UMS Civil Engineering Students Win 3rd Place at CIVICO 2026, Bring Green Building as a Learning Medium

Students from the Civil Engineering Program at Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS) have once again earned recognition at the national level. The DED CUBE team won 3rd Place at the VISIONEER Vocational Building Design Competition (CIVICO) 2026, held at Universitas Negeri Malang on Friday (11/9/2026).

The achievement was earned through a green vocational lecture building design concept that not only focused on energy and water efficiency, but also turned the building itself into part of the students' learning process. That concept was set out in a Vocational Building Design poster, presented in the competition's final round.

The DED CUBE team consists of Afif Daffa Brillian, Khoirul Amin Rizeki, and Hanif Nasrullah. Throughout the process, the team received guidance from supervising lecturer Ir. Muchlis Abri Putra, S.T., M.M.T., IPM, ASEAN Eng., from the preparation stage through to the competition itself.

Muchlis explained that the team's main innovation grew out of the idea that a green vocational lecture building concept shouldn't be limited to saving energy and water alone. In his view, a building can also be designed as part of the students' own learning process.

"The main innovation is the idea that a green vocational lecture building can't just stop at saving energy and water, it has to become part of the learning process for the students inside it," Muchlis said on Friday (18/9/2026).

That concept was realized through the use of recycled water to support water efficiency, along with an active and passive design strategy for energy efficiency. The resulting design achieved a better Overall Thermal Transfer Value (OTTV) than the required standard. Through this approach, the building was designed not only as a space for lectures to take place, but also as a direct learning medium for students.

Muchlis said the courage to compete, creative ideas, and genuine commitment to carrying out the concept were important parts of the team's success. "The key is the courage to compete, a creative idea, and doing it wholeheartedly. Our hope is that more UMS students will be brave enough to enter various competitions and fly the UMS flag on the winners' podium," he concluded.

Khoirul Amin Rizeki said the biggest challenge during the competition was managing time and broadening their knowledge base. Beyond that, the team needed to study aspects outside the structural engineering they had learned in Civil Engineering. They deepened their understanding of architecture, including lighting mapping, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing (MEP), and building energy systems. Access to adequate equipment was also a challenge, since the design process required analysis and design mapping that had to account for efficiency, ease of realization, and long term building maintenance.

According to Khoirul, the achievement wasn't just a win, it was also an experience in designing engineering work that isn't merely beautiful on paper, but actually responds to future sustainability issues.

"This experience was very memorable, challenging, and something we're genuinely proud of. The journey, from the initial research stage, site mapping, technical simulation, drafting the Detail Engineering Design (DED) documents, through to the final presentation, tested our endurance, communication, and team solidarity," Khoirul said.

Writer: Alvian Rizki Prasetya

Editor: Maysali Sudarwati

Translator: Farizal Luqman Majid