More than 226 million people are affected by some type of disaster every year in various dimensions of human life, both in the short and long term. In this context, housing provision plays a leading role when it comes to basic needs and the choice of construction technologies and materials are determinant for a well-succeeded housing provision process. This work aims to analyze the viability of reinforced masonry technology with cement-stabilized compressed earth blocks as an alternative for the (re)construction process in situations that involve disaster risk reduction (DRR). To address this issue, a discussion from the literature and the main results obtained during the investigations carried out within the scope of the Simple Housing Solution (SHS) Project are presented. In the sequence, analyses are performed under United Nations Development Program/International Recovery Platform sustainability recommendations: environmental, technical, financial and socio-organizational aspects. It is concluded that the technology of Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs) reinforced structural masonry has a high potential to be successfully applied in DRR situations, especially when associated with the community construction system in a joint effort.

The present study aims at evaluating the impact of anobiid damage on pine timber elements. Anobiid attack produces a diffuse damage of the elements with a set of tunnels in random directions and sizes, thus confusing quantification. Therefore, a method was developed based on X-ray micro-computed tomography (μ-XCT) to obtain, for naturally infested timber samples, an empirical correlation between lost material percentage (consumed by beetles) and timber apparent density (original, before degradation—OTD and residual, after degradation—RTD). The quantified density loss can then be used in further assessment of the structure. The results of the tests performed showed high correlation between original apparent density and lost material percentage (r² = 0.60) and between residual apparent density and lost material percentage (r² = 0.83), which confirms μ-XCT as a valuable tool to the required quantification. The loss of density results can be further applied on the definition of an assessment method for the evaluation of the residual strength of anobiids infested timber, thus contributing to reducing unnecessary replacement. The optimized procedure of the μ-XCT study for infested Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) is presented and discussed in this article.

Despite their favorable physical and mechanical properties for structural use, tropical woods, such as Iroko (Milicia excelsa), present knowledge gaps to be filled mainly about their mechanical characterization, which currently limit their use or result in under- or overdimensioned structural elements. Visual classification, one of the most used methods for characterizing wood, is inaccurate in the case of Iroko due to the wide variety of geographical locations in which this species can be found. In addition, mechanical characterization using test pieces with structural dimensions leads to high and impractical costs. In this context, this study aims to verify the mechanical properties of Iroko (imported from the Republic of the Congo) from small size specimens, a process that is currently standardized only for softwoods, and to verify the correlation of different properties through bending properties and ultrasound tests. Prior to the bending tests, the speed of propagation of ultrasonic waves was measured using the direct method. The results obtained show a good correlation between density and bending properties and the velocity of propagation of ultrasonic waves.

Traditional carpentry joints can be found worldwide in many timber truss structures connecting rafter and tie beam. One failure mode of this connection result from shear in the tie beam beyond the notch either due to bad design or deterioration. In this article, the reduction in shear strength of Single Step Joints (SSJ) resulting from biological attack by anobiids was analysed. For this purpose, tests were carried out in non-degraded scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) specimens (reference) and compared to artificially degraded specimens with three different levels of degradation. The reduction of shear resistance was analysed in relation to the density of holes drilled during the degradation simulation, the loss of mass, and the reduction of the shear-resistant area. At lower degradation levels, no significant reduction in shear strength was observed. On the other hand, the linear regression shows a trend of resistance reduction with increasing degradation. Despite the relatively low coefficient of determination (r² = 0.25), the parameter that best correlated with the residual strength was the reduction in the shear-resistant area.

The SHS - Simple Housing Solution - methodology helps to facilitate the process of (re) construction in critical situations (post-disaster, post-conflict, refugee settlement, relocation of populations from risk areas, among others). It was conceived with the philosophy of gathering basic knowledge that can be useful in the (re) construction of housing units and basic collective equipment (such as schools, health clinics), in a joint effort (community working system), using low cost constructive technologies. The idea is to help communities that are victims of disasters and conflicts to better organize their own recovery, and provide help via the guidance and supervision of qualified technical assistants (engineers and / or architects) who can be hired by the local community, government or NGOs, for these purposes. This paper aims to present the Simple Housing Solution methodology and the main results of SHS Project, focusing on investigations related to the construction technology of partially reinforced masonry with soil-cement bricks. Currently, new research is being conducted to improve the existing model of residency for critical situations, seeking to broaden its working range. After the current phase is concluded, the next step will be the construction of a prototype house in natural scale, on a seismic platform, to study the effects of simulated seismic actions on the house. In order to achieve this task, financial support is sought from sponsors, as well as technical cooperation with LNEC - National Laboratory of Civil Engineering, in Portugal. Keywords: Disaster recovery, housing recovery, conflict recovery, refugee settlements, risk management