Minimal Dimensions of a Small House by Means of Optimization Procedure

Abstract

This work has focused on the analysis of minimum dimensions of housing while its occupants maintain a proper comfort within it according to several requirements: proxemics, ergonomics, anthropometry as well maintaining an energy efficiency of the house. The current analysis is referred to a small house with four occupants and according to Mexican standards. These constructions are built in a large number to satisfy needs society. Optimal design of architectural spaces of a small house makes sense in that housing should ensure a minimum of comfort for its occupants, maintaining minimum and standard requirements. However, current constructive trends of these houses tend to minimize its costs based mainly on two polices: reduced construction areas and use of inappropriate quality materials. On this work it was proposed an optimization procedure for finding the optimal dimensions of a small house through a mathematical model that takes the overall volume of housing as an objective function, while the design variables correspond to the main dimensions of the house while state equations correspond to the requirements characterizing all living spaces including thermal comfort and home energy costs.