Application of Arithmetic Optimization Algorithm (AOA) for Time–Cost–Quality–Environmental Impact Optimization in Construction Projects

This study aims to investigate the relationship between time, cost, quality, and environmental impact in construction projects using arithmetic optimization algorithm. Project managers have prioritized time and cost concepts in traditional project planning. It is seen that other factors affecting the success of the project are ignored. However, with the impact of technological and sociocultural changes, awareness of sustainability and environmental factors has increased. For this reason, there are studies showing that environmental impact is taken into account at least as much as time, cost, and quality in project management. Therefore, this study evaluates the performance of the arithmetic optimization algorithm (AOA) on the many-objective time–cost–quality–environmental impact problem. The performance of the AOA was compared with the adaptive selection slime mold algorithm (ASSMA), which is known to give good results in the literature. The results show that the AOA outperforms the ASSMA in terms of cost, environmental impact, and quality with 25% less function evaluation. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2026.