Shaping building volumes through life cycle costs: a constraint programming approach for building volume optimisation

Due to a general freedom in the architectural design process, a wide range of possible alternatives exist, although building-volume designs must also continue to meet numerous, possibly conflicting design requirements originating from various related disciplines. This research addresses problems associated with missing quantitative design aids during the early design stages. It aims to provide designers with solutions that provide optimal cost-effectiveness. The demonstrated building-volume optimisation model minimises life cycle costs by determining optimal-volume dimensions, floor number, building orientation and “window / walli opening ratios while satisfying site and building code regulations and design constraints. Results indicate an optimal solution can be found within a practical timeframe. The proposed, novel approach to introduce cost objectives into building-volume design provides designers with a valuable decision support tool in a design domain that is known to be complex owing to multiple design criteria and constraint influences