This research aims to develop a method for assessing transitional
shelter options while emphasizing the selection of construction
systems that can produce disaster-resistant buildings
with low cost and environmental impact. To achieve this goal, three
impact categories were defined. In the work of Mateus et al. [5],
three dimensions were split into nine categories with twenty-five
indicators. However, this approach is time-consuming, which
makes it less suitable for post-disaster reconstruction projects. The
proposed functional unit aims to address these complexities by
using a combination of three easily measured factors for a single
category/indicator. This approach is useful for not only assessing
the core and transitional shelter options but also comparing them.
Sensitivity analyses considering the variability of the results from the construction material perspective were used to validate
the outcomes. To better understand how the results vary, the
shelters were clustered around the main construction materials
used. Four clusters were defined: bamboo, wood, steel and concrete/
brick. For each construction material cluster, the mean,
lowest and highest values were calculated. This analysis was performed
for the three proposed categories of environment, cost and
technical performance. For the technical performance category,
these analyses showed that all of the construction materials were
capable of producing disaster-resilient shelters with above-average
scores. The concrete-based shelters had the best performance in
this category, with the highest mean value (14.2 points) and the
narrowest variation of results for the construction materials. The
bamboo and wood clusters had very similar mean values of 13.3
and 13.4 points, respectively, with much wider variations. The steel
cluster had a mean score of 12.7 and a narrow range.