• Quantum and classical algorithms are benchmarked for building performance optimization. • A surrogate model is trained on 15,000 IDA ICE simulations for prediction. • NSGA-II achieves the best trade-offs between energy use and thermal comfort. • Quantum methods deliver faster results but with reduced solution quality. • Quantum computing shows potential for future real-time building optimization. Optimizing building performance is essential for enhancing energy efficiency and occupant comfort. This study evaluates the applicability of quantum computing–based optimization methods in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry by comparing the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) and Quantum Annealing (QA) with classical multi-objective optimization algorithms, namely Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) and Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO). A dataset of 15,000 building simulations was used to train an Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model for predicting total energy consumption (kWh/m 2 /year) and Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD) occupants. These predictions were then used in the optimization phase. NSGA-II produced the best trade-offs, achieving energy consumption between 17.84 and 19.84 kWh/m 2 /year and PPD below 5.2 %, with strong diversity and convergence. QAOA executed faster (0.54 min) than NSGA-II (18.9 min) but resulted in higher energy values (31.85–55.62 kWh/m 2 /year) and weaker solution quality. Quantum Annealing completed in 0.37 min but returned clustered solutions near 45.88 kWh/m 2 /year. While the current limitations of quantum methods constrain their effectiveness, the findings indicate their potential as fast solvers in future building performance optimization workflows, particularly as hardware and algorithmic capabilities mature.
• Quantum and classical algorithms are benchmarked for building performance optimization. • A surrogate model is trained on 15,000 IDA ICE simulations for prediction. • NSGA-II achieves the best trade-offs between energy use and thermal comfort. • Quantum methods deliver faster results but with reduced solution quality. • Quantum computing shows potential for future real-time building optimization. Optimizing building performance is essential for enhancing energy efficiency and occupant comfort. This study evaluates the applicability of quantum computing–based optimization methods in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry by comparing the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) and Quantum Annealing (QA) with classical multi-objective optimization algorithms, namely Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) and Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO). A dataset of 15,000 building simulations was used to train an Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model for predicting total energy consumption (kWh/m 2 /year) and Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD) occupants. These predictions were then used in the optimization phase. NSGA-II produced the best trade-offs, achieving energy consumption between 17.84 and 19.84 kWh/m 2 /year and PPD below 5.2 %, with strong diversity and convergence. QAOA executed faster (0.54 min) than NSGA-II (18.9 min) but resulted in higher energy values (31.85–55.62 kWh/m 2 /year) and weaker solution quality. Quantum Annealing completed in 0.37 min but returned clustered solutions near 45.88 kWh/m 2 /year. While the current limitations of quantum methods constrain their effectiveness, the findings indicate their potential as fast solvers in future building performance optimization workflows, particularly as hardware and algorithmic capabilities mature.
Quantum computing, leveraging quantum mechanics, promises to enhance optimization processes in artificial intelligence (AI) by addressing challenges faced by classical computing in solving complex problems. This study investigates the role of quantum computing in optimizing AI tasks, focusing on algorithms such as Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) and Quantum Annealing (QA) for improved efficiency in optimization. A hybrid quantum-classical approach was used to evaluate the performance of quantum algorithms in optimization tasks, including combinatorial optimization and machine learning model tuning. QAOA and QA were applied to benchmark problems, such as Max-Cut and Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). The study involved a comparative analysis between quantum algorithms and classical optimization techniques using performance metrics like solution quality, computational time, and scalability. Data were gathered through simulation on a quantum computing platform, and results were analyzed using statistical methods to assess improvements. The results showed that quantum computing significantly outperformed classical methods in solving large-scale optimization problems. QAOA demonstrated a 30% improvement in solution quality for Max-Cut problems, and QA showed a 25% faster convergence in TSP compared to classical algorithms. Quantum algorithms demonstrated scalability advantages as the problem size increased, with quantum methods achieving up to a 40% reduction in computational time for large instances. Furthermore, 70% of the tested cases showed significant improvements in solution accuracy, confirming the potential of quantum computing in real-world AI applications. Quantum computing, through QAOA and QA, offers substantial improvements in solving complex optimization problems in AI, presenting a transformative opportunity for the future of optimization algorithms.
