Cynthia Permata Dewi, a doctoral student in the Architecture Doctoral Program at the Department of Architecture and Planning, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), has achieved remarkable success by winning 2nd place in The Netherlands – Asia Pacific Student Short-Video Competition for Climate and Sustainable Development in Cities. This annual competition is organized by the Wubbo Ockels School for Energy and Climate, University of Groningen, Netherlands. It focuses on how cities can offer local solutions in response to climate change mitigation and adaptation issues, as well as other sustainable development goals. The competition encourages undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students to transform their research into engaging short videos that can reach a wider public audience.
Building on her research on building science and technology, Cynthia presented a video titled New Building Techniques for Climate and Sustainability: Double Skin Facade for Ventilation. Her video demonstrates how buildings can address infrastructure, industry, and innovation issues (SDG 9), as well as climate action (SDG 13), by applying one of the green building strategies—namely, the implementation of a double skin façade. A double skin façade is a building envelope system consisting of two layers separated by an air cavity. In her video, Cynthia explains that this strategy can enhance thermal performance, solar radiation control, and energy efficiency in buildings.
