# Design Exploration of Bamboo Shells Structures by Using Parametric Tools
### International Standards and Codes
#### 1.1.2 Standards and Codes in Latin America  
The use of bamboo in Latin America is not recent; archaeological research shows that it was used in Argentina, Ecuador, and Colombia since the early Pliocene; then, it was widely adopted during human development [22]. Brazil has the highest diversity with a total of 141 species of woody bamboos, followed by Colombia with a total of 72 species, Venezuela with 60, Ecuador with 42, Costa Rica with 39, and Mexico with 37 woody species [22].  
From above, only Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil have codes for the design and construction of bamboo structures. The development for the approval of these codes was undoubtedly stimulated by the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR).  
In 2010, Colombia approved the seismic-resistant design and construction NSR-10 code, which was included as a new topic in the Title G: Guadua Structures [23]. It established the requirements for structural and seismic resistant designs whose main material is bamboo. This code includes a methodology to calculate and design beams, columns and walls. The code does not include the procedure of connection design value determination but it lists unusual values of the modulus of elasticity [21; 23]. It is important to mention that the NSR-10 code only considers the Guadua Angustifolia Kunth species of bamboo.  
In 2012, Peru approved the E 100 code [24], that establishes the technical guidelines to design and construct earthquake-resistant buildings with bamboo. The Guadua Angustifolia Kunth and other species with similar physical and mechanical characteristics were considered.  
In 2016, Ecuador approved NEC-SE-GUADUA [23; 25], which contains a summary of mechanical constants experimentally obtained in countries such as Ecuador, Colombia and Spain. The code sets out a series of guidelines and recommendations for the design, execution, control and maintenance of buildings planned with the bamboo species of Guadua Angustifolia Kunth to guarantee the quality of the built environment.  
In the above, it was observed that the recommendations of the Peruvian and Ecuadorian codes are the same in the Colombian code and the ISO Standards [24]. Furthermore, NSR-10 and the NEC-SEC-GUADUA are extensive documents that contain not only the design and calculation method of bamboo structures, but also the processes of material preparation, preservation methods, storage, manufacturing, assembly, finishing, maintenance and different modalities for column foundations. Thus, these codes are considered as construction manuals that facilitate the correct use of the material.  
Although Brazil is a country with bamboo diversity, it was the last to have implemented two codes for its use, with the influence of the Brazilian Association of Technical Regulations (ABNT). First, the NBR-16828-1 code manages the design and dimensioning of bamboo structures [26]. Then, the NBR-16828-2 code tests methods to determine the physical-mechanical properties of bamboo and provides a method to obtain the mechanical constants (which are also available in the ISO standards) [20].