VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Air circulation in a building is an important aspect that must be considered when trying to design a building. Three students of the Department of Civil Infrastructure Engineering created an eco-friendly building designed with a concept of a termite nest that is able to provide better air circulation. According to one member of the team, Muhammad Yusril Bastian, currently, Indonesia has many environmental problems. Therefore, eco-friendly building exists to overcome these problems.

Yusril revealed that this eco-friendly building adopts the concept of a termite nest. This concept can circulate air from outside. In addition, this concept can also reduce the temperature of heat in the room. This concept was chosen so that the building feels cool without using an air conditioner. He also explained that the temperature from outside was reduced first. Afterwards, the air is channeled into the rooms in it, so the building will feel cooler. Termite nest building can reduce temperatures to ten degrees Celsius.

In terms of building materials, Yusril said that there were no specific criteria needed in the construction of this building. The building material chosen is almost the same as conventional buildings in general. He also mentioned several advantages, including being able to save electricity by 93 percent in comparison with the use of Air Conditioners (AC) and 21 percent compared to the use of fans. As for water usage, this building is able to save water usage by 100 percent compared to conventional homes. Thanks to these advantages, Yusril and his two friends won second place in the scientific writing competition at the Udayana University in Bali last February.