Abstract
Full-culm bamboo has several characteristics that make it an excellent alternative construction material due to its rapid growth rate, high strength-to-weight ratio, and high carbon sequestration. Thus, it becomes crucial to study the mechanical and structural performance of bamboo within an engineering framework, such as flexural behavior of multi-culm elements, since it is a key issue of typical elements of building such beams, joists, and others. While there is a general understanding of the composite section behavior in materials such as timber, steel and concrete, there is a lack of experimental evidence concerning bamboo in this regard. Therefore, an experimental program was undertaken by the Center of Research in Materials and Civil Works (CIMOC) at the Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia. Two- and three-culm elements of Guadua angustifolia Kunth from a Colombian plantation using a Bolted-Mortar Infill connections were tested in a bending setup.........

Abstract
School infrastructure affects the quality of education and the performance of children and youth. Natural hazards such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and landslides, threaten critical infrastructure such as school facilities. Additionally, problems related to the functionality of these facilities are common in the region, such as an inadequate number of classrooms, poor lighting, and insufficient ventilation, among others. At a national level, the decision-making process to prioritize schools’ interventions becomes even more challenging due to limited resources and lack of information. Furthermore, there is a lack of a systematic approach to address the need of improving existing infrastructure taking into consideration limited resources. Considering this, a novel decision-making framework is proposed that prioritizes school infrastructure investment with limited budgets, using clustering procedures, a multi-criteria utility function, and an optimization component..........

Abstract
Education infrastructure is one of the main barriers on school quality in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (L&MICs), since it is insufficient and unevenly distributed. Improving the school infrastructure is needed to provide a high-quality education environment. Although research on how to improve the infrastructure is available, there is still a lack of a consistent and systematic approach to develop large-scale interventions at the national or regional level. To fill this gap, we propose a data-driven methodology with the purpose of developing a prioritization of interventions to carry out a seismic disaster risk reduction program.....

Resumen 
An ensemble of bidirectional ground motions (GMs) is required as input for nonlinear response history analysis (RHA) of complex 3D structures. In building codes, an ensemble of GMs is often developed from a given design spectrum, or target spectrum. In the research literature, several target spectra have been proposed for such intensity-based assessments. The present study aims to comprehensively evaluate different options for developing target spectra to select bidirectional GMs as inputs to nonlinear RHAs of 3D structural systems.

Abstract
The Spanish conquerors that came to Latin America built earthen dwellings (one- and two- stories). In this way, construction with earthen materials was introduced in the history and the cultural heritage of the Northern South American territory. Unfortunately, past earthquakes have shown that historic earthen buildings are highly vulnerable. Research on this subject has focused on the evaluation of seismic retrofitting alternatives, especially in one-story earthen walls without openings, or studying reduced-scale earthen models.

Abstract
Manufacturing of commercialized silicate is a highly polluting source in geopolymer production. To reduce these emissions, rice husk ash has been considered as an option for synthesizing alternative silicate. However, available research has been focused on the study of geopolymer pastes and mortars, but unknowns remain on its reliability to manufacture plain geopolymer concrete, motivating this research.

Abstract
Earthen buildings are a fundamental part of Colombia's historical architectural heritage. This heritage has been deteriorating due to a lack of knowledge, disconnection from cultural roots, and because of the structural vulnerability of these buildings, mainly caused by earthquakes and moisture. Throughout recent years, research has been carried out in order to structurally intervene and preserve these buildings, however, within the Colombian context there are few studies regarding the location, distribution, and main characteristics of earthen buildings. Therefore, this research is presented from general to specific, beginning with an approach to Andean earthen architecture in Colombia, and ending with a case study of an urban environment: The Historic Centre of Bogotá (HCB).

Abstract
An experimental program was conducted to evaluate simple retrofitting techniques that could preserve historical buildings in Colombia. This paper presents experimental results from 28 full-scale adobe and RE walls subjected to in-plane and out-of-plane lateral cyclic loading, overturning, and shake table excitations. Geometries included solid walls, wall piers, flanged/corner walls, and walls with openings. Specimen dimensions were 0.4m or 0.6 thick, 1.25 to 7.0m long, and 1.8 to 3.45m tall. 

Abstract
Worldwide, unreinforced earthen buildings have shown poor performance during earthquakes, causing deaths and loss of property. The Spaniards that conquest the Americas built with earthen materials for about four centuries and therefore, there are a large number of historic buildings in the northern Andean zone of South America.