Visualisation of Naturally Ventilated House in Tropical Hilly Area of Indonesia, Case Study: Vatutela Village, Tondo Hills, Palu

The settlement of Vatutela village’s in Tondo hills Palu has only one road access with a linear residential pattern following the topography. This situation affects the pattern of wind flowing through the settlement areas, which is undoubtedly affecting the house’s temperature and humidity profile and influencing thermal comfort of the occupants. The research was conducted to visualise the pattern of the wind flow entering the house through openings in the perspective of building’s thermal performance. The method used to visualise the air movement was the smoke decay method. The method was performed in two scaled dwelling Models representing brick-constructed houses and wood-constructed raised floor houses in Vatutela village. The smoke decay result is elaborated with the results of microclimate measurements using Hobo data loggers to analyse the thermal condition in the houses. The results showed that a design strategy is needed to achieve a thermal comfort zone in both types of houses. The design strategy can be in the form of the arrangement of openings and additional building elements, such as adding ceilings, fins, sunscreens. Additionally, the opening placement, width, and type should be reconsidered for the houses in the area according to houses’ plan and section. This study is expected to give a visual evidence of wind pattern in a naturally ventilated house with a three-layers plan.