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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2026.10

Modelling and Optimizing HVAC Systems for Early-Stage Building Design

Authors: Victor Calixto, Camilo Cruz Gambardella, Amin Karimi, Pierre Le Bodic, and Allen Z. Zhong

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 379, 32nd International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2026)

Abstract

Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems typically aim to regulate a building’s indoor environment. Many key design decisions which carry strong consequences on HVAC systems are made during early-stage building design, when architectural and structural layouts are still evolving. Early coordination between disciplines has the potential to minimise re-design of systems as a consequence of changes in other systems. This paper presents an optimization-based framework to support early design coordination among architectural, structural and mechanical designs, with a focus on ductwork layout. The generated layouts are intended to serve as initial candidate designs that engineers can further refine during later stages of the building design process. We develop models for generating feasible duct layouts accounting for structural constraints and cost objectives. The models are implemented in a high-level modelling language MiniZinc and solved in phases using Constraint Programming (CP) and Mixed-Integer Programming (MIP) solvers. Experiments on case studies show that feasible coordinated layouts can be generated, enabling iterative exploration of multiple alternative configurations during early-stage design.

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Victor Calixto, Camilo Cruz Gambardella, Amin Karimi, Pierre Le Bodic, and Allen Z. Zhong. Modelling and Optimizing HVAC Systems for Early-Stage Building Design. In 32nd International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 379, pp. 10:1-10:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{calixto_et_al:LIPIcs.CP.2026.10,
  author =	{Calixto, Victor and Gambardella, Camilo Cruz and Karimi, Amin and Le Bodic, Pierre and Zhong, Allen Z.},
  title =	{{Modelling and Optimizing HVAC Systems for Early-Stage Building Design}},
  booktitle =	{32nd International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2026)},
  pages =	{10:1--10:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-432-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{379},
  editor =	{Beldiceanu, Nicolas},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2026.10},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-266433},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2026.10},
  annote =	{Keywords: Application, Modelling, Operation Research \& Mathematical Optimization}
}

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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2021.48

Optimising Training for Service Delivery

Authors: Ilankaikone Senthooran, Pierre Le Bodic, and Peter J. Stuckey

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 210, 27th International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2021)

Abstract

We study the problem of training a roster of engineers, who are scheduled to respond to service calls that require a set of skills, and where engineers and calls have different locations. Both training an engineer in a skill and sending an engineer to respond a non-local service call incur a cost. Alternatively, a local contractor can be hired. The problem consists in training engineers in skills so that the quality of service (i.e. response time) is maximised and costs are minimised. The problem is hard to solve in practice partly because (1) the value of training an engineer in one skill depends on other training decisions, (2) evaluating training decisions means evaluating the schedules that are now made possible by the new skills, and (3) these schedules must be computed over a long time horizon, otherwise training may not pay off. We show that a monolithic approach to this problem is not practical. Instead, we decompose it into three subproblems, modelled with MiniZinc. This allows us to pick the approach that works best for each subproblem (MIP or CP) and provide good solutions to the problem. Data is provided by a multinational company.

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Ilankaikone Senthooran, Pierre Le Bodic, and Peter J. Stuckey. Optimising Training for Service Delivery. In 27th International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2021). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 210, pp. 48:1-48:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2021)

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@InProceedings{senthooran_et_al:LIPIcs.CP.2021.48,
  author =	{Senthooran, Ilankaikone and Le Bodic, Pierre and Stuckey, Peter J.},
  title =	{{Optimising Training for Service Delivery}},
  booktitle =	{27th International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2021)},
  pages =	{48:1--48:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-211-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2021},
  volume =	{210},
  editor =	{Michel, Laurent D.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2021.48},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-153395},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2021.48},
  annote =	{Keywords: Scheduling, Task Allocation, Training Optimisation}
}

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Modelling and Optimizing HVAC Systems for Early-Stage Building Design

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Optimising Training for Service Delivery

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