This paper aims to examine the potential of natural coco fibre to be utilized as a wall covering in building construction for sun radiation protection. Engineering innovation in building construction to control the building’s temperature is important. Lowering the building’s room temperature can be carried out by modifying the wall construction materials. Thus, the usage of an air conditioner which is not environmentally friendly can be reduced. The wall modification can give more protection and dampen the sun’s heat, hence the thermal comfort can be obtained. Natural materials, moreover, can be used in the wall modification to reduce the room temperature. In this study, a comparative analysis was carried out between two materials: (1) the coco fibre coated with cement mixture; (2) the mixture of cement and sand, both were used as materials to plaster the wall. The cement mixture acted to bind the compacted coco fibre sheets. The material was evaluated after the cement mixture had been hardened. The test was carried out by providing heat on one side and measuring the temperature on the other side of the material. The results were significant between the two materials. This indicates the potential of coco fibre as a heat insulation in the wall construction materials that can minimize solar thermal radiation into the room.

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This paper was purposed to determine the ability of coco fibers in reducing heat as a wall covering solution with different temperature levels. For the fulfillment of thermal comfort in buildings requires engineering, knowledge and skills and innovation. One way to reduce hot air in the room can be done through walls, thereby reducing the use of air conditioning. The walls need protection and solar heat absorbers that can make the room inside the building have thermal comfort. Based on this, research needs to be done on natural ingredients that can function to reduce heat. Tests carried out on coconut fiber and fiber-free materials. Material without fiber and coco fiber is 2 cm thickness of each. This coco fiber material is coated with a mixture of cement that also functions as a fiber adhesive. In this case, testing is conducted by applying heat of 60° Celsius and 40° Celsius to one side of the fiber and measuring the temperature that occurs on the other side of the fiber. The test results found that there was a significant difference between the heat temperature supplied and the heat temperature measured on coco fiber. The higher the temperature is received, the greater the heat that can be absorbed. This shows that coco fiber material has the ability to reduce heat at high enough heat as a wall covering against solar radiation.