Civil Engineering and Architecture 8(5): 801-813, 2020 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/cea.2020.080507 An Alternative Approach in Assessing Visual Comfort Based on Students' Perceptions in Daylit Classrooms in the Tropics Irnawaty Idrus 1,* , Ramli Rahim 2 , Baharuddin Hamzah 2 , Nurul Jamala 2 1 Doctoral Student of Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Hasanuddin University, Indonesia 2 Laboratory of Building Science and Technology, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Hasanuddin University, Indonesia Received July 8, 2020; Revised August 26, 2020; Accepted September 11, 2020 Cite This Paper in the following Citation Styles (a): [1] Irnawaty Idrus, Ramli Rahim, Baharuddin Hamzah, Nurul Jamala , "An Alternative Approach in Assessing Visual Comfort Based on Students' Perceptions in Daylit Classrooms in the Tropics," Civil Engineering and Architecture, Vol. 8, No.5, pp. 801 - 813, 2020. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2020.080507. (b): Irnawaty Idrus, Ramli Rahim, Baharuddin Hamzah, Nurul Jamala (2020). An Alternative Approach in Assessing Visual Comfort Based on Students' Perceptions in Daylit Classrooms in the Tropics. Civil Engineering and Architecture, 8(5), 801 - 813. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2020.080507. Copyright©2020 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Abstract Daylight is the best lighting source for classrooms that are mostly used during the daytime. Effectiveness and productivity can be achieved if visual comfort meets the recommendations set. This study aims to develop an alternative visual comfort assessments method based on students' perceptions in the classroom with daylight. The study was carried out by collecting students' perceptions and daylight illuminance data from 25 classrooms located in seven schools in Makassar, Indonesia. A total of 737 students responded to this study. This research was conducted from morning to noon in each school. The results showed that the majority of students, as many as 57.5%, felt that the level of daylight was "Perceptible", and only 6.5% felt it was "Intolerable". The results of daylight intensity measurements of 25 classes showed that only 28% of classes meet the minimum standard of the Indonesian National Standard (SNI), and as many as 82% of classes do not meet the standard. Using a new method based on student perception, it was concluded that as many as 28% of classes were categorized as "Acceptable", as many as 48% of classes were categorized as "Preferred," and around 24% were not included in either category. This shows that there are classes that are not in accordance with recommendations, but are still acceptable according to students' perceptions. This new assessment method can be an alternative addition for designers to assess the comfort of a room with daylight by users' preferences. Keywords Visual Comfort, Daylight, Classroom, Students' Perceptions 1. Introduction Many previous studies have explained that natural lighting is the best source of light for buildings because it has many benefits. Natural light helps create a healthy, comfortable, and productive environment [1, 2]. In addition, the use of significant natural light in buildings has the potential to save 15-19% of electricity cost for lighting [3, 4]. Architecturally, natural light is also useful for creating dramatic design elements that provide a deep visual experience [5]. However, natural lighting can only be used optimally if there is enough sunlight in the area [5]. According to Baharuddin and Ishak, Makassar city has great potential for utilizing sunlight [6]. A Research by Rahim et al. showed that, in June 2010, the value of global illuminance measured in Makassar reached 142 kilolux [7, 8]. This could be due to its location in a tropical area. This global