There is now anawarenessthat after typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) hit central Philippines last 8 November 2013, infrastructure broke down, and not just roads and bridges, but also communication channels, power, water, transportation. Economic structures where subsistence co-exists with poverty also broke down, and there is now the immediate challenge for people to build livable structures as their housing. Structuring a whole response of sustainable cities and villages as a reality, beyond an architectural print-out, is the challenge the country faces.Twenty days after, there are more than 5,500 dead, around 1,700 missing and 26,000injured, approximately 11 million persons affected in around 12,000 barangays, 44 provinces, 580 municipalities, and 57 cities, around 3.5 million people displaced (with 3.3 million served outside evacuation centers, and 226,000 outside), 1.15 million houses damaged, PhP 13.2 billion (US$ 301 million) worth of damaged infrastructure, and PhP 11.4 billion (US$ 260 million) worth of damaged agriculture. Power, water, and communications are partially restored, the airport and seaport are functioningminimally. (Source: NDRRMC Update, SitRep No 45 Effects ofTyphoonYolanda (Haiyan), 27 November 2013, 6:00 pm)The CentralBankof thePhilippinesandglobal investment banksare unanimous in saying that while there is an expected negative impact of the typhoon on the Philippine economy for the fourth quarter, the overall impact on the economys growth is manageable. But manageable is an inappropriate word for what the typhoon also laid bare and can be viewed as the greater disasters, and for which our country must better prepare and better respond.Now that President Aquino has called for acomprehensive planto rehabilitate and re-build typhoon-damaged areas, it is imperative that this plan is not approached in a business-as-usual mode and that this is not just about building back, but building better. Key elements identified by the task force are shelter and reconstruction, power restoration, livelihood and employment, resettlement and psycho-social care, environmental protection, and resource generation and allocation.There were a fewlocal governmentsthat managed the pre-disaster evacuation with greater effectiveness, and so the disaster was greatly reduced for their area. This is alearning pointand is a useful reference in the re-structuring of local government capacity.A coherent list of capacities that local governments must have for preparedness, response,rehabilitationand recovery, and prevention and mitigation needs to be drawn up, and is whererelief moneycan be better utilized, along with their regular funds from the national treasury, the Internal Revenue Allocation. One simple capacity for example is forwater purification. A liter of drinking water can be disinfected by putting four drops of iodine, such as Povidone-Iodine/10% (Betadine), and leave standing for an hour. There was such a lack of water for days, its as if this simple approach was forgotten.Going through the wave of debris left on the shore, what was significant was the matchstick housing material made up primarily of 2x2inch (5x5cm) wood, round wood and pieces of plywood that are now being re-used in family shelter reconstruction. What was most obvious in the debris was the absence of 4x4in (10x10cm) or 6x6in (15x15cm) wood that would givestructureto a habitation. Foundations, the structure of the buildings, particularly the spacing of purlins in the roof, need to be reviewed for low cost housing. If the government says there is no housing along the shoreline ever again, there has to be land allocation somewhere that allows the fishing community to operate. Obviously, the cost of land allocation cannot be borne by people of subsistence livelihood, and strategies must be designed and a process developed that will respond to this situation.The Department of Education is set to release its guidelines on the use of schools as evacuation centers as there are concerns on class disruption and part of therecoveryof a community is that children can get back to school the soonest possible. The school buildings generally remain occupied long after adisasterevent, and the schools also need to be rehabilitated. Schools with a second floor, not on the shoreline of Tacloban, but in other municipalities, were safe and effective structures as would any building that followed the design of the Iglesia ni Kristo churches.Sifting through the debris and reviewing the bits of structure that survived tell us a lot about how we cannot just simply re-build, but strategize so that one is not pushed to ground zero all the time.There is at present much attention and national focus on the rebuilding of Tacloban City and Ormoc City, but we must not forget that it is not only these cities that suffered. The network of rural municipalities clearly lag behind partly because it does not have a central political voice, partly because it does not have a significant middle class, and also because in being rural, it is viewed being able to look after itself, i.e. subsist.That however has been the flaw of the last century up till now, as people have lived by subsistence in the coasts and uplands of marginal provinces such as Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, among others. This is an economic and social disaster lived out environmentally by subsistence farming and fishing, now trashed by a storm surge, and laid low by the winds. How can a vibrant network be structured in rural Philippine society that uplifts people and provides an alternative and more secure livelihood and lifestyle?We are now entering a dual phase in the post-disaster situation, shifting the focus from immediate relief, as the immediacy of relief is being met though still inadequate, to an interim period of response where shelters and services are built. We are also building towards an initial phase of livelihood in three months with basic vegetable production and it will be a two-year, five-year phase for those engaged in coconut farming. Fishing communities need boats, but all need a greater economic participation.Livelihood is largely a rural concept that defines how things are held together within a family management structure as against a professional who will not refer to his or her work as a livelihood. Livelihood has much more social and environmental integrity. Unfortunately, many of the urban poor scrape together a livelihood because they are below the radar of the urban structured economy. These are the informal settlers who actually keep the economy in many respects afloat because of substandard labor practices, local markets, street vendors, dumpsites, junk dealers, and other informal sources of cash.There is also a growing sense of global participation in understanding how to design cities and villages and not just responding to disaster and with the best that the global community can offer. The Philippines can respond to a new vision which is not an idealism, but a realism of thesustainablecities and villages that we need.The UAP Emergency Architects would like to call on Filipino Architects to help us come up with a design for a two-classroom (9x7 module) type one-storey schoolbuilding which could withstand typhoons (Typhoon Yolanda as reference). Roof design must consider shape and pitch that could resist strong winds. Other strategies for roof design should also be considered (eaves, separate canopies, anchoring, roof framing, etc.). Window storm shutters should also be provided. The schoolbuilding shall serve also as an evacuation center and must have ready spaces for relief storage, toilets and other emergency requirements.

