Abstract
The Philippines is prone to natural disasters due to its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire. Damaged housing is a common occurrence so post-disaster shelters are often constructed. In light of this, the study applied multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) to enhance the design of a shelter in the Philippines. The suitability of different partitions, namely concrete hollow blocks (CHB), autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) and rice husk ash composite concrete (RHAC), roofs, namely corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) sheets, and insulated sandwich panels, as well as opening configurations were analyzed. The criteria used in evaluating the shelter were its environmental impact, thermal comfort, and cost. Results showed that the combination of AAC partitions, CGI roof, and additional openings is the best configuration. Compared to shelters with CHB, shelters that use AAC and RHAC have significantly better thermal comfort. The global warming potential (GWP) of the AAC partition is also 31.3 % lower, while the GWP of the RHAC and CHB partitions are almost equal. However, shelters that use AAC and RHAC are at most 23.4 % and 10.6 % more expensive than CHB counterparts. On the other hand, shelters with insulated panels have better thermal comfort over counterparts with CGI roofs, but the sandwich panels have over four times the GWP of CGI sheets and make the shelter at least 37.7 % more expensive. Overall, the original shelter can be improved by adding openings and using either AAC or RHAC partitions, but using insulated sandwich panels is impractical due to its high environmental impact and cost.
