Bamboo is the building material of the past and future. It offers numerous properties that make it versatile for various applications, including construction. Its impressive strength-to-weight ratio enables it to bear substantial loads and stresses, while its good elasticity allows efficient energy absorption. However, its mechanical properties can vary based on factors such as species, age, locations, methods, and treatment. Treating bamboo is essential to enhance its properties and durability. The literature provides various natural and chemical treatments that enhance some of the properties but also reported drawbacks regarding higher temperature, content, and duration. This paper reviewed 57 articles from the Scopus database, specifically focusing on article–document-type publications from the years 2003 to 2023. Additional references were also incorporated to address concerns in properties, treatment, and standards to provide systematic understanding. With extensive assessment of the articles, the following gaps and concerns were observed, and recommendations for further study and assessment were made: the bamboo’s properties, the development of centralized guidelines and procedures for the preparation and processing; the exploration of alternative materials to reinforce bamboo without compromising its ductility; and the development of joint connections, and testing of mechanical properties considering seismic, wind and vibration. For treatment methods, the standardization of procedures using natural, chemical, or a combination. Lastly, for bamboo codes and standards, the assessment of existing codes and standards for testing the mechanical properties of bamboo, highlighting the potential limitations and areas, uniformity, and differences with all existing similar standards. By filling these gaps, it can support the reliability and robustness of bamboo as a sustainable material, fostering its promotion and adoption in the construction industry.

Bamboo is the building material of the past and future. It offers numerous properties that make it versatile for various applications, including construction. Its impressive strength-to-weight ratio enables it to bear substantial loads and stresses, while its good elasticity allows efficient energy absorption. However, its mechanical properties can vary based on factors such as species, age, locations, methods, and treatment. Treating bamboo is essential to enhance its properties and durability. The literature provides various natural and chemical treatments which enhanced some of the properties but also reported a drawbacks on higher temperature, content and duration. This paper reviewed 57 articles from Scopus database, specifically focusing on article-document type publications from the years 2003 to 2023. Additional references were also incorporated to address concerns in properties, treatment and standards to provide systematic understanding. MATLAB was utilized for data text analytics. With extensive assessment on the articles, the following gaps and concerns were observed and recommends for further study and assessment such as for bamboo properties, the development of centralized guidelines and procedures for the preparation and processing; exploration of alternative materials to reinforce bamboo without compromising its ductility; development of joint connections, and testing of mechanical properties considering seismic, wind and vibration. For treatment methods, the standardization of procedures using natural, chemical or combination. Lastly, for bamboo codes and standards, assessment of existing codes and standards for testing the mechanical properties of bamboo highlighting the potential limitations and areas, uniformity, differences with all existing similar standards. By filling these gaps, it can support the reliability and robustness of bamboo as a sustainable material, fostering its promotion and adoption in construction industry.

Rainwater Collection System (RWCS) is a sustainable water management technology suitable for the collection and storage of rainwater from roofs and surfaces for reuse to promote sustainable water resource management. This study investigated four RWCSs to be used in public schools across the Philippines. These RWCSs are: (1) Aboveground Steel Tank (A-S), (2) Aboveground Polyethylene Tank (A-P), (3) Underground Reinforced Concrete Tank (U-C), and (4) Underground Polyethylene Tank (U-P). Life Cycle Assessment was utilized to consider the environmental performance of four RWCSs with the use of SimaPro (10.5.0.1). A cradle-to-site system boundary was adopted encompassing two life cycle stages: manufacturing and installation. The results showed that the Underground Concrete Tank system (U-C) consistently exhibited the lowest environmental impact across all impact categories, and the Aboveground Steel Tank system (A-S) demonstrated the highest impacts, primarily due to the significant use of reinforcing and structural steel for its base and foundation. In particular, the global warming potential (GWP) and human carcinogenic toxicity (HCT) of U-C are lower than those of the other RWCSs from 47.3% to 59.4% and 44.1% to 93.3%, respectively. In addition, the construction cost of U-C is 20.4% to 35.1% lower than that of the other RWCSs. Future research is recommended to expand the system boundary to include use and end-of-life stages, which may influence the comparative outcomes.