Pls. submit your design proposals using the format below. We would to request to send it ASAP by emailing it to uapcommunication@yahoo.com or uapnational@yahoo.com. We will keep the proprietary rights to the designer.

Our multinational company donor is looking for a design that doesnt look the usual schoolbuilding design but will not look like a bomb shelter either. Cost per classroom unit shall not exceed P1M. They want to start building as soon as possible.

-Ferrocement Construction TechnologyHabitat to build more than 800homesat first resettlement site in TaclobanBangkok, 16 January 2014: Global non-profitshelterorganization Habitat for Humanity today signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with thePhilippine governments National Housing Authority and the City of Tacloban for a rebuilding project following Typhoon Haiyan. At this project site Habitat will build 852 houses for families that lost their homes to thenatural disasterthat struck the Visayas region of the Philippines two months ago.The latest Philippine government figures show that more than 1.1 million homes were either damaged or destroyed by thetyphoon.Signing this agreement in Tacloban is a major step in Habitat for Humanitys long-termrebuildingefforts following Haiyan. Safe, decent shelter provides the platform on which much of post-disaster assistanceis built health, water, sanitation, livelihoods, safety, education and is one of the most pressing issues currently facing Haiyan-affected families, said Rick Hathaway, Habitat for Humanity Asia-Pacific Vice President.Over the coming weeks and months, Habitat will continue its disaster response efforts and aims to distribute up to 30,000 shelter repairkitsand build 30,000 homes, depending on availability of funding.The 852 homes will be built at a 10-hectare resettlement site in the barangay (municipal ward) of Kawayan, provided by the City of Tacloban.We are grateful for the generousdonationsalready received. There is still a lot more to be done in order to build back a stronger Visayas. Habitat is committed to supporting affected families long-term and, together with your help, we will rebuild lives.We continue to work closely with the Philippine government and other partners to assist those affected in a coordinated approach, continued Hathaway.Habitat started distributingemergency shelterkits just days after Haiyan struck, shifting to shelter repair kits as needs changed. To date, Habitat has supported more than 10,000 families with emergency shelter and shelter repair kits, and will continue shelter repair kit distributions as rebuilding projects get underway.Since 1988, Habitat for Humanity Philippines has played an active role in working with families to builddecent homes. Through a network of project offices in rural and urban areas, Habitat for Humanity Philippines has built and repaired tens of thousands of houses.

Advanced Earthquake Resistant Design TechniquesIntroductionThe conventional approach to earthquake resistant design of buildings depends upon providing the building with strength, stiffness and inelastic deformation capacity which are great enough to withstand a given level of earthquakegenerated force. This is generally accomplished through the selection of an appropriate structural configuration and the careful detailing of structural members, such as beams and columns, and the connections between them.

