This review discusses the thermal performance of traditional buildings in Indonesia. It is intended to see the impact of the traditional architectural design and its thermal comfort in the warm humid climate of Indonesia. The literature review was taken from 16 articles which cover Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and the Nusa Tenggara region. The articles were classified into tropical climates (Af), monsoon tropics (Am) and savanna (Af) groups to identify which architectural elements in traditional buildings contributes to thermal comfort. Based on simulation and measurement in the field, it is found that the roof contributes to changes in temperature in the building.

Nusa Nipa University is one of a number of universities in Maumere City, Sikka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara. Based on the Koppen climate classification, the City of Maumere is included in the savanna. The savanna climate is different from the tropical rain climate in terms of temperature, air humidity and wind speed. The high temperature in this city influences the perception of thermal comfort. Thermal comfort is a necessity for people performing activities in both outside and inside of building, one of those are students at Nusa Nipa University. This research was conducted by distributing questionnaire to 50 students occupying in 2 (two) different spots in the outdoor space. The result showed that 58% students felt comfortable in the grassy area with shade compared to other off-campus areas. This perception of comfort is influenced by comfort factors namely hardscape or softscape that exist in the outdoor space of the Nusa Nipa University.

The research was conducted to examine the location of the openings in several churches in Indonesia against the views of the residents who were in them. The location is determined based on the koppen climate classification for tropical regions in Indonesia which is divided into tropical rain forests, tropical monsoons, and savanna. The study was conducted by comparing previous studies on churches in Indonesia. The results from the three tropical regions concluded that occupant distance, dimensions, and conditions of openings (open/closed) were able to influence the perception of comfort felt in the building.

This research examined thermal comfort in  church buildings in Indonesia by making a comparison between three different Indonesian climatic regions using three different research models. A static model, an adaptation study model and a CFD simulation were used to find the similarities and differences between the results generated from determining thermal comfort in church buildings in the three regions. The comparison revealed that church buildings had different PMV scores at each measuring point that were inversely proportional to the subjects’ response on thermal comfort inside the buildings, i.e. points adjoining with openings affect a low PMV score and a high perceived thermal sensation, and vice versa. The CFD simulation showed that changing the conditions of the openings affects air velocity and flow into the building, which influences the subjects’ thermal comfort response inside the churches.