi-corpus bibliometric analysis linking international trends to Moroccan residential buildings and the climate zones defined by the Moroccan Thermal Building Regulations (RTCM). Data from Scopus and Web of Science covering the period 2000–2026 were merged, harmonised and deduplicated using the BioBiblio-RTCM workflow, then examined through descriptive analyses, co-occurrence networks, thematic evolution, classification of passive strategies and RTCM mapping. The final corpora comprise 4037 international documents, 192 documents focusing on Morocco and 1062 regional documents. At the international level, the field centres on thermal comfort, energy efficiency, passive cooling, natural ventilation and the building envelope. The Moroccan corpus is characterised by the predominance of insulation and the building envelope, as well as the prominence of vernacular architecture and local or bio-based materials. The RTCM mapping reveals uneven coverage of strategies and areas, particularly with regard to evaporative cooling, reflective roofing, night ventilation and patios. The study thus provides a bibliometric analysis underpinned by external validation and a context-specific analysis of the Moroccan situation. The under-representations identified are interpreted as documentary indications that may guide further research; they do not constitute a measure of energy performance or a technical ranking of passive strategies.