There are limited published studies related to the mechanical properties of bamboo species in the Philippines. In this study, the shear strength properties of some economically viable bamboo species in the Philippines were properly characterized based on 220 shear test results. The rationales of selecting this mechanical property are the following: (1) Shear strength, parallel to the fiber, has the highest variability among the mechanical properties; and (2) Shear is one of the governing forces on joint connections, and such connections are the points of failure on bamboo structures when subjected to extreme loading conditions. ISO 22157-1 (2017) test protocol for shear was used for all tests. The results showed that Bambusa blumeana has the highest average shear strength, followed by Gigantochloa apus, Dendrocalamus asper, Bambusa philippinensis, and Bambusa vulgaris. However, comparative analysis, using One-way ANOVA, showed that shear strength values among these bamboo species have significant differences statistically. A linear regression model is also established to estimate the shear strength of bamboo from the physical properties. Characteristic shear strength is also determined using ISO 12122-1 (2014) for future design reference.

Cement manufacture contributes about 5–7% of the global carbon dioxide emission. The fastest short-term remedy is to replace parts of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in concrete with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) to reduce CO₂ emissions. Calcined clay and limestone filler have proven to be potential substitutes to good quality SCMs such as fly ash and slag because of their abundance, low cost, and potential reactivity to calcium hydroxide to form calcium silicate hydrates (C-S-H) which are responsible for the strength and other mechanical properties of concrete. A life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impact of mortar with calcined clay and limestone filler in reinforced concrete (RC) column retrofitting is carried out using data from a multi-purpose complex project in Rizal province in the Philippines. A total of four retrofitting methods are evaluated based on two retrofitting techniques (RC column jacketing and steel jacketing) with two material alternatives (pure OPC-based mortar and mortar with partial replacements). Results show that RC column jacketing using patched mortar with partial replacement of calcined clay and limestone fillers is the least environmentally damaging retrofit option. The use of these SCMs resulted in a 4–7% decrease in global warming potential and a 2–4% decrease in fine particulate matter formation. Meanwhile, RC column jacketing decreased the effect on human carcinogenic toxicity by 75% compared to steel jacketing.

Bamboo textile fiber (BTF) is a renewable alternative to synthetic textiles in textile-reinforced mortar (TRM), but the effects of yarn architecture and coating on its tensile and bond behavior are not well established. This study tested four BTF-reinforced TRM configurations with a 15 × 15 mm grid: textiles woven from single-ply (SP) and two-ply (DP) yarns, each in dry and epoxy-coated (SPI, DPI) conditions. Twenty direct tensile coupons and twenty textile–mortar bond specimens bonded to concrete substrates were tested under displacement control. The effects of ply configuration, coating and their interaction were evaluated by two-way ANOVA, and the coated yarn surface was examined by scanning electron microscopy. Epoxy coating significantly increased peak strain and toughness (p < 0.001) and peak tensile stress (p = 0.008), with the largest effect for the two-ply textile, for which toughness increased from 0.09 to 0.54 MJ/m³ and peak tensile stress from 16.11 to 28.36 MPa. Ply configuration (p < 0.001) and coating (p = 0.018) both significantly increased the peak textile-normalized bond stress, from 3.52 MPa (SP) to 9.65 MPa (DPI), with no significant interaction; all bond specimens failed by textile rupture, so these values are lower bounds. DPI gave the highest peak strain, toughness and peak bond stress, supporting its selection for structural-level validation.