Refugee tents are essential temporary shelters in disaster-prone regions like Aceh, Indonesia, which experiences a warm and humid tropical climate. Ensuring thermal comfort in these shelters is crucial for the well-being and recovery of displaced individuals. This study evaluates the thermal comfort of refugee tents deployed in Aceh through a combination of field measurements and computational simulations using Ansys Fluent 19.2 (CFD software). Field measurements captured real-time environmental data, including temperature, humidity, and airflow inside and around the tents. Thermal comfort was assessed using the Indonesian National Standard (SNI 03-6572-2001) through Effective Temperature (ET), and the ASHRAE 55 through Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD). This study also analyzed the thermal performance of alternative tent configurations designed to improve thermal comfort in tropical climates. Two new tent designs were proposed: one with rooftop openings to release trapped hot air and another with both upper ventilation and a double-layer outer skin with a 10 cm air gap. The results show that the tent with upper ventilation reduces the air temperature by approximately 0.5 K and increases air speed by around 0.18 m/s. The design combining upper ventilation and a double skin achieves a greater temperature reduction of 2.9 K compared to the outside environment, with a faster airflow than ventilation alone. These findings highlight the importance of advanced ventilation strategies and thermal insulation in improving indoor environments, offering valuable insights for future refugee tent designs aimed at enhancing thermal comfort.

Purpose: During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021 in Indonesia, the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of local houses occupied by infected occupants was adversely affected. This paper aims to appraise the IEQ of the affected Banda Aceh houses with insights into enabling them to be resilient against the negative impacts of the pandemic.Design/methodology/approach: Quantitative field measurement in the case study of five concrete houses located in urban areas which are affected by IEQ factors: (1) indoor air quality (IAQ), (2) thermal comfort and (3) visual comfort, compared against the Indonesian National standard (SNI). The case study involved measurement of the first two factors over 24 h, while the third factor was measured during sun hours. Considering the limitations of the measuring tools for logging available data in this research, air quality is measured from 8 am to 10 pm.Findings: Thermal comfort in the affected houses is generally regarded as warm, optimal and cool comfort, indicated by the effective temperatures of between 20.5 and 27.1°C. Frequently closed windows, limited land area and access had caused a lack of air circulation, with air velocity of dominantly 0 m/s in the houses. The illuminance of natural light received in three houses was insufficient – less than 120 lux as compared with the other two. This study found an uptrend of higher air temperature and relative humidity in the affected houses resulting in poorer IAQ; conversely, the higher the air velocity in the houses, the fewer the indoor air pollutants such as formaldehyde (HCHO), total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) and carbon dioxide (CO₂₎.Originality/value: This study is a pioneer in evaluating IEQ in houses occupied by COVID-19 patients in Indonesia, especially in dwelling cases in Aceh Province. It also encompasses environmental and societal challenges to sustaining resilient buildings in pandemic hit regions.

Sun orientation plays a significant role in architectural design. Concerning this, the sun-path diagram is a tool for developing more knowledge to improve the quality of building design. For achieving good and thermally comfortable building design, the sun shading device is essential to work. Therefore, this study performs an evaluation of the shading device in tropics utilising the sun-path diagram. This study evaluates the horizontal, vertical and louvre shadings on eight wind directions in Banda Aceh as a case study in tropics by adopting shadow angle protractor for superimposing the vertical (VSA) and horizontal shading angle (HSA) on the stereographic sun-path diagram to indicate the shadow and daylighting time. The result of this study proposes the suitable type of shading and the acceptable depth of horizontal shading dimensions for all of the orientations of the wind directions.

The paper aims at proposing the implication of the local wisdom value in designing a contemporary mosque. Local wisdom works successfully in determining a suitable design of vernacular buildings such as traditional mosque. It comprises the considerations on building physics such as sufficient thermal comfort, good daylighting and room acoustics which meets the standard. These parameters are also running fitly with traditional wooden structure of the mosque which is resistant against the earthquake. This article analyses two old mosques in Aceh, Indonesia which are still well standing across their ages. The wooden mosques are Indrapuri mosque in Aceh Besar and Tengku Dipucok Krueng Mosque in Pidie Jaya. The evaluation of the mosques was carried out through observations and some field measurements. This article further examines the adaptations of the local wisdom of the mosque pertaining the buildingphysics and the earthquake resistance that can be applied in the contemporary mosque.

Understanding the sun-path in designing an energy-saving building is essential. Saving energy is approached by daylight provision, which needs access for lighting the room during the day. In some latitudes, the building also needs the thermal mass to warm up the building during the cold time, requiring the sun’s heat radiation. The sun path on the regions creates various ways to design buildings. There is multiple architecture software embedding the sun-path feature. However, the software is not easily installed for free, and some other constraints become the challenges for students to learn it. Therefore, this article figures out the project-based learning in utilizing sun path in 3D models for architecture students. The methods comprise the small project designing sun path in 3D models in various latitudes supported by Andrew sun-path software. This study aims to understand the position of the sun throughout the year, which in building design is useful for saving energy in ventilation and lighting applies. The result is the students’ knowledge achievement for understanding the sun position and the site and building analysis toward the sun for obtaining the saving energy building design.