Building design optimization using sequential linear programming

A nonlinear programming approach is used for the minimization of total communication cost to determine the optimum room dimensions for each activity. The nonlinear programming problem is conveniently solved by the improved move limit method of sequential linear programming. In this method, the objective function and all the constraints are linearised in the neighbourhood of the design point and an optimum obtained through simplex algorithm. To ensure that the movement is not large, appropriate move-limits are imposed as constraints. The linearization and LP solution are repeated until the exact optimum is located.