(fig. 1)In contrast, we can say that the basic approach underlying more advanced techniques for earthquake resistance is not to strengthen the building, but to reduce the earthquakegenerated forces acting upon it. Among the most important advanced techniques of earthquake resistant design and construction are base isolation and energy dissipation devices.Base IsolationIt is easiest to see this principle at work by referring directly to the most widely used of these advanced techniques, which is known as base isolation. A base isolated structure is supported by a series of bearing pads which are placed between the building and the building's foundation.(See Figure 1) A variety of different types of base isolation bearing pads have now been developed. For our example, we'll discuss leadrubber bearings. These are among the frequentlyused types of base isolation bearings. (See Figure 2) A leadrubber bearing is made from layers of rubber sandwiched together with layers of steel. In the middle of the bearing is a solid lead "plug." On top and bottom, the bearing is fitted with steel plates which are used to attach the bearing to the building and foundation. The bearing is very stiff and strong in the vertical direction, but flexible in the horizontal direction.Earthquake Generated Forces

(fig. 2)To get a basic idea of how base isolation works, first examine Figure 3. This shows an earthquake acting on both a base isolated building and a conventional, fixedbase, building. As a result of an earthquake, the ground beneath each building begins to move. In Figure 3, it is shown moving to the left.Each building responds with movement which tends toward the right. We say that the building undergoes displacement towards the right. The building's displacement in the direction opposite the ground motion is actually due to inertia. The inertial forces acting on a building are the most important of all those generated during an earthquake.It is important to know that the inertial forces which the building undergoes are proportional to the building's acceleration during ground motion. It is also important to realize that buildings don't actually shift in only one direction.Because of the complex nature of earthquake ground motion, the building actually tends to vibrate back and forth in varying directions. So, Figure 3 is really a kind of "snapshot" of the building at only one particular point of its earthquake response.

(fig. 3)In addition to displacing toward the right, the unisolated building is also shown to be changing its shape from a rectangle to a parallelogram. We say that the building is deforming. The primary cause of earthquake damage to buildings is the deformation which the building undergoes as a result of the inertial forces acting upon it.The different types of damage which buildings can suffer are quite varied and depend upon a large number of complicated factors. But to take one simple example, one can easily imagine what happens to two pieces of wood joined at a right angle by a few nails, when the very heavy building containing them suddenly starts to move very quickly the nails pull out and the connection fails.Response of Base Isolated BuildingBy contrast, even though it too is displacing, the baseisolated building retains its original, rectangular shape. It is the leadrubber bearings supporting the building that are deformed. The baseisolated building itself escapes the deformation and damagewhich implies that the inertial forces acting on the baseisolated building have been reduced.Experiments and observations of baseisolated buildings in earthquakes have been shown to reduce building accelerations to as little as 1/4 of the acceleration of comparable fixedbase buildings, which each building undergoes as a percentage of gravity. As we noted above, inertial forces increase, and decrease, proportionally as acceleration increases or decreases.Acceleration is decreased because the base isolation system lengthens a building's period of vibration, the time it takes for the building to rock back and forth and then back again. And in general, structures with longer periods of vibration tend to reduce acceleration, while those with shorter periods tend to increase or amplify acceleration.Finally, since they are highly elastic, the rubber isolation bearings don't suffer any damage. But what about that lead plug in the middle of our example bearing? It experiences the same deformation as the rubber. However, it also generates heat as it does so.In other words, the lead plug reduces, or dissipates, the energy of motioni.e., kinetic energyby converting that energy into heat. And by reducing the energy entering the building, it helps to slow and eventually stop the building's vibrations sooner than would otherwise be the case in other words, it damps the building's vibrations. (Damping is the fundamental property of all vibrating bodies which tends to absorb the body's energy of motion, and thus reduce the amplitude of vibrations until the body's motion eventually ceases.)Spherical Sliding Isolation SystemsAs we said earlier, leadrubber bearings are just one of a number of different types of base isolation bearings which have now been developed. Spherical Sliding Isolation Systems are another type of base isolation. The building is supported by bearing pads that have a curved surface and low friction.

