Professor Franco Cheung

Professor in Sustainable Built Environment, College Lead in Research, Innovation and Enterprise

Email:: franco.cheung@bcu.ac.uk

As the Professor in Sustainable Built Environment, Prof Franco Cheung has consistently led transformative research and practical initiatives in sustainable construction, focusing on enhancing the productivity and performance of building design and construction while reducing the environmental impacts of development, particularly in terms of embodied CO2 emissions. His research has significantly impacted the field, as evidenced by his contributions to Innovate UK-funded and EU projects, which have advanced the development of low-impact buildings through digital innovation and process transformation.

Professor Cheung has been at the forefront of interdisciplinary collaboration, integrating traditional construction methodologies with emerging technologies such as AI and IoT to address the industry's urgent need for net-zero solutions. His work on automating life cycle cost analysis and enhancing offsite manufacturing processes has been widely published in high-impact journals, reflecting the relevance and practical application of his research.

Key current research projects include the application of lean principles and circularity to reduce waste in offsite manufacturing, development of digital twins for improving the wellbeing of household residents with health needs and development of modern method of construction adoption framework for infrastructure works. His research, widely published in high-impact journals such as Automation in Construction, Building and Environment, and ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Construction, reflects its relevance and advancement.

He remains very committed in teaching quantity surveying and construction project management courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He is keen to equip students to meet the needs in practice and develop the next generation of quantity surveyors and researchers to meet the challenges facing the industry.

Areas of Expertise

Qualifications

Memberships

Teaching

Research

Postgraduate Supervision

Publications

PATLAKAS, P., CHRISTOVASILIS, I.; RIPARBELLI, L.; CHEUNG, F. & VAKAJ, E. 2024 Semantic web-based Automated Compliance Checking with integration of Finite Element Analysis, 61,102448
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2024.102448

HADI, A., CHEUNG, F., ADJEI, S. & DULAIMI, A. F. 2023 Evaluation of lean off-site construction literature through the lens of Industry 4.0 and 5.0, ASCE Construction Engineering and Management, 149 (12),
https://doi.org/10.1061/JCEMD4.COENG-13622

KALEMI, E. V., CHEUNG, F., PATLAKAS, P., TAWIL, A. & CAO, J. 2023 An ontology-based cost estimation for offsite construction.: An ontology-based cost estimation for offsite construction, Journal of Information Technology in Construction, 28, 220-245. https://doi.org/10.36680/j.itcon.2023.011

AYINLA K., CHEUNG F., & SKITMORE, M. 2021. Process waste analysis for offsite production methods for house construction – A case study of factory wall panel production, ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management , 148(1), 5021011. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0002219

AYINLA K., CHEUNG F. & TAWIL, A. 2019. Demystifying the concept of offsite manufacturing method: Towards a robust definition and classification system. Construction Innovation, 20 (2), 223-246. https://doi.org/10.1108/CI-07-2019-0064

ABANDA, F. H., TAH, J. H. M., and CHEUNG, F. K. T. 2017. BIM in off-site manufacturing for buildings. Journal of Building Engineering, 14, 89-102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2017.10.002

CHEUNG, F., KURUL, E. & OTI, A. 2016. A case study of hybrid strategies to create value for a contracting business in the education sector in England & Wales, Construction Management and Economics, 34(4-6), 335-352. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2016.1200107

OTI, A., KURUL, E., CHEUNG, F. & TAH, J. 2016. A framework for the utilization of BMS data in BIM to bridge gaps between building design and operation. Automation in Construction, 72 (2), 195-210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2016.08.043

ABANDA, F., TAH, J. & CHEUNG, F. 2013. Mathematical modeling of embodied energy, greenhouse gases, waste, Time-Cost parameters of building projects: A Review. Building and Environment, 59, 23-37.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2012.07.014

CHEUNG, F. K., RIHAN, J., TAH, J., DUCE, D. & KURUL, E. 2012. Early stage multi-level cost estimation for schematic BIM models. Automation in Construction, 27, 67-77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2012.05.008

Work With Industry

Research and enterprise projects led by Franco Cheung:

Framework for advancing Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) adoption in National Highways projects (09/24-03/25)

This National Highways (NH) funded project aims to develop a comprehensive framework for classifying, benchmarking, measuring should-cost, and enhancing MMC adoption. It will achieve by identifying pain points, aligning with NHs' procurement approaches, develop a proof-of-concept framework for procuring MMC which includes a ‘should cost’ model.

A feasibility study of the integration of in-house and external IT for management of just-in-time (JIT) delivery of construction materials (03/24 – 07/24)

The Accelerated Knowledge Transfer Partnership (AKTP) project with ModPods International is a feasibility study of the integration of their in-house warehouse and materials resource planning (MRP) and external supplier IT systems for management of just-in-time (JIT) delivery of construction materials for an MMC (modern methods of construction) factory.

Development of Hadley Offsite Modular Engineering (HOME) Tool (01/22 - 05/24)

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) develops a modular product configurator tool for Hadley to simplify design processes and engage modular product customers, allowing them to specify Hadley’s modular-build homes.

Embodied Carbon Analysis of Alternative House Framing Options (ECHO) project (09/22-03/23)

Funded partially by the EcRoFit project and partially by Walsall Housing Group (whg), the collaboration between whg) and BCU studied the embodied carbon of 3 alternative commonly adopted house framing options developed further from the West Midlands DfMA house project

Collaborative knowledge-based (Design for Manufacture and Assembly) DfMA approach to building cost-efficient, low-impact and high-performance houses (Also named as West Midlands DfMA house project) (03/19 - 02/21)

The Innovate UK funded collaborative research project aims to develop a platform designed DfMA houses and a proof-of-concept KBE tool for life cycle costs and carbon emissions estimation to support the design process. The successful project has led Hadley to invest £3M in modular house production as a new company product.