Quantum MPC Pilots Signal a New Operating Model for Facilities Management

Researchers have reported measurable performance gains from applying quantum computing to building energy control, using a quantum-enhanced model predictive control (MPC) strategy tested on two photovoltaic (PV)-equipped campus buildings. The approach improved simulated energy efficiency by 6.8% and drove a 41.2% annual reduction in carbon emissions while maintaining comfort—outcomes with direct implications for facilities management (FM) leaders targeting net-zero operations (Kahana 2025; Ajagekar & You 2025). pv magazine USA+1

What’s new

The study merges MPC—already common in advanced building automation—with the Quantum Approximate Optimisation Algorithm (QAOA). A learning-based parameter transfer scheme uses Bayesian optimisation and Gaussian processes to initialise QAOA circuits, reducing compute burden and adapting to changing building states (Ajagekar & You 2025; Kahana 2025). In trials based on Cornell campus data, the team mapped the MPC problem to a quadratic unconstrained binary optimisation (QUBO) form and evaluated performance against a deterministic MPC baseline and quantum annealing (Ajagekar & You 2025). Newswise+1

Why it matters for FM

For facilities directors responsible for decarbonisation, comfort, and resilience, the reported deltas—~6.8% energy efficiency uplift and ~41.2% CO₂ reduction—translate into material budget and ESG impacts if reproduced at scale. The work also shows how quantum solvers can co-optimise on-site storage and PV dispatch with HVAC set-points, tightening the coordination between electrical and thermal assets that FM teams increasingly manage (Kahana 2025). pv magazine USA

How it works (in brief)

• Formulation: The building MPC is cast as a QUBO and solved with QAOA; prior solutions inform next-step circuit parameters to speed convergence (Ajagekar & You 2025).
• Hardware context: Simulations targeted an IBM “Eagle”-class 127-qubit topology, reflecting near-term devices, while acknowledging today’s noise and scale limits (Kahana 2025).
• Comparators: Deterministic MPC (certainty-equivalent) and quantum annealing benchmarks provided classical and quantum baselines, respectively (Ajagekar & You 2025). Newswise+1

Caveats and next steps

The authors note that the tested plant model is relatively simple; scaling to complex, multi-zone commercial estates will raise variable counts and may stress current QAOA capabilities. They flag the need for broader validation across diverse buildings and explicit uncertainty quantification within the controller—key steps before routine FM deployment (Ajagekar & You 2025). Newswise

Operational takeaways for FM leaders

Short-term actions (0–12 months):

• Digital readiness: Ensure access to high-quality telemetry (HVAC, BESS, PV, submeters) and a clean MPC-ready data pipeline.
• Pilot design: Target single-building or campus microgrid pilots where PV + storage already exist; measure against deterministic MPC baselines.
• KPIs: Track kWh/m², thermal comfort indices, ramping costs, and marginal CO₂ intensity to quantify benefits.

Medium term (12–36 months):

• Grid-interactive operations: Explore demand-flex markets where quantum-enhanced MPC could monetise flexibility while preserving comfort.
• Hybrid compute strategy: Plan for classical-quantum workflows that offload specific combinatorial subproblems to quantum back-ends as devices mature.

Related field snapshot: digital twins for predictive maintenance

Concurrently, FM research highlights the value of integrating AI and digital twins with BIM and IoT to cut maintenance costs by roughly a quarter and reduce energy usage about a fifth in large facilities such as hospitals and airports (Abdelalim 2025). While not quantum-based, these outcomes indicate the scale of wins available when control, prediction, and asset models converge—creating a pathway to layer quantum optimisation into twin-driven maintenance scheduling as hardware and software mature (Abdelalim 2025). MDPI

Bottom line

Quantum-enhanced MPC has moved beyond theory to early, domain-specific demonstrations with quantified gains. For FM organisations, the message is pragmatic: prepare the data foundation, pilot in PV-and-storage-rich sites, benchmark rigorously, and plan for a hybrid future where quantum solvers tackle the knottiest optimisation steps while classical systems orchestrate the rest (Kahana 2025; Ajagekar & You 2025). pv magazine USA+1