Coordination and Optimization of Prefabricated Building Supply Chain for Sustainability Development

Abstract

Sustainability is always one of the key issues during the development of prefabricated buildings. Sufficient efforts have been made to increase building sustainability from the perspectives of supply chain coordination and optimization. However, most of them focus on two-echelon prefabricated building supply chains which only consist of contractors and manufacturers. This thesis proposes coordinating and optimizing four-echelon supply chains consisting of designers, manufacturers, transporters, and contractors to fully and extensively explore the potential of sustainability improvement of building life cycles. To achieve it, this thesis proposes efficient supply chain coordination frameworks for green design optimization, green component delivery, and enhanced sustainability monitoring. Several Building Information Modeling (BIM)-based systems are correspondingly developed as well. First, a feasible Large Language Model (LLM)-powered multi-agent system is developed for dynamic and interactive DOP formulation and parametric design optimization. Second, with the well-defined DOP, an improved generative design algorithm is proposed to mathematically explore design space given that LLM may arise hallucination and lack of robustness. The algorithm is compiled into a generic dynamo package for practical application. Third, an automated component delivery management system in the form of Revit plugin is developed to coordinate and manage offsite prefabrication, delivery, and onsite construction activities in an ever-changing environment. Finally, an Earned Value Method (EVM)-based monitoring system in Navisworks is developed to facilitate automated cost and carbon control and management during offsite prefabrication, delivery, and onsite construction. Any changes in design and delivery plans occurring in these processes will be considered to update the planned value of EVM. We use an illustrative example of a three-storey office building to demonstrate the application of the proposed systems and validate their functions.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Supervisor	Xueqing ZHANG (Supervisor)