In recent years, both sustainability and optimization concepts have become inseparable developing topics with diverse concepts, elements, and aspects. The principal goal of optimization is to improve the overall sustainability including the environmental sustainability, social sustainability, economic sustainability, and energy resources sustainability through satisfying the objective functions. Therefore, applying optimization algorithms and methods to achieve the sustainable development have significant importance. This paper represents a considerable review on the employed optimization methodologies to sustainability and the sustainable development including sustainable energy, sustainable buildings, and sustainable environment. Since energy optimization is one of the major necessities of sustainability, sustainable development is investigated from the energy perspective. In addition, the concept, definitions, and elements of the sustainability and optimization have been presented, and the review of the optimization metaheuristic algorithms used in recent published articles related to sustainability and sustainable development was carried out. Thus, it is believed that this paper can be appropriate, beneficial, and practical for students, academic researchers, engineers, and other professionals.

In recent years, many researchers have utilized metaheuristic optimization algorithms along with fuzzy logic theory in their studies for various purposes. The harmony search (HS) algorithm is one of the metaheuristic optimization algorithms that is widely employed in different studies along with fuzzy logic (FL) theory. FL theory is a mathematical approach to expressing uncertainty by applying the conceptualization of fuzziness in a system. This review paper presents an extensive review of published papers based on the combination of HS and FL systems. In this regard, the functional characteristics of models obtained from integration of FL and HS have been reported in various articles, and the performance of each study is investigated. The basic concept of the FL approach and its derived models are introduced to familiarize readers with the principal mechanisms of FL models. Moreover, appropriate descriptions of the primary classifications acquired from the coexistence of FL and HS methods for specific purposes are reviewed. The results show that the high efficiency of HS to improve the exploration of FL in achieving the optimal solution on the one hand, and the capability of fuzzy inference systems to provide more flexible and dynamic adaptation of the HS parameters based on human perception on the other hand, can be a powerful combination for solving optimization problems. This review paper is believed to be a useful resource for students, engineers, and professionals.

Harmony Search (HS) is a music-inspired optimization algorithm for solving complex optimization problems that imitate the musical improvisational process. This paper reviews the potential of applying the HS algorithm in three countries, China, South Korea, and Japan. The applications represent several disciplines in fields of study such as computer science, mathematics, electrical/electronic, mechanical, chemical, civil, and industrial engineering. We anticipate an increasing number of HS applications from these countries in near future.

Security-Constrained Unit Commitment (SCUC) problem and subsequently employing Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) controllers including Optimal Unified Power Flow Controller (OUPFC) play a crucial role in power systems operation and control in terms of increasing the security of energy transmission networks. The principal objective of the SCUC problem is to acquire the minimum operating cost simultaneously maintaining the security of the system. In this paper, significant attention is paid particularly to simultaneously control SCUC and OUPFC, since energy loss reduction and transmission lines capacity release can be effectively achieved with incorporating SCUC and OUPFC, and subsequently setting the effective variables. In this regard, the SCUC problem with the presence of OUPFC is solved as Nonlinear Programming with Discontinuous Derivatives (DNLP) framework and the proposed algorithm is implemented on two IEEE 14-bus and IEEE 30-bus systems using General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) software in order to optimize the total fuel cost, power losses and cost of OUPFC installation as objective functions in the multi-objective framework. The simulation results show the capability of the proposed algorithm to simultaneously determine the optimal location of the OUPFC and its settings in the SCUC problem and to improve the controllability of the power system operation.