http://www.hrpub.org Civil Engineering and Architecture 9(1): 52-73, 2021 DOI: 10.13189/cea.2021.090105 The Empirical Analysis Model on Identifying Sick Building Syndrome in Hot Humid Tropical Buildings Nurrahmi Kartikawati 1 , Erni Setyowati 2,* , Djoko Indrosaptono 2 1 Doctoral Program of Architecture and Urbanism, Engineering Faculty of Diponegoro University, Semarang, 50275, Indonesia 2 Department of Architecture, Engineering Faculty of Diponegoro University, Semarang, 50275, Indonesia Received November 9, 2020; Revised December 22, 2020; Accepted January 20, 2021 Cite This Paper in the following Citation Styles (a): [1] Nurrahmi Kartikawati, Erni Setyowati, Djoko Indrosaptono , "The Empirical Analysis Model on Identifying Sick Building Syndrome in Hot Humid Tropical Buildings," Civil Engineering and Architecture, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 52 - 73, 2021. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2021.090105. (b): Nurrahmi Kartikawati, Erni Setyowati, Djoko Indrosaptono (2021). The Empirical Analysis Model on Identifying Sick Building Syndrome in Hot Humid Tropical Buildings. Civil Engineering and Architecture, 9(1), 52 - 73. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2021.090105. Copyright©2021 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 A tropical hot humid climate provides high humidity that influences the occupant’s comfort. This study highlights a comparison of physical measurements and perceptions related to thermal comfort, indoor air quality, and sick building syndrome (SBS) in tropical humid climate buildings. The research method used ASHRAE 2017 and analysis using SPSS 24 by two analytical models, i.e., Model 1 and Model 2. The Model 1 included measurement data of independent variables T, RH, V, and CO₂, and SBS dependent variable, while the Model 2 used perception data of independent variables T, RH, V, and QA, and SBS dependent variable. The study found the conditions were unsuitable with ASHRAE 2017, however, the new SBS index model for the hot-humid tropic has been established. The average temperature was 29.4-31.3ᵒC, the perception of 'neutral' was responded by 50.6% of all respondents, 36.7% stated 'warm' and 7.6% stated 'hot'. The average relative humidity was between 77-82.4%, but about 50.6% of respondents declared 'neutral', only 8.9% declared ‘slightly damp’, and 2.5% stated ‘damp’. The test results showed Model 2 performed the cyclical effect on SBS, in contrast, Model 1 had no significant effect on SBS because of the varied adaptation of occupants. Keywords Hot Humid Tropical Buildings, Thermal Comfort, Indoor Air Quality, Sick Building Syndrome 1. Introduction One of the remarkable things in occupancy is the indoor comfort aspect and the occupant’s health. The comfort and health of the residents are inseparable from thermal conditions and indoor air quality. Thermal comfort condition is determined by climatic aspects, such as in Indonesia, which has a hot humid tropical climate. As the main character of the humid tropical climate is high rainfall, high humidity, and warm to hot temperatures becomes the influential factors for indoor thermal comfort. Building with high moisture and warm temperatures can be a habitat for fungus and other microorganisms that can interfere with occupant’s health [1]. On the other side, air pollutants coming from inside and outside the building affect the air quality in the building. Air quality degradation brings a notable impact on human health. Approximately 4-5 million people passed away due to air pollutions in 2017 [2]. In contrast, a good air quality takes part in effective healing for some patients that are too sensitive to air pollutants [3]. Particulate matter PM 2.5 is considered as the most remarkable factor to influence the air quality index for more than 90% [4]. The particle of PM 2.5 is associated with vehicle and traffic emission [4]. Due to the vast effect of air quality, providing a pure air policy and implementation plan is necessary, especially for areas with high air pollution [5]. During this pandemic, the environmental hygiene aspects of both outdoor and indoor become important. The