In the present work, a constrained inverse optimization method for building cooling applications is proposed to control the mechanical draft wet cooling tower by minimizing the exergy destruction and satisfying an imposed heat load under varying environmental conditions. The optimization problem is formulated considering the cooling dominated heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and hybrid ground source heat pump (HGSHP). As per the requirement, new second degree correlations for the tower outlet parameters (water temperature, air dry and wet-bulb temperatures) with five inlet parameters (dry-bulb temperature, relative humidity, water inlet temperature, water and air mass flow rates) are developed. The Box-Behnken design response surface method is implemented for developing the correlations. Subsequently, the constrained optimization problem is solved using augmented Lagrangian genetic algorithm. This work further developed optimum inlet parameters operating curves for the HGSHP and the HVAC systems under varying environmental conditions aimed at minimizing the exergy destruction along with the fulfillment of the required heat load. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.