Urban heat island (UHI) could have significant impacts on building energy consumption by increasing space cooling demand and decreasing space heating demand. However, the impacts of UHI on building energy consumption were understudied due to challenges associated with quantifying UHI-induced temperature change and evaluating building energy consumption. In this study, we reviewed existing literature for improving the understanding of UHI impacts on building energy consumption. It was found that UHI could result in a median increase of 19.0% in cooling energy consumption and a median decrease of 18.7% in heating energy consumption. The reported UHI impacts showed strong intercity variations with an increase of cooling energy consumption from 10% to 120% and a decrease of heating energy consumption from 3% to 45%. The UHI impacts also showed clear intra-city variations with stronger impacts in urban center than that in urban periphery. There were significant differences in the method and the data used to evaluate the UHI impacts in previous studies. Four future research focuses were recommended to better understand the UHI impacts on building energy consumption. •The literature of UHI impacts on building energy consumption was reviewed.•UHI could lead to a median of 19% increase in building cooling energy consumption.•UHI could lead to a median of 18.7% decrease in building heating energy consumption.•UHI impacts showed strong spatial variations within and among cities.•Four future research focuses were recommended for better understanding of UHI impacts.