(fig. 4)During an earthquake, the building is free to slide on the bearings. Since the bearings have a curved surface, the building slides both horizontally and vertically (See Figure 4.) The force needed to move the building upwards limits the horizontal or lateral forces which would otherwise cause building deformations. Also, by adjusting the radius of the bearing's curved surface, this property can be used to design bearings that also lengthen the building's period of vibration.For more information read this article titledProtective Systems for Buildings: Application of Spherical Sliding Isolation Systemsas it describes one particular type of spherical sliding isolation system, and its successful use in making some structures more earthquake resistant.Energy Dissipation DevicesThe second of the major new techniques for improving the earthquake resistance of buildings also relies upon damping and energy dissipation, but it greatly extends the damping and energy dissipation provided by leadrubber bearings.As we've said, a certain amount of vibration energy is transferred to the building by earthquake ground motion. Buildings themselves do possess an inherent ability to dissipate, or damp, this energy. However, the capacity of buildings to dissipate energy before they begin to suffer deformation and damage is quite limited.The building will dissipate energy either by undergoing large scale movement or sustaining increased internal strains in elements such as the building's columns and beams. Both of these eventually result in varying degrees of damage. So, by equipping a building with additional devices which have high damping capacity, we can greatly decrease the seismic energy entering the building, and thus decrease building damage.Accordingly, a wide range of energy dissipation devices have been developed and are now being installed in real buildings. Energy dissipation devices are also often called damping devices. The large number of damping devices that have been developed can be grouped into three broad categories: Friction Dampers these utilize frictional forces to dissipate energy Metallic Dampers utilize the deformation of metal elements within the damper Viscoelastic Dampers utilize the controlled shearing of solids Viscous Dampers utilized the forced movement (orificing) of fluids within the damperFluid Viscous DampersOnce again, to try to illustrate some of the general principles of damping devices, we'll look more closely at one particular type of damping device, the Fluid Viscous Damper, which is one variety of viscous damper that has been widely utilized and has proven to be very effective in a wide range of applications.The article, titledApplication of Fluid Viscous Dampers to Earthquake Resistant Design, describes the basic characteristics of fluid viscous dampers, the process of developing and testing them, and the installation of fluid viscous dampers in an actual building to make it more earthquake resistant.Damping Devices and Bracing Systems

(fig. 5)Damping devices are usually installed as part of bracing systems. Figure 5 shows one type of damperbrace arrangement, with one end attached to a column and one end attached to a floor beam. Primarily, this arrangement provides the column with additional support.Most earthquake ground motion is in a horizontal direction; so, it is a building's columns which normally undergo the most displacement relative to the motion of the ground. Figure 5 also shows the damping device installed as part of the bracing system and gives some idea of its action.Resource ConnectedTeachingoffers a unique real-life scenario in earthquake engineering design, affording students the opportunity to increase their understanding while motivating them to learn more and to explore the fascinating world of STEM.

Basics of Earthquake Resistant Design

Lateral Load Resisting SystemsWhen designing a building that will be capable of withstanding an earthquake, engineers can choose various structural components, the earthquake resistance of which is now well-understood, and then combine them into what is known as a complete lateral load resisting system. These structural components usually include:shear wallsbraced framesmoment resisting framesdiaphragmshorizontal trussesOf course, a building always possesses floors and a roof. But the earthquake resistant characteristics of these basic elements is highly variable. Not only that, the building's horizontal elements can be supported by a wide variety of wall and frame types or wall-frame combinations, the choice of which is usually dictated by considerations other than earthquake resistance. For instance, some buildings such as a warehouse or a parking garage must have a large open floor space--which means that roof and floors of such structures will not be provided with as much vertical support from beneath as they might be otherwise.

The engineer-designer in charge of making a building earthquake resistant must therefore choose a combination of structural elements which will most favorably balance the demands of earthquake resistance, building cost, building use, and architectural design.

Diaphragms(fig. 1)Diaphragms are horizontal resistance elements, generally floors and roofs, that transfer the lateral forces between the vertical resistance elements (shear walls or frames). Basically, a diaphragm acts as a horizontal I-beam. That is, the diaphragm itself acts as the web of the beam and its edges act as flanges. (See figure 1)

Shear WallsShear walls are vertical walls that are designed to receive lateral forces from diaphragms and transmit them to the ground. The forces in these walls are predominantly shear forces in which the fibers within the wall try to slide past one another.

