Influence of a facade design on thermal and visual comfort in an elementary school classroom

Abstract

Thermal and visual comfort are important elements in the learning process. The object chosen was the classroom of the Sawah Besar 01 public elementary school, Semarang where the building tends to have a homogeneous facade design but with openings that have varying orientation directions. This affects the level of comfort both thermal and visual in the classroom. Data analysis was carried out quantitatively, namely to obtain a thermal comfort index and natural lighting comfort index according to the Indonesia National Standard. The thermal comfort conditions of all selected rooms on the 1st and 2nd floors did not meet the comfortable thermal comfort standard for classrooms. Rooms 1 and 2 on the 1st floor tend to be above the minimum level of classroom lighting. Room 3 on the 2nd floor tends to be stable and all of them are above the minimum limit. In room 4 on the 2nd floor, the general lighting level has exceeded the minimum limit. New façade opening designs and mechanical ventilation aids need to be applied to improve thermal and visual comfort according to the Indonesia National Standard.