In this work, we study the application of quantum computing to complex engineering simulations and decisions. Using these quantum algorithms like Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA), Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE), Quantum Support Vector Machine (QSVM) and Grover’s Algorithm, we will optimize computational efficiency, accuracy and diversity of solutions in engineering. It was performed with a comparative analysis with classical algorithms based on performance metrics such as accuracy of solution, execution time, and optimality of the decision. Analysis of experimental results showed QAOA produces a 92.3% solution accuracy, higher than that (88.6%) of classical simulated annealing and (85.4%) genetic algorithms. Similarly, VQE achieved 27% reduction in execution time versus the classical equivalent and QSVM achieved 94.1% classification accuracy on engineering pattern recognition tasks. Grover’s Algorithm also resulted in a 3.7x faster search efficiency in decision oriented simulation. Finally, the study shows that quantum inspired models can perform efficiently on large scale and highly complex engineering problems. These findings provide a major leap in realizing the capability to harness quantum technologies for real time, scalable decision making in structural analysis, lifecycle management and intelligent system design. Such results make way for future developments of hybrid quantum classical computing frameworks that could be deployed in industry.
Quantum supremacy refers to the point at which quantum computers outperform classical high-performance computing (HPC) systems in solving computations that are infeasible for conventional systems. Real-time optimization problems—such as traffic flow, financial modeling, logistics, portfolio balancing, cryptographic simulations, and supply chain design—require massive computation and near-instant decision-making, presenting a strong testbed for demonstrating true quantum advantage. This research evaluates quantum optimization performance using Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) and Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE), comparing them against classical HPC techniques such as simulated annealing and gradient descent optimization. Benchmarking was conducted using real-time optimization datasets via IBM Quantum processors (127-qubit systems) and NVIDIA A100-based HPC clusters. Results indicate that quantum systems reduced computational complexity and required 54% less time to reach near-optimal solutions in large combinatorial problems involving more than 10¹⁷ possible permutations. Classical systems exhibited latency bottlenecks and exponential time growth, while quantum execution achieved polynomial-time convergence. This study validates quantum supremacy in selective optimization workloads and provides a roadmap for industrial adoption.
Lightweight structural design requires balancing conflicting objectives: minimizing mass while maximizing crashworthiness, energy absorption, and structural integrity. Conventional optimization techniques—such as gradient-based solvers, evolutionary algorithms, and surrogate modeling—often struggle with the nonlinear, multi-objective, and combinatorial nature of structural configurations, especially in applications like automotive chassis design, aerospace components, and protective systems. This study explores the use of quantum algorithms to accelerate and enhance the optimization of lightweight structures with respect to crash energy absorption. Leveraging quantum annealing, the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA), and hybrid quantum–classical variational methods, the framework maps topology, material distribution, and structural geometry to quantum-encoded optimization landscapes. Early simulation results indicate that quantum-enabled solvers can identify higher-performing structural designs and navigate the trade-off between stiffness and crash energy dissipation more efficiently than classical algorithms. These findings highlight the potential of quantum computing to revolutionize structural engineering workflows by delivering faster, more robust, and more scalable optimization for next-generation lightweight designs.
Combinatorial optimization is anticipated to be one of the primary use cases for quantum computation in the coming years. The Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm and Quantum Annealing can potentially demonstrate significant run-time performance benefits over current state-of-the-art solutions. Inspired by existing methods to characterize classical optimization algorithms, we analyze the solution quality obtained by solving Max-cut problems using gate-model quantum devices and a quantum annealing device. This is used to guide the development of an advanced benchmarking framework for quantum computers designed to evaluate the trade-off between run-time execution performance and the solution quality for iterative hybrid quantum-classical applications. The framework generates performance profiles through compelling visualizations that show performance progression as a function of time for various problem sizes and illustrates algorithm limitations uncovered by the benchmarking approach. As an illustration, we explore the factors that influence quantum computing system throughput, using results obtained through execution on various quantum simulators and quantum hardware systems.
Quantum-inspired algorithms (QIAs) are computationally efficient algorithms that generate a quantum model in classical hardware as an alternative to the use of quantum models. In this research paper, the researchers carried out an experimental appraisal of four quantum-inspired algorithms in quantum-inspired Evolutionary Algorithm (QEA), quantum-behaved Particle Swarm Optimization (QPSO), quantum-inspired Genetic Algorithm (QIGA) and quantum Simulated Annealing (QSA) on benchmark optimization functions. The introduction of a simulation-based methodology was done in Python to test the convergence speed, global search capability, accuracy and robustness. According to the experimental findings, QPSO always performs well compared with other methods in the achievement of faster convergence and enhanced global optimality, but QEA is highly successful in cases of discrete combinatorial problems. The paper concludes that quantum-inspired models are effective in modeling the key quantum concepts like probabilistic superposition and tunneling to attain high quality optimization results with conventional computing platforms. Such results demonstrate the opportunities of QIAs as scalable pre-quantum tools of designing, AI, and industrial optimization.