(fig. 2)When you build a house of cards, you design a shear wall structure, and you soon learn that sufficient card "walls" must be placed at right angles to one another or the house will collapse. If you were to connect your walls together with tape, it is easy to see that the strength of this house of cards would significantly increase. This illustrates a very important point, in which the earthquake resistance of any building is highly dependent upon the connections joining the building's larger structural members, such as walls, beams, columns and floor-slabs.

Shear walls, in particular, must be strong in themselves and also strongly connected to each other and to the horizontal diaphragms. In a simple building with shear walls at each end, ground motion enters the building and creates inertial forces that move the floor diaphragms. This movement is resisted by the shear walls and the forces are transmitted back down to the foundation.

AFilipino-Italian company advocatinggreen architecturehas proposed theconstruction of housesand buildings that can quickly adapt and withstand typhoons, floods and other calamities due to climate change.

Italianarchitect Romolo V. Nati,Executive Chairmanand CEO of ITALPINAS Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corporation (ITPI), has put forward his Philippine coral-inspired designs to encourage Filipinos to build typhoon and flood-resistant shelters in the aftermath of destructive Tropical Storm Maring.

ITPIs coral design bagged the Special Energy Award, besting 200 entries from 50 countries in the Design Against the Elements (DAtE)global competitionin 2011. The competition was supported and co-sponsored by theNational Geographic Society, the Climate Change Commission, and United Architects of the Philippines.

Ourrole modelis nature and its ability tosolve problemsand adapt to changes, Nati said of his design that is based on the Voronoi Diagram, a mathematical way of dividing space into regions or cells, a characteristic present in the structures of corals.

Heres how Nati described his design: Individual structures that comprise the development of the structure resemble different shaped coral cells, which fit together harmoniously, creating a concise but variedliving environment. This makes the development open, but not vulnerable to the natural flow of the elements.

We chose corals for their self-organizing livingsystem, which is highly capable of reacting and smoothly adapting to changes and external influences.

Their ring-like shape, for example, allows for structural performances in relation to stresses caused by typhoons or earthquakes. They grow incoloniesbut in identical individual (structures), taking advantage of the natural conditions of where they are located, he added.

Atty. Jose D. Leviste III, President of ITPI and Natis partner, stressed the need for Philippine shelters to adapt to the storms and floods that has become part of the daily lives of Filipinos.

We need to anticipateextreme weatherconditions, as if they were not isolated cases, but the norm. In order to do so, we must approach developments under a different scale of values and principles, which will be reflected in our design andreal estate developments, Leviste said.

Leviste also emphasized that location is key, it is not enough to buildgreat things we must always remember the dialogue between the building itself and its particular location.

According to Leviste, ITPI has already proven its capacity to design and build climatechange-adaptable structures after its pioneerdevelopment projectPrimavera Residences, a mixed-use green building comprising of two towers with 10 storeys each, withstood the deadly effect of Tropical Storm Sendong that flattened a great part of Cagayan de Oro in December 2012.

Calling his architectural proposal the Coral City, Nati said the project features an integration of renewable energy production and architecture.

The sun is the basis of all life on earth; its only natural to use its energy. To do this, we integrate PV panels in ourarchitecture, turning them into features that beautify our buildings. We use them the same way we use cement and bricks they are the parte integrante (essential part) of our architecture, he said.

Nati, who took architecture and graduated summa cum laude at La Sapienza University in Rome, has worked for numerous architectural and engineering firms in Italy and in the United States. Hes a multi-awarded architect, receiving numerous awards from international green architecture design competitions in Italy and other parts of the world.

Set up in 2009, ITPI has partnerships with ICCP (Investment & Capital Corporation of thePhilippines), LBP (Land Bank of the Philippines), BPI (Bank of the Philippines Islands), Habitat for Humanity Philippines, CARA Welfare Philippines (Compassion And Responsibility for Animals), PGBC (Philippines Green Building Council).

MANILA, Philippines More than 360,000 houses in Eastern Visayas were totally destroyed by Super Typhoon Yolanda, highlighting the importance of typhoon-resistant architecture.On Wednesday, November 20, prominent Filipino architects announced that their organization is surveying the affected areas tocome up with appropriate designs for new homes. They are doing the designs for free, in coordination with the National Housing Authority and the Department of Public Works and Highways.They also discussed features of a typhoon-ready house. Here are their recommendations:

1. Highly replicableWilly Coscolluela, the architect behind the acclaimed Zuellig Building in Makati and SM Aura in Taguig, takes inspiration from a housing project in Guam which survived a storm and convinced stubborn locals to move in."It was very simple in design and very easy to do. In two weeks' time, you can already have 6 units."Topy Vasquez, who has designed more than 100 buildings in the Visayas, shared his ideas for cubic permanent shelters.Similar to giant concrete cylinders often found abandoned under bridges, they are hollow concrete cubes which can stand alone as single-room homes or be combined together to form bigger living spaces."It's just like Lego. It can be a two-story structure. It can be a one-story house. Filipinos can use their creativity to customize it whichever way suits their needs."2. Uses durable materialsThe days of patched-up metal sheets and crudely-stacked hollow cement blocks are over as far as the architects are concerned."You should use materials that can withstand the water and the wind. Concrete is the most logical for permanence and for strength," Coscolluela said.Concete is also highly abundant in the Philippines, a country with lots of sand and volcanic ashingredients for the building material.3. 4-side slope roofs"Quatro aguas" is a Spanish architectural term meaning a roof with 4 sides instead of just the two-sided A-frame design.QUATRO AGUAS. Four-sides roofs or hip roofs are less likely to get lifted off by strong winds. Image from Wikimedia CommonsA 4-sided roof is more typhoon-resistant because it gives wind less traction to pry the roof away, a horrific phenomenon witnessed by people living in houses with two-sided roofs during the storm. A 4-sided roof is more streamlined and sealed against buffeting winds.Eaves should no longer be a feature of typhoon-resistant homes. Eaves, which are the edges of a roof which jut out beyond the walls of the house, only give the wind more surface with which it can lift the entire roof.Slab roofs made of concrete can also be effective. Homes with roofdecks survived the storm.4. StiltsThe riverside-dwelling Badjaos built their houses on stilts because of the possibility of flooding, Royal Pineda of Budji+Royal architecture firm said. This can serve as a basis for flood-resistant andstorm surge-resistant homes.They can be built on legs. Even if the elevation is not that high, the force of rushing water will be lessened when it is allowed to go under the house and not just around it.5. Tempered glass with protective stickerVideos of Yolanda winds smashing windows are enough to make anyone shudder at the thought of being near those windows during the storm. The flying jagged metal pieces can no doubt cause serious injury to anyone in the vicinity.But tempered glass will not have the same fatal effect, assured Coscolluela. When glass is tempered, it falls in tiny pieces like "monggo seeds," pieces too small to cause serious injury.But combine the tiny glass bits with 300-kilometer-per-hour winds and you're talking of another matter entirely. That's why Pineda recommends adding a protective film or sticker over tempered glass. This would keep the glass in place even when shattered by high-velocity winds.The best case scenario would be tempered glass that is also laminated but this can be pricey.6. Storm shuttersIf you can't stop glass windows from breaking, why not protect them from the storm as well? Pineda recommends installing storm shutters over windows and doors, thus effectively sealing the house from winds and rain.7. Safe, elevated locationLocation is everything in typhoon-ready architecture. Coastal communities should be moved further away from the shoreline to lessen the risk of storm surges (flooding due to abnormal sea level rise). The vacated shoreline can then be converted into a public park, a place of leisure that won't be a big loss in case of a storm surge.Before Yolanda, two schools, a hospital, and the Tacloban city hall were located near the shoreline. (READ:What made Tacloban so vulnerable to Haiyan?)They should not be constructed in areas assessed to be vulnerable to landslides and flooding.8. Revise building standardsThe Philippine Building Code must be updated to keep up with storms that are getting stronger, the architects agreed.The Code requires that walls of buildings should withstand at least 250 kph winds. Because Yolanda's winds went over 300 kph, this item must be revisited. Also, the practice of building drainage systems to last for "x" amount of rainfall should be changed since rain and typhoons are becoming